1 year

Even including the 5 weeks stateside, I've been in Strana for a year. It's not as big a deal as I would think. Here's a short list of what I've done and how I've changed.

-My Russian is now good. I have conversations in it.
-I even dreamed in it.
-I have made borsch (of what quality, I cannot say).
-I have canned tomatoes- adzhyka, pasta sauce, chili sauce, what have you.
-I am capable of looking at something covered in mayonnaise and saying 'This is a salad.'
-I've gotten really good at holding my tongue. Like whoa.
-I learned how to lose, and also, how to regain. I allowed Thy grace to be sufficient for me.
-I attended Orthodox services (sort of).
-I have taken more overnight trains than I can count.
-I have become surprisingly conservative in some ways. While my father always used to rail against American puritanism, I now find myself comfortable with our concepts of sin, shame and modesty.
-I no longer find any jokes at the expense of Jews funny. At all.
-I have lived in a pre-Feminist society, and I understand a lot more than I did.

Hmmm. What does all this signify? I leave interpretation in your hands.