Russia, here we come!

Well, it's official! We just found out that we were approved for our visas, so Ben & I will be leaving in about one month for Russia, and we'll be gone for six weeks! Ben is doing a "field study," which is basically an individual internship...he's been doing some research with a Public Health professor about tobacco warning labels, and he'll launch an accredited survey over in Russia (a.k.a. tobacco country!) to find out what's effective and what's not. You can learn a little more about it on his blog International Tobacco Treaty. He can explain it better than me, though (here's your cue, Ben). Anyway, Ben served an LDS mission for two years in Samara, Russia, so he knows the language and culture well (definite plus). Primarily, we'll stay in Moscow & Saint Petersburg, so we won't be able to visit his mission area, BUT, we're hoping to spend some time over in Finland & Sweden after the survey is launched! My dad was born in Finland and lived there until he was eight years old, so visiting Finland has always been a dream of mine. We have some distant relatives that I've had some contact with, so it would be great to see them. Ben & I both have Swedish ancestry, so Sweden will be great too...we feel very lucky for this opportunity and are really looking forward to it!