Safe in Russia

I am in Russia safe and sound, and I have already been through the roller coaster of emotions over and over.

After some crafty math skills on my part, it turns out my long traveling day was not as long as expected because of the change in time and some other variables.  It was a total of 26 hours, but I have to admit it felt more like 32…or 82. Even at this moment I am past the point of being tired and feel like I could be in the Twilight Zone. Or perhaps it just feels like that because I am in freaking Russia and I am quite sure it is the Twilight Zone.

I have to admit, as the plane was landing I was thinking “Yeah, this was a good idea…” All I could think of was the scene from Happy Gilmore where the old woman throws herself onto a moving car screaming “Get me outta here!” But, this quickly changed when I piled into my native coordinators car and she busted out B.o.b’s Airplanes as we were driving away from the airport. I was thinking well I guess we’re not so different after all. We might not drive on unplowed roads, with no lanes that are lined with signs in a language that doesn’t even use the same alphabet, but top 40 pop hits are a universal connector.

The best part of this whole ordeal, and my saving grace last night as I was on the verge of tears from exhaustion, was meeting my host family.  I could not have asked for a more generous and kind family to spend the next four months living with. They were so welcoming and even made a special pizza dinner for me complete with mayonnaise, whole slices of tomato, and some unknown cheese. It was delicious and incredibly thoughtful because everyone knows how American’s love their pizza.  My host mom’s name is Julia and her daughter is Veronica, who goes by “Nika”.  Julia is a beautiful, soft-spoken woman who teaches English at a military school.  Nika is in her first semester of college at the same school her mother teaches at, and she is the nicest, most energetic host sister.  It is an incredible blessing that they both speak amazing English, and I know we will get along very well. Nika was very generous and is letting me use her room while she shares with her mother while I am here. Their apartment is very comfortable and cozy. They had to drop me off very early this morning or else I would have included pictures in this post of the apartment and Nika and Julia.

I am sorry there aren’t any cool pictures of St. Petersburg yet because we got here late last night and it is just 8:30 in the morning now. Nika promised to show me around after her final exam today, so hopefully I will have some pictures up soon.  Thank you everyone for your really nice and supportive comments. I have a good family and good friends who have busy lives, but I appreciate you being so thoughtful of me while I am on this adventure. 

My First Post and One Day in Counting

Well, this is my first experience with the blogging system so I'm using this first post as a test run to see how everything works. (Already this is the second time I have had to rewrite my post, and I promise it was better written and funnier the first time....) 


I am patiently awaiting my departure to the Mother Land, which is just one very short day away.  My flight leaves on Tuesday, January 25th at 10:32 AM. We make a quick stop in Chicago and then go on for a long haul to Frankfurt, Germany where we arrive on the 26th at 10:15 AM.  Then it's a brief four-hour layover in Germany and just a short five-hour flight to St. Petersburg to make a grand total of 32 hours of straight travel time. It will be like my high school days on the tennis bus, only longer and thus much more fun!

My dad was quizzing me on some facts about my new home, and it turns out he knows a lot more than I do. What a surprise. So, I thought I would include a few fun facts for us all to become a little more familiar with this interesting part of the world. 

Five Fun Facts:

• Russia is the largest country in the world - one of the more obvious facts, but interesting all the same
• Russia's population is 145 million - with 5 million in St. Petersburg - St. Petersburg alone is 625 times larger than my hometown
• St. Petersburg was the former capital of Russia and used to be known as Leningrad -  "Well! Finally those capitalistic pigs will pay for their crimes, eh? Eh comrades? Eh?"
• 10% of government income comes from the sale of vodka - I have been warned by Russians and Non-Russians alike to always ask before accepting a drink of anything
• St Petersburg hosts as many as 100 cultural and art festivals each year - I am most excited to experience all that St. Petersburg has to offer in these areas

I am overwhelmed with excitement and nerves about this "a little scary" and "a lot exhilarating" adventure. I hope I can keep you all updated on the best parts of my excursion.