Thursday, March 25, 2010, Day 2, 11:24 p.m. Moscow time, 4:24 p.m. Athens time
Today, my host, um, sort-of dad, Grisha—who speaks much better English than he claims to—accompanied me to school. The walk to the metro from our apartment is about ten minutes, the metro ride about half an hour, and the walk to school about twenty minutes. I suppose that’s a long commute, but because everything was new, it didn’t feel it. Between the trip there and the trip home, I think I understand the metro well. It’s fairly simple. I’m lucky because one of the guys in my group takes the same metro station I do, so we worked it out together on the way back today.
At school, we did written and oral exercises so that the instructors could get a handle on how far along we are. The instructor who was talking with me during the oral exercise kept asking me questions about my stories after I told her I liked to write, which quickly and unfortunately evolved into an attempt to explain the exposition of a story I’ve been writing. “Uh…how do you say ‘She leaves her husband’ in Russian?” It wasn’t easy. I wish I’d stuck to things like family or literature in general.
After the test, we had lunch at a nearby cafeteria. I can’t say I loved it, but—it was cafeteria food. I prefer the Georgian foods Anya made for dinner.
We (the group from OU/OSU) took a bus tour of Moscow. Today, I saw the beautiful parts of the city—much better than the ride from the airport yesterday. We drove and walked through Kitay-Gorod and Red Square, past Arbat Street—what you think of when you hear Moscow, if you think of anything. The strangest thing—outside the gates to Red Square, we saw Homer Simpson (a costume), Spongebob, and a couple of other familiar characters I can’t remember. (Unrelated: we also saw a monkey in a coat.) It’s difficult to get away from America here; I heard the Bee Gees playing in a nearby restaurant. Grisha has a Mickey Mouse tattoo.
I adore my host family. They are currently giggling in the living room. They sing often, especially when Lyova is having a bath. (Anya has a light, clear voice—like a bird, though I hate to use a cliché.) Today, I gave them gifts—a piece of pottery made in Athens, and an OU onesie for Lyova—and they gave me a little metro guide, and we showed off pictures of our families. Their wedding pictures were wonderful, sweet and funny. They wore t-shirts and Converse to the ceremony. I found out last night that Anya was born the year before me, and Grisha two years before me. It’s too strange to call them my host parents.
The router is coming tomorrow, so I’ll have wireless soon. I’m glad—I’m beginning to miss everyone. I’m not homesick for America, but I am for my friends and family.
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