I stepped off the nine hour flight from Washington DC to Moscow, and thought to myself, “ Well, I’ve seen Russia, time to go home..” The funny thing is, I was half serious.
When we landed in Moscow, it was forty four degrees Fahrenheit. Meaning, it was gonna be the coldest weather I’ve been in since… last Christmas? If that. And cold it was. Finally after about ten minutes of standing in the rain, our bus arrived. And, now I’m still not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Haha ;)
Upon arriving at our apartment, (which I will detail for you later) Kate one of our directors from the school, asked us about our bus ride. Our replies sounded a little like this, “I’m surprised we didn’t get in a wreck..” and “You guys are very skilled drivers… :/” At this, Kate laughed and said, “Well, they say if you can drive in Moscow, you can drive anywhere.” We didn’t question her one bit on that. IT. WAS. CRAZY.
After bringing up ALL our suitcases and checking out the apartment, which took about thirty seconds, Kate took us on our first adventure out in Moscow. WE walked about three blocks, took a left, and ended up on the Metro. MY FIRST METRO RIDE, EVER! It was quite neat. When we were standing down on the loading dock, I was shocked at how fast the trains came in, the Russians? Not at all. They were completely un-phased by all of it. Granted, I know they live here and have probably been taking the Metro for YEARS. But still it was quite crazy to feel such a rush for myself, and look around to have NO other faces share the same excitement or bewilderment. Needless to say though, I really enjoy, thus far, riding the Metro. Sure there is always the chance of a bomb going off… But besides that, it’s a great place to study the people of Russia. IF your careful of course. My two favourite things about the people, so far, are, about half of them were carrying freshly cut beautiful flowers. And EVERYONE has nice jeans. ( my friend john would love this, because most all of them, IF not all of them, are skinney jeans.) ;)
After exchanging our currency, which I don’t have the SLIGHTEST idea how to use, ( I ask what to use by asking, “ the purple one?” haha.) We headed back to our apartment, where each of us got to unpack our suitcases into designated closet spaces. Mine is probably a fourth of my old closet, but it’s a perfect fit for the amount of clothes I was actually able to pack.. after we unpacked we FINALLY got to take a little nap. After about twenty four hours of traveling, and forty eight hours of no sleep, I was exhausted to say the least.
Once we awoke, our head teacher had finally come in, and so we spent our first night in Russia talking about what to expect, planning places we would like to visit, and getting to know each other. My roommates, all seem to be very nice, relaxed, excited and generally happy. I think we are all going to get along very well J My roommates are Ariel, my head teacher, Janelle and Jenny. J
And, that about pretty much sums up the events of my first day in Moscow Russia. (minus all the emotional business, which you may get to hear later, lucky you! ;) haha ) But, I’m not going to lie, at first I really did want to come home. My head was just filled with thoughts like, “What in the world are you doing kiri?” and “ You are so far from home…” But, after being able to email my mom, and get some rest, I think I’m feeling a lot better about this journey. Of course I miss everyone like crazy, and I can’t help but check my home clock and wonder what everyone is doing. But, I’m officially ready. Its going to be hard, EVERYTHING is different. But I need this. There is a reason I was sent here, and I am determined to happily figure out what that it.
I love you all, and am praying for you. And remember, just because I’m twenty thousand miles away, my time clock is ten hours ahead of yours, and I’m limited to internet access, doesn’t change the fact that I’m here for you. Talk to me, I’ll enjoy more than you can imagine, that comfort of home.
Until next time! ( which will hopefully be tonight)
(this was written my first night here, we haven't had internet since, but we will from now on. updates to come!)
