Russia Day 1

So! Today I left to Russia :D I was right on time in Phoenix leaving, as well as Chicago, but when I got to London holy crap! Besides the fact that I got lost for a little bit and kept getting stuck holding doors for fleets of people on the elevators, I finally decide to ask someone where to go because I don’t see Moscow on the Connecting Flights anywhere! So I ask someone and she’s like (British accent)… Oh honey… You are gonna miss this! You have to be there in ten minutes! And I was like no you don’t understand I’m getting picked up by someone I can’t get a hold of… I have to try! So she tells me where to go and I literally run. Pick up my rolley bag and my freakin heavy laptop bag smacking around on me and run up escalators, down escalators, and through security, who temporarily lose my boarding pass and almost had me in tears because I was down to 5 minutes at that point. So I get it and push by people running some more and make it to my gate as my area is boarding. I see my two people already sitting (the two also on the program) so that was bueno. Oh and there were a TON of mid forties Russian men on this flight, and they either A) couldn’t understand anything or B) didn’t care to, because they were freakin hilarious. They just kept getting up and walking or whatever and the flight attendant guys were pissed chasing them down saying ‘Sir!! This is the 5^th time I’ve told you to sit down!!’ And he would just look back at him and then keep going. I was laughing so hard. They were all doing things like that all over the plane. I sat by a nice guy from India who was telling me stuff about Moscow (he’s lived in Russia the past 6 years for med school) and showed me his cell phone and stuff, which I apparently can’t get for 4 days because I’m not registered in Russia yet.

SO we get off the plane and Joey is waiting there and then we wait for Adriana. We had a grand old time trying to deal with our ginormous luggage (mostly mine) and had to redistribute them like 5 times. Also it doesn’t help that Russians apparently don’t understand waiting in line or personal space at all, and would shove their carts of luggage with their kids hanging off right in front of you/into your bag so you would stop. I was like crying I was laughing so hard. Way to use your kids! So we find non-English speaking Dmitry and he does not offer to help with any of our bags even though all three of us are CLEARLY struggling. Adriana managed to stay up with him, but Joey and I kept dropping stuff and getting stuck on stuff and Dmitry would just stop for a second and keep walking. If Adriana wasn’t a bit behind him, I would have had no idea where he went. Oh also he just walks in front of cars, and of course while crossing the road I get stuck AND Joey drops a luggage in the road. Luckily they honked and just got pissed; apparently if they flash their lights at you they aren’t going to stop for you no matter what ha.

So a highly interesting ride to Moscow with Silent Dmitry and his techno dance beats, and we all just talked the whole time. Adriana got dropped off at the dorm, and then I got taken to my homestay next. I have the cutest little old lady who is really nice and seems to be really patient to my lack of Russian knowledge. She doesn’t know but a few words of English, so it’s been interesting but I am finding even just saying words to get the gist of what I mean work with her. Maybe once I start school (Tomorrow) I’ll be able to throw some grammar in there and make entire sentences! Ha. I have a much larger room than I expected though, and she gave me a wardrobe armoire thingy with hangars and she showed me her food in the fridge and oh she has a freakin poofy cat I’ve decided is named Simon, but when she says it, it sounds like Semen. It is a boy Kot so it could be Simon. She like loves him though that made me like her more. Every time he comes in the room and makes noise she talks to him. I’m pretty sure she said her neighbor is going to take the bus with me to go to GRINT tomorrow for my orientation and my placement test, just so I know where it is. I have keys to the house now and was a little confused at the layout of the apartment building so that should be interesting ha. She drew me out a map though :D Well I believe I’m getting woken up at 745 so I’m going to sleep!!! I’m so tired already but I think I’m too excited now!! It’s weird though; I feel like I’m just here for a week or something.