Weds., July 8th
Okay, so today was really interesting! We were interviewed by 2 Russian papers, and we will have articles printed within the next few days. I’ll have to get a copy to bring back home, but of course it will be in Russian!
The initial shock of the Americans in town has still not worn off. I am in my town with our program director, Brett (but he is leaving to go to another town this Sunday), and there are many townspeople who want to meet us. My students keep inviting me to do things, and one of the best pupils in the class, Nancy, has told me that her family wants to take me to the river (a big pastime here that sort of insinuates that they want to become friends). I know that she wants to study in the US for a year of high school, and her parents are really supportive, so I’m helping her look for some programs with scholarships, since everyone here is extremely poor and wouldn‘t be able to afford it otherwise. She’s a great kid, and has a real interest in learning English, and in my opinion she really deserves this opportunity. I take everything I have for granted, and I complain about what I don’t have rather than realizing what I do. I just can’t believe it’s taken something as drastic as this to notice…
On a more happier note though, I went to the library today and got a tour. It’s really small and doesn’t have a lot of books (I think she said the 10 city libraries had 20,000 books, whereas Brown for example has 6 million), but the librarians really care about the city’s youth and tries to help them. I think they might have had a heart attack if they saw the Mastic-Moriches-Shirley community library as comparison! Everyone in the library had to meet us, since we’re the hot new toys in town, and they kept giving us gifts like post cards and books and calendars from the town. Next time I need to remember to bring more things from home as gifts! They give us these things so as to never forget the encounter we had with them. It’s a really sweet tradition, especially considering how little they have already.
This weekend I’m going to the big city, Baynool, with Dasha, Brett, and Anna. We’re going to a club there and spending the night there, and we’re probably going back when the new Harry Potter movie is released to watch it in the cinema.
I think that’s all for now… oh, it did rain today though, a downpour, and since 90% of the roads are unpaved, it made of a really fun walk home. I’m going to go take a shower now.
OUT.
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