Leg 2: The Train

Okay, there is no way to describe the train in Russia. You just have to experience it. I'll do my best to convey ever grueling detail of this journey that is, unforgettable to say the least. Okay, so you get on the car and there is a extremely narrow hallway you have to walk down and to your left are the compartments. Lugging two rather large suitcases down the hallway was a task in itself. I was in a compartment with Karla and this Russian couple that didn't speak a speck of English. And they had a little dog (thankfully it didn't bark at all). But this whole getting on to the train thing was extremely stressful because all of us students had no idea what we were doing and the two volunteers with us were the only ones who spoke English on the train. There was a lot of yelling and uptightness and confusion, so as you can imagine, I was pretty stressed out a this point. Thankfully Sergei, one of the volunteers, came to our compartment and talked to the Russian people and told me and Karla where we would sleep and were to put our bags. That was a challenge. The room was no bigger than 7X8 with four narrow bunks. The suitcases were put under the bottom bunk and an over head bin over the hallway. Even when we were settled in, me and Karla didn't know what to do because we were both still pretty scared and stressed and it was so awkward with the Russian couple in there. We had no idea what to do. Thankfully, the Russian couple was nice enough to help us make our beds and after that we just kinda crawled into our bunks and slept in our clothes. The next day, we hung out in a compartment that was only AFS students and slowly slipped into madness. We were so bored and cramped and gross feeling. There was one very small very sketchy toliet on the train but of course no showers so we were all so disgusting. I really can't describe it and really don't want to relive it, so, I'll finish by saying we spent one more night on the train and arrived in Krasnodar, the capital of the region, around 6 in the morning on September 7th. There I met my mama and papa, but I didn't go with them just yet. Instead, they took some of my luggage and I went with a family in Krasnodar so that I could have another orientation in the city. This travel thing just kept getting longer and longer...