Summer is Officially Over

I’ve been here a week and a half now and already the past summer seems so far away. Although there have been a few sunny days, it has mostly been rain and clouds so far, accompanied by a brisk wind. Autumn is my favorite season and I can smell its approach every time I step out the door. However, no autumn can compare to those in Vermont and I will dearly miss the strength that autumn blows in with, overwhelming all the senses. However, there are plenty of trees in my neighborhood and hopefully they will suffice. And thankfully, we will definitely be visiting a dacha (country house) sometime later this month. Russian dachas are wonderful and I would feel absolutely starved of nature without a few visits.

My classes here have yet to begin. I have taken an exam that will place me in appropriately challenging Russian courses and my first class on the Russian arts will take place tomorrow. I will also be receiving a list of courses outside of the international students faculty that I might be interested in, such as courses in politics and history.

As I have been to Moscow before, I have already visited many of the normal tourist sites. However, there are some events in the past week that stand out. On the evening of the 2^nd, we went to a show on Red Square, of military tattoos, from all around the world. It was quite impressive, especially when the last Russian tattoo was accompanied by a light show on St. Basils Cathedral.

We also went to the Pushkin Museum, where there was a pre-Raphaelite exhibit. I love the aesthetics of pre-Raphaelite paintings and was pleased to have the opportunity to see some of them in person.

            I also had my first tutoring session on Tuesday. My tutee, Fedya, is 12 years old and a really great kid. Teaching English will be an interesting challenge for me, in addition to being a steady source of income.

Everything has gone great so far and I honestly don’t have any complaints. The little details that make up my days always seem so bright. Just this morning, as I walked past the kindergarten near my apartment building, I saw a little boy in the tree next to the fence. Right as I walked by, he fell out of the tree! I went over and asked if he was ok (in Russian, of course) and he began to cry and ran away. His mother was not far, packing something into the car with her little girl in tow. I told her that the boy had fallen and turned to keeping walking, but she called after me “Girl!” so I went back.

She wanted to know what he landed on when he fell, but I’m horrible with body vocabulary in Russian, so I apologized, saying I didn’t know enough Russian. Then, she asked me in English! Honestly, her English was fantastic and I’m so glad she spoke it, else I would have felt like a jerk for not being helpful. She decided not to bring the boy to the doctor, since he did not fall on his head.

I feel so at home in my apartment with my host mom and dog, but the next nine months seem so unbelievable. I just can’t comprehend such a long span of time! Though, I’m sure that once I reach the end, it will seem as if these months have flown by.