McDonald’s is across the street from here

Our tiny, yet awesome, dorm kitchen

The view from my window

My dorm room!

I made it safely to St. Petersburg! A guy met me at the airport with a sign that said my name! He brought me to the dorms, I got my key, and then slept from 5pm until 10am this morning! I think I like it here… I don’t understand most of what people say, but I catch a thing or 2 and I figure I’ll catch on eventually. Anddd it’s actually not that cold… when I got here yesterday and today it’s about 34 degrees F. Not bad at all.

So, my dorm is great – a thousand times better than I expected! I don’t have a roommate yet, but will soon. I have a bed, desk, shelves, closet, and then it opens to a common area that we share with suitemates and there’s a bathroom, shower, and a kitchen! It’s got a HUGE refrigerator and a stove and dishes. Awesome.

Right now there’s only one other American. He lives across from the hall from me and is from Florida. His name is Chris and he was here last semester, so his Russian is pretty good and he knows how to get around, so he’s helped me out a lot! This morning we went to get groceries, and later we’re going to try and get a phone.

We’re at McDonald’s right now using the free WiFi. It’s about a 5 minute walk from the dorms. Oh how I love McDonalds and even moreso – orange Fanta!

Oh, one annoying this is that you can’t drink the water. So I have to use bottled water even to brush my teeth! Crazy!

Well, I’m really exicted to be here! My mind hasn’t really grasped the fact that I’ll be here til June, but I’m excited none the less!

I miss you all! And I think if any of you come across a large stack of money at any point, you should definitely use it to come visit me!

lauren

oh, and p.s. the moustache count is very high… I can’t give you an exact number, but on the plane I think there was only 2 non moustaches and I’m pretty sure at least one of those guys was French. haha.