Chapter 1

In Russia

It was April 12, 1979 and a class from the University of Albany was taking a trip. But this was no ordinary class on any ordinary trip. This was the Russian advanced-language group on their trip to Moscow, Russia. Their trip was to "experience the culture." Many of the kids on this trip were very excited but some, like Tina and Chelsea, could care less. They were just interested in the guys going on the trip, like Gary and Red.

One of the most excited girls on the trip was Nadia. She had always been interested in the Russian culture and the language. Nadia had spoken Russian since she was 7 years old because she was Russian. Her mother and father had met in Russia and fallen in love. They wanted to move away from the Soviet government because they wanted Nadia to have a good life without unfair rules and laws. Nadia's parents somehow snuck onto a cargo plane headed for the states and survived the trip. Some people in the US didn't welcome them, but the few they actually talked to felt they were good people. Nadia's parents told her not to advertise to the world that she was Russian because of prejudice and the war. Only her best friend Sally, who was still in NY, knew. Nadia had always secretly dreamed of meeting a Russian boy and falling madly in love, like her parents did. She knew that this was her only opportunity to make her dream a reality.

After 10 hours of flying, the plane finally landed. Jetlagged and tired, the students got off of the plane. For the students that had watches on, they read 3:00am, but it was sunny at the airport.

"Excuse me, sir." Asked Tina in Russian, "But what time is it?"

The man replied, "It is 11:00 am. Shouldn't you be in school?"

Tina didn't even bother to answer because she realized how tired she was, "Oh, I am so stinkin' tired!" she growled, "Gary, hold me!"

Tina was a girl of 23 years old with light brown medium length hair and blue eyes. Her boyfriend was Gary, a 25-year-old boy. Tina's boyfriends never lasted long, though. Gary came over and embraced Tina, who was grinning. Chelsea saw this and went over to her boyfriend. Chelsea was a 24-year-old girl with long black hair and dark brown eyes. Her boyfriend was named Peter, but everyone called him Red, and was 26-years-old.

"Hey, Red, can you buy me a hot chocolate? I'm, like, really cold." She knew the answer that was coming.

"Don't worry, I'll keep you warm." He said.

Nadia just watched. She never had a boyfriend, nor had she wanted one, at least, not in the USA. She had always dreamed of love and was sure she would find it in Russia.

Nadia took out her trip outline to take her mind off of the lovers. She had been waiting for this trip since she had found out about it, two years ago. The outline stated that they were to go the capitol, Moscow, and see the sights, then go to watch some of the sports. Nadia read the list of sports in her head. They were figure skating, hockey, and skiing. Nadia loved hockey and played whenever she could, so this excited her. She often went to the library to look up famous hockey players from Russia and could recall reading about they're record. They had won 4 Olympic gold medals in a row and World Championships in between. They were the best in the world.

"Okay, listen up everyone!" said their teacher, Mr. Ryan, "Since there are so many of you, I've decided to split you up into groups. Tina, Chris, and Peter are group 1. Chelsea, Sean, and Lola are group 2. Nadia, Gary, and Jeremy are group 3 and Smith, Star and Amy are group 4. Okay?"

Everyone pretty much just nodded, except Chelsea and Tina.

"Excuse me, but can we be with our boyfriends?" said Chelsea.

"Sure, does anyone want to switch groups?" asked Mr. Ryan.

Tina glared at Jeremy, the smallest kid in the group, and he got frightened.

"I'll switch!" he said.

"Good." Said Mr. Ryan, "Anyone else?"

Chelsea kicked Chris in the back of his knee and he shouted.

"Okay, Chris and Chelsea can switch." Said Mr. Ryan, "Is everyone okay now?"

Everyone nodded.

"Alright, then. Group one will go to see the sights in Moscow, group two will go see the figure skating, group three will watch the hockey and group four will go see the skiing."

Everyone split up into their groups and got into the rental cars that were waiting there for them. Two groups had to wait for their cars because Mr. Ryan hadn't planned on having four groups. Chelsea and Tina, being very greedy, pushed the other groups out of their way and got to the cars. Nadia was actually grateful for Tina's rudeness. She didn't want to stand out in the cold, Moscow Airport, air.

Gary quickly got into the drivers seat and Tina sat next to him. Nadia watched as she kissed him. It was a deep kiss, but it didn't look like it had passion. Gary saw her looking and said, "Just sit in the back with the luggage!"

He pushed Nadia into the crowded back seat and closed the door. Then, he started driving, following Mr. Ryan in his bigger car. He also had group one with him, so Chelsea and Red probably wouldn't be doing much of anything.

About twenty minutes later, they reached their hotel. It was a big white hotel covered with freshly fallen snow. There were two big doors for the entrance and exit in the front of the building. Everyone went to park their rental cars and went into the hotel. In the lobby, Mr. Ryan told them their room numbers and who they would be sharing with. Chelsea and Tina were sharing a room, Gary and Red were sharing a room, and Nadia was sharing a room with Amy. Amy was a nice girl that Nadia got along well with. Everyone was instructed to go to their rooms and get unpacked and then come down to the lobby to get ready for their first trip.

Amy and Nadia walked up to room 405 and unlocked the door. Their room was a decent size with a window that looked over Moscow. They were on the 5th floor out of 6 floors and could see everything. Nadia fell into a little daydream but quickly came back. She and Amy unpacked their stuff, which took a long time because the visit to Russia was for 3 weeks, and went down to the lobby.

In the lobby, Mr. Ryan was hurrying to get everyone set. He was also excited about this trip.

"Okay everyone!" he said, "You know where you are going?"

Everyone nodded and rolled their eyes. What were they, 4 years old?

"No you don't!" he said.

Everyone looked at him like he was nuts.

"Because we are all going out to eat! I arranged tables at a very fancy Russian restaurant and that's what we are doing tonight. Tomorrow is when we start our trips."

He handed directions to all of the groups to keep. Tina, Gary, and Nadia went into the parking lot and got into the car. Nadia sat in the back again, but wasn't as squished. She looked out the back window as Gary drove to the Russian restaurant called Olesya.