OK. So I'm going to try and post something that is somewhat comprehensible, but hey, I haven't really slept in a couple of days so we'll see what comes out!

So yesterday...
I went to exchange money to pay my months rent and I could tell that Lidya was on edge being out of the house, but the real story was in my first Russian "argument" that I had in leaving the house!
The weather was cool but by cool I mean it was fifties and I put on my dress and high heels because I was planning on getting straight on the metro once I bought my pass. I put on my coat and then the fun began. Lidya looked me up and down with strong disapproval and asked if I was going to be cold. I said I wouldn't. She then said that I was going to get sick. I said I wouldn't, then she said "posmotrim" which is "we'll see" but really what she meant is "I hope you get sick so that I can show you that I am right." Anyway, we stood at the door for about 10 minutes with her asking me if I wanted to change and me saying no because I needed to wear the dress for church...When I met up with everyone at the metro station every other girl had the same story with their babushkas!!! They are so protective! Anyway, I was just fine and walking home I actually felt like I needed to even take my coat off...The second I walked in the door she asked me if I was cold. I could see the tangible disapointment when I said that I was fine.

so the metro. I have never experienced anything like it. The stations are actually quite beautiful but it is crazy how many people are underground in Moscow!!!! The metro will be my second home-i've already spent hours down there

church:
unfortunately I didn't get to interact with a lot of Russians at church because our whole group went together so we kind of just sat by each other. Sacrament was great as far as understanding (I learned some new vocab from context-church is great for this because a lot of what people would be saying in English is predictable( in a good way ;) ),so what they are saying in Russian is also predictiable and is so much easier to pick up on unknown words). Sunday school was a little harder to focus and RS was just a disaster because there was a woman who got sick and they had to call an ambulance to come get her...I didn't really understand what happened with that, but I could tell that it was serious.

after church we went to red square. can I just say that pictures do not do it justice!!! The buildings are incredible....we passed lenin just chilling in his tomb, but we are going to explore the kremlin more later. I'm excited that I can just hop on the metro and go to red square whenever I want...it is really breathtaking!

so on the way back from red square I got lost on the metro (but just a little ;) ) and I was able to put my Russian to use and get help from this woman that I approached-she was super nice and gave me her number and ended up inviting me to go to her church on saturday...i don't know if i'll go yet but she was super nice

hmmm...so I went to bed at 9 last night and got about 3 hours of sleep between 9 and 4 am this morning. I ended up playing games at 4 on my laptop in bed and then by 5 it was light outside so I decided enough was enough and I got up and got dressed to go running and by 5:30 I was on the streets for my first run in Russia. It was so fun!!! moscow is just starting to wake up at about that time-people are sweeping the streets, shopkeepers are bringing in new produce from their trucks, and gradually there were more and more cars popping up on the street. Running was a great way to see moscow...I ran for about an hour and was entertained the whole time looking at all that was around me-I even saw another runner on the way back. I felt pretty safe because it was completely light outside and most little produkty stores were getting ready for the day, and there weren't a bunch of people on the sidewalks which actually made it possible for me to run. The only scare that I had was coming back into the building I just about crapped my pants when I turned the corner in the stairwell and there was a homeless man gathering his things...I almost screamed, but I just turned around and went straight down the stairs to use the elevator. ahhh, that run was so nice...I'm planning my run for tomorrow by the river in the afternoon...I saw tons of people walking on the trails there when I went to school today so I think it will be a great place to go and run and explore.

so school. hmmmm...our russian teacher is definitely soviet style ;) I will wait to say anything more until I really get to know him...

when I got home today I was exhausted but I needed to stay up because I need to get on the right schedule so that I don't have repeated nights like last night...anyway, it was really nice because Lidya and I ended up talking for about an hour and a half...we talked about russian literature, medvedev, and even abortion (we covered a wide range of topics)...mostly I listened because my vocab as you can imagine is pretty limired on said subjects but I was happy to talk to her and i think it was nice because when talking about Russian television and her favorite programs it was the first time I saw her true smile and laugh and it put me at ease.

anyway, i don't even know if this makes sense and i'm not even going to read over it because i just don't have the energy! Hopefull i'll be able to be a little more put together on the mext post.

and a very funny note: all the girls in the group have already had crying sessions except for.....ME!!!! Haha, I think I'm adjusting quite well-at least my eyes have been absolutley tear free and I've had no big problems with lidya even though there will be some things to get used to-there are already two girls who have to be moved from their homes because they've had awful experiences. But man, my body needs some rest!!

ok...enough rambling