You gotta have faith to win the fight.
So how are you all doing?
I've been checking up on the blogs of my friends and it looks like everything is just peachy. Good stuff.
Me, I've just been busy here in ye old Arkhangel, Russia. Where to start... I left Norway 26 days ago by plane from Tromso. It was me, Ane, Sindre and Camilla and a bunch of other passangers on the plane, and the plane was quite scary to tell you the truth. First stop was Murmansk where all sorts of confusion happened. First we met this scary lady who told us to fill out some migration cards. We did and then we stood in line to get our passports checked. And seeing as we thought we we're going on the same plane that we arrived with, we didn't bother to see if our luggage was brought inside. So Sindre and Camilla went to their respective families in Murmansk while me and Ane went through the security check. And there after some confusion (no one spoke English) we found out we had to go back to get our suitcases. We stressed alot because we didn't know when the plane left. So we got our luggage went back through security again, and on to check in our luggage. We both got 5kilos extra weight, but the guy didn't manage to explain what we needed to do about it. Finally I flashed my Visa and his eyes brightened fiercely. And he wanted me to follow him. Ane was now standing at a counter trying to pay for the 5kilos. So I followed the guy to an ATM and I just took out 500 Rubles. And then he said 500 rubles for luggage. But I wasn't going to be suckered into paying that much, so I said 300 rubles and that's that. He sighed and gave me 200 rubles in exchange for the 500 and I was good. When Ane finally got to pay at the counter it turned out that we only needed to pay 200 rubles. So I was suckered a little bit, but only 25kr.
And then we went on the plane and flew off to Arkhangel.
I was a bit shocked by the state of the city. It's very dirty with a lot of trash in the streets. So that's really bad, but there are some places that are really nice and pretty. My family consists of one mother (Nadezda), and her two daughters (Yana and Sveta). And they don't know English at all. When they met me on the airport they had a friend with them who spoke english to translate all the information they wanted me to have. I was a bit worried that it wouldn't work out if they didn't know English, but now I think I've learned a lot from it.
I have a lot of small stories to tell, but Idon't have time for it now. I'll have to write them down when I'm at home and then put them on the internet when it's available to me.
And to the people that are waiting for e-mails, you will have to wait a little longer, because this piece of sh*t computer won't let me get on Gmail or Hotmail. I need to find a proper internet-cafe to settle down in.I'm currently at the biggest library in town. The computers here are pretty pre-historic.
All in all I'm doing fine. The language is difficult, but very interesting. I'm not able to take part in conversations yet, but I study hard and I "take no prisoners".
I miss you all, and I can't wait to get home for Christmas.
14th of December.
Write it down.
I have to go now.
