Seminar Day 1: This is a test,only a test....

It's cold, ya'll

For starters, St.Petersburg is a massive city. Massive. The weather is crazy. And cold..windy and really, really cold. 

The day of the seminar, we left our apartment and meandered through the subway systems to our destination stop. Jesse and I were separated by confusion about calling a taxi vs walking to our location point. It was raining,windy and the temperature dropped considerably. This is where the following two hours became a test in my urban survival skills,emotional strength, and determination level.My pre-programmed cell phone maps were not working. I was lost. Our translator began trying to help me navigate(via messages) back to the training center and a few very kind people in the streets offered to help. Almost everyone however, turned me back around in around circle. I won't even discuss the man who yelled anti-American sentiments at me for 30 minutes while chasing me with his barking dog,who also seemed to dislike Americans. Yelling back at people in Spanish was something I was used to and comfortable with,so that's how I dealt with him. At some point,during his rant, I yelled "it's raining,sideways,what do you want,an umbrella??!". Not my finest moment,but also , I realized this was a test. It was only a test , (one of many more to come).If I were in the US in the same predicament, I would have headed home,cozied up with my animals and found a book to read. However, this was a seminar I had waited for,for almost a year. There was no way I could back out of Day 1. 

Finally,our two translators managed to find me in the rain,at a park. This is where I met Richard,a tall Nordic model-looking young man,who I had corresponded with online for maybe 6 months prior. He and Jaroslav literally rescued me. I held back tears of joy seeing them both because it was already raining and perhaps they didn't know that their act of chivalry redefined my beliefs about young men today.
Once we made it back to the sports complex I was overwhelmed by the size of the area. It was massive. There was a judo tournament going on,and judo had been and sport that piqued my interest for the last year. There was confusion at the front desk about badges,passports, entrance fees. Several of us were stacked in a pile and this is where I began noticing some familiar faces from the videos I had been watching for a year. I knew,for the most part,these people did not know me,and I didn't want to seem overly emotional about seeing them,so I tucked under my rain soaked hoodie and waited. Throughout the melee of Russian voices,whistles of the judo tournament,chaos and confusion. ...I heard a very familiar and comforting sound. Andrey came marching to our rescue playing his balalaika and an incredibly loud tone and high speed ,walked up to the front desk,mumbled some words to the receptionist ,then ,like a mama duck,tucked all of us under his wing and shuffled us back upstairs.
He was indeed ,magic.

I'm a little underdressed...

Once I walked into the gym ,I began noticing more and more familiar faces that I've only seen on DVDs. It was a very surreal feeling. I tried to contain myself as much as possible, but once I saw Natalya Kopylova, I broke into Beatles fan-like hysterics. Natalya was featured in one of Andrey's online short videos in a display of beautiful Nagaika(Cossack) whip work. And there she was,a mere few feet in front of me.
Within minutes, what seemed like a thousand people, shuffled me in front of her and handed me a sword. Um,yes.This happened. Not only was I rain soaked and cold, I had very little idea of how to even hold a sword. And now, I was holding a sword,in front of a room full of people, in a foreign country,on camera. My dear friends,this was not the worst thing that's ever happened to me,but it is certainly perhaps one that tested all my social awareness,confidence and demeanor. As Natalya graciously demonstrated how to hold the sword, I fumbled through translation and tried to simulate one ounce of what she was doing. I failed,but, I'm ok with that.
After a few rounds of music, some light training and socilaizing,we formed the traditional "Systema circle". Mr. Karimov began by discussing with everyone how I told him I was coming to Russia and how,over the course of almost a year,he developed this seminar titled "Together for Peace".  One at a time,our gracious peers began delivering their thanks for the seminar and all were vehemently excited about the next 21 days. By the time it was my turn to speak,I erupted into tears. It occurred to me that my persistence with Mr.Karimov,paid off and here we all were,together in one room. I could barely choke through my tears as I thanked everyone for being present and I thanked everyone for welcoming us and I don't even remember what else I said.....
In fact,after Day 2 of the seminar, I don't remember much at all.....
(Luckily there are plenty of pictures and I jotted down many notes)