The First Few Days

I've been in Moscow now for three days. After an initial two days of obligatory paper work, ID photos, and cheerful haggling from the hostel guard who insists on speaking in rapid-fire Russian to non-Russian-speaking me on each occasion I've met him, we got a chance to see Red Square tonight. In a word, it's majestic. Check out Isaac's blog entry for more info.

My first impression of Russia was not the weather; it was airport security. I had heard and thought that Russian customs was a nightmare, and visions of army green guards denying me entrance to the country while I fumbled through stacks of labyrinthine paperwork haunted my dreams on the flight over. How different customs ended up being! Entering Russia was no harder than buying a ticket to an amusement park. There were around ten attendants, maybe my age or slightly older, sitting in box-office-like booths. No armed guards, no confusing paperwork. I simply handed my visa to the attendant, he looked me over, looked over my visa, and without saying a word to me, quickly stamped my passport and handed it back to me.

As for the weather, it's cold here. That's no surprise. But it's hard to explain the cold. Your face hurts when you walk outside, and the bottom of your nose feels like its splitting open. Your lips swell up, and when you pose for a picture, you can't help from blinking because the cold makes your eyes water. I never cease to be amazed at the Russians I pass who all seem to be wearing half the layers I do, but seem less affected by the cold.

If all Russians share this cold resistant trait, they also seem to share a trait of incredible kindness and generosity. From the moment we arrived in Moscow, our hosts have fed and shepherded us around. They are our constant translators and without them it is not hard to imagine what a different experience these three months would be. At times I almost feel awkward from their generosity, because I simply don't know how to repay them, and there is nothing and no one in America that I've met that I could compare it to.