In Which I Arrive in Russia

I finally arrived in Moscow at 9:30am, and was the first student from the program to get to the airport. I met Simone, the assistant director, at the airport, and we proceeded to stand around for 3.5 hours waiting for the rest of the students (maybe 15 in all) to trickle out of customs. We then boarded a bus to go to our hotel, which was in the Izmailovo region of the city, northeast of the city center. We didn't see anything interesting or particularly notable on our way to the hotel, save for many Soviet style apartment blocks (which aren't really that notable, considering they're everywhere). At the hotel we did some orientation types of things, ate dinner, and then hung out until bed, taking advantage our last few hours of being allowed to speak English. In the morning we got up early, did some more orientation-like activities, including finding out about our host families (more on this later), and were told about how we would get attacked by skinheads if we went to any soccer or hockey games against Moscow or Petersburg based teams. We then had lunch, and were told that as of 2:00pm, we were no longer allowed to speak English to each other, only Russian (well, they only said no English, so I suppose I could speak something else if I really wanted to. Maybe). At 2:00 we retrieved our luggage and, saying nothing because could only speak Russian, boarded the bus to Yaroslavl'.
Our driver was a large Russian man named Aleksandr, who seemed to be one of the most aggressive drivers I had ever encountered. Until, that is, I saw how the other drivers were - I have never seen people so aggressively passing on two-lane roads. Even full size buses would be passing other buses, trucks, and regular cars, with vehicles bearing down on the other side of the road. It was really crazy. Anyway, after a long, largely silent bus ride, we arrived in Yaroslavl', and started to drop people off with their host families(which are, in fact, usually not families at all, but rather older women living alone. Out of eight students, only two are living with more than one other person). When we pulled up to where I would be living, we were met by my host babushka, Lutsia Vladimirovna Zlotnikova, who is a rather short older woman, and who has been hosting American students for ten years. And according to the information I was given in Moscow, she is “good at hosting male students, as she gives them lots of room and doesn't 'mother' them as much as other babushki are known to.” So you got your wish, Mom. I won't be living with an old woman who will cater to my every need. Only some or most of them. Anyways, I was terrified at first because I didn't really understand anything she was saying, but once I sat down and had something to eat it went a little more smoothly, and I was able to learn that she has a daughter who is a psychologist (perhaps a psychology student, I'm not sure) in Yaroslavl', and a son who is in the army, in Kiev. She worked at a university, I think, though she's now retired. She actually complimented me on my Russian, which made me happy, considering how nervous I had been at the beginning. I'm now settled into my room, listening to Al Green, about to go to bed. Tomorrow is more orientation, including seeing the university (YarGU), and the center of the city. I'm so glad to finally be here, and somewhat settled.
Oh, for those who have asked – here is the best address at which to send me mail. I would recommend printing it out on labels, since it's in Cyrillic, but if that's not doable, try to copy the letters as best you can:
150000 Ярославль
ул. Советская, 14
Ярославский Государственний Университет
ИНОТДЕЛ
Charles Ballard, американский студент
RUSSIA