Monday, July 20st
I probably had the best conversation with my host father tonight, by which I mean I actually comprehended almost all of it, and respond to his questions. He was telling me how difficult it is to live in Russian society. People make virtually nothing with their profession. For example, teachers make an average of $270 a month, lawyers about $1300 a month, and judges about $1700 a month. Their monthly salaries are equal to what their American counterparts make in a few days. While staple foods are cheaper here (bread, milk, etc.), bigger things like cars and appliances cost the same as it does in America, and some things, like coffee pots and microwaves actually cost more (the cheapest coffeepot I found was $100). While I knew that in order to host a foreigner the household income must be at least $330 a month, I didn’t realize that my host family was only making $850 a month together. It’s actually really admirable that they are able to sustain themselves with a large garden and limited usage of water, and supplement the money that would be used to pay for that extra food and water with internet access and other non-essentials. I still don’t think I would be able to survive here on that type of income, which is actually above average…
On another note, I have been thinking about my experiences with learning enterprises and I realize that I really enjoy working with them. While I don’t think I could ever be a program director after seeing what Brett deals with, I think I will apply for a position (maybe campus coordinator) next year. I’ve also been looking at some of the other programs we had and I’ve decided to take Spanish along with Russian next year so I can apply for the Learning Enterprises programs in Panama and Mexico, which will cost a lot less and would help me get in touch with my Spanish roots. As far as international community service and teaching English as a second language goes, I think this experience has pushed me to apply to programs to teach English in South Korea, China, or Japan the year after I graduate before I enter the peace corps. I’m not sure how my parents would feel about this, and when they read this it will be the first time they’re hearing (or seeing) anything about it, so mom and dad, what do you think? It’ll definitely be an experience, right?
1 Comment(s)
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Yeah, they’ll get a kick out of that alright…”What is he thinking?!!? He can’t afford that!!!!”