Russia Update #5

Yeah, I know, I'm really behind. What can I say. Life here just kind of gets me involved and it's hard to find time to do these updates which take longer, and I have to think about more than my weekly blog entries.so I encourage all of you who want to know about my adventures in more detail to check out said blog at http://learnspeak.blogspot.com

That having been said, On to the rest of my letter.

A lot's been going on in the last couple of months. For those of you who are behind on the times, I changed host families right after new years. In Mid-January. It started out as a temporary family while my first host mom, Raisa, was on a business trip. I really liked the family, got along well with them, so I got to stay with Elena Ivanovna and her daughter, Sasha. I'll probably be staying with them until mid-april. I'm not sure if I'll have a third host family or not. I'd like to, but the last I heard, Raisa was talking about having me move in with her again. I don't know what's going to happen and at this point I'm not going to worry about. I've got other problems.

Some of said problems are little things that are no big deal, and just part of the every day stuff. Some of the problems are a little bigger. like the fact that my registration ran out on the 29th and so I'm living here illegally right now.

You may or may not remember that at the beginning of the year i had some slight problems with my visa. Actually, from what I found out, my visa is fine and is good until august of 2008. My problem is that the law here was changed in October. basically what happened is that you are only allowed to be registered in the city/country for 6 months. then you can't renew it anymore. in order to be able to remain in the country until July, I have to leave the country for at least 24 hours and then come back in. yet another adventure in Russian bureaucracy.

I don't sweat it though. I was really anti-wanting to go. I was completely freaking out about it. (you can ask my parents lol) and I finally figured out why. It's because I trust the Russians. Perhaps, those of you who don't know any better are laughing, but it's the truth. I've been living here so long (over seven months now) that i feel comfortable with the culture. Yeah, it's a crazy culture and I'll probably never understand completely or be able to figure some things out, but I've got a good hold on it. Enough so that I kind of know what to expect from Russians. They were talking about sending me to Korea. by myself. which scared me. and maybe you're thinking 'but abigail, you went to russia all by yourself," And maybe that's what scared me, because it would be like starting the exchange all over again. i'd be in the middle of a random country where I don't speak the language and don't know the culture. not that I'm a wuss, and wouldn't enjoy such an experience again under the right circumstances, it's just the fact that I'm kind of being forced into having to go. which isn't so cool. I sucked up my issues, and so I'll go, and it'll be alright. It's just another adventure that's part of the exchange.

Actually, the good news is that i'm really enjoying myself. The other day I was walking down the street thinking. Yeah, I could see myself living and working in Russia. Maybe not Yakutsk, but Russia in general. I'm comfortable enough with the language and with the culture that I could do it, and I would enjoy it.

As I'm writing this I have four months, and six days left. Four months and six days from now, I'll be crawling into my bed in Ohio. That kind of scares me too. just the fact that I'm going to have to leave. i have a friend here who spent some time working in america, and It's like each time I see him, his english is worse. nothing hugely major, like he hasn't completely forgotten it, but he is forgetting, and that scares me because I think "This is probably going to be me". I think that's my biggest fear. I'm terrified of forgetting. Forgetting not just how to speak, but forgetting this place and I'll I've seen and done here. Sometimes it's really hard for me to make an effort and get close to people because I think "You know the closer I get to people here, the more it's gonna hurt when I go home." Not that I never want to see home again, but it's just confusing. It's like i'm both looking forward to and dreading the day I go home.

And so I try not to think about it.

That's about all the philosophy I've got for right now. once again, if you're looking for something other than emotions, if you want the everyday stuff. check out my blog. The updates, have become more of an emotional journey, I think.

Anyway,
Until next time
Abigail