Host family

My older host sister, Olia, studied geology. She was writing her dissertation on diamonds. We shared some memorable moments where her panic blurred with my pleasant concentration as I helped her import Excel charts into Word. We had our computers open side by side so I could understand the Russian menus. Olia corresponded by email with a boy in Spain. She called him Испанец - literally, the Spaniard. She wrote, "There are five people in my family: my mother, my father, my sister Zhenia, and Kasia." Thus I knew I was part of the family.

Elena Pavlovna was my host mother. She sometimes addressed Olia or Zhenia as "Дочь," literally, "Daughter." Once she accidentally said that to me and I blushed. If she was home when I left for the university, she waved to me from the kitchen window up on the thirteenth floor. Therefore I made sure to wear my hat at least until I rounded the bend. Thus I knew I was part of the family.