A New Beginning!

Hello Everyone!

I have officially been here for 2 weeks now and am back into the swing of things. My body and brain hurt everyday, and I'm loving it.

This semester has been such a nice new start because I knew how to better prepare myself for it (food, clothes, etc.). It's an exciting time, many ballet performances coming up including: Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and Flames of Paris. Also, the school is performing La Fille Mal Gardee, so I will get to go see that. Unfortunately, I've been here for too short a time to perform with the school but it's completely normal. I've also discovered a new routine this semester which is nice. More sleep, better eating habits, study time, etc. On top of that, I fell better fed this semester as I consumed 4 lbs of Peanut Butter, a family size container of Cocoa and a pack of Oreos. I must say that the Russian Language is one of the hardest things I've had to learn academically speaking; it just never seems to make sense. But, I'm working on it and I'm getting better everyday.

Ballet Classes have been brutal, as usual. My legs, arms, neck, back, feet, toes, calves, thighs, hips, and anything else you can think of hurt. There's something so addicting about torturing the body to do beautiful things. However, I feel very lucky to be able to be here. The knowledge I am gaining about ballet is of the purist form and I treasure it more then anything else.

The sun is coming back to Moscow, which makes me very happy because the amount of general light there is has a great influence on my mood. By the time we've finished barre, there's a sun in the sky. Before, it was dark until the class was over. I can't wait until there's sun to wake up to. Because waking up, showering, going to breakfast, stretching and warming up is hard to do in the dark. Especially when I just want to go back to sleep.

Mom's View: Off Again!

He is off and on his way back to Russia.

Despite our very best intentions, we were up late into the night getting him ready.

Since this was a return trip, he knew the things he most needed to bring with him.  The list included a few random things like Clorox wipes (Scores of teenage boys in a dorm setting?  I mean, ew.) and a book light.
But, based on meals like this,

Actual dinner at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy.
Mystery meat and, what is that, a tablespoon of corn, iceberg lettuce and two dices of tomato?

we knew the thing he needed most was food.  Come on, Russia.  These boys are hungry!
Food, even dehydrated or freeze-dried food is heavy.
All night, we arranged and rearranged his luggage to try and make the weight requirements.
As it was, he had to leave home some precious peanut butter--heartbreaking!

As we drove him into the airport this morning, we knew our luggage scale still had him 5 pounds over weight.  We decided to leave the five pounds and see if the airport scale was a little different.

It was.  In fact it was so different that it felt dishonorable to accept the weight.  I nearly disputed their claim, but Isaac reminded me that it was their scale and that we should view it as divine intervention so he would have enough to eat.

Six months is a long time.  A long, long time.

We watched him go through security, (I was afraid the 25 bags of popcorn stuffed in random places in his carry-on luggage would look suspicious) and waited for him to tie his shoes.  

He stood up and looked for us.

I don't have a digital picture of it, but the next moment is ingrained in my memory forever and ever.

As he tugged his luggage down the terminal, he waved and smiled.

That smile and wave seemed to say, 

I don't want to let you out of my sight so I'm going to look at you as long as possible.  

But it also said, Don't worry too much, Mom;  

I am doing what I love.