Vytegra

          My very first impression of Vytegra was that it was a bigger town than I was expecting it to be. I think that I thought Vytegra was going to be something in between a town and a village.  As I was walking through the town, I noticed that there was quite a bit of stores and that there was not just one but two different schools for the youth to attend.  I lastly noticed that the literature that we read gave the impression that once one moved out of St. Petersburg or Moscow, the people were not very receptive of foreigners. This could be further from the truth in Vytegra. The people have showered us with gifts and have been nothing but kind and loving to us. I believe that these literary works were trying to imply that the people living in these little towns were very nice to foreigners until reforms were brought in. However, it seems that the people of Vytegra are very receptive to foreign ideas and objects because nearly every student that I encountered had a cell phone and there is this world class hotel that is being built in the community. In all, I believe that the community of Vytegra exceeded my expectations. 
Below is a picture of the students that were nothing but warm and welcoming to us. I believe that we created a lasting relationship with them and will be keeping in contact with them for the rest of my life.