Всё отлична! For some reason, I held this belief that one day, I would suddenly just understand most of what people were saying to me. I guess it’s not too strange, because most is just 51%, so I guess it’s most that I thought I would be aware of crossing some understanding halfway point. While I am certainly not claiming that I am halfway to fluentcy, I felt like I understood much more than I did yesterday; watching TV and listen to people speak became a relevant activity and not just background noise. So, everything is amazing.
Yesterday we had a slumber party, us louisville kids, and it was pretty much a good time. While still not physically able to down enough vodka-juice mixture to actually get drunk, I did manage to wince and gag my way to tipsyness while the proud few got tremendously wasted and puked on each other. Also, karioke! I am amazed that, for the first time in my life, I am social successful in the small-summer-program-group situation. I’m at least on good terms with all of the girls and feel like I actually have a couple of friends among the boys. It’s all been remarkably drama free, but we still have two and a half weeks yet.
Today, we rode the bus for two hours through the scenic Russian countryside to visit a small, depressing Russian town, with one really cool church. I think we all becoming grateful that we live in America, where going to college means you’ll be atleast middle class. In Russia, it seems like everyone struggles, no matter what their education level or profession. I still have yet to see Moscow and St. Petersburg, so I don’t have the full picture of Russian life.