Thank you for your replies.

Eugene, I will start learning the alphabet immediately.

Inego, I am not planning to learn the questions by themselves. I wish, as a primary goal, to learn Russian to the point that I can have a basic understanding of what people are saying in a disaster situation.

In a disaster,it is unlikely that people would want to start a conversation on the native flora and fauna. Therefore, it would not be necessary for me to learn words that relate only to this subject in order for me to achieve my primary goal.

As a secondary goal, I would like to learn the Russian language fluently.

I also would like to master cooking some Russian food. Schi for example:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../4/4a/Schi.jpg