The Muscovite returns...

Day number five of the same clothes... and like yesterday and the day before, the airport tells me they will deliver it today.

Meh, I have clean underwear, my passport, and a toothbrush. I would say I'm set.

Back in Russia. It is a strange deja vu that hits me at times. I can honestly say I never thought I'd be back here so soon. Today, I took my old metro line to work and got on at my old station. Nostalga hit me almost as strongly as the aroma of body odor mixed with perfume and baked goods that innundate each metro station.
The people on the metro crowd in and stand so close that they can't smile... the only "personal space" they have is their introvertedness which they protect behind frowns and downward glances. Metro is only half of my voyage. I take a van called a "Marshootka" which is a minivan that operates kind of like a taxi or bus. Many of them run from the metro stations to all destinations- they're numbered but other than that, it just looks like a youth group rally with all the similiar vans (except the passengers are largely silent rather than singing about salvation). You pay the driver and he drives his route, stopping when you tell him. I can take either of two to two metro lines that will both get me to the office. The metro here is enormous but also is the population so the cars are always full during rush hours.

When I return home, I am greeted by a beautiful blonde family. The parents are about my age- Nadia is 27 and Sergei is 32. The 7 year old boy, Pasha, has a buzz cut and a rat tail. He is a bit prococious- intelligent and wants to learn and read things. He also likes showing me photos of the family and telling me who everyone is and showing me his toys. Katya is 5, could be a child beauty queen, and is a fluttery little thing- always jumping around except when she is watching a dvd or has an ice cream. She loves to cuddle and will charm anyone within approximately 4 seconds.

They are a protestant family- not so common nor accepted in the land of Orthodoxy. They personify Christianity to a level by which I am humbled. I eat meals on tiny plates (nothing here is super sized!) with them after they say grace and the children never want to finish their meals. But they must eat everything on their plates and finish their Kompot (homemade juice) or hot cocoa before they may have dessert or leave the table.
Meals are simple but tasty. Yesterday, I had a bit of chicken cooked with shredded onions and carrots in oil and salted. It was served with noodles on the side and there were also tomato slices topped with cheese mixed with garlic. The adults have tea adn dessert together after dinner and the children play a bit before getting tucked into bed. Last night we had fresh strawberries :) Not as good as PA strawberries, but I never complain when strawberries appear before me!

The real treat was breakfast- we had blinchik (like a pancake, more like a crepe) rolled up with strawberry jam and served with sweet icing much like what comes with toaster streudles. We also had yogurt. I love european style yogurt- made with whole milk but about half the sugar of yogurt at home. The family eats very healthy food but doesn't eat "low fat" anything so I think I am in the right place!

This moment, I am sitting at my own dest at the office. Two employees are on a monthlong holiday so I get a great desk by a window. It is a small, cramped but friendly office (much like the one I left in D.C. except sunnier!). I will write more about my work later since this entry is getting a bit lengthy and I think I need to do some actual work to write about! Suffice it to say I really think I will like this internship. The work is so interesting and I love the projects they have given me so far.

I will soon write a post about things I have neglected to update, including my two weeks in America!

Paka!