kaliedascopic account of russia

I am amazingly behind in blogging. By that I mean: there are so many experiences that need to be shared.

Luckily, I am sick. So, I have nothing to do. Except blog. and sleep. But seeing as I just woke up from sleeping 15 hours straight, blogging seems somewhat productive.


experience 1
Let me tell you about platscar.
[insert memory  of stepping into a moist, sauna like train wagon with about 50 bunks and thinking: "i'm sleeping in this?]

i had the opportunity to have said experience 5 times while in Russia. but, by far my favorite was on the way to Petersburg. maybe because i was used to the intrinsic humidity of body heat by then. but maybe it was because danielle dropped all of her cucumbers on the man on the bunk under hers.

experience 2
this is an experience way in the past, but i would still like to share it.
maybe unsurprisingly, the topic of my not drinking alcohol--ever--comes up in every situation. sometimes multiple times in one situation, if the person i had been talking with is drinking, and consequentially forgets that i don't drink, due to his tipsiness.

but i think one of the most memorable times was when a man bought me a glass of champagne, came to bring it to me, and i had to refuse. what a conversation. especially because he kept telling me that i could "start to live life" if i just drank the glass of champagne.

don't worry, i assured him that i started to live life 20 years ago, and my mother could confirm it.

experience 3
my lovely host had, well, strange friends to say the least.
on the last weekend we were there, i was struggling to finish up my paper, but she insisted i go to watch the eurocup games.
remembering that i would get more russian practice if i were out and about with her, i agreed, and brought my two padroogies: Danielle and Becky.

normally when i went to these things there were many people. this time:
not so many.
it was kind of an uncomfortable experience. but here is a picture:

to me, this says it all. but if you don't see how this could be strange, please email me. and i will give you a better explanation.

experience 4
i once had to buy a new battery charger in russia, and all of my work for my project was on my computer. so, i went to a computer specialist store. and proceeded to work with incompetent young men. some might say it was maybe a language barrier. but, note that this was at the end of my program, and i can speak pretty sufficiently.

this young man opened a box of universal plugs, and tried to plug it in where my sd card is supposed to be inserted. failure number one. he then tried to open my laptop, not once but multiple time from the back [even after my instructions that this was not the way to open it.] failures two through five.

after i turned it on, and acknowledged that it was indeed charging my computer, he told me in order to see if it really worked, we needed to take out my battery, and see if it worked without my battery. failure six.

 i don't know about other people's laptops, but mine requires my battery. with or without a charger. after telling him this in vain, he showed me that my computer indeed did not work without a battery. [thank you]. failure seven.

 after i told him i would buy the cord anyways, he was baffled. he didn't understand, because my computer didn't work when he tried it without the battery. i had to show him again that it was charging my battery. how did i know? simple math. yes, i know, i'm not the best at math. but i do know when there is a difference between 70% battery and 71% battery. failure eight, for he didn't believe me that this meant it was charging. honestly. [ he kept telling me that it didn't matter, because if it didn't work without the battery.] i would tell you the rest of this story but it would take far too many words.

there was a time, slash it is still continuing, when i couldn't keep track of anything. except chapstick [just finished a tube yesterday].  and i just had this horrific realization that i left my memory card in Russia. so, i don't have any more pictures of russia to give you. hopefully i can obtain some from my lovely classmates.

so, i guess that will leave posting more about russia till later.

пока друзья
k.billy