Moscow-Frankfurt-Budapest, oh my!

I'm currently in Frankfurt on my way to another world cup in Budapest, Hungary. This month has been a crazy one in terms of travel. I always wonder if people in other sports have to shlep as much stuff from one country to the next? Horseback riding perhaps? I wonder how much they charge for the extra steed?

I had a great time this past week staying with my former host family. The best part was that I picked up some more Russian along the way. This morning when I rang my parents I answered "Da" instead of "yes" purely on instinct-I guess that's progress? My host Mom in Russia told me last night that she was impressed with my ability to communicate in different languages and some of the more tough ones including Russian and Chinese.

I just told her that I enjoyed learning about people's lives and being able to communicate with them and that's why I make such an effort to speak different languages. It turns out that people are pretty much the same around the world and want a lot of the same things-too many times we allow some cultural differences to get in the way of the opportunity for friendships. This time in Russia, I felt more proficient in the language because I was less concerned about correct grammer and more concerned about listening to what they had to say.

Okay, enough about communicating. Now is the time for fencing action. A trainer is actually meeting up with the USA fencing team in Budapest. It's nice timing since I think I need a tune up-maybe some stretches, maybe a massage. :)

I fence tomorrow and Saturday in Budapest. I am pretty sure that it's hard to come by internet access there so I won't be able to post anything until Monday after the competition. It's probably for the best since I seem to work better when I'm solely focused on the fencing part. I am staying in Budapest for three days and then traveling to Marseille, France for another world cup (the last of the three this month) on Thursday, the 22nd.

I miss home but I'm always reminded at how lucky I am to be able to travel around the world like I do. There isn't much time for sightseeing but there is always time to communicate.

On to Hungary!

Russia

It's such a trip to be back in Russia after a year hiatus. It's especially cool to be hanging out and living with the same host family that I stayed with in 2005. I seem to be getting some of the language back but perhaps that's just reading into the low expectations and high compliments of my friends.

As per usual I don't have a lot of time to be on the internet. It costs a few more rubles than I am willing to pay and I still have more sightseeing to do before tomorrow.

I know I still have to talk about the St. Petersburg competition but since I'm under a time crunch I am going to keep it short. Individually I did well, even though my final result didn't indicate that. The girl that I lost to in the top-64 is someone that has always been a bit difficult for me to beat. That being said, I don't think I will have the same problem the next time around.

The team event on the third day of competition went really well. The girls all worked together very well and we ended up 6th. We almost beat Russia, the current team world champions, and lost to them by one point in overtime. I fenced really well and showed myself and my coach the progress that I have been longing to see these past few months.

All is good here in Russia. Lenin is still where he is, Red Sqaure is still where it is, and the internet cafe I used to go to is still where it is.

Until tomorrow! :)

Moskva!

I'm back in blogging business! After a long hiatus from the internet I have found a wireless spot in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Below is a photo of me and my friend Beto jumping on the sidewalk at the Kremlin in Moscow two years ago while we were studying there.



I never thought I would return to the land of Stalin and borscht, but today I'm taking the train from St. Petersburg to spend a week in Moscow before heading to Budapest, Hungary on Friday.

The competition in St. Pete went well and I will blog about it when I get to another wireless spot in Moscow. Right now I have to pack up and go!

The European adventure continues.