Krasnodar

So, Krasnodar is the capital and the biggest city of this region. And it is a pretty big city, even by American standards. There's a wide stretch of park down the middle of the city (pictured on the right) that was really cool. It lead right down to the Kuban river, which unfortunately is a very dirty river! I stayed with Noey, a girl from Thailand and her host family. They lived in a flat but it was wicked nice. Like an upscale apartment, not what you think when you think Russian flat. And they were so nice to me, even though I wasn't really their host daughter. That something that amazes me here. There are no strangers; everyone is a treated like a life long friend. Ample Russian hospitality is a very true stereotype.

In Krasnodar, I went to a language school for two days were we learned Russian history and language as well as Russian art and dance, which was really fun. Yes, we did the Cossack dance. Well only the guys did it, but still it was awesome. I have a video that I'll try and post but idk if my internet can handle it! I got my first real taste of true, home cooked Russian food and it was actually really good. But I think that the family I stayed with in Krasnodar was a bit more European (probably because of the whole city life) and they food I have now at my host family in Korenovsk is still good, but much more traditionally Russian. But I enjoyed my couple days in Krasnodar and on the 9th I drove to Korenovsk with Sarah from America and Andrea from Italy who are also in Korenovsk (Rodrigo from Bolivia is also in Korenovsk but didn't drive with us). And so, exactly one week after leaving my family and friends in Maine, I arrived at my host family, my home for the next 5 months.