Where in the World is Cat?

And it all starts here - Middlebury, Vermont. Just off a whirlwind year of traveling the Midwest and being based out of Washington, D.C., I find myself at "Russian Boot Camp", the Russian Language School at Middlebury College. Prohibited from speaking (but not typing)English for my 9-week duration here, I'm hoping to brush up my Russian before heading to Moscow to start my graduate studies. Also, I've been lucky to meet a large number of people here who will be studying or living in Moscow this fall as well. The program here is great - not only drilling you for 4 hours a day with classes, but keeping everyone on a very regimented schedule for meals, clubs and homework. They really do their best to make sure you only hear, listen, read and speak the language you are studying - even the workers on campus and in the surrounding community learn a bit of every language to make sure you feel comfortable.

I've joined the school soccer team, volleyball team, and culinary club - and will start practicing with the school's chorus come this Monday. EVERYTHING is in Russian, so it's been a great, well-rounded experience. Unfortunately however, having not played a team sport in almost 5 years, I'm learning just what time can do to a person's physical performance. Despite my many hours in spinning classes and on treadmills, I lasted about 10 minutes into my second soccer game before seriously pulling a muscle. I'm prohibited from sports for a couple of days, but after some rest and ice I should be just fine. I promise never to make fun of my older family and friends again!