6/24 First Day on the Trans-Siberian

First day of the Trans-siberian was quite a trip. We got on the train around 12pm in the evening and I honestly thought that we would go to sleep right after we boarded because everyone was so exhausted from the long day of meetings. That was definitely not the case. I shared a cabin with Juno, Anton and Emiliano and after we had our bags stored away christened the room by taking shots of vodka and even inviting Professor Armstrong in for a round. Then everyone joined us and we crammed 9 people in the room for rounds of shots and relaxation. I guess we started off the trip the right way.

Christening our Cabin

First Night on the Trans-Siberiaan

The next morning we recapped our visit to Moscow and Beijing in our discussion sections. The discussion sections consisted of 5 people and were very engaging and intimate. I could have seen each section lasting 2- 3 hours because everyone had so much to speak about. One of the most interesting things that came up was there Soviet Union and how the name of the country was not based on geographic location, but solely on political ideology. After the discussion sections, I took a nap and then ate cup noodle. Over the course of the day I ended up eating 5 bowls of cup noodle. On my first day on the trans-siberian I ate more cup noodles than my entire college career. 

One thing that is incredibly difficult to adjust to is the time changes. Not only are we constantly moving through time, we are dealing with the white night so it gets dark at 12 and the sun begins to rise at 3:30. I think everyone has no conception of actual time, just levels of exhaustion to cope with.

At 9 in the morning our crew woke up exhausted and defeated because we were looking forward to seeing the obelisk that marks the border between Europe and Asia. At around 7, I woke up to Anton and Gaby staring out the window waiting for the obelisk. At 9:30, when were discussing about how bummed we were to have missed the obelisk, Junho yells out "I see the obelisk!" Anton and I jump off the top bunks and press our faces against the glass to catch a view of the obelisk, but to no avail. We then break out of our cabin and sprint down the hall chanting "Asia Asia Asia!!" at the top of our lungs and catch a view of the obelisk out the back window. It was a small structure, shorter then the power lines, but we had seen it regardless. 

Peace out Moscow - Its been real

Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal

A couple hours later we arrived in Ekaterinburg, the fourth largest city in Moscow for the day. I'm excited to see what the rest of the day holds for us!