Romance on the Black Sea

On Wednesday evenings I get together with a student and friend to talk about life, study, etc. Last night, Malika was talking about how a friend of hers was in Russia only until next Wednesday; because of his visa, he is only able to stay in Krasnodar and not come into Moscow. After further prodding, she divulged that they have shared a romantic connection (sorry for the strange language; I’m not exactly sure what I mean by “romantic connection” anyhow . . .) since she left Uzbekistan this past summer to come to school in Moscow—she didn’t know of his feelings until he gave her a CD with a song he had wrote for her as she was getting on the train to come to Russia. He was going to just stay in Russia after his visa expires next week until he found out that if caught, he could be deported and not allowed into Russia for another five years, thus prolonging their relationship.

All this to say, last night, after she shared this, I said, “Let’s go. I want to go to the Black Sea—then you could see your ‘friend’ again.” On her way home she stopped by the train station to check ticket prices and times, and she called us at 12:30 when she found out the price and time info—it’s a 28 hour train ride one way. Matt and I talked and after looking at a map of the region and looking on the US embassy in Russia’s website, we discovered that where we’d be is really close to the North Caucusas region, where the US has pulled all government workers out because of civil unrest and warns US travelers to stay away from. That, coupled with the fact that we were unsure whether or not our visa and registration would be good outside of Moscow forced us to decide not to make the trip.

Wouldn’t it have been so fun, though? If only . . .

-Makinzie