The Biscuit of Zazzamarandabo

Today's post is brought to you by the Veggie Tales song, "The Biscuit of Zazzamarandabo." Why? Because it reminds me of the past week.

This post is also brought to you by the word: "ура" (ooh-RAH), meaning "hooray!"

For all those not counting the days until my departure, today is my final 24 hours in North America. I am a bundle of excitement/nervousness as is to be expected. I wish I could say I was all packed and ready to go, but like the song so humorously portrayed, there have been dozens of little things preventing me from being totally prepared for my own biscuit adventure.

Last week was the week of discovering all the tiny but ever-so-vital accessories necessary for my trip. I needed a purse, a wallet, some euros, shampoo, copies of my passport/insurance/bank information, ironed clothes, a bottle of Febreeze, knick-knacks for my host family (more on this later), a flash drive for my once-infirmed computer (more on this, too), skype accounts for my family...the list goes on. Even after a solid week of shopping, I still forgot facial cleanser. So I need to buy it today. Ugh.

Aside from getting the lastest-last-minute items, I have a whole bunch of things to do today. Since my plane takes off at 6AM (!!) tomorrow morning, I need to check in for all three of my flights, pay for baggage, find more socks, and pack. Oh, and spend time with my family. Busy day!

Last week's excitement was not limited to the purchasing of items, unfortunately. My laptop decided to throw a tantrum and BLUE SCREEN because it did not have the latest updates for its graphics driver. As my computer is the only real link I will have with anyone stateside while I'm in Russia, this was a big deal. Fortunately, we were able to update the software and the tempestuous little thing has been running smoothly ever since. I even cleaned its screen and got the dust out of the keyboard and fan. It likes me, now. Perhaps I will name him Steve in thanks for the cooperation.

Going back to some of the things I've purchased (or, really, what the parental units have purchased for me), I am most proud of the gifts I got for my host family. In Russia, it's customary to bring people gifts when you enter their house, so all of us studying abroad were encouraged to buy presents representative of our region of the country. Living in Arizona, I thought it would be incomparably cool to bring a cactus to Russians, who probably have never seen a desert plant in their lives. Unfortunately, you aren't allowed to bring live plants into other countries, so I had to settle for something else. I ended up getting an authentic Arizona Indian sandpainting, a dreamcatcher, a candle with a kokopelli on it (Native American deity popular in art), a magnet, a sand globe (like a snow globe, only climate-specific) and a bunch of postcards that I put into a photo booklet. The photo booklet project was the bane of my existence because it ended up involving staples, tape and glue, but it's finally finished. Also, my friend Masha told me that she got Pop Rocks for her host family if they had kids and I thought that was a brilliant idea, so I copied her. (If my host fam doesn't have kids, though, I'm keeping the Pop Rocks.) I don't plan to give all of my knick-knacks to my family. I'm saving a couple of the smaller items in case I meet other Russians and want to give them a gift.

That's it for now. I'm off to check in with United and Lufthansa, iron my clothes and finish packing. Next time you hear from me, I'll be in the Motherland!

Katya