Letters From Moscow - Touring Day

Harper and teammates discover the sights of Moscow

July 1, 2007

By Laura Harper

Special to CSTV.com

We finally left France and we traveled to Moscow, Russia. Travel was about 13 hours, and it was exhausting.

We got to the airport and saw everything in Russian. This country is definitely a lot less English-speaking than France was. It will pose a little bit of a problem but it is definitely going to culture us.

We are really excited to be here in Russia now, because the games are getting closer. The first day here we arrived at night time so we just relaxed in the hotel and got ready for the first day of practice and got used to another time change. Everyone was just trying to get into their comfort zones.

Then, we got set for a day of touring.

We got to see the Red Square and the Kremlin, which Abby [Waner] and I did our whole Russian presentation on.

We took the metro a lot and we also did a lot of walking. This was a lot different than France, because we are doing much more walking, and that lets us see a different sort of experience and environment.

The communication is a barrier here and we found that out while we were on the subway. We couldn't really talk to anyone. Everyone was looking at us and wanted to talk to us but we couldn't. It is just different being in a country other than America where we aren't the dominant culture, and we aren't the dominant language.

The highlight of the touring day was that we ate at Friday's. Well, just kidding, but it was good to have American food and enjoy something that was close to home.

Just the feeling of being in Russia and understanding the different environment are making us realize that the games are close and now we have to focus on our main goal, what we started for in Colorado, and that is to win the gold medal.