Trying to catch up.

Finally, pictures are up on my Photobucket account. (Link to the right) I will not recount the horrors of uploading them...suffice it to say that there are very good reasons that they are not in any real order (sorry). I'll try to at least get labels on them soon. We are only given 45 minutes of internet access a day, and it's not very consistent most of the time (although I won't complain too much--it's free, available, and when it works, decently fast).

So where were we? Yes, Saturday night.

When we arrived, night had already fallen, and it was pretty late (9:30 ish). We were split into two groups, by gender, and almost frog-marched to the toilet. It was locked and on the third floor. After entering, I was struck dumb. There was toilet paper, soap, AND paper towels! A miracle. Only one girl had her toothbrush on her, but she generously shared her toothpaste and I brushed my teeth with a paper towel.

We were then directed to a restaurant in the basement of a student dormitory, where places were set in 4 booths, with placecards of folded goldenrod paper, and a group of people just standing around staring at us. I couldn't think about eating, but at least tried the food. While we were trying our exhausted best to eat, the same woman that had taken us to the bathroom distributed bags to each of us. Inside was an АГУ t-shirt, Columbia capris, a folder with our program information, flip flops (the fold-up kind, like at nail salons) and A TOOTHBRUSH. I could have cried. I think I almost did cry.

After about 30 minutes, a large crowd of people arrived--our families. I'm not really sure what to call my host...she's too young to be my host mom and too old to be my sister (maybe--she has a six year-old daughter). I'll call her my Natasha. She works at the restaurant (Чистая вода--Pure Water), and I later figured out that she is either the accountant or the business manager (some such). Natasha collected me after everyone had left and we headed out the door. We met her friend Sergei at the street, and he gave us a ride to Natasha's apartment (I think it was a Honda Pilot). I have no idea as to the nature of their relationship. At first, I thought they were married, but when she didn't introduce him as her husband, I thought boyfriend. I haven't seen him since, so maybe just friends. I also don't know whether Natasha is divorced. Confusion. I could probably ask, but I just don't feel like doing so right now.

Natasha's apartment is nice (not quite as nice as the Selyankos' in Taganrog) and she is in the middle of remodeling it. I am in her daughter's room. I sleep on a CAT BED! It is literally shaped like a cat. I'll take a picture and post it. I love my bed. It's about the size of a twin.

The computer and a TV are in my room. I haven't yet used either. The internet wasn't working until last night (Volodya...a friend of a friend? fixed it...he had to redo most of Natasha's computer to do so...it's a little too old for the internet system she had bought).

I really like Natasha's daughter, Vika. She is excellent, and a lot of fun to talk to. I'll devote a post to her soon.

We didn't go to the theater 2 nights ago--we actually went to a philharmonic concert. It was really good, but I almost fell asleep during the first half and had to repeatedly wake myself up. Operatic-style music is very soothing when exhausted.

Last night we went to the movies and saw Kung-Fu Panda in RUSSIAN. It wasn't dubbed...just Russian voice actors. Soooo goood. I loved it. Our coordinator tried to apologize today for choosing a kid's movie, but I love animation. Awesome. I'm going again. "Don't Mess with the Zohan" is coming soon.

Love you, miss you. 45 minutes is not enough time!
-shelley