Well I have made it and survived a whole day in Russia! Yesterday was crazy! I left mom, dad, Deb and Eric at the airport and it was off on the first flight. Ten hours seemed to go a lot faster this time because I managed to have a window seat and sleep for a good bit of it. I originally had an aisle seat but a nice Russian woman asked me to switch with her son so they could sit together. That ended up being a good decision because for the rest of the flight she translated what the flight attendants said for me and helped me with the immigration card. When we got to the Moscow airport it ended up being a lot easier than I thought it would be because everything was in English and Russian. Thank goodness I know English pretty well ;) Then on the flight to Volgograd I am fairly certain I was the only non Russian on the flight but again the woman next to me helped me out once I told her in Russian that I don't speak very much Russian.
At the airport I was met by two guys, Sergei and Mikhail. Luckily Sergei spoke a few words of English and between his english, my russian and Mikhail's awesome hand signs they showed me around Volgograd and then took me to my house in Volzhky. When I got to the apartment I met Zhenya's mother, also Zhenya, and we managed to get by although my Russian is not nearly as good as I thought it would be but Im working on it! I also got to meet the 6 cats when I got there. There are 5 girls and one boy and they are all long haired cats and very loving. They are named Koshka (cat in Russian), Kitty, Masa, Vasa, Fini and the last one has escaped my mind at the moment, I will report back soon. Very soon after dinner I went to bed cause two full days of traveling certainly does tire you out.
Today I was glad I went to bed early because I got to see Volshky! When I woke up Zhenya Sr. made me buterbrod which is open faced sandwiches. These were bread with cheese melted on it and topped with tomato and cucumber on top. It was different but quite good. Then she proceeded to tell me that I was going to meet Zhenya Jr's best friend and she was going to show me around. And thus I met Vita my first Russian friend! She was so wonderful! She lives very close to me and she speaks english very well but even so she insisted on quizzing me on Russian words along the way which was great. When we went back to her apartment Vita made us lunch of fried eggs with cheese and tomato, apparently Volgograd is famous for their tomatoes and let me tell you they are delicious. After lunch she gave me some of her books from when she was a child so I could start reading russian easily. She even offered to take me to the childrens library to get some even easier books. It was awesome to be shown around Volzhky by Vita and Im so relieved to hear she is the one who is going to take me to the university on Monday!!!
When we got back Zhenya Sr had made dinner and while we were eating she asked me to show her pictures of my friends and family. Thank God for facebook! I also showed her where Maryland and Annapolis were and where Juniata was as well. I also played her Bogoroditse Devo (the Russian song our choir sang) and she loved it. She told me she went to a school for piano for two years also. I was so excited that I got a chance to use my Russian (and words I know) to speak with her. Now I think Im going to look through some of those children's books so hopefully we have more to talk about tomorrow.
Пока!
At the airport I was met by two guys, Sergei and Mikhail. Luckily Sergei spoke a few words of English and between his english, my russian and Mikhail's awesome hand signs they showed me around Volgograd and then took me to my house in Volzhky. When I got to the apartment I met Zhenya's mother, also Zhenya, and we managed to get by although my Russian is not nearly as good as I thought it would be but Im working on it! I also got to meet the 6 cats when I got there. There are 5 girls and one boy and they are all long haired cats and very loving. They are named Koshka (cat in Russian), Kitty, Masa, Vasa, Fini and the last one has escaped my mind at the moment, I will report back soon. Very soon after dinner I went to bed cause two full days of traveling certainly does tire you out.
Today I was glad I went to bed early because I got to see Volshky! When I woke up Zhenya Sr. made me buterbrod which is open faced sandwiches. These were bread with cheese melted on it and topped with tomato and cucumber on top. It was different but quite good. Then she proceeded to tell me that I was going to meet Zhenya Jr's best friend and she was going to show me around. And thus I met Vita my first Russian friend! She was so wonderful! She lives very close to me and she speaks english very well but even so she insisted on quizzing me on Russian words along the way which was great. When we went back to her apartment Vita made us lunch of fried eggs with cheese and tomato, apparently Volgograd is famous for their tomatoes and let me tell you they are delicious. After lunch she gave me some of her books from when she was a child so I could start reading russian easily. She even offered to take me to the childrens library to get some even easier books. It was awesome to be shown around Volzhky by Vita and Im so relieved to hear she is the one who is going to take me to the university on Monday!!!
When we got back Zhenya Sr had made dinner and while we were eating she asked me to show her pictures of my friends and family. Thank God for facebook! I also showed her where Maryland and Annapolis were and where Juniata was as well. I also played her Bogoroditse Devo (the Russian song our choir sang) and she loved it. She told me she went to a school for piano for two years also. I was so excited that I got a chance to use my Russian (and words I know) to speak with her. Now I think Im going to look through some of those children's books so hopefully we have more to talk about tomorrow.
Пока!
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