It’s 50’s here and rainy, a little different from the 80-degree weather we left behind. And I have a raging headache, though it’s subsided some. Still dizzy and thankful to be off the plane.
It’s hard to believe this is the country the U.S. is at odds with. There is such a disconnect between daily Russian life and all that hype in the media. I've heard there are increased anti-American sentiments, but I’m not sure if that would be applicable in our residential neighborhood …??? Also, the airport has been renovated and looks a little more modern, and passport control was a breeze. The only thing was that the lady inspector laughed, saying I didn’t look like my passport photo…
“Huh. No resemblance!”
Me, taking off glasses: “Is that better?”
“Okay, that’s better. This IS yours, right?” (showing me the passport)
Me, squinting: “I GUESS. It’s Elizabeth. I don’t have my glasses on now so I can’t see it!” I could have only handed her mine or David’s, and I assumed it was the right one.
She giggled. “Okay, Elizabeth, you can put your glasses back on now.” She typed (!) up a migration card, printed it out, and handed it to me with my passport/resident card. Whew!
Hope you get settled in and are feeling better soon! I wanted to respond to the comment you left on my latest post in case I gave off the impression that I've been so diligent to teach Joshua a lot of things already, because that's definitely not the case! He's not close to knowing any numbers, letters or colors yet and at 21 months, I think that's very normal! I think the important thing at this age (and even older) is just to let him explore, enjoy outside time, encourage him to look at picture books and talk a lot to him as we go about our day. Honestly though he only uses about ten words with regularity and no sentences yet. More formal education is something I look forward to but I don't think it should be pushed at too early of an age unless your child is bored and obviously looking for more! Just some thoughts :)
ReplyDeleteOh, okay...I still hope you will post about any activities you do, though. :) I mean, in all your spare time. ;)
DeleteI often feel that what I hear on the news is cranked up a few too many notches... to make it interesting? Maybe...but with this situation I am really worried that what we hear on the news is creating animosity and negativity where there shouldn't be - well, at least so much. I don't think any effort is EVER made to help people understand the Russian point of view about eastern Ukraine, for example.
ReplyDeleteBut, even with something like weather, a few different times in my life I've been in an area of "extreme" weather - and had distressed phone calls from family and friends elsewhere due to highly colored news programs, making things seem not just much worse than we were actually experiencing, but almost verging on dishonesty. Taking one odd and extreme case (a house with its roof blown off, for example) and making it sound like the norm, for example.
Glad you are back safely and hope the headache goes away.
Well, they do make it sound like all-out war! Is it, or isn't it? And yet, diplomacy as well as the tourist industry are still pretty important, so I don't think Russia is about to isolate herself anytime soon. Of COURSE the Russian point of view is important. I doubt there would be conflict if people on both sides didn't feel passionately. It is definitely sad that animosities can be intensified because of the media, though. :(
DeleteOn the other hand, there are plenty of things going on in the rest of the world that are pretty under-reported. I guess it's always one or the other!