Russia, take 2.

     As you may or may not know, I am planning on returning to the country that started this whole blog. Last time, in 2010, I had only been learning Russian for 1 semester, and was barely capable of saying "Hello, my name is..." The trip was a nightmare from the beginning, with a missed flight and no one waiting to pick me up at the airport, to the single woman I was supposed to be staying with setting me up in the apartment with her (single) nephew, who then proceeded to attempt to drunken woo me. Suffice to say, I was unimpressed.

I'm going back where???

     This time, however, I will have 3 years of Russian under my belt, a better knowledge of what I'm going into, a shorter stay, fewer cultural excursions (thank goodness), and will be with a different program. One that, hopefully, actually remembers to feed us from time to time. The basic info for the program, run through the Stony Brook University in New York, can be found at this website, under the 4-week Summer School program.

     A few highlights of the program:

• Dorm-style housing. While this may or may not mean sharing a room, if it means that I don't have to deal with drunken monkeys or kids, I am a-ok. 
• During the "hottest" month of the year- July to August. This means white nights and 70 degree weather, but unfortunately also mosquitos. Luckily, the last time I was there, the russian mosquitos didn't seem interested in me; let's hope that continues. Considering the last time I sas there the temperature rarely got above 60, and they turn the hot water off in residential housing for a week in the summer, I can cope with the bugs. 
• Culture and language classes- but this time it's up to me if I want to try t bring them in to count on my transcript. So if it gets too demanding, I can sit back and take it easy and not worry about my GPA. Not to say I'd slack, but the B+ that I got in the summer of 2010 really ruined my GPA, and I had to all but kill myself to get that grade. No thanks.
• The group all has to take the same flight to Russia. No more getting stranded alone in airports! I am so happy about this, it's not even funny.

     So, overall, I think this will be an awesome trip. We fly out on Friday, July 6th from NYC, and return to the same on Monday, August 6th. There will be some time spent in the Baltimore/ DC area both before and after, these dates, but I fully expect the 'after' to be a whole lot of sleeping and listening to people speaking English again. Am I excited? Heck yes! Am I apprehensive? Well, maybe a little. It's time to put my money where my mouth is, and see how much I've actually learned. Still, don't think I could do it any other way, so...

Cheers!