Now You Have Real Russian Brother

My initial host family was a joke. They were all sorts of crazy. They went to bed when I woke up, called me fat, screamed in public places and stole chickens from the synagogue. Crazy, I tell you. Additionally, my host brother, Mikhail, was a creepy. For some reason, he didn't like to be fully dressed. Awkward. Plus since he and his girlfriend slept all day and the dining table overlooked their bed, every meal required me to watch them cuddle on their cheetah print sheets. Weird.

This is Mikahil:

And this is his mother, the chicken-pilfering Inecca Simyonovna:

I ended up being trapped in my room most of the time due to the odd, uncomfortable dynamics of the family. It took a bit of prying, but the school thankfully allowed me to move. Already, things are much better. I'm living with another babushka, Irina Yakovlevna, and a guy from class, Graham. In the past few days, I've already felt more at home here and smiled more than I did the whole first week. Irina Yakovlevna is a typical Russian babushka who certainly likes things done her way, but the overall atmosphere is far more calming. I'm not trapped in my room anymore.