Foreshadowing

I'm writing right now from the RACU computer lab, which is where all of Kinzie's posts have come from and is also where, intermittently and at apparently random times, we are booted out of the room so that classes can take place. Consequently, I have not had time to share with you the stories and anecdotes that are already mounting up. The lovely DSL that was promised for our apartment is not yet working, and so we are only able to catch a few minutes of time in the computer lab every day to do internet stuff. Hopefully our Internet situation will be solved today or at least by Monday, and then you can expect several tomes of "first" posts from Russia from me (this one doesn't count).

OK, I'll type for a few more minutes as everyone in the lab seems to be occupied. I'm here right now to begin lessons in Russian with Nelly Roslyakova (always use first names and patronymic "middle" names to be respectful in Russia; my students informed me that my respectful Russian name is "Matvey Patrickovich", while Makinzie's is "Makeenzy Steevovna"). I had assumed that many of the faculty would be learning Russian also. No. I think that Makinzie and I in fact are the only ones in Moscow who don't know the language. Actually, there is another--Laura Hill, daughter of Intervarsity president and chief executive officer Alec Hill. Laura knows more Russian than I do, but we're close to the same level and so we're going to meet with "professor" Nelly a couple of times a week.

Oh, I've been told in Russian now to pack up and head out. At least I think that's what was said--spoken Russian frequently sounds angry and urgent. This weekend we'll be inputting email addresses and sending out an update via email. But please let everyone who would be interested know about our blogsite, as this is the easiest way for us to communicate with most of you.

Stay tuned for a full account of our first five days in the motherland.

--Matt