My experience in Russia was what can be described as phenomenal. The place was just as I had imagined. As much as I enjoyed escaping the tormenting heat of Indore, I was absolutely mesmerized by the expanse of culture there too. In Moscow, we had stayed in the Star Wars hostel. All of us girls stayed in one dormitory, and we stayed up all night sharing stories, playing different games, but still we were full of energy and enthusiasm in the morning. Through the hop-on-hop-off bus, I was able to visit the majestic places such as the Supreme court, the Parliament, the President’s mansion, Kremlin and much more. We also went to the trampoline park, where we all jumped around till we didn’t have any energy left. My most favourite part, of course was when we had a whole day to ourselves to shop around and buy souvenirs for our families.
Then we went to Surgut. At first I was a bit nervous living with strangers, but they gave me such a warm welcome, I instantly felt at home. They took great care of me, took care of my food preferences, and always helped me with everything. Eliza, my host, was just like a sister to me. On the first day, we were all so tired because of the jet lag, but I wanted to cover as much of Surgut as possible, so my host family took me for a concert. And on top of that, it started to snow, and it was the first snowfall I had ever seen in my life. It looked magical. We spent the whole day playing cards and getting to know each other. 
After school ended, Eliza and her friend Sasha and I would take long walks exchanging all about our culture. Sasha took care of me just like an elder brother too. He gave me his jacket when I felt cold, helped me with my homework, and even taught me how to ice-skate. They also took me to the zoo, where we fed birds, monkeys and even bats! (Except I was not ready to even touch the bats, I was so scared). Over a short period of 7 days, the bond of friendship between me and my host family had grown so strong that we weren’t ready to separate! Overall, I never felt that I was short of anything, I learned a lot and of course I enjoyed so much, these memories will forever be imprinted on my mind. I am looking forward to another one of these inter-cultural programs!
