Day 22, 23, & 24

So I had to pack everything I wanted to bring with me to Moscow before I went to class... carry it all on the bus, in the heat, without ac, in jeans, with people glaring me down... it was hell... and I was late for class haha

But we left for Moscow right after class, the train was very cool... literally and figuratively... it had AC, wifi, and was very comfortable... so it was a nice 4 hour ride to get to Moscow from Petersburg

As soon as we arrived in Moscow we rode to our hotel, which from the outside looked horrible... but was absolutely amazing on the inside... I forgot how much I love hot water and AC

We didn't stay too long, because we decided to Red Square (Krasnaya Ploschad) before it got too late... so we headed there by the metro (which is INSANE in Moscow, it's so freakin big!) And when we got to Krasnaya Ploschad, we got to see St. Basil's Cathedral, Lennin's tomb, and The Kremlin, all which were unbelievable to see in person! But it was getting late, and unlike in Petersburg, it was actually getting dark haha... so we headed back

Day 23

Today we woke up to a tour of the city, which was really cool to see so much of such a huge city... then after the tour we had a small break then got to go to the Moscow City Circus!

It was a beautiful performance... even though I'm pretty sure it broke about a hundred American laws... and even though it was a kids show, the women were in nothing but thongs and bras for most of the show and dancing around... I guess sex sells everything here haha

But it really was a lot of fun, and I have a video that I'll put up when I get home!

Day 24

It was the best day so far here!

We started the morning really early because we had to get to Lennin's Mosuleum (sp) early enough that we didn't wait long in line... so we got there an hour before it opened and were the first group there... we had to check our bags, since it cost money, I offered to let my friend Rachel put her purse in my bookbag, well after we checked it, we realized she didn't have her passport with her... and if she gets stopped and doesn't have it, she can be "detained until her identity is able to be proven" which can take days supposively... so we went back to get it, and she asked for it, and the guy told her she didn't need it... so I went and asked for it... and he argued with me about how we didn't need it and it wasn't important and he wouldn't get it! (all in Russian) So... we went through the tomb... which was so weird seeing a pickeled old man in a coffin... but then rushed back and THIS time he allowed us to get my back...

After we went to this very Americanized street, which had a starbucks, so we hung out there, and I met a new Russian friend there! So that was cool, I'm excited about having a Russian penpal

After hanging out there for a bit we went to the market place for souviners... which was SO MUCH FREAKIN FUN

All it is, is literally hundreds of stands of nothing but Russian souviners and the people there don't have anything marked with prices... so you ask how much something is... then you have to haggle with them for the price... well, you don't have to... but it made it so much fun...

I'd run up to a stand, I spoke nothing but English to them (the understood most of it, they almost all spoke English, and it made me look stupid)... but I'd tell them what I was willing to spend... and they would attempt to haggle with me... and if they didn't go for it... I'd walk away hahaha... it was awesome, we spent a few hours there...

Now we've been hanging out back at the hotel, and we're gonna start getting ready to go out for our last night in Moscow!

Day 20 & 21

Day 20 was only class and being lazy... nothing special

Day 21 was the hottest day EVER!
Today after class we decided that we were going to go out. Since I also had to go see Katalina (the waitress that told me she was working today) we decided we were going to eat dinner at that restaurant again too... but 1st we decided to go inside the Church of Spilled Blood. It was beautiful, of course, it was decorated with mosaics all over the walls and ceilings and such. Then I had to rush back to the homestay to get dressed to go out, I missed the bus and had to take the subway... which was actually a break from the heat... after a 20min walk in the direct sunlight in jeans and a long-sleeve shirt. So we got the the restaurant and the waitress comes and talks to me a bit, we eat, then we head downtown.
The first two places we went were closed, so we went to this random bar... inside it looked like a Bondage hangout... but luckily it wasn't... I don't think... cause it was just a bunch of old people doing karoke and dancing. So we drank for a bit, then luckily made it to the last metro of the night to head home

Day 19

Today we had class, I showered, which is occuring more frequently actually. Then, we went to a ballet at the Marivenskaya (?sp?) Theater. It was a very pretty performance, but I didn't understand it... I thought the main girl died of a seizure? Nope, apparently it was a broken heart... tomatoe/tomatoe I guess...

Then we went to this restraunt we really like and had the same waitress as the other day. I got such an ego/confidence boost... the girl was obivously flirting with me and when I asked her if I had an accent, she told me no, that I spoke very normal! :)... yea right haha

The pictures from Peter Hof finally!

Day 18

So I only got like 5-6 hours of sleep last night, I was up late studying... and no matter how use to it in the states I am... not having enough sleep in a foreign county is NOT a good thing haha
First thing, I got on the bus, and as I was reaching for the bus railing inside, the bus took off, and my arm hit a Babooshka (elderly woman) in the head... and she started smacking me until finally I ran to the back of the bus, where she continuously mean-mugged me until she got off... I was attacked by a BABOOSHKA!

Second, in language class, it is IMPOSSIBLE to not pay attention and when called on, still be able to answer a question... you can't even guess what the hell you might be talking about!

Other than that, some of the group went to church, while the rest of us sat around watching youtube videos and discussing what we could be doing besides sitting around... it was entertaining haha

But It has been so hot here lately... it reached 36C here the other day, that's like Louisiana weather... but since everyone here has to constantly be dressed nice, everyone STILL WEARS JEANS! It's MISERABLE! However, it's ok for guys to walk around without shirts on here... even though I have not done this yet, it's quite tempting haha...
The pictures will be uploaded later, I'm running late!

Day 14, 15, 16, and 17

So I know I haven't really been updating, but I guess the wow factor has kinda started to lose it's effect and we haven't been really doing anything too fascinating or amazing beyond trying to communicate and deal with some nice and some horrible Russian store workers haha
But I have been buying lots for very little! Very nice, I love the exchange rate so much!

Today though, we went to the most beautiful place ever created by humans... it's called Peter Hoff... it was a HUGE palace with more fountains than I could even count! It was insane that it was possible for someone to make this! It was absolutely beautiful, I coulda stayed there forever... I have also decided that I am becoming President of Russia and will make that my command palace haha
Imma add the pictures tomorrow, the internet is acting up... ttyl!

Day 12 & 13

Nothing happened on day 12... I finally showered after 3 days haha... I borrowed the hot water from my friend Samantha, she has hot water in her dorm while we do not in our homestay... we had a wopping 4 1/2 hours of language classes again today... they are so freakin exhausting... we went to a nice restaurant near the metro and I got beef stroganoff... but other than that we just studied and went to sleep

I'm really started to get comforatable with Russian though, when we walk around, sometimes I forget we're even in Russia... the signs are so easy for me to read, and I understand almost all of them... it's not until I get around a group of Russians talking that it'll even hit me that I'm not back in the states. Classes are all going really well though, minus the crap-ton of new vocabulary words, they're almost easy...

Today we went to the Political History Museum, it was really interesting... just about the end of the monarchy (the czars), the beginning of communism, and the end of communism, stuff of that sort, so very interesting... then Austin and I went with some friends of ours from the group (Matt and Will) to a pub, it was a lot of fun, and after we drank for a little there, we went to the pizza bar near the metro. After which we returned to our homestay and I have been surfing the Russian tv channels, which not suprisingly, just like in the states, MTV does NOT play music... the one thing that I wanted to find... but I did find a channel that plays Family Guy and Futurama and stuff like that in Russian... so I'm content for the moment being haha
Now I'm off to study, and since I don't have internet near my homestay and I have to go to a MakDonalds or one of my friend's dorms... I don't get to update this as often as I'd like, but I will keep on top of it when I can!

Day 11

Nothing really interesting happened today for the first time this trip.
We had class... for 4 1/2 hours today... after classes were over Austin and I went to the Adidas store where I made a successful transaction for a bad that every guy in Europe has and then we went to Teremok (the Blini place) and had another successful transaction there... so all was good in the transaction department
On a dissapointing note, we probably won't be able to stay in our homestay's dacha which I was looking forward too... but the program doesn't look like it's going to let us go
Something else though... the Mardi Gras beads which I gave my homestay... which is completely lost in translation.. try explaining Mardi gras using on gestures and the phrase "big celebration in Louisiana"... it's damn near impossible... so now my homestay mother has assumed those beads are used as jewlery... she was wearing them today... I kinda feel bad haha... ignorance is bliss though lol

Day 9 & 10

Day 9 we had nothing planned for us, we were suppose to be moving into our homestays and some of us did, but my homestay was pushed back until Sunday. So we went to the pizza bar that we like and then went downtown, well we split off into 2 groups and my group was trying to find a soviet store... well we look for about 2 hours for a store that we FINALLY find and does not actually have soviet stuff in it! Only guns! So we then go to meet the others and we go to a really touristy market by the cathedral of spilled blood. It was interesting there, everyone wants to haggle for things haha.. I bought a Nightmare Before Christmas Matroshka doll so I was very happy lol after tht we went home, watched the soccer game and then went to bed because we had to be at breakfast for 8:30am the next day

So we get up and we head out to the Pushkin Palace, which was about an hour away. The palace was BEAUTIFUL and the gardens around the palace even moreso, however, after about 5hours of being there, and about 8 hours since we had eaten... we were tired and hungry and wanted to go haha...

But Austin and I moved into our homestay today, so we had to get back and rush to pack because Yuri, our homestay father was coming in less than an hour to pick us up. So we get everything packed, Yuri comes to pick us up, and the Digornaya (the floor administrator whom we named Digorno) started fussing at us and Yuri for something (still don't know what haha). But we leave, ride to the hours, I smask my pinky in something, and it is still bleeding periodically a few hours later, and then we unpack in our new rooms... go over some rules, which I'm not quite sure entirely what he said haha, and then we head out to eat dinner with some of the other kids from the group at the pizza bar.

After dinner, we head back, which we have never done before, but we get on the same bus that brought us there... however after driving for about 30-40min, there is no one except Austin and I... and the driver yells at us (don't know what) so we get off the bus... in the freakin ghettos... where we have NEVER been before haha

We walked for a little less than a mile and luckily found a metro, so we rode that back to the homestay, but it was still really clost to getting lost in Russia...

After getting home though, we had tea with Yuri and Tatiyana, got to talk with them for a while, which is always fun/exhausting... then after about 1-2 hours of that, we went to our rooms, I did some homework, and now I'm going to sleep!

Day 8

Today was easy in the sense of we only had our elective classes, however since we were bored the reast of the day we decided to wander around the town... which causes us to interact with the Russian people... which means that I have to attempt to speak Russian to people who do not want to deal with people as is, much less foreigners haha (ie grociery store/food places)

So we just walked around downtown on Nevskeiy Prospect for most of the day, then at midnight we had a tour of St. Petersburg at night and got to watch them raise the bridges which was pretty, but I was tired from walking all day so it was just ok for me

Day 7

We just got internet back last night after having been down for almost 2 days, so that's why this is late.

But today we continued classes as usual, and though it's difficult, I'm really enjoying doing so much Russian dialogue, I already feel like it's helping me with alot of simple tasks here.

Then after classes, we went down to the US Consult to get a safety overview of Russia, which was boring... however, a highlight of that was when they started talking about job opportunities available, and how Russian is a priority language, so we're already pretty high in demand! So I'm really going to start considering this line of work possibly, sounds like it'd be just the thing for me.

After the US consult we got to meet our homestay family, Yuri and Tatiyana, they're really nice and they were really patient with us and now we're really excited about living with them! Their house is really nice by Russian standards, so that's a plus too! But we had tea with them and they talked to us the whole time and suprisingly I actually understood almost the entire conversation! Which was a huge confidence booster! But I'm pretty sure we even got invited to their dacha (summer home) which would be really cool because everyone is telling me that they're really nice and Yuri and Tatiyana were even telling us that if we get to go they're right next to a river for swimming and that it's located in a nice forest and we'd get to have soshliki (? not quite sure what it is, but everyone is saying it's awesome haha). So I'm really excited about moving in and I know that I'll learn alot from them!

The only downfall to living with them and speaking that much is going to be that I'll get exhausted! I literally wanted to pass out and my head hurt from concentrating so hard on our conversation!

Day 6

Today, right after breakfast we had the tour that we were suppose to have the other day, but was rescheduled because the driver got stuck behind the never-ending wreck... well the tour was amazing, however the little mono-toned Russian woman who was giving our tour was boring and annoying at the same time... but it's cool, she drove us around to some of the most beautiful buildings in St. Petersburg... I'll put pictures up tomorrow
After the tour we had some info on our homestay, finally... Austin and I's family is actually a family, and apparently our host dad works here at the school... so that's cool, we'll never get away from this man haha...
Then we ate lunch at this little Bleeni stand... literally a little hut next to the metro, and I got salmon and sauce (some kinda cream cheese stuff) it was delicious... I'm going to get the apple and caramel one tomorrow... I freakin love that place...
Then we went to some Russian Symphony which was really cool, the music was amazing and watching them perform was beautiful
Then we celebrated by eating Makdonalds... it was ight
THEN because my razor broke when I stuck it into the wall socket without the converter (wasn't thinking)... I had to clean shave for the first time in 4 years... now THAT is odd haha... my face feels weird lol...
Night until tomorrow!

Day 5

Today we went to our first day of classes, I'm in the most advanced of the classes and my teacher speaks Russian with very little English. Suprisingly I can actually understand her though, it's really cool feeling like I understand finally

After our class, we had a tour through St. Petersburg, which I and a few others had already been through, but we went anyway... however my roommate, Austin, and I decided that we'd keep behind the group and try to blend in as much as possible and see if anyone noticed... well we blended in well, the rest of our group keep getting mean glares and people were talking bad about them... in front of Austin and I, one of the reasons we knew that we blended in well... another was that no one was looking at us badly, even when we were on our own... our clothing looked European enough and we kept straight faces on no matter what... it's how the Russians always carry themselves, so it's true, they really do always look pissed off haha

Anyway, we did the tour that was about 4 hours of walking around St. Petersburg... in the rain...

Then we split off, just Austin and I, to look for a Soviet store... well we didn't find it and got lost for a while, however I did find an electronics store not too far away from the Metro

Which I don't remember if I had said, the Metro is SO FREAKIN COOL... it's huge and it's pretty and it's also illegal to take pictures of so I will have none haha

But after getting lost we decided to come back early, and we went to the grociery store... where once again we got laughed at because the grociery store = American's hell...

Well here's some pictures of St. Petersburg in all it's beauty!

I'm peacing out to bed early tonight, but all is good in the hood yall! Ttyl.

Day 4

Today began with a good, old-fashion placement test that tested our ability as Russian speakers and also managed to attempt to steal our souls... I did pretty well for the written part I think, however, the oral part was extremely difficult... but I think it was just my woman's accent... she even had to repeat some things 2 times for me in English for me to understand it! We'll see tomorrow how well I did...
After that we were suppose to go on a tour, but our tour bus got stuck behind an accident that was going to take HOURS to clear up... good job Russian system
So instead we did a tour of the immediate area through the dangerous ghetto and the nicer ghetto... then we separated and some of us went to downtown St. Petersburg and the rest went to the dorms...
Going downtown was BEAUTIFUL! The metro's are so freakin cool! Like downtown St. Petersburg is undescribable with all of the towers and such... I'll be uploading pictures tomorrow... but now it is almost 12:30 and I am off to bed!

Day 3

Today's actually Day 4, however, I couldn't get online yesterday...

So we got into Russia yesterday, and when we arrived, the airport was the first sign of how ghetto this place was, because it didn't even have AC... the international airport of St. Petersburg does not have AC...

However, there are long lines, with many people... And one of the lines we had to wait in, and wait for a very long time haha. My roommate Austin was even stopped because his passport picture "didn't look like him" just because he has longer hair in it... that took a few minutes to fix up

Then we get to our University/dorm rooms, which again, do not have AC, the water is indeed freezing cold (also this odd, unhealthy orange looking color) so I have not showered yet (going on day 2) showering tonight though! I have a pleasant view of a Rusty, abandoned electrical plant 9x's as big as anything I have ever seen in the US and what seems to be an abandoned ghetto-marketplace... though I'm pretty sure I saw it in Resident Evil 5 too, those who have played the game with me know what I speak of

We did our orientation meeting, had dinner (which suprisingly the food is really good here so far), and then went to the Magaziyn (store) to get a few supplies and while in there got laughed at a few times by some Russians

We went to sleep around midnight or so even though it was still bright daylight outside (see picture, the one of the parkinglot/sky, that was 11:30pm) then around 3 was woken up because it started raining and our window was open (luckily not too much water got in)

I'll write today's later tonight! (It's almost 6pm here, 9am there) so I'll try to get on before I go to sleep probably around midnight/1am if you're up get on fb/skype!

By the way, apparently guys who let their beards grow out get respected a little more... so expect the beard to be getting quite long

Day 2

Today was our tour of London and then we had the rest of the afternoon to explore! Our tour was really nice and the guide showed us all kinds of really cool spots and things to do and then brought us to the center of London (about 40min by bus away from our hotel) dropped us off, and we basically had to find our own way back to the hotel! Haha, he did offer to bring us back, but everyone stayed out so that we could look around the city, there was so much stuff to do it was insane! And for a day transportation pass that covered the tube (subway) and buses all over the city, it costs 6pounds (about $9). So we went to eat lunch at a pub, I got Gammer steak and eggs and then we went walking all around... Buckingham palace, some insanely named square that I'm still not quite sure what it was call, the millennium bridge (better known as the Harry Potter bridge that was destroyed in the last movie), it's freakin crazy how much there is to do here! Then after spending all day out there we finally came back by the subway, ate dinner at some awesome Italian hole-in-the-wall place, and then came back to the hotel because after waking up at 5am... and having to wake up at 5am again tomorrow for a bus that leaves to the airport at 6am (which apparently they will leave my ass should I be even 5min late, and they WILL do it, they left 2 girls this morning because they weren't there in time for the tour!) I am tired and am going to bed early... and even though it is 10pm, it is still sunshining outside... crazy...
So peace out hommies, sorry the pictures didn't work last night, maybe they will work today! Wish me luck in my first day in Russia and I will get online if I can tomorrow!

Day 1

We got into London about 7:30am or so... and even though I had to sit between two Bible Thumpers I was determined to enjoy my flight... therefore I stuck on my DJ headphones and drowned out their constant preaching!
London is... ok... it's not what I expected, and everything is so freakin expensive! But it may be our location too.
I am currently Buzzed, coming off of being drunk haha. We went to a pub and watched the world cup game there... the British people are so freaking loud! They were making up curse words I never even thought to combine! "fuck-shit" was my favorite... and apparently you can make a song out of "the ref is a wanker" ?
Tomorrow we're suppose to be doing the touristy things and such, so maybe that'll be cooler

here are a few pictures from today, I'll try to update this as often as possible!