No smiling, please.

Success! I finally have internet at my apartment. I found a free network I can use if I sit in/near the hallway of my apartment and I’ll try to get a safer connection soon. I’ve only been without internet for a few days, but it seems like a lifetime. I’m addicted.
Right now I should be studying new words I’ve learned, but instead I’m writing to you lovely people. I justify this procrastination by saying that I don’t want to forget anything that’s happened thus far, and therefore I must write it all down now. So, a summary of the past few days:
Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite was playing as I boarded my plane which would whisk me away to Mother Russia. I flew Aeroflot, a Russian airline, and since I was flying from Germany it was only about a two hour flight. Awesome. I arrived in Moscow around midnight but luckily I didn’t have to figure out the trains and metro right away – the program director and her husband picked me up and drove me home. Oh, and Moscow drivers? Craaaaazy!
I made it to my host mother’s apartment around two in the morning and she had some tea and little pastry type things ready for me, all of which were very delicious. My host mom is fairly old and has children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. As I sipped my tea and desperately tried to remember my food vocab, she mentioned that she speaks a little German. Wunderbar! Ok so yes maybe this is cheating a little, but when we don’t understand each other and after playing charades gets old, she says “po-nemenski?” (In German?) and voila! Everything works out.
The apartment is almost exactly as I imagined it would be: small. I don’t want to say it’s not nice, because it is nice. It’s just not up to the typical modern American standards, which I admit surprised me a little and even made me wonder what I’d gotten myself into. These feelings went away after I had a good night’s sleep and more yummy pastries in the morning. Now as some of you know, I’m a little obsessed with my memory foam mattress pad. Four inches of super-soft bliss? I think yes. Sadly I could only bring my memory foam pillow (which I tried to translate as “special pillow”…didn’t quite work out). My bed here is also made of foam but on a scale of 1 – memoryfoambliss, I’d rate it a 3. Oh well, I’m in Russia. If I had to sleep on the floor, I would. And I would love it.
On Monday my host mom took me to the metro station near her apartment, about a 10 minute walk. I’d heard the stories and even seen the pictures, but if you haven’t seen the Moscow metro in person, you ain’t seen nothin. The escalators going down to the trains are INSANE. They go on seemingly forever at what I think are 45 degree angles. I felt like I was going to fall forward and take everyone with me. The stations are also very, very beautiful, with architecture like you’d find in a museum. There were also tons of people since the metro is the fastest and cheapest way to get around; you can find anyone from the lower to upper classes in the metro. It was all a little intimidating at first, but on Tuesday our program director taught us all about the metro: how to buy tickets, how to make transfers, how to ask for help, and how to respond when someone asks directions. I can now confidently go from my apartment, transfer to another line, and continue on to the station by the university.
I’ve been warned that it’s easy to spot an American in Moscow because they smile at everyone and expect a smile in return. Silly Americans. In Moscow, like any big city, there are too many people to spend all your time smiling. I’m a pretty smiley person, so I sometimes have to work at my game face. Most of all, I try to imitate what the Russians are doing. As the program director told us, Russians read on the metro, so we should read; if they don’t read they stare at you, so we should stare back.

More about the host mom situation: So far the only English word she’s said is “chicken.” Of course it’s awkward at times, but this really really really forces me to speak Russian, which is after all is what I’m here for. It’s only been a few days but I already feel way more comfortable that at first. Since I’m originally from Washington state, I brought her a book of scenic photographs of Washington and a little jar of Washington huckleberry jam (which, incidentally, I have no idea how to translate to Russian.) The gifts broke the ice a little. I also brought a photo album with pictures of me growing up, my family, and my friends. Having pictures and describing them made it a lot easier to hold an actual conversation, and she really liked seeing little bits from my life. After that she showed me her family pictures and we stood (a little awkwardly I admit) in her living room talking about her family, her dacha (summer house), and when she was a teacher. She also has a million books and I’ll ask her if I can read them in a few days.
I eat breakfast and dinner at home and the food is very yummy. I was scared that my host mom would say I’m too skinny and try to force feed me, but luckily if I say I’m full she doesn’t try to shove more potatoes down my throat. So far my favorite things she’s made are the little pastries (I need to find out what they’re called…) and this other really tasty thing (so I really need to review food vocab) which is spread on bread or slices of vegetables. I asked her what it was and thought she said caviar. Eating caviar freaks me out a little, but it was so good that I didn’t care. (Maybe not knowing what you’re eating is better anyway?) I ate it again the next day and asked what it’s called in German. Lo and behold, I was not eating caviar but cabbage. Whew. There is also a never ending supply of tea and coffee. Wunderbar!
I've been having problems using the keys to get into the apartment (she fo' reals needs some WD40 on those locks) and my host mom informed me that if I could learn how to open the door she would go to her dacha for a few days. This morning I think she said she was going to her dacha, so when I came home I was more than a little scared that I wouldn't be able to get in. Luckily I was smarter than the keys (after a few tries) and made it through the door. I'm not sure when she's coming back...or what I should make for dinner...but....as my host mom says, "Всё будет хорошо" - Everything will be OK.

Tomorrow we're being interviewed by professors from the university so they can see how much Russian we know. Scary.
Time to study! I'll try to post pictures next time.

From Russia with love (I will frequently reference movies, so get used to it),

Kara