Tatiana

Tatiana is a deceptively mean-looking woman. Imagine a 5'3" blond Leona Helmsley and you're about as close as you can get without a photograph. It’s all in the narrow eyes and prominent brow (think "Brain" from Pinky and the Brain), and the determined way she purses her lips when she's working, as thought waiting for a pretense to blow her lid. The first couple times I saw her smile I thought I detected something sinister and insincere, but like all my other first judgments, I was completely mistaken. Over the past five days I’ve come to appreciate this sweet, tough, and loving woman who worries about her husband's health, takes her son out to buy new clothes for school, dotes on Vasya the cat and is exactly what I was looking for a in a host mother––friendly, interested in talking to me, happy to cook my meals, and "chill" enough to give me space when I need it.