the first day of school....

I'm trying to think about what has happened since I updated this blog last. It seems like I'm always saying to myself, "I'm totally going to blog about this!" Ok, this weekend we went to a REALLY nice and expensive cafe, called Cafe Pushkin. It's named after a famous poet. I got eggs benedict and a cappucino. The inside of the building was so beautiful and elaborate. We were wondering what it had been used for and how old everything was. I got out my handy Moscow book and looked it up. It said that it was a really nice cafe but nothing was authentic. It was all built in 1999. You could almost hear all our bubbles burst at once. The experience was not as fun knowing that it was all fake.
On Sunday me and two of my roommates decided to try another church. We had no idea where it was. We decided to try and find it anyway. We got on the bus and looked stupid for a while because we didn't know how to use the ticket taker thing. We got off after 4 stops and were left to find this church. But we're smart and we found it! We walked a ways and heard some singing. It was exciting to know that we can actually find our way around this crazy city. BUT the service was all in Russian. We decided to leave. And guess where we went?? Starbucks. That's right. It was nice to just sit and talk with my friends and sip my iced mocha.
Today is Tuesday and it was the first day of school. Here it is in a nutshell: Got on the bus at 7:15am. Got to school and rehearsed the song that I was to sing in front of all the kids and their parents. Then at about 8:30, all the children start showing up. Picture black luxury cars parked everywhere, with mean looking drivers and bodyguards leaning on them. Also picture children in Dolce & Gabanna, Versace and Armani with posh parents in tow. There are flowers everywhere! Russian tradition is the bring the teachers flowers. There were roses and orchids and lilies all over the place. The children also bring lots of balloons which are released after the opening ceremony. It was all very exciting. My song went over well. The rest of the day, I just followed around the Russian teacher and tried to get the children to talk to me. They are all so cute. I had a few moments of panic and thoughts of, "What am I doing here?" But they went away eventually. I just have to remember to do my best and to not wonder what the other teachers are saying in Russian. Tomorrow is my first English lesson. I hope it goes good. Now I sit in my apartment surrounded by bouquets of flowers, listening to the jackhammer in our hallway fixing our bathroom door, wondering what to teach to these future diplomats of Russia. Hmmm........