The Electricity!

So... it all started when Julie and I woke up to crackling one Saturday morning. Neither one of us knew what was going on. My computer was on the floor and we looked to see if it was making noise. Nope! We continued to hear it. Finally, I figured out that the outlet on the other side of the room was sparking! We then decided to call our office lady who could get an electrician to come and fix it. We forgot until Sunday to tell her, then decided to call her on Monday to have the guy come.

Well, the office lady called the electrician on Monday and they said they would be here SOON. She decided to come over and help us describe what was happening. I had gotten home from class by this time, around 2pm. She arrived an hour later to help me talk to the guys who arrived, since Julie was still at class. I taught Larisa how to play cards while we waited. That was a chore and half, but so much fun because I accomplished it. Then Julie arrived home at 5pm. The electricians still had not come. We all chatted for while, played a game or two, then decided to go out to get food since we had had to turn off the power for the all the outlets because the outlet in our room was smoking and sparking and the stove and fridge were both electric.

So we walked out to KFC, got food, came home and ate. The electricians still had not come. Larisa had stayed at the apartment while the rest of us went for food. Half way through supper, at 7pm, the electricians finally arrived. And here is what they did.

They were here for about 5 minutes! They decided that 2 outlets were too close to each other and so decided to disable one as a permanent solution! Larisa took care of the whole thing and the guys left. This is what we saw! They totally cut the wire from the outlet! So now we have one less outlet in the apartment.

It is all good! No more smoke, no more sparks! Thankfully!

A Day In the Life

I wake up at 7 am, ready to leave the apartment by 8 am. After leaving, I walk the 5 minutes to the bus stop where I wait with a few other nationals for the bus to arrive somewhere around 8:15 am. If I am late for that bus I get to wait 15 minutes for the next one. As the bus arrives everyone pulls out their bus tickets ready to slip them through the machine as we all step onto the bus. After getting on the bus, I find a seat, turn on my mp3 player and start listening to Russian lessons.

One particular morning as I sat on the bus in traffic, it had stopped and let off some passengers then, closed the doors and turned off its engine. I did not have anyone with me to ask what was happening so I just sat there and waited. I continued to study from my notebook and listen to my lessons. The bus eventually started again about 15 minutes later. No one else on the bus seemed worried or in a rush. I was only going to be about 10 late to my language helper! No big deal.

It is usually about a 15-20 minute bus ride to the metro station, 2 stops on the metro and another 5 minute walk to my language helper's office before I am ready to begin reviewing lessons with my language helper. This is a typical start to a long day. The rest of the day: I take the metro back to the stop that is closest to the office for classes, walk the 15 minutes to class from the metro, spend 2 hours in lessons with my teacher, walk the 30 min home from class, probably stop along the way at the store for some food or just to browse, make lunch at home, do homework, then relax for the rest of the afternoon before supper. Julie and I usually make supper together then I continue to study while she has friends over to practice language.

One other day, I decided to take the metro to my language helper's. Bad idea that morning. I ended up having to stand next to 2 drunk guys who were half sleeping on the metro. As I was getting on the next train I was standing behind a guy. Another guy got off the train and hit the guy I was standing behind in the face. He fell back and knocked me back. I composed myself and walked around the fight to get on the train. The same day my phone ran out of money and I did not realize it. I had gotten off the wrong exit of the metro and could not call anyone for help. I pulled out my map to figure out where I was. Then, had to use a text from my language helper to get past security to go see her. She was able to put money on my phone for me, thankfully since later at the office the security there would not let me in. I had to call my teacher to come out and help. She was able to figure everything out. Long Day. I learned so much that day!

The Name, Elisabeth

It has been amazing to me how much time has gone into picking out a name for me. You would think that my name is the best to use. But, Oh No! The process went something like this:

"What is your name?"
"Elisabeth"
"What do you want people to call you?"
"How does Elisabeth sound?"
"No, but we think of the queen when we hear that name. It also sounds very foreign."
"Is that bad?"
"No, What do you want us to call you."
"What is a different form that would be more acceptable?"
"What about Eliza? Or Elizavieta?"
"I would prefer Eliza." (pronounced Eleeza)
"Are you okay with us calling you Eliza?"
"Yes, when I introduce myself, I will say my name is Eliza. Is that what I need to do?"
"Yes"

This conversation happened with at least 3 people within the first 2 weeks that I was here. I was trying to work with them all and get ideas of the names. There were other ideas of why my name would not work, but I can't remember them now. Each conversation about my name took at least 10 minutes to finally come up with a name. Each time I came up with the same name.

I found this very fascinating, can you tell?

Wow, So Many New Things

I have started language study! Woohoo! Julie and I have a wonderful plan of cooking then watching some show online while we are eating.

I have bought a McChicken from McDonald's, a little roll from the metro stop, a bus ticket, a metro ticket, some groceries, and all of these things I did on my own! I also have used the metro and walked to our coworkers apartment on my own. Talk about accomplished! :)
I am using language such as "I don't understand", numbers, and greetings. It proves to be more difficult than imagined to come up with the right phrase at the right time.

Another Chapter of Life Begins

Wow, here already, in the country I have been working toward for a very long time. Hard to believe as I walk the streets and read signs from a language I am only slightly familiar with. I arrived Saturday afternoon. Since then, I have met my coworkers, begun unpacking, bought a cell phone with my coworker's help, done some grocery shopping, slept some, went to visit Red Square, took the subway, and tried to adjust to this schedule. It has been wonderful to be here and experience where I will be living.

Crazy Weekend

Wow, Quite the experience.
I was headed to see Mom in Savannah, GA when I hydroplaned and lost control of the car, to end up in a shallow ditch of water with the car on its side. The car is basically totaled. I am fine, just sore. So now I am sitting at home while my brother uses my car for work and I get stuff done like, taxes, emails, thank you's and the like.

The trip to Savannah is hopefully my last trip before I head out to Moscow on March 27th. My tickets are bought, and I am just finishing last minute things. I am very excited, but feel like I have so much to do still.

It snowed on the way home. I got to get out and build a snowman on the side of the road. So cold, but so much fun.

Traveling is Almost Done for a Bit!

I feel like I am going crazy at times! But not really! I have just been doing a lot of traveling. I am staying in Missouri at the moment and enjoying the relaxing time of being with my brother and his wife. I have recently driven to New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and this last Friday I drove out here to stay until after Christmas. I feel like so much has been accomplished and so many people have been seen and visited with. It also seems as if anywhere I go I run into snow or ice so I have had a good preparation for heading out to North Asia hopefully in February. I am so looking forward to it.
I am headed back to North Carolina on the 27th of December hopefully, and planning to stay there until I leave. There might be a couple of weekend trips up north to say goodbye to friends and family during the month of January. Nothing is set in stone though. So that is all for now!