I survived my first week in Russia.

Ah, yes. Here I am once again at the coolest Russian hang-out in town- McDonalds.

I updated only a short while ago, but since then, much has happened... here goes!

This morning when leaving the apartment, I opened the door a little too hard, and accidentally hit the most beautiful Russian man I have ever seen (even more beautiful than Ovechkin--I don't care what you say about his missing tooth, Ovechkin's a babe) Anyway, I said:

Me: "Ой, извините!" (Oy! Excuse me!!)
Beautiful Russian Man: "Ничего Ничего" (Not a problem)

...I think its fate.

Anyway..let's backtrack a little bit. Yesterday we did not have class-field trip day. Some of my friends and I decided to meet up and go sight -seeing. On the way there, I was on the metro, minding my own business when a creepy man whispered in my ear (the metro is CROWDED) :" "Девушка, что хочет?" --What I thought translated to: "What's your price." I've been told it has happened before, so naturally I freaked out and got off that metro asap and made a BEELINE for the door. I went on with my day but the incident was in the back of my mind for quite a while. My host mom somehow has a sixth sense and could tell that I was upset that night, even though I've only been there a few days and don't speak much Russian. I told her what happened as best I could, and once she started to laugh, I knew I had misinterpreted the situation. She said: "Masha, you don't understand Russian very well yet. Trust me, if a man wanted a prostitute, he would definitely know where to find one" She went on to say that the metro is a heavily guarded place with cameras, police, etc. And if any police saw a prostitute, she'd be thrown in jail, not to mention a man would never dare ask such a question in the morning with so many people around. After calming down a little and laughing at my own ignorance, she gave me some tips on how to deal with the creepers on the metro. She told a story about a time where a man was bothering her--she kept telling him to go away, and when he didn't, she got up and moved to the opposite end of the train. He then followed her, and she continued to say 'leave me alone'. The other, less-creepy men on the train grabbed him by the collar, and when the door opened, kicked him out. Awesome. So, lesson learned: Before coming to Russia, I liked to think I knew everything about Russian culture. This incident proved that I still have much to learn.

Whew! After sight-seeing, touring the main campus, and eating a good ol' 'Murrican meal of Diet coke and Mozzarella sticks, the group headed to the bowling alley to meet our Russian tutors/peers/paid friends/whatever you want to call them. My tutor's name is Diana, she's 23 and actually works with Nathan for ACTR. She is very nice and said she has a lot of plans for us to go out.. I'm not sure if I completely understood everything, but I think she said 1) Her family has a dacha and that I should go with her 2) Her mom works at a ballet studio where many well-known Russian dancers practice for shows and that I should go watch sometime.. AWESOME.
Bowling with her was fun, I also met all the other Russian tutors and am well on my way to being a part of a hip Russian crowd.

After I got home and freaked out to my host mom about creepy-metro guy, we continued to talk for another hour and a half about stereotypes, culture, politics and history. I understood her 95% of the time, but then theres always that 5% where my brain shuts off... Anyway, I learned a lot from her:
1) Russians and Georgians don't HATE each other, like I've been told- She kept saying that the relationship between the two countries is very exaggerated on the news. There are Georgian restaurants, large businesses, and stores in Russia. The two cultures peacefully co-exist.
2) I asked her what Russians REALLY think about Stalin/Soviet Union/etc. After assuring me multiple times that she was not a communist, she went onto explain though it was a very difficult time, there was a system for everything. Although I am still obviously very cynical about the whole thing, what I learned from her was that Russians liked the systemization, but not Stalin. I am still trying to understand it, because I think the two go hand in hand.
3) She has the impression that schools in Western Europe/ United States focus solely on history of W.E/US, and not enough about Russia, producing stereotypes. She makes a valid point: There are many, MANY stereotypes about Russian culture, and since I've been here I have realized that those stereotypes (like many) are only valid for an tiny portion of the population. Example: There aren't vodka bottles lying around, people don't throw back shots in the morning, there aren't bears roaming the street (although that would be cool), and not everyone is a communist. (It is still a political party, but not the one in power-and from what she was saying, it's relatively small).
4) Random, but curious question: When I asked her if I have a heavy accent when I speak Russian, she told me I had a foreign accent, but not necessarily American. She said the most noticeable American accents are southern.

After an 1.5 hours passed, the babushka came in the kitchen and said very firmly "Masha, you MUST sleep- you are young and you need energy. Enough talk, sleep Masha, sleep!" Fearing the wrath of the Russian babushka, I quickly got up, said goodnight, and ran to my room.

Whew! Now as promised, some pictures of my host family, but of the little girl Nastya. I will get pictures of Sasha and Tatiania Dmitrievna when they aren't so busy. Also some pictures of the main campus where I study/ Sight-seeing with friends.




She's adorable!


In front of the Winter Palace- we are waiting to go inside until we can get free admission with our students IDs.


LUNCH with my friend Grace.


Standing by the bridge across the street from Palace Square.


Main Campus Building


Пока! Off to get some bottled water and Kinder Chocolate= win!