That Damn Flight and Meeting My Babushka

Well I got up at 6 am Wednesday morning on my own. No alarm, no father banging on the door, I woke up at 6 am by myself. If you couldn’t tell, I was anxious. Dad and I didn’t actually leave the house until 8:10 and I got to the airport at around 10:40 and had to turn off my phone and leave it the car. I felt so naked without my phone and keys. I went in and sat with my group of misfits all going to Russia together and we talked. Of course our advisor was late as always but it wasn’t her fault our flight was delayed. There were thunderstorms in New York and we didn’t leave until a half hour later. Our connector to Moscow at JFK left at 4:05 and we landed in NY at 3:30. We were whisked off the plane first and literally had to fast walk all the way through the airport to our terminal on the complete other side of the airport Home Alone style. It was a mess. Not only that, but a person from our group was meeting us in NY and not Columbus. She legitimately thought the plane was going to take off and she would be in Moscow alone. Poor girl. We made it though and when I walked all the way back to my seat who do I find out I’m sitting next to but my twin. You see, I had decided to wear this new red flannel my mother bought me and a gray long sleeved shirt, and it’s a good thing I did because another guy in my group was wearing my other option of clothing (a dark gray v-neck sweater. Awkward). I walked to my seat and there already sitting next to me is a Russian boy wearing a red flannel with the same type of haircut as me. The flight attendant, not missing a beat asks if we’re twins and trying to match. It was so awkward trying to explain that I’ve never met this person in my life and that it was a complete coincidence. In reality I should’ve expected this since Rose’s father and I matched the other day, but I should’ve taken a picture. The plane took off at around 4:30 and we made it to Moscow at 9:30 am local time. Meaning I got in around 1:30 am our time. I didn’t really sleep because there were children crying and it’s just impossible when you’re packed like sardines into a plane. I watched X-Men: Last Stand since I still haven’t seen it (shocker) and My Week with Marilyn. The airplane food wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The only thing I have to complain about was the banana I got for breakfast was really hard and felt like it was freeze-dried. 

It was crazy when we descended into Moscow, everything was completely white. The sky, the ground, everything was white. We got off the plane, went through passport control and customs without a hitch, and left the airport to go to our respective families. Driving through Moscow is scary. You have to be really assertive to drive in this city. People just cut across lanes almost hitting each other packing themselves into traffic like sardines. It’s pretty intense. Also gas is like a dollar here with the conversion rate. I paid more here for a hot chocolate than what I could pay for gas. When we got to my host mother’s house she didn’t come out and we had to go find her. She’s an older lady with white hair, short, and stout. I’m not sure what she does, she’s been watching TV and making me food all day. I’m unsure if she has a job. I don’t really think she does since she’s older. Her body language is absolutely hilarious when she explains things. I don’t understand what she’s trying to tell me half the time but I can’t help but laugh. The building is a light tan color and has about twelve floors. First thing I noticed was that her key to get into the building and the building area is a magnet. It’s weird. Then we got into this janky little elevator that took a minute to get to her floor and into her apartment. When you walk into a Russian’s house you have to take your shoes off so you don’t track water in everywhere and they give you slippers. The first thing I noticed when I walked into my room was the purple. Tatiana’s dress was this lavender purple, and I guess it’s her favorite because the curtains and seat cushions are the exact color. There’s a bed (a pretty nice one too) a vanity, a wardrobe, a TV (She has cable!) and a chair. The room is bigger than my room at my house in Athens. My window opens into another room, a patio type area that lets in cold air. Everywhere I’ve been in Moscow has been incredibly too warm for me. Literally if you are inside any building in Moscow you wouldn't know it was winter outside because of how warm it is inside. She has the living room to sleep in, an entranceway, a kitchen, a bathroom, and another patio. It’s a typical Russian apartment. The wallpaper looks like the flowers on it have been hand sewed and it’s pretty cool. There’s random shit all over the room like a somewhat creepy child’s doll above my head, a stuffed reindeer, and a painting of a nude woman, which is sort of Picasso-esque. When I unpacked my suitcase I really started to feel like a didn’t bring enough clothes with me on this trip. Everyone said how their suitcase weighed around 47 lbs and mine weighed 37. I just didn’t want to overpack but now I’m regretting not bringing another pair of jeans and my boots, oh I wish I had my boots! I don’t know what possessed me not to take them, the streets of Moscow are really dirty, I mean slush and puddles and dirty snow everywhere. I am super happy that my friend convinced me to buy a satchel, it’s fucking awesome. My kindle fits in it, I can wear it under my coat.

I’m really overwhelmed with my complete lack of knowledge of the language, which I completely expected. It’s not like I’m in the best state to understand a word of what she says anyways. I should’ve expected this, but my host mother doesn’t have wifi. They told us that wifi was more spread out now so I didn’t really expect to not have it, but I don’t. Granted there’s internet café’s all over, but when you first get into the city and you don’t have a map you are unsure of what your doing. I needed to let my parents know that I made it ok and I needed to exchange dollars for rubles. I think we were supposed to do it at the airport but that didn’t happen. I asked Tatiana and she pointed me in the general direction of all of the cafes and banks and I went without her into the snow. All the doors to buildings have handles, even when you have to push. It’s really strange to get used to. I was super nervous not having a map, a guide, or a phone (we get those tomorrow), but I did it. The first bank I went into laughed at me when I wanted to exchange currency but the second bank did the trick. I walked all over trying to find a café, but literally everywhere has wifi. I settled on a hot chocolate place and ordered a hot chocolate. With the exchange rate the hot chocolate I ordered was 12 dollars. I’m a little pissed that I bought it, but I did what I needed to do on the internet. I didn’t want to stay too long because I didn’t want my host mother to worry about me since I didn’t have a phone. As soon as I got back I realized how exhausted I really was and I went to sleep from 3-6. It’s not like I wanted to, it just happened. I found a station on TV catered towards my age group which had a Scrubs type of show on it called Interns. From watching what little Russian TV I have almost all the women on TV are absolutely gorgeous. Hopefully watching TV will help me with my Russian. My host mother made me dinner and now I realize what the previous group was trying to tell me about how bland Russian food is. She served me a lot of food, two sausage patties, macaroni, a cucumber salad with sour cream, 2 pieces of bread with raspberry jam, and this tea made of raspberries and blackberries. There was nothing spicy, nothing cheesy, nothing salty. I only ate about half of it. I’m super weird about meat and since I didn’t know what was in this sausage type thing I was questioning my eating it the entire time.  While I’m over here mom is going to get exactly what she always wanted from me, a tea drinker. I’m not a big tea drinker, but I don’t have the heart to say no since I know Russians don’t usually drink just water. In the bathroom the toilet paper is pink, and I don’t know how to flush the toilet. I mean I do, but nothing goes down. The tub has a really high side, so when you get out of the shower you feel like you're going to trip. 

I have no idea what I’m doing tomorrow. I’m assuming I’m going to class but I feel so lost! I don’t have a syllabus or schedule and my advisor just left us without a plan. I know I have class 10-12 a break then 2-4, but I don’t know if that’s what we’re doing or if we’re sight seeing tomorrow. I feel so cut off from the world without internet or a phone, yet I’m in the middle of a huge city. I feel so nervous talking/listening in Russian. It’s like all these words are jumbled up in my head, and I just don’t know how to use them. I hear her say the same words over and over again yet nothing is clicking.