GAME CHANGER...again!!!

it looks like blogspot allows for commenting better.  so here's the first post that i wrote before:

hey guys,

i’ve decided to make this blog now about my adventures, seeing as i’m now 4676 miles away from many of the people i love (give or take a few- yeahhh i just googled the distance between new york and moscow.  and no, i had no idea before i did that).

anyway, the concept of blogs, especially in the case where i’m not on some “awesome-study-abroad-cultural-learning-adventure!!!” always seemed sort of self-indulgent.  however, with franny’s promise that she would write me blog love notes, i couldn’t refuse.  feel free to read as you will.  also i will try to write with some capital letters soon.  maybe.  no promises.  also if you read please respond! think of this more as a conversational type of space.

ooo also i’ll have an excuse to post all the pictures i want!!! added boooonuuuus!

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anyway.  so right now i am tucked into a cozy bed on the top floor of my stepsister’s house in a little community outside of moscow central-city.  its 8:23am here and 12:35am for most of you guys.  just 32 hours ago, after saying goodbye to mom and jesse, i boarded a flight bound for istanbul.  the following is an account between that time and now:

landed in istanbul,

ate (or tried to eat) everything in the airport that had the prefix “turkish” (turkish icecream MAY have been stretching it)

drank copious amounts of turkish coffee

eventually boarded a flight for moscow

curled up into a strange contorted position and fell asleep on the shoulder of a rather corpulent russian man

landed in russia

skipped the x-ray at customs, thanks to the formidable sizes of the suitcases i was carrying

was picked up by misha (sasha’s husband) 

greeted at the house by the joyous, bilingual dog chester (or честор), who barked his head off despite mishas’ gentle commands of “тихо, тихо” (quiet, quiet).

got excited hugs and stories from xenia and alex, step-niece and -nephew

ate a delicious dinner of pork, zucchini, and brown rice that sasha had made and listened to xenia’s tales of the absurd expectations of highschool teachers

emailed the people who would have contacted the police if i hadn’t (cough cough MOM)

began Винни Пух (winnie the pooh in russian)

crashed SO HARD it wasn’t even funny (10 pm)

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sooo here i am, monday morning in bed. now i’ll be off to make some oatmeal and coffee (sasha is going to teach me how to use the cappuccino machine this evening!) and figure out something reasonably productive to do with myself.  i’m thinking that i’ll go into the school on wednesday to check it out, meet with teachers, etc., but until then it’s all about wrapping my head around my new reality.  which is SO EXCITING…and so strange and new and everything.  

До скорого, друзья!