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Здравствуйте (Zdravstvuyte)! Sandra just taught me how to say hello in Russian! As the cold weather clasped my first day at Moscow, Sandra, my host from Airbnb, let me settle comfortably in my new room where all of her hair accessories were laying on the dressing shelf. I video-called my mother to show how the sky was awake and filled with white clouds even by 10:30 at night – it was a rare sight for her and I. The streets remained quiet and alone as I walked out carrying my adventurous-self to dive into the Russian vibe - after all, it was the first time, I had taken myself solo, somewhere away from my home country, so exquisite and serene. Sandra told me to browse through Old Arbat Street (or Arbatskaya as they call it!), one of the most happening streets in Moscow, so I took out my long black boots and my comfortable denim, and headed my way out of my room. As I returned the keys to the old lady at the reception, she offered me two cherries and a shot of vodka with a warm smile, and to my expectations, she lost interest in befriending me soon after she got to know I don’t drink. It was midnight when I began to walk on the streets like a baby who is left to wander in a place where she can play, run, sing and dance. “Lights go down, In the moment we are lost and found, I just wanna be by your side, If these wings could fly…” I kept singing my lungs out on the tranquil roads waiting to mingle with the echo of my voice. As I started walking on Arbatskaya, I lost my tendency to sing out loud and rather I let myself sit with all the street singers and artists who worked hard to please the audience before them. My eyes could be biased to decide with whom I was going to sit all night so I let the music pick a companion for me. Ksenia, a girl with short hair and round eyes, charming a bunch of people, was singing one of my favorite songs of all time - Zombie by Cranberries. How could have I resisted myself from listening to her sing… Later by 3am, she let me sip her crafted beer, and we spoke of how much she loved singing and tattoos until the clock tower hit 5am! I was assuming the old lady at the reception was disappointed of me already. To my surprise, the day I was leaving for Nizhny Novgorod, she gave me a blue ceramic couple showpiece as a souvenir or more like a blessing to a solo girl on a romantic trip, I could see! The array of colorful streets and houses is the gold of Nizhny. Being a non-football fanatic, I couldn’t identify what was the most liberating element of the city amongst all that my eyes could grasp. Was it the excitement of the World Cup or was I in a part of a paradise where everybody was unburdened of all the responsibilities of life? Before I could untangle my thread of thoughts, I found myself walking on Bolshaia Pokrovskaia Street where I found Nastasia, wearing a blue jacket, white shirt and a pair of black jeans, tenderly smiling at me. She had the most exquisite way of speaking but my bad, I don’t know Russian. I downloaded a mobile translator for her to be comfortable sharing her thoughts about Russian Nesting Dolls, called Matryoshka, and be able to introduce me to four of her friends just so we can dance the night away in a small park with some music out loud. The day I left Nizhny and booked my way back to Pakistan, I couldn’t hold my tears back as I realized that I have sung with local singers, danced with the drunk and fell in the love with the language and architecture but was anybody ever going to miss me? While I was drowning in an ocean of questions, my phone blinked. It was a message from Nastasia saying, “Whenever you come back to Russia, always know that you have friends here!”.