Apartment Life

Today some friends came to visit. Yay! We had some funny conversations about culture. For example, my friend Katya said that she had thought of me and my Russian-ness earlier in the day when she needed a plastic bag and didn’t have one with her. A big mistake in Russia!

Then I asked Katya to pour off some water from a package of mozzarella cheese.

“You don’t need to use it for anything?” she asked.

I assumed she was concerned about letting it go to waste, and thought about it for a good 30 seconds before saying no.

Then after another 30 seconds, I realized that she was just joking.

Later…Sara remarks to me, “I wonder if I lived here as long as you have, I would start speaking English like you.”

WHAT? Speak English like me? What does THAT mean? What has happened to me?

So Sara and Katya were getting ready to go (Vova left earlier) and when they opened the door, we could hear the sound of rushing water. I assumed it was rain.

“Is that rain?” they asked in disbelief.
“I hope so, what else would it be?” I said. And I offered them an umbrella. But they were still confused about where the sound was coming from.

“Well then it’s just my building about to explode,” I joked. “Hurry and escape while you still have the chance!”

After they left, I went to the window to look at the rain. But I realized that it wasn’t raining at all. I went out into the hallway to investigate. There was still the sound of rushing water and steam rising up from the basement. I was home alone. Hmmmm, what to do? What if the neighbors hadn’t noticed that anything was wrong?

My cell phone was out of minutes. I got online and talked with a few people who gave me advice.

Then I went to check again and some neighbors were out there.

So I let them take care of it.

I should probably find out what the emergency numbers are. For next time.

I went out later and it was finally quiet. Hopefully they fixed it.