I left Columbia for Washington, D.C., on June 1, and departed for Russian on June 3. I arrived in Astrakhan around midnight local time on Friday, June 5. The center of the city is situated on the Volga River and is quite beautiful. Our group studies at Astrakhan State University close to the center of the city. I have to take the number 27 marshrutka to class every morning.

The Russian transportation system is one of the most fascinating things I have ever seen. From the outside, it looks like complete chaos; however, it is actually very efficient. Public transportation is very cheap (approximately 40 cents) and very fast. The city has marshrutkas, trolleys and buses. Marshrutkas are vans that have routes through the entire city and the outlying areas, and are the quickest way of getting around. They are very small, very hot, and usually far too many people are inside. The drivers also somehow manage to drive, take money and make change, keep track of who is inside and who has paid, talk on their cell phones, and avoid collisions and running over pedestrians. People pass their money up to the driver, and any change is passed back to the passenger without anyone trying to steal money. It is quite a thing to see.



There are 20 students in my group in Astrakhan. We have class from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Once or twice a week, we have excursions to sites in the city. So far, we have seen the Astrakhan Kremlin, many of the monuments and statues, the Tinaka spa and the Astrakhan Oblast Duma. The trip to Volgograd, formally known as Stalingrad, was great. The city is the site of one of the most famous battles of World War II between the German and Soviet forces in which the Soviets emerged victorious after a very long and costly close-quarter battle. I was able to see most of the monuments in person and the changing of the guards at the military memorial. My favorite picture from the trip was me with the Rodina Mat' ("The Motherland") statue. I have seen so many pictures of it in my life but never actually thought I would see it in person.

My host family is amazing. They are very accommodating and have made this experience so great. My host family consists of my host mother Dinara, my host father Shamil' and my host sister Liya. We live behind a mall called Grand River, approximately 20 minutes away from the city center by marshrutka.

Despite many Americans' perception of Russia being eternally cold, it is extremely hot here. The weather is dry and usually 90-plus degrees. There are mosquitoes everywhere, as well, especially near the Volga River and anywhere around water. Also, Astrakhan is extremely diverse. Russia is much more diverse than most people realize. There are many ethnic groups here, and just walking around the city, you can see people of every different ethnic group in Russia and Eurasia, as well as some from mainland Europe and the Mediterranean and the Middle East. From what I have been told, this diversity is the reason Astrakhan is must more relaxed and accommodating of many different ethnicities than other places in Russia.

So far, this has been an amazing experience, and I'm sure it will get even better. My Russian has improved dramatically since I have been here, although I do have a long way to go. So, for now, До свидания!

Patrick Holstad, a Calhoun Academy graduate and senior at the University of South Carolina, is participating in the Critical Language Scholarship Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The program offers intensive summer language institutes in 11 critical need foreign languages. Holstad is studying in Astrakhan, Russia.

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