Beginnings, and Cucumber Millionaires

I flew into Moscow really early and slept relatively comfortably in the terminal for six hours until everyone arrived. And by that I mean Galya and Alexei (the school directors) and a few of the other teachers. It was a long, slow drive to Vladimir during which we half-slept and half-got acquainted. I was dropped at my new apartment and I met Irina, my host. She pretty much rocks. We hung out around the apartment and I got settled in.

Friday, we all met at school (the American Home, hereafter AH) to have a look around and meet the staff. Then we went out for lunch and had a tour of the city. Vladimir was the second capital of Russia, after Kiev and before Russia, and was founded somwhere around 900 years ago. Its most famous symbol is the Golden Gate into the city, which is actually white. The AH is just a block away from it. Two churches here are very famous - one, Assumption Cathedral, stayed open during the Soviet period and is home to Alexander Nevsky's thumb and frescoes by Rublev and Chyorny.

In the evening, I met Irina and friends for a seven-hour (oh how I wanted to go home and sleep) dinner in all its glory. Yeah, I'm definitely back in Russia.

Saturday, we took a short trip to Suzdal, a town that exemplifies that idyllic Russian countryside. It was City Day, so after buying pickles on the street (here they're kind of halfway between cucumbers and pickles) we strolled around through the booths and the sketchy carnival rides and the food and the stages. Good, clean fun.

Aaron, Nicole and I hung out at Joanna's apartment for a while; I furthered my knowledge of the city bus system and made it home pretty easily.

Irina and I stayed up late over tea talking about life, the universe, and everything, including The da Vinci Code and Australia. I need to keep in mind that I'm making as much - right out of college, just teaching my native language - as a surgeon does here.

And the AH cat is sitting on my keyboard, so I'm done.