Well, with one week left until my departure, I figured it was time to get this blog up and running. After months of planning and preparation, I’m finally going to Russia. I’ve known about my impending trip since October of last year, but it hadn’t really hit me until I got my visa in the mail today. And while it is nice to have come to this realization, it freaked me out a bit! The summer has gone by so fast, and to think that I’ll be half way around the world in a week kind of blows my mind.
So, a brief overview. I’m taking a semester abroad away from Geneva and my Hobart and William Smith Colleges and heading to Russia. Yaroslavl, to be specific; a city of about 650,000 people, located 160 miles to the northeast of Moscow on the Volga River. While in Yaroslavl, I’ll be staying with a host family and attending Yaroslavl State Pedagogical University, one of Russia’s oldest institutions of higher learning. After orientation, it will be all Russian all the time….no English!! I think this is the part of the trip that I’m not actually realizing yet, and it will take me being thrown into an all-Russian speaking environment for me to fully comprehend what I’ve gotten myself in to. I’ve been told that the first month is difficult and incredibly frustrating at times, but that one morning I’ll just wake up and everything will click. While, I don’t want to wish my time in the Motherland away, the sooner that day comes, the better!
As for now, the next 7 days of my life have been reduced to lists….to do, to get, to pack. The first two are tolerable, but the thought of packing is a little bit daunting. Everything I need for the next three and a half months of my life (including winter wear) crammed into a suitcase and a carry-on bag? Yeah, right! But I digress. If packing is the biggest of my worries, I think I’m in pretty good shape!