Of Course I will!!!

I have gotten a number of questions about if I am going to blog while I am in Russia. The answer is a big fat YES! There are a couple of very practical reasons why I will blog in Russia and hopefully often. I am traveling alone. With the first trip I was unsure how easy it was going to be to call home. I told my Mother to read the blog daily and she would know that I was okay.

My family worries and that is not want I want them to do. I want them to be excited and share in my trip not pace and ring there hands or eat too many ring dings. 'Gerard put down the cookie!' or 'I don't want to hear a chorus of oh my belly hurts' after eating too many sweets. These are pretty usual statements in my house.

This trip I have booked an apartment that is equipped with a computer. It is a larger one then the one that I stayed in the last time. The airport I will use to fly to the region has an Internet cafe that I used the last time so I feel comfortable using the computer there as well. In the region I will stay again with my host family. They also have a computer that I can use. So unlike last time I will not be taking my personal lap top but I will have access so that is a relief. Less to carry is a good thing.

Also I know that I am able to access the Internet from my phone because I tried it out when I was there the last time. I did buy a charger for it while I was in Russia so I will not have to worry when I need to charge it.

No phone calls please while I am there BUT you can text message me. The text messages were not very expensive at all. It is very funny to see my Mother text so I may insist that she does it. I will be reserving my telephone calls to my phone for Gerard only. I will have a telephone while I am in the apartment but not at the host family's house, not enough privacy and I am a little goofy. I would hate for them to think I was disrespectful.

When I was in Russia the last time I will admit I had a hard time one night when I was there. My one friend got a number of crazy text messages and I hope that I will not feel that way again. Because of the way I sleep for work, sleep is a luxury it sounds silly but most night shift workers either sleep all the time or only get about 4-5 hours a day. Gerard and I are the 4-5 hour types. This was true even in Russia. I was so turned around that while in Russia I did go almost 4 days without any sleep at all. I was not very comfortable in the hotel and after I met Little Banana I had a hard time getting some stuff off my mind.

I also do not do well sleeping at others houses so not having been prepared to stay with a host family although this turned out to be one of my better memories of Russia I was not prepared for that surprise. This time I know ahead of time that I will be staying with the same family. I feel better prepared to do this so I feel that I may sleep better at there house then before.

One of my biggest comforts when I was sleepless was reading the comments from my blogger friends. When you are put in a situation where you can not read or understand what is being said around you it can be difficult. So expect that I will blog as often as possible.

PS By this time next week I should be getting on a plane bond for Russia! 7 Days to go!!