Monday June 13

For some strange and amazing reason, I can access Google websites through an unknown wireless source at my host family's apartment. This means that I should be able to check my emails and write blogs on a frequent basis. Last night, I moved in to my host woman's apartment. She lives on the South Western corner of town, so my commute to class every morning will take about an hour. This may seem long, but the station is at the end of the Red Line, so I will most likely be able to get a seat every day upon boarding. I have already started my Russian food experience, as last night my host mother, Natalya, cooked a traditional Russian soup, Shi, and liver with vegetables. It seemed as though she really liked my gifts (Ghiradelli chocolate, a mug and a sugar spoon from DC). After dinner, upon returning to my room, I decided to try to open my window. It was kinda stuck but I was determined to get it open. Once it was opened, I could not close it, as it would fit back in the right slot. Thinking that I had broken the window, I, of course, freaked out and nervously tried to fix it. After a few minutes of panic, I went to Natalya and told her I had a small problem with the window. I was worried that she would be mad, but she understood and blamed it more on the window than on me. The next morning for breakfast Natalya served Kasha, or a dish similar to oatmeal, cold liver (actually very tasty-kinda like meatloaf), cucumbers, and toast with cheese and tomato on top. I am very glad to live with Natalya because I know that I will be well fed. Today at school we took a placement test and each of us talked to the teachers to test our conversational ability. I am not sure which group I will be put it because I feel that I am at a higher level than most of the non-native speakers but not nearly as high as the native speakers. My favorite restaurant or cafe in Moscow is by far the popular cafe Coffee House, or Кофе Хаус. Although Natalya showed my the way to the metro from her apartment this morning, I managed to get lost on my way home because the metro stop has several exits. I wandered around the neighborhood for probably 45 mins in search of the Gazprom building because I remembered seeing that on our walk this morning. I finally spotted it, and I realized that I had taken the wrong exit out of the metro station. After finding the apartment building, I became even more confused because I could not find her apartment on the fifth floor. I had not realized that there are three entrances to the building, so I initially entered the wrong wing of the building. At last, I manged to find my way to the apartment, took a much needed shower, and fell asleep for a three hour nap. Now since my window cannot be closed completely, I worry that Pukh, Пух,  (a pollen that fills the Moscow air at this time of year) will overtake my room. It is quite a sight to be surrounded by this pollen, which looks like a summer snow.  


DG