no banya...HOORAY!

Week two down...a lot more to go! Ends up my mom has to send me a new power chord for my computer. It'll take a couple weeks to receive it. So still no pictures yet...sorry! I've done some exploring and found some super gorgeous spots. Me and Theresa hiked down, litterally a hike with all them stairs, to the river. It had to have been like at least 70 F yesterday. And of course today the rain came, again. Us girls were supposed to visit the Banya today but it was 'in repair' which ends up being the case for many things here in Russia. This is Russia. I was quite excited about that because what you dont know is that the Banya is a woman's spa or sauna. I guess all the old Babushka's go there. You may think to yourself, that doesnt sound too bad. Yeah, except for the fact that everyone is naked. That's the catch. I'm not a fan! So that was my highlight. Had my first paper due today. Learning a lot about the Orthodox religion which is quite interesting and intriguing to me. Language class has its ups and downs. We have two teachers. One for Mon and Tue and another for Wed and Thur. I enjoy our Wed/Thur teacher a lot better. So I end the week on a high note. We learned this song in Russian yesterday and so today, a couple of the students in our group brought a guitar to class and sang it during our break to our teacher. I think she enjoyed it. Then later this evening, they sang the song to the Babushka's who cook our meals. It was pretty humorous. Tomrrow we get blood drawn for AIDS! I guess they are trying to get rid of HIV/AIDS in Russia so they are having everyone get tested. What a great way to start the day. I'm a little creeped out by some of the Russian/Romanian students here. Watch out for them! You dont want to 'make eyes' at them or smile or they will think you want them. My knee is fine, thank the Lord! We ordered pizza tonight and are gonna watch a movie. There are still moments when I have to remind myself I'm in Russia.