This is not Europe. This is Russia!

Time: 6:57am Where: CafeMax (local internet cafe)


A lot has happened in the past 4 days. First I will clarify the previous post.



a) Yes I did meet Ja Rule in the airport. And yes I did feel like I was in the movie Snakes on a Plane-- minus the snakes and add 200 lbs to Keenan.



Ja Rule is actually really short and basically an idiot. I was the only one who recognized him on the whole plane of 200 people (which is embarrassing). We talked to him for about 15 minutes about basically nothing... J just worked his ebonic skills mostly (god bless him). I liked his posse much more; they talked to us more enthusiastically, including the 400 lb Keenan-esque one that sat directly in front of us on the plane yelling, "Let's get twisted!" while trying to order large bottles of vodka, of which he was denied and forced to by many smaller bottles. When we weren't screaming "Ja Rule Baby!" J worked his magic with Keenan and found out where and when they were performing-- some club in Moscow and another in "perm"? I dont know. But we never found them again after the flight.

Bottom Line: Ja Rule Sucks (you probably already knew that) and Snakes on the Plane is more real than you would ever know.

b) [see reply section of last post]

c)
Ir, the coordinator.

d) Babuskas might be the greatest invention Russia. The US has all of these old people just wasting and away in front of slot machines and at Eat'n'Park... and we PAY them to do that. Russia instead is much smarter; Old ladies are put to work, and boy do they love it. They mostly just enjoying shushing you and speaking very fast Russian at you. But some of them are very kind hearted. Mine the other day went on a 1/2 hour search for toilet paper for me. Another one asked me if my shower i just took was good. They are also quite mystical. They always know if you are up to no good and can appear from thin air. But mostly just like watching tv in their rooms.


e) Only one person in our group of 8 can fluently speak Russian... and beyond her I'm actually the third best speaker... which is quite sad. But i have been using Russian as much as possible and the people don't seem to mind that i'm butchering their language. They just smile and repeat it 20 times.

f) Outside of the Main Building there are many open, wide streets that are uncrowded at night, so locals like to pretend they are in Fast in the Furious. Only the cars are not quite as cool. But it's quite loud and you can usually hear them until the wee hours of the night. Another cool thing is that night time only lasts about 4 or 5 hrs. After I wrote the last post, I walked outside at 4:30am and it looked like it was 10am. It's crazy and makes you want to never sleep... which i'm fine with. It's nice to go out at 11pm and be able to see where the heck you're walking and not be scared of people hiding in shadows (those in Oakland might be able to relate). But you really wouldn't have to anyway, because our campus is really safe and rather low key. It's about a 15 min. metro ride into the center of the city; very convenient. I have at least two classes in the center of the city right next to the Kremlin [pic of kremlin here]. I'm taking Anatomy and also Histology this first period of June, and Irina is also trying to find a Russian language course that will fit into my schedule.

g) You don't need a license to be a taxi in Russia. Thus Gypsy cabs. We still haven't taken one yet but i'll let you know when i do.

i) Pauli is just a neighbor of mine, maybe she'll read this and let me come to Bulgaria. Anyway, Russian girls: they are many beautiful women with ugly boyfriends, and a lot of PDA to prove it. I have started an experiment by staring at them in the eye-- girls that is. It started by Irina tolling me that Russian eye contact lasts longer than American, so I would try to hold contact longer when on the subway. But it sort of spiraled out of control and now i just stare at people in the eyes all the time; Irina told me that i need to keep track of peoples and behavior and she'll help me write (she's a PhD. student) a presentation at the end of the trip. Other things she wants me to study are vodka drinking habits and winking. She also told me that other Americans have found girlfriends while studying here before, so things look good. I'm sure my methods will produce speedy results. I mean, who doesn't love being stared at? I know i do. yesterday, a local (who could have been a prostitute) was totally into this staring game of mine. I can only go up from here. Today whores, tomorrow bride.

j) I have to go buy a hot water heater to heat water so we can give ourselves sponge baths. Everyone else actually has hot water right now, but the city is planning to shut off the water sometime in the near future for 3 weeks or so. Strange? yes. Very.






Alllllright, so my 1 hour in the cafe is running out and i gotta runnn.


Oh, i like it here. forgot to say that. a lot actually. i can't upload pictures right now but i will this week sometime!