Recap and stuff

So when I last left you guys I was on my way to Sochi. I had classes, exams, and at least 3 weeks of Russia ahead of me. Well, things have changed a bit. Due to the continuation of time, those 3 weeks have all but vanished, leaving a mere 4 days and change left of my time in Russia. So what happened in those 3 weeks? Well al lot to be honest. I won’t, that is, I don’t want to go into everything right now (at least not in this post). Basically Sochi was a nice 10 days away from school and responsibility. The weather was colder than I would have like (colder than Vladimir in fact). There was a lot of rain, which really cuts down on what you can do in a beach town. Despite that I had a great time, there was good food, a lot of free time, a beach, tons of waterfalls, and a relaxing atmosphere. Sochi’s landscape really reminded me of Maryland, specifically the Appalachian region around where I live. There are rolling hills and mountains, the Black Sea, and even palm trees (although those are thanks to Stalin). The train ride in general was ok, I guess as good as 36 hours on a train can be. I have some good stories, but I’ll save them for another post.

Ok so that was only ten days right? Right, after we got back our schedules kind of exploded. We only had 6 days of class left, about ten days in total, and a ton of test to get through. We had meetings with ACTR bigwigs and about 3 hours of testing. Actually, Saturday I took my OPI (oral proficiency test). My tester told me she saw a lot of improvement from December, so I hope that means I might get at least an intermediate high rating, which would put me where I need to be. Exams are almost finished now, Monday, today I guess, is/was my last (I’m typing this on Sunday).

Right, so what’s left? Monday is my final exam. Tuesday we have our end of the year banquet. Wednesday will be my last day of class (yes we do still have class after our finals!). Thursday I’ll be packing all day and at Midnight we leave Vladimir forever and drove to Moscow for our 7 am flight. Just over 4 days!