My flight was brutal. I even had the fortune of getting in the middle of the middle of the seats on the plane from Chicago to Frankfurt. The strangest part of it all was my anxiety. Just a lot of unknown variables I guess. I also learned that I do not enjoy traveling alone. I thought being by myself would have a sense of adventure to it. This leg of the journey did prove itself so. I decided that I need friends, haha.
So, I eventually arrive to Moscow. Waiting for me at the terminal first was my friend from Novokuznetsk, Ivan Perfileev. I was quite surprised. Then our program coordinator Tatyana was there with her spiral notebook that had my name written in large letters multiple times to give some thickness to the pen. I rode with Ivan on the public transportation to MSU and talked with him the whole time. I was shocked at how terribly I spoke Russian. I have been practicing dialogues and reviewing words to refresh my memory for quite some time before I left. However, everything was in my head. This means that I also imagined my accent to be superb and highly Russianesque. Haha, this did not happen! My mouth could not move the way I wanted it to and could not form those crisp Russian sounds I once was able to let out effortlessly.
So, I eventually arrive to Moscow. Waiting for me at the terminal first was my friend from Novokuznetsk, Ivan Perfileev. I was quite surprised. Then our program coordinator Tatyana was there with her spiral notebook that had my name written in large letters multiple times to give some thickness to the pen. I rode with Ivan on the public transportation to MSU and talked with him the whole time. I was shocked at how terribly I spoke Russian. I have been practicing dialogues and reviewing words to refresh my memory for quite some time before I left. However, everything was in my head. This means that I also imagined my accent to be superb and highly Russianesque. Haha, this did not happen! My mouth could not move the way I wanted it to and could not form those crisp Russian sounds I once was able to let out effortlessly. 
At last, we arrived. I rose from the metro and immediately knew where I was from studying my exit beforehand. But the distinguishing factor that calibrated my bearings stood about a mile and half away in all its Soviet glory: the beautiful building of Moscow State University. It is the oldest and largest university in Russia, boasting around 60,000 students. It is called one of the Seven Sisters built during Stalin's era and is just an incredibly beautiful building. I have been wildly impressed by how impressed Russians are that I am studying at MSU. It has happened several times where I will be talking to someone and I tell them I am a student at MSU and they always say, wow, good for you, or I have even gotten a few congratulations. Then when I tell them I am doing research in the field of molecular biology, they think I am pretty cool. More nerdy I'd say, but I still translate that to coolness. :)
The beauty of the building most definitely is on the outside. The inside is crap, haha. I am shocked how they have not done more repairs to this place. But it is Russia and they don't care about efficiency or decorum. When I first came into the building I was sent back and forth between 4 different rooms just to check in. My favorite part was when I went to get my key to the room. The babyshka that was getting me my key pulled out this super thick book with hand drawn lines and columns and added my name, in pencil, to the list of inhabitants on the 7th floor of sector B. MSU apparently has one of the most sophisticated supercomputers in the world, yet they do not want to hire a few IT guys from the thousands of computer science students to get things going in the technology field. Haha, to each their own.
The next stop in this version of Cribs is my bathroom. :) There is no toilet seat on my particular model. But they do have a handy design in this version: it is what we called on the mission, an observation deck. Your poop gently rests on a shallow deck of toilet before the flush sends a wave of water crashing the contents of the deck against the front wall of the toilet and down into fecal heaven.
Well, that concludes this episode of "Everything is Illuminated." I am having a blast and am happy to report that my language has drastically improved since the first day. I have been here almost a week and feel much more at ease. The first couple days were very difficult. They were surprisingly and painfully hard. I have definitely missed Nikki and all the comforts of our life. My mouth is now moving the way it is supposed to and I feel very confident with my language. I also really enjoy our group and am enjoying their company. A month is a good amount of time. I wouldn't want it to be any longer, but I am finding that I can get to know the people and the city very well. Life is good; life is bright.
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