To Moscow We Go!

Well, I made it to Moscow!

Even though we've been here for almost 2 full days now, it doesn't seem real. From New York to Moscow took us roughly 9 hours and right away, I realized how little Russian I actually know. Everyone speaks very quickly and although the Russians in the airport were stereotypically intimidating (totally lacking anything resembling a smile), our experiences since arriving have been nothing but pleasant.

Our hostel is better than I expected, two of us to a room with a shower, toilet, and hot water, too! It appears not to have been updated since the Soviets were in power, the halls are dingy and yellow (like the toilet paper). Not really all that different from my old dorm room, actually...

We have met many Russian students already and they are all wonderful, very friendly and anxious to learn English and to help us learn Russian. Last night, we spent hours with many of the Russian students living in the hostel drinking tea and eating cake. We bantered back and forth in "Runglish"--a phrase Roma coined for his mix of Russian and English. Today we spent most of our day with a few of the Russians, especially the twins Denis and Aleksander (called Sasha), who are hilarious. Sasha referred to himself constantly as a "professional" in everything from locking our dorm room door to translating phrases into Russian. We went to one of the street markets and the grocery store to pick up a few things. After that, we spent a day marathon-learning Russian vocabulary with the twins--the trick now will be to see if I can remember any of it. But the students are great about helping us so I really hope to come back with a decent understanding of the language.

It's been a wonderful day (not even too cold-sunny and around a whopping 13 degrees). Now I'm going to go and spend some time with the Russians!

Dobri Noche!