First paragraph. I should probably write something about America, like what many people write - it's my dream and I'm super excited about it. But I can't think of anything witty, and the first paragraph is already typed, and I'm too lazy to redo it. The blog is extremely inconsistent, but it will be voluminous, read it to your health)

ATTENTION! Anyone going to NY between ~May 30 and June 6 or already there, write to the email festfire@gmail.com - we will coordinate regarding housing, work, etc..

Actually, I've heard about this thing for a long time - but back then I was still a very young schoolboy and such prospects were like... well, like thoughts about a driver's license - you want it, but you can't have it - so whatever. But time goes on, and I gradually probed my parents' heads from high school about America - language is needed, when to go - discussed dates, this and that.. I was planning to go in the summer of 2011, after my 3rd year... But on February 1st, my dad SUDDENLY woke up: - Oh, look, I found an ad in the newspaper about that program for a trip to America, let's go this summer - I'll finance it :) -???? 0_0 eh? That's how my dad took the initiative to start the program. I must say, I'm not the most energetic person in life, I don't have ants in my pants, but I can't sit still either (most likely I'll fall off the seat to the floor and rest there) :/ This is about the fact that I'm not a go-getter at all, I'm afraid and shy of a lot of things, but sometimes I can do something interesting and right =)

God knows why, but I decided to continue my story. So, I successfully found that company from the newspaper, came, blah blah blah - and I'm in the program. Honestly, not the best choice, as it turned out later - but I'm too lazy. I struggled with the documents back then - to get a passport you need a military ID or a certificate from the military enlistment office, plus a ton of all sorts of certificates with signatures from the dean's office, checks at the GUVD, etc.. Although it turned out that I didn't have to collect all these certificates myself, although it was unclear why they gave me these certificates at all. To hell with it. I got my passport at the last moment and gave it to the agency.

So.. what's next - the embassy. I was too lazy to worry about this again - in my opinion, it's a simple formality if you really fit the program. Actually, I went there for an interview on April 29, which is already kind of late - there is a limit on the number of visas for W&T, and they give visas more willingly at the beginning. I went there by train with a girl and a guy (their names are Anya and Murat) for a day and a half, and it was gray and mundane - I am boring and unsociable to the extreme, and time on the train with non-working sockets (the mobile phone cannot be recharged) drags on just.. well, for me it's a bit boring, but the guys were really suffering (they drained their mobile phones at the station, my k850 lasted the whole trip with reasonable use =) ) By the way, a couple of words about my fellow travelers - they study at a commercial institute, which was completely against their trip to America (that's very cool=) ), Murat knew English poorly, I didn't understand at all what he was saying, but nevertheless he wanted to stay in America as an illegal immigrant, Anya spoke an order of magnitude better, it was possible to understand what she was saying, by the way, when I saw her, I thought she was 21-22 - a lot of makeup, general appearance and a slightly rough voice from smoking did their job, although she was 17 (now she is 18). Sooo.. They were on their own wavelength, I was on mine, but we stuck together.

In general, we arrived at the place, here is the embassy. We found a bus from Penza nearby, where our um