I'm now in Central Asia, and so surprised by so many things!
First of all, the house is so much more comfortable than I expected. There is a very nice shower with hot water, even nicer than my place in Florence. The apartment itself is beautiful and very comfortable place to live.
Second, I really did not expect to find such an incredible mix of cultures here. There are signs in Russian, Turkish, English, Italian (these are mainly knockoff designer stores) and of course the local language. Even the local language is sometimes written in Russian characters and sometimes in Latin. There are also Iranian stores, Pakistani stores, Turkish stores...this place is so much more of a crossroads than I realized it would be.
Third, I am surprised at how comfortable I am in a place where I can currently only say "Hi", "Thank you", "goodbye", "yes", "no" and "water" on my own without prompting or help. It is actually really relaxing just to follow Eric and Karisa around, riding the buses and metros and taxis they do, not responding to the people who speak to us on the street, letting them handle basically everything! I thought I would hate this, but I love it (for a change). Perhaps it is so relaxing because for the past two months I have been struggling to figure out my own public transportation, stressing over knowing where I am, stressing over communicating well with people in a different language, that it is wonderful to just let go and let them do everything.
Fourth, I am suprised at how good the food is. I have loved everything I have tried, and there is more flavor than I was expecting. Perhaps I was subconsciously expecting to eat nothing but borscht and mashed potatoes but that is not the case at all!! There is a lot of rice, which I really missed in Italy, and a lot of different flavors that after two solid months of nothing but pasta, mozzarella, pesto and tomato sauce I am intensely thankful to eat. (Am I weird or what? Enjoying Central Asian food more than Italian? hmmm...)
Fifth, I am surprised at how nice it is to be with people who understand me so well, who believe the way I do, who follow the same lifestyle I do. I knew it would be this way, but perhaps underestimated the relieving effect it would have on me.
I can't believe I have less than a week left here, then on to Oxford then India!
