This one is the final and most important

So today is my last day in Moscow. I decided to leave a week and a half early because I have really been missing home. So I guess this is pretty much my final post about Russia. I'll try not to make it too sappy.
I dreamed to come to Russia and not just figuratively speaking but literally. I would sleep at night and dream about the day I would come to Russia and as I liked to put it, 'see what was going on over here.' So I did. I got on a plane, with minimal expectations and landed in an airport where I was so nervous I could not even ask where the elevator was. I honestly found a lot more than an elevator in Russia.
I've been to museums, other cities, a ballet, the zoo, classes, dates, parks, festivals and so many other places. All of those events add up to equal my total experience and what I will take away from this. 
I had read so much about when traveling that we should try really hard to see past the differences and focus on how we are the same. But, I felt like here, I had to try really hard to see the differences because the majority of the time I was shocked at how we ARE in fact all the same. We are humans and no matter what language we speak or where we are born, we all survive the same ways, doing the same things, falling in to routines, loving our children, working 9-5, going to class, etc. At this point, I don't understand how racism or discrimination even exists because of how ALIKE we all truly are.
Because we are so alike, humans will communicate...no matter what. Since about my second week here, I communicated on a daily basis with someone who spoke absolutely NO English. Yes, overtime our conversations got better as my Russian improved but even from the beginning, the communication was there.
I have been to the cafe here at the school almost every single day, sometimes multiple times a day. There is a lady that works there and we have developed a great relationship over the past few months not because we chit chat about each other or get to know each others personal business, but because I am kind to her and she is kind to me. The saying, a smile is the same in every language is extremely true. Contrary to popular belief, Russians do smile and when they do, it is extremely genuine. I would rather someone smile at me because they mean it rather than smile at me and then say terrible things about me behind my back (which tends to happen a lot with the 'famous' American smile.)
The Russians I have met have been phenomenal. I will really miss them while I am back in the United States. I have also met some great Americans as well along with Je and Omer. I have been blessed with an AMAZING roommate that has helped me since the first day when she gave me the gift of drinkable water. 
Over the duration of this study abroad experience, I have learned more than I ever thought I would. I can have a full blown out conversation in Russian, navigate the metro, take a taxi, order a pizza on the phone in Russia, fix a broken shower, clean up 5+ gallons of toilet water off the floor with a towel, drink responsibly, convert rubles to dollars in my head, cook macaroni with a tea pot, teach English and most importantly, I can ask where the elevator is.

Vladimir and Suzdal

With less than a month left to go, another excursion is marked off the list. We traveled to Vladimir and Suzdal this weekend by tour bus. The tour bus part reminded me so much of my travels to Europe but I actually stayed awake on the bus tour! :)
In Vladimir, the highlights included all of the cats that I saw and the playground. Yes, we saw some cathedrals and those are nice to look at and appreciate, but the memorable moments come with doing fun things with your friends like sticking your hand in a fountain and cutting your finger on a soviet playground. After spending a few hours in Vladimir we went to a large grocery store called Globus. This store was amazing. It was large, clean and had everything you could possible need plus a place to eat. My friend Doria and I bought macaroni and cheese to cook for dinner. After shopping we went back on the bus to Suzdal.

When we got to Suzdal we pulled up down an dirt road and got off the bus. There were a lot of old houses, beautiful green grass, mud, clean air, and I smelled horse poop right off. If I closed my eyes I would have thought I was back home. Suzdal reminded me so much of where I grew up. It was a small town with not many places to eat, a river, wooden bridges, gravel and farm land. I had forgotten how wonderful it felt to be someplace quiet and relaxing. The hostel was the best. I encourage anyone that goes to Suzdal to stay in a hostel called Godzillas.
http://godzillashostel.com/suzdal/
Doria and I started cooking our Macaroni using an electric tea pot to heat the water and then letting the pasta sit in the hot water. We started cutting up the cheese when I realized it was Parmesan cheese and it would never melt. We literally ran through the woods and up a hill to get back to town to buy cheese. On our way we saw a fox! We ran back and made some delicious macaroni and cheese. We finished the night by playing a Russian card game and tasting 'medovukha' which is a honey based beer or alcohol that is made and is very popular in that area. To me, it tasted like an apple juice but with honey.
The next day we toured the rest of the town seeing a wooden village, learning how Russians lived in the past, and visiting a cathedral and a monastery. After, we had an hour or so,  so we ate business lunch at a restaurant and then went to a craft fair. At 3pm we were back on the bus and heading back to Moscow. We got home around 8:30.

I really liked Suzdal because it reminded me a lot of where I grew up. I really love being outside with fresh air and green grass, or sitting over a bridge looking at the water. I even like walking on gravel and petting horses in a field. I guess no matter where I move to or how far I go away from home, there is a little piece of home in every country and Suzdal was definitely it. I literally felt like I was 10 years old again.
If anyone is in Russia and looking for a nice quiet place to get away for a weekend, Suzdal is definitely the place!

This is not an uplifting post.

So like previously mentioned, studying abroad brings about a lot of emotions, both good and bad. I have not really posted recently about what point I am right now...so here it is.
I'm usually pretty happy and upbeat, even when things don't go my way.. which is pretty much every single day since I have been here. I mean, I am usually so happy it is down right annoying, even to myself, but there are just some times when I get fed up with it. I get fed up with the negative attitudes of others, the brown water, the rude comments, the bee infestation, the lack of air conditioning and the boring classes. I am frustrated. My Russian seems to be getting increasingly worse and I don't understand how and I have 0 energy to do anything. Now, this could all very well just be in my head and more than likely my Russian is not really getting worse and I'm just as usual being hard on myself, but that is how I feel.
No matter where you travel to, at some point, everyone will get a little homesick and miss the luxury of home. I am really sad today and the only thing I can pin point it to is being homesick. I miss my friends that  like who I am and what I stand for in life. I miss my cat that loves me because I feed her/him. I miss my boyfriend that I broke up with because I thought I wanted something more and decided Russia might have had it. I miss my mom and family who are only a phone call away to help comfort me. I miss the wonderful girls that I worked with in the international office and the amazing professors on campus that made class so interesting I actually wanted to come.
I came to Russia for a change in my life. I was mesmerized by Russian culture when I first learned about it and needed to experience it.  I was also bored with the same old routine and wanted to mix things up. But I've learned that no matter where you go, things become routine and the things that haunt you will follow you even when you are 4,000 miles away.
I love Moscow and all of the friends I've met here and I am so thankful for the experience, but I am ready to get back home to my same old boring routine that I tried to hard to get away from.

While I have about a month left to go, there are a few things I get to look forward to like my trip to Suzdal this weekend and a few more museum visits. I also get to look forward to no hot water next month.
Like I've said many times before, this has been nothing less of an adventure but eventually adventure leaves you too exhausted to move.

Coca Cola Factory

Yesterday, we had a trip to the Coca Cola factory. I was so excited about it because of my love for coca cola lite here.  Coca Cola lite tastes just like coke zero and I would put money on it that they are the exact same things. We watched a really inspiring video about coke and then put on white lab coats for our tour. I did not realize how much goes into the coca cola lite that I drink daily. It was a really friendly environment and it seemed like everyone really enjoyed their job at the plant. After the tour we got to drink fresh coke. There is a huge difference between coke straight off the line and coke that has been packed, shipped and sat on a shelf for weeks. We got free notebooks, a polar bear pin and little baby cans of coke. Usually our excursions are physically and emotionally tiring, but this one was an insightful and fun. I feel like the coca cola company is a great place to work. I'm proud to be a customer :)

After our tour we went to a Japanese restaurant and then took a marshrootka back to the dorms.
I took a nap and woke up to screaming about cockroaches. The lady in charge of the floor was basically saying that the reason there are cockroaches in our room is because it is dirty. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that this building has not been remodeled since it was built in like 1755 and that I'm sure they don't spray for bugs. Anytime I try to take a nap during the day, I am always rudely woken up by some kind of dramatic affair. One day, a man was changing the locks on the door, one day they were doing obnoxious construction work and a few times they were checking to make sure the keys still fit in the lock. They must have some serious problems with people changing locks or something.
I do not have a passport right now because they ( I don't know who they is) have taken it for me to get a new multi-entry visa. So, for the next 3-5 weeks I will be stuck in Moscow. Luckily, there are lots of things to do here to keep my busy. The three things I really want to do in the near future are, Moscow zoo, circus and a banya.
I'm looking forward to an exciting last month here :)

This is a game changer

So I'm totally going for the 'everything happens for a reason' approach to life. I did my laundry yesterday and of course the dryer did not dry my clothes so I had to hang a laundry line across my room. One side was connected to my curtain rod and the other was wrapped around a cabinet in the upper corner of my room. As I started angrily hanging the clothes, the line kept sinking farther and farther down until the cabinet burst open and inside.....a mattress pad. To those back at home sleeping on memory foam, I don't think you understand the excitement I felt when I looked up and saw this. I have been sleeping on a rock hard mattress from the 1950's (no exaggeration) for over two months now and this extremely old, chicken feather mattress pad is a game changer for the duration of my sleep here in Moscow. I am so happy that my clothes did not dry in the dryer because I never would have made this discovery without that not so great experience.
Enough about the mattress pad.
My friend Doria and I went to a really great restaurant yesterday called 'Meat and Fish' and yes it is in English. It was a little bit pricey but sometimes you just need a good lunch.
I've come to the conclusion that I will never fully understand the Russian grammar but I'm hoping it can achieve 3/4 of the way understanding. When I come home I will have enough credits to be in advanced intermediate Russian language and that is a serious problem because I know I am not advanced intermediate. I'm probably just beginning intermediate. I schedule my classes for next semester at UK in 2 hours. I'll be taking political classes and Russian classes.
Nothing extraordinary has happened lately because I'm adjusted to life here and I have developed my own little routine. I'm looking forward to the coca cola factory visit on Tuesday.

Weekend activities

Friday:
After class I took my daily nap and then my friends and I baked chocolate chip cookies. They were not perfect but we had to use different brands of ingredients. I must say they were pretty good given the ratchet stove we had to use and the improv ingredients. Tory (always with a 'y' never an 'i'), did most of the cooking while Doria and I sampled Russian wines.

Saturday:
I met with my friend Julia and we went to chocolate "museum." It was a chocolate store and not a museum so that was a let down. We then went to a little cafe and I had my first iced coffee in 2 months. It was AMAZING! Two things I miss here, ice and iced coffee. They seem to think if you want iced coffee that you want the iced pureed with the coffee and that is far from what I want. In America we constantly complain that places give us too much ice in our drink but be happy you have clean enough water to make ice out of and they offer you ice free of charge. I'll never complain about that again.
After that I met with my new friend Irina and her Best Friend. We sat at the mall and talked a lot. It always makes me so nervous to speak Russian to native Russian speakers. Luckily, she speaks English really well. I even learned some new words :)
I took the metro home by myself and on my way out I noticed one of my friends and we were talking outside of the metro when a police officer came up behind him and asked for his passport. The police did not talk, look or even acknowledge my existence. My friend did not have his passport so the police took him to a corner and he had to pay them to not go to jail. Russian bribery at its finest. I don't understand how some of these people sleep at night.

Sunday:
I like to keep my Sundays as peaceful as possible since my weeks are always extremely busy. Today, I just ate at the cafe, watched Grey's Anatomy, studied a little Russian and ate pizza at the cafe. Yes, I ate at the cafe twice and yes, they have pizza here. I liked waking up and hearing that UK won. I'm a little sad that I'm not home to celebrate with everyone. :(

Ясная Поляна

Leo Tolstoy is one of the most famous authors in Russian history. He is an icon to Russia and after learning more about him yesterday, I now know why...
Yesterday, we traveled to Tula, via Electreechka, which is just like an above ground metro. It was over a 3 hour trip and the electreechka is something I wouldn't mind never riding again for that long of a time period. We did get to see the Russian country side though. Once we arrived in Tula, we paid 20 rubles (about 56 cents) to use a toilet that was a hole in the ground. It was an experience I guess. We then  boarded our own personal marshrootka to Leo Tolstoy's estate. It was about a 20 minute ride. The Russian country side reminded me of the Kentucky countryside. 

Leo Tolstoy’s estate was a farm with a horse, ducks and dogs. I note that first because I really loved the ducks.  His home was simple but tasteful and filled with thousands of books in multiple different languages. Everything was as he left it and inventoried by his wife before she died. I could tell that he was a man that appreciated his culture as well as others because in his study he had a copy of the bible as well as the Quran. In his study there was also an old leather couch that he was born on as well as all of his children. It was said that if children were born on that couch that they would live to an old age. That statement was found out to be false because many of his children died in infancy. He obviously just wanted a simple life and that was shown by his estate.

After the tour, we ate at a small restaurant and had salad, borscht, potatoes, chicken and finished with cake and tea. The food was delicious and allegedly was from Tolstoy’s personal cookbook. The borscht was amazing.

Later, we shopped at the little shops and I bought a gingerbread cat. It was different from any gingerbread that I had had before and I can’t decide if it was better or worse. I also bought two cat statues, a refrigerator magnet and a wooden spoon with cats on it. My obsession with cats has gotten stronger since being here.  

 On the way back from Tula, two drunken Russian police officers took one of the wonderful Russian girls with us to talk to her so the rest of the Russian’s went as well. They were asking who we were, why we were there, and who was in charge of us.  It was a pointless conversation and is a little bit concerning that the people who are paid to keep citizens safe were wasted. Way to keep the stereotypes alive, Russian police. So when you see a sober police officer, please thank him from Kallie McDaniel.

Overall my day was extremely exhausting. I woke up at 3 am and did not get home until 1 am. Due to that, I overslept and missed my first class this morning. Traveling is fulfilling, but no one said it was supposed to be easy.