Step One: Get past Step One

I created this blog so I might actually chronicle some of my time here in Russia. Of course, I bought a paper journal in the romantic hope I might write in it, but that failed after the first entry. I'm a fan of romantic notions, but rarely a participant. I'd like to think I am the type of person who would capture my trip here in vivid, written detail. Or that I would spend my evenings holed up in a warm Russian apartment toasting vodka to international friendship. In reality, I spend too many evenings getting drunk with other expats at skinty expat bars that cater to the Western businessmen and the ubiquitous Moscow prostitute crowd. I do own, however, a pair of certifiably-Russian, pointy shoes that I use to protect myself from random document checks. "She has pointy shoes! Must be Russian!"

I'm in Moscow with Jason, my fiance, doing an internship at TransAtlantic Partners Against AIDS, where I'm a policy intern. I research policy on AIDS, and write little one-page papers on much bigger papers. I teach English, take Russian lessons, and play around with my new camera. And I cook, a lot.