so far

I kept on waiting for culture shock. sure that since I was in a foreign, non-english speaking formerly communist country that I would be eventually hit a point where I would end up feeling like Fidel(not castro, the little cartoon mouse), homesick and confused. Then I realized that every moment of every day is culture shock- and either I'm better at adapting than what I had hoped or I have just been numbed to the shock.

I think that the hardest part of being here has been the hunger factor. I am always hungry, and I never have anything to eat. I don't think that Russia has intentionally tried to make me feel their pain, all the same, I have. Their food has been difficult for me to get adjusted to. I have not eaten fast-food in years- yet since I've been here I've gone to McDonalds twice. Their McFlurries are better than american mcflurries. Other than that, I have supplemented food with chocolate, bread, cheese and water. and tomatos. tomatos fried, tomatos raw, tomato juice. I hope that soon I will become more adjusted to the food.
Speaking russian is going along decently I suppose. The words are all starting to sound familiar and I can understand the gist of most conversations. One major difficulty is the lack of Russians in my acquaintice. so far, the ratio of germans has far exceeded all other nationalities. I've now think of the floor above me as "Little Germany". I started my internship yesterday-but my first day happened to be the last for the other two interns- so they decided that we should all go for a barbeque in the mountains surrounding Russia. My one boss told me to try to speak russian more, and that one can not learn the language wtihout drinking its alcohol. Everyone solemnly nodded in agreement.

Dressing according to the weather? only for weaklings and americans.

The russian language and I? are still not really friends. As strange and stupid as it might sound, it never really occured to me that my smattering of russian would be the only way I could communicate to others. I don't think the realization hit me until the third day in Moscow. Kristin and I went to the coffee shop, which was written as a cognate in cyrillic. and yes, it was just was tacky looking as you might imagine.
kristin and I ordered our drinks successfully and proudly. However, the waiter came back a moment later. he was the same waiter we had had the night before when we went there with a group of people. Using hand potions and speaking incredibly slowly, he explained to us at least five times the same words. But no matter how hard we tried, we did not understand a word of what he was saying. Finally, we understood that he wanted the flier that he had given us the night before- the one that would allow us to get one of our drinks for free. He went away, and I saw that the horror I felt was mirrored in Kristens face. I realized that fully for the first time that I was in a foreign country where I could not communicate with anyone more than to state the basics. we could either laugh or cry. we decided to laugh then, but the frustration is soon going to make me gnash my teeth.
In other news, Russia as of yet is not as cold as we thought it would be. Its the same weather we would have in late october. The girls here seem to have an indifference to the weather that is amazing. no matter the bumpy, uneven sidewalk- they wear stillettos. No matter the rain- they wear skirst short enough for Malibu. It's 8 am in the morning?- their hair and make-up is done and fabulously so. The Russian girls are girls to be intimidated of. Most are tall, all are fashionable and roughly 70% look like super models. They are all so beautiful! The russian race is genetically blessed. Life can be so unfair sometimes.

Week One

So this is going to be my way of contacting people while I"m in Russia. I have found that I am much to lazy to send actual emails to everyone...so if you want to email me ( which I would love) my email is MeghanGattuso@yahoo.com

Russia is so different and yet the same in so many ways to America. For example: Driving. Both in DC and Moscow drivers have this desperate, frantic need to drive as fast as possible, with an indifference towards traffic lights and pedestrians. The difference, however, lies in the Russian's creativity of how to circumvent traffic. You see, cars here, when traffic gets to slow, or they need to drive in the opposite direction of traffic drive on the sidewalks. I was quite innocently walking on the sidewalk with a few of the girls when we heard an engine behind us. A black lexus had pulled off the road, onto the curb, and was now waiting impatiently for us to move off the sidewalk so the car could pass. This isn't an irregular occurance...cars here always seem to be driving on the sidewalk. Also, parking? While in DC people circle around forever and pay enormous fees for legal parking, cars in Russia have no qualms about parking anywhere. its very strange.
Dancing in Russia has proven to be kind of ridiculous. "there is a new dance...very popular in Russia. It's called the hustle...do you know it?" a sweet russian asked me. I would have laughed, thinking he was joking, if not for the earnestness(sp) in his voice. Yes, the hustle, that infamous 80s line dance usually reserved for those who lived in the disco era, is the new cool dance in Russia. or at least it was to this poor guy. After explaining that my mother danced the hustle, and for that reason alone, the hustle is a dance that i can never do, i could not help but understand the anti-american sentiment throughout the world. Talk about adding insult to injury, not only have we shown them democracy in forms of mcdonalds and organized crime- we have also exported the henious hustle.