First Real Post From Russia

Hello beloved.
I suppose a lot has happened…. I don’t really know where to start. I guess I should start with goodbyes. I said goodbye to Latvia and cried a little. I cried especially before and after saying goodbye to Vitalik and I must say that our goodbye was perhaps the sweetest goodbye of my entire life. Papa and Veronika took me to the train station, and helped me get my bags on the train and tried to help me with the documents I had to fill out before they were shoo’ed off the train.
IT was a quite enjoyable train ride. I could lay down, which WAY beats an airplane. And the toilet was surprisingly clean and had toilet paper, a toilet seat, soap, and paper towels. I cannot express how pleasantly surprised I was! The train was old and delightful. I filled out my documents and read some WWZ and pretended to sleep, when a babushka who was to sit across from me showed up and was very huffy about my excessive amount of bags. She made the stewardess lady come and wake me up, so I could do something about it but there was really nothing I could do. From then on every time I appeared to be away the babushka talked to me. She asked me where I was from and I straight up said America, I don’t like to lie, it is a sin if I recall correctly. But now if I am in a tight spot I can always say I came here from Latvia… that is true right? But so far I have just answered honestly, but only really babushkas have asked me. I like to talk to babushkas. Unless they are the pissy ones they are nice and speak slowly and about nothing in particular and usually just because they enjoy talking, so I don’t have to much work. I can just listen mostly. She told me about her daughters and granddaughters, etc. I sometimes pretended like I was asleep so I could read without her talking to me, but it was all pleasant. At the border I got my bag searched, which was fun. He said something official sounding which I didn’t understand so I got up and said “chto” (what?) and he asked if I knew Russian and I said that my Russian was bad, so he asked if I spoke German and I said I didn’t he said “jasno” and from then on spoke along with grandiose gestures which were surprisingly helpful. It was kinda funny though, because I had locked my luggage and that made it a little harder for me.
When we got to the station I got to carry (not roll… not enough space) all of my bags down the aisle to the wagon’s exit. There I was greeted by Elena (not the one I live with but a different one), who was astounded by the sheer magnitude of what I brought… yeah. The Director from my Latvian school- when I went to meet her said that she had a female cousin in st. pete and she called her and her son had studied through afs in Tulsa, Oklahoma (of all places). Anyways I guess he called Elena, and he carried my bags and was our chauffer. He was SO nice and drove me home via the scenic route, hitting all of the main spots in town and telling me about them. It was SO nice. So get home, which is such a beautiful building and go upstairs of this awesome rickety elevator and am greeted by Elena Borisovna ( and Nora the black and white spaniel).
Elena Borisonova chided Elena for not informing her of the exact times of my arrival and said that she was only aware I was coming because I had talked to them online. It was cute, and I don’t want to cross her. But very Russian-y and a good welcome I think. I said goodbye to my caravan and got a mini tour of our HUGE APT. and was shown my room (which is the biggest room I’ve ever lived alone in in my life). Elena Borisonova asked me if I wanted to eat and I said that I didn’t, and instead wanted to sleep, so she let me to my room. There, instead of sleeping I unpacked, and after a while she came and knocked on the door and asked me to eat. So I went to the kitchen and we ate blini together and drank tea. Then I went back to my room, pretty much finished unpacking, found a nook for my bags and unsuccessfully to sleep. Then I had to pee so I went to the bathroom. Our apt so big that you have to walk down a long hallway from the toilet to the bathtub, which is where we wash our hands. In route to wash my hands I met Nonna. I am pretty sure that I looked frightened and guilty (because I had not yet washed my hands and I am hardcore about that), and she gave me a questioning look that seemed to be questioning my look. Then, after I washed my hands we all got acquainted in the kitchen. I don’t really know what I did after that… maybe read. Then I met Elena Borisanova’s son who came to close my window… I dunno. IT is weird they have the same kind of window as we have in Latvia but they don’t want me to open it by myself in case I hurt it or something….
Then Elena Borisonova went with me to get a sim card and she had so use her passport and sign for it herself, for reasons I am unsure of. But that was very kind of her. I put it in my phone and she pointed me in the direction of the nearest metro and we parted ways. I used the metro to get way the crap on the other side of town, and then got on tram #8 to get to the house-church that I was supposed to meet the rehab people at. Elena Borisanova thought I was supposed to be at the metro station at 6, but I was supposed to be at the church at 6, so when I finally get of the tram I it is 6:40. I don’t know the exact location of the church. The plan was to call when I got there…. But now I don’t wanna call and interrupt church. So I walk aimlessly until 7:15 (in -7 or so degrees Celsius). IT wasn’t too bad because my coat was warm, but though I told myself I’d call at 7:30 I gave in at 7:15. But they didn’t answer so I found a store with like double doors and stood there, so that I was out of the cold but not in a store. When I called at 7:30 he answered and I explained who I was and where I was and said I wanted to meet. He gave me the address and I again wandered relatively aimlessly trying to find it, and asking random passerbys for help. They were always kind and did what they could. I eventually called again and got to the right building but I needed to get on the 4th floor and it was unclear what door to go through or what, and then this other guy called me and tried to talk me over. Eventually we all met up and since church was over I was invited to drink tea at Volodya’s house to discuss things. Volodya is married and has 2 WAY adorable kids. His wife prepared the tea and we all discussed what I believe and what they do at the center and at what times. Everyone who goes to their church and works at the rehab doesn’t drink a drop, and doesn’t smoke, because of the verse about not making your brother stumble. So, that now makes me a tea-totaler… in Russia. Wa?
Then I got home via bus and metro without incident. hurray! Elena Borisonova had made the most amazing food ever (yes, I was incredibly hungry and worn out so… who knows how good it really was, bu that is irrelevant). It was macaroni and then this meaty sauce stuff. It was like hamburger helper made from scratch. I then SHOWERED. My first shower THIS YEAR. Shortly thereafter I went to bed, COMPLETELY BEAT.
The next day was my first day at the institute. They had me be there at 10. I got there gave them my documents, and took a placement test. I hate russian tests of any kind. Every shred of information leaves my mind and I ALWAYS bomb. Otherwise I am a pretty good test taker, but Russian is in so many ways my bane. Paige came in while I was taking my test (she is the only girl I knew before I got here) and took hers too. I was taking the advanced test that was COMPLETELY GRAMMAR *ahhh!!! I’m in hell!* (as dad might say). Paige took the intermediate test and it was completely vocab. Then Tanya came and met us and said that she was to give us a tour of the institute. I think that took about 5 minutes because it is SO SMALL! Then she showed us possible classes we could take. Then the lady who gave us the test, whose name I forget printed off all of the possible classes. IT was like 15 pieces of paper to sift through. She told us to go to the classes that interested us this week and then on Friday tell her which 4 we wanted and if we needed more time we could just tell her so. It looks like I will be having these classes only on Tuesday, Thursday from 10:40-14:10. I am still not set on which classes because there are multiple classes in that block that I like. And once we figure these out, they will schedule our Russian for foreigners classes around that. I still don’t know what level I am at. When we left the institute we headed to my place for tea (Paige and I). I don’t know if it was appropriate for me to do that, but it was just another foreigner and I decided to test that line. Then we exchanged some of Paige’s money and I ran to an atm. Then we went to Nevsky Prospect. It is like the Broadway or Times Square of st. pete. Since paige has never been here I really wanted her to see it. Then we went to a bookstore and I bought some cards and the Little Prince in Russian. Caroline has been wanting me to read it and since it was originally in French, whatever I read will be a translation and this will be good practice for me.
Then we went to Paige’s Apt. She has a cute and needy but beautiful gray cat. I want it. Then I came home and ate some lazy goloptsi (I dunno how to spell that). I was incredibly beat, but felt refreshed after the food and stayed up until 12:15 or so talking to Nonna and Elena Borisonova. We talked about everything. We talked about food, music, art, religion, etc. I showed them the little art book I brought and showed them some pictures of my other works. Haha. They were so cute they wanted to see more, but I don’t have pictures of my other works. I talked about the ministry thing we had at Kraettli and about the last night the girls and I spent together when we sang hymns, had communion and washed each other’s feet. They kinda glowed when I told them about that, and so am like 90% sure they have got the Holy Spirit in them. They are some form of Orthodox and cross the door every time they leave the house, cross the food before they eat, and there is a cross drawn on the wall in every room of the apartment. I went to bed and woke up early the next morning, ate some kasha and met Paige at the Metro before going to the institute.
We went to one lesson. IT was painful. I don’t think the teacher appreciated our presence and seemed to all but tell us so when class ended. I understood a lot of what she was saying in class but I had to write it down in English because I know I can’t write that fast in Russian and in the course of translating and writing I would forget the last few words she had said, so my notes had little blanks every sentence or so. Paige didn’t understand much of anything I think, and we wrote a few notes during class. Then we were supposed to meet Tanya to she could show us placed to buy things. She had bought us a map, which was SO sweet. She was like 30 minutes late which means we missed the 2 other classes we wanted to go to…  but she showed us where to buy a few things and how to but money on my cell phone, etc. She is really nice. REALLY. So far the only person I have really talked to in English is Paige. Every now and then we talk in Russian, but we pretty much talk to each other in English. This is kinda disappointing to me, but it is just the beginning and she has never been this flooded with Russian before to it is WAY understandable. We then went to my place and watch a Russian movie “Operation E” (I guess that is how you would translate it?). Then she went home and I ate. Elena Borisonova had a music practice at the apt, so I got to hear piano, guitar, and saxophone and her voice scatting for like 2-4 hours. It was most pleasant. Elena Borisonova lent me the movie The Master and Margarita. It is interesting. It is a miniseries so it is like 8 hours long and I only have 2 hours left. I have read the book in translation. Will someone who loves the book PLEASE email me about it (deah@ou.edu) because I may not get the richness of it. I keep getting stuck on the heresy of it and its intense focus on evil, which makes me kinda disgusted by it. Don’t get me wrong, when I read it I was totally getting into the action and didn’t wanna put it down, and I particularly love Behemoth and the chaos they all create, but what is the point? Why is Jesus not Christ? Why the crap does the focus have be on Evil. Why is the Evil so petty when I can tell you from experience demons I’ve run in with aren’t trying to create mischief but trying to steal, kill, enslave, and destroy. Also, I LOVE BULGOKOV. The Heart of a Dog is SO good and the reason I read Master and Margarita. I also read a little WWZ last night 
Today I slept in until 11:30 and last night I stayed up until 2:30. FELT SO GOOD. Feels good to stay up and feels good to sleep in and feels good to get 9 hours in. So far today I have showered, eaten, and written this. I will go to Rehab today, Lord willing.
P.S. This would be a bad building to be in if there were a Zombie attack I think… if it was a minor infestation and the police were actually doing something about it it would be great, but like when does that ever happen? For an all out war, it would be a death trap.

Okay. I’m back from my excursion. I left way early and went to the metro station I’ve only been to once before and went a different way than I went the first time. This way was definitely faster and this Metro is definitely the closest one to my apartment. Yea! It is on a nice busy corner that has a McDonalds, a Pizza Hut and a KFC. I think I shall call it the American Hub. I was shaking I was so hungry so I went to McyD’s (I went into KFC first but got too nervous so tried for something with more anglo names). It was a disaster because the line was long and I got way nervous and butchered everything. They had to get a girl who spoke English. Oh well, here’s to my first American meal this year. OH! And I saw my fist black man (there are like no black people in Russia)! I was really excited. I really wanted to go talk to him because he was probably a foreinger like me and his presence in McyD’s seemed to double that possibility in my mind… but I didn’t. I just went down the metro and headed to Rehab. The wagon wasn’t completely full- there was even a seat left open and I wasn’t far from it so I started making for it but a guy got there before so I just grabbed the bar near by… BUT THEN he realized I had been going for it and got up and told me to sit down! WHAT A GENTLEMAN! I was not expecting that in St. Pete- especially on the Metro. I walked to the Rehab office and it is near Ozerki Metro, and for those who don’ know Ozerki means Lakes. So it is right by a lake and WAY pretty.  When I go there some old man saw me walking aimlessly (seems to be becoming my hobby) and asked me what I needed and I asked for Volodya or Valera and we went to a locked door and then he yelled at some other door and 2 guys came out and unlocked it and talked to me. They were really nice. I stayed there like 4 hours. It was awesome. The first hour and a half or so I understood everything they were saying. It was awesome, and when they asked me how my Russian was I said I understand but it is just hard for me to speak. But after this honeymoon period I guess my brain got tired and I understood less and less and less. It was sad and painful. I go back tomorrow after my classes. I am SOOO tired so I am going to bed. Peace players.
P.S. I take back what I said about this building being bad for Zombies. Today I noticed a pull down ladder to the roof - A definite plus. I think if this building was infiltrated it would be SO hard to get out, but if they were on the street trying to get to us I think we could destroy the first layer of stairs and make this building defensible. And if we still had electricity we wouldn’t even have to use a ladder to get down, we could just used the elevator (when any door on the elevator is open it won’t operate.. plus Zombies would be was too dumb to use it anyways).


Above are pics of my room.