This week so far:
-Andrei is working double-time this week in 2 different universities. So we're seeing less of him. On the other hand, we've been having lots of adventures on our own.
-It's been unseasonably warm. So we've been going outside a lot. REALLY hot in our apartment, though. I wrote about the heat coming on...now it's full-blast and up to 60 or 70 outside with the sun BAKING us. The weather is luscious, being baked isn't...but we will probably see colder days very soon! In the meantime, I cover myself in cool cloths to sleep, lol.
-On one of our walks, we first met a grandmother with her 2 yr old granddaughter. The little girl was enthralled by David and we learned that she has a big brother at home. Then we were taking a peek at the ducks and bumped into the one neighbor that we're sort of friends with, also with her granddaughter, whom she had taken out of preschool due to difficulty adjusting. I realized later that I find the grandmothers easier to talk to than other mothers.
-I've been experimenting with aromatherapy. Tried diffusing clove oil without really testing to see if I like it. I thought it would smell Christmasy, NOPE. Smells like toothpaste or cinnamon gum, blech! Maybe blended with something? I even offered it to a friend and she was overwhelmed by the smell also!
-Took David to his speech class this week. 1 hour each way pushing the stroller was a workout! If I had more time I could write a long description of our whole journey there. I was explaining to a local friend lately how mentally exhausting it is finding exact addresses here in St. Petersburg. I find the transportation easy to use, but actually getting inside the building is so complex! Where is the building number? Where is the entrance? Which entrance do I need? Floor, apartment number? Words can't do it justice! Maybe I will do a photo journal the next time this happens.
-I've been behind on housework for WEEKS. I had a friend over today and was going around to each room cringing at the clutter! I was barely dressed when she arrived and still sweeping the crumbs away as she sat down at the table. I have a lot of thoughts brewing about eliminating clutter. So tired of moving everything from room to room! However, I did pull out the vacuum today and get 2 rooms done, feels like a small improvement if short-lived. We also had at least 3 yogurt spills today, I think.
-There was a school (technical college) shooting in the Crimea...actually part of Russia now, but regardless, SAD! :( It will be interesting to see if a gun control dialogue here will proceed any differently from in the U.S.
Thanks for this wonderful, "light-weight" update! I LOVED it. Every so often you bring aspects of Russia to mind in a way I'd forgotten.... In this post it was the difficulty of finding the appropriate entrances to buildings! Here - even in old buildings, it is so obviously front and center (generally) and, if not that, you'll find many signs front and center to explain where to go. Russian buildings have entrances, surely, but they don't always look like them! I remember going somewhere - to have a passport photo taken, I think - and even after having been with our translator/handler for several days, he took us to a place where I was pretty confident we were going to be locked up and killed....down an alley, into a dark courtyard, through an entrance that appeared to lead to a place to keep trashcans, down more dark and crumbling stairs, around a corner, through a door, along a narrow corridor through another door - and what do you know! A normal sort of room! Relief!
ReplyDeleteI should write a post like this! I always feel I should either relate very critical information, or (even more so) write something with MEANING.
As you chat with grandmothers, I'm the grandmother chatting with the young moms. After school each day a lot of the children want to play on the playground, and the moms stand around. I was tending to stand a bit apart, as they all seem to know one another (mostly because we are new to the school, and not really involved in this parish). Monnie runs up and loudly exclaims "Why aren't you talking to the other moms!" Um.... Well, it was an ice breaker, I guess..... They immediately drew me in....
Thanks, I think! It's funny how when I write posts a few weeks apart, I've already forgotten the previous events. It was unseasonably warm last time and now we've had snow. Yes, walking down those alleys is completely typical.
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