Paul in Moscow was the precursor to Beyond Utah. At the time (2014), I was in my second year of university, and I needed to complete an internship abroad. Having never left the USA, I moved to Moscow, Russia to teach English with International Language Programs (ILP).
Original Post:
Sunday, September 7, 2014
So I’m writing this on 7 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours. So just bear with me while I get my thoughts into writing.
First flight — Salt Lake City to Denver. Small plane. Sat next to nice guy (a little older than me) from New York who was visiting Salt Lake to pick up his son (age 18 months ish). We didn’t talk much though.
Second flight — Denver to Frankfurt. I met up with Lydia and Colby in Denver. They’re a married couple who were flying out late as well. They sat far in the back so I didn’t see them after we boarded. The plane was HUGE. And the crew was amazing. Lufthansa for the win.
I sat in the middle. The guy to my right (window) was from Colorado Springs, headed to Bangalore, India on business. Apparently he does it a lot. We chatted off and on throughout the flight. The guy to my left (aisle) I didn’t really talk to except once… The guy in the aisle seat went to the restroom. As he stood up the guy to my right (window) decided he wanted to too. So I stood up to let him pass. BUT I was holding my cup of water as I did so. And then we hit turbulence. And my cup of water ended up all over the temporarily vacant seat of the guy to my left. So I apologized when he got back but the crew gave us a towel and he wasn’t (outwardly) angry. I only slept a couple hours. We ate breakfast while flying over England. Not gonna lie, that was pretty cool.
Third flight — Frankfurt to Moscow. We boarded from the tarmac which I’ve never done but always wanted to do! I got the exit window seat. No one sat next to me. Although there was an American couple in front of me (here as tourists) who I talked with a bit right before we landed.
Arrival — the local coordinator, Guyla, met the three of us at the airport. Luckily, all our luggage arrived with us!! A bus whisked Colby and Lydia away within a couple minutes and Guyla and her husband took me to Guyla’s mother’s house to stay. Apparently I packed a lot… They just kept making comments on how much stuff I had. But it’s here with me now! Babushka Ria (Guyla’s mother) is already hosting another teacher (Logan) so this probably won’t be my permanent home. It’s complicated to explain but as of right now, I don’t have a host family… but they’re working on it. Ria’s apartment is wonderful though. I definitely feel like I’m in Russia. 🙂
Well hopefully that all made sense. Tomorrow I get to go meet the classes I will be teaching. I couldn’t be more excited!
Paul
P.S. Russian drivers are crazy!!
