Having stayed over three months in the one city, discounting the lightning visit to Moscow, I’ve grown accustomed to certain activities, people, and a way of life that is different to my old one in NZ. When I leave, I’ll miss some of this, and some I’ll be happy to be rid of.
Naturally, I’ll miss the friends I’ve made here. There’s Team America and the Germans, most of whom (both groups) are returning to their respective countries soon. There are my classmates, of whom I’m the only one going home. They’re wondering why; I’ve tried explaining that the money and time are running out and I have to go. I was only going to be here for one semester (or 15 weeks, whichever came first). As the 15 weeks expired on 12 December, I’d better be going. My teachers are sort of friends – Dmitri and Tatyana are both nice, happy people, and it’s a pity I couldn’t spend a bit of time with them outside of school. But I suppose they have to set boundaries, or they’ll get nothing done. Galina and Vladimir (who calls me “Student”) I’ll certainly miss. Both wonderful people, as are my neighbours: I’ve spent many hours, most broken into 10-15 minute segments, chatting to them. Being polite and a good neighbour helps in Russia – they value good manners.
Then there’s that cooked breakfast that arrives in the morning. I’ve certainly got used to that routine and it’ll come as a rude shock to discover I’ve got to cook my own breakfast again. And going to KGU for three hours every day is routine that I’ll miss. On the other hand, I won’t miss climbing those stairs, or cramming into the lifts. And I won’t miss the toilets, which doubled as smoking rooms. Some days the smoke was so dense it was difficult to see the walls.
I will miss all the nodding acquaintances, as they a regular faces. The guy in Книжный Дом (Book House), the laundry, the security guards at KGU; they’re all people I nodded or said hello to. They nodded and said hello back. I think I’ll miss the Mickey Dee’s on Baumana, but I’m not sure. I won’t be missing going there, and logging on for 30 minute sessions, and having variable access speed because it’s packed or somebody is downloading huge files or playing internet games. And this laptop, for all its virtues, weighs a ton! Between toting it back and forth, a couple of brief attacks (two days each) of the trots/food poisoning and the stairs at KGU, I’ve lost about 5kg since I got here. But this is yet to be confirmed by my regular scales. I know the scales at the laundrette said I was lighter by about 3-4kg, so for the first time I a long while I weigh less than 90kg. Yea me!
I won’t miss the footpaths of Kazan. They would have to be the worst I met anywhere. They exist, but half the time they are seriously pot-holed, puddle after rain and then covered in slick mud. You have to be a mountaineer to navigate some of them. Somebody could make a sizeable fortune offering ankle insurance too – you can easily twist an ankle in the crap surfaces.
I also won’t miss the semi-permanent state of confusion that descends on me the moment I start talking with Russians. It’s not that they’re confusing; it’s just having to cope with a language I’ve only partly mastered. And I will not sorry to the last of Russian toilets as a collective group (apart from the one in Galina’s apartment). Apart from the haphazard cleaning regime, there tends to be a lack of toilet paper in the stalls. This has to be allowed for before you suddenly find that the smallest usable piece of paper in your wallet is NOT a 10RR note but something much more valuable.
I’m not sure if I’ll miss winter – it never really arrived. Only today has the temperature been below 0°C by more than one or two degrees. I was talking to my Muscovite friend and realised that my bare hand had frozen. I also had very cold ears. I considered buying an ushanka (those lovely sheepskin hats Russian men wear in winter with the Captain Dog-ears flaps, but I don’t think it would be practical in Aukalofa – it’s too warm) for a few minutes.
But I miss my NZ friends and family and it’s time to get back and pay off this horrendous credit card bill. I’m dreading seeing that.
Next post: hopefully some pictures, or a commentary on the flight back.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Packing Up
I’m down to the final week in Kazan and now face the somewhat difficult task of packing everything I’ve bought, as well as everything I’ve brought with me, into the suitcase. I have this horrible feeling it is going to be a tight fit. I could well have to post back the three models I’ve bought. Certainly I’d be a lot less worried about crushing them. But I suspect I won’t.
I have this feeling that I’m going to have to leave one or two things behind. The first casualty will be a couple of pairs of old socks. I came here with both summer and winter weight socks. The laundrette managed to lose one sock. (I attach no blame to the, socks are a migratory species of clothing and occasionally get lost when separated from the flock. Either that, or there is an, as yet, undiscovered species that preys on socks.) One of my old pairs of winter weight socks suffered terminal drying, and shrivelled at the point where it was worn threadbare. I think these two pairs are for the rubbish bin.
What next? I will have to tightly roll and carefully fold all the clothing. I’m sure to gain an extra 500ml of space. Of course, on the return leg I’ll be wearing slightly more clothes (and wishing wasn’t) than on the way here. That’s one sweatshirt, a heavy pair of socks, and heavy trousers. Oh yes, a long-sleeved shirt and the “winter” boots. I wore a pair of very comfortable walking shoes on the way over, but they were cheap. The laces snapped (both are now knotted together) and a D-ring one lace threads through has broken. Quite annoying, as they really are comfortable. Lesson: don’t expect to get full wear out of shoes bought at Nº1 Shoe Warehouse.
Right, I’ve now freed up enough space to stuff in the soft and compressible gifts I bought. If I put the books and the laptop in its bag and carry it separately, I might have enough room for the things I can’t get in the suitcase, into my rucksack. This may entail a spot of repacking at Moscow-Sheremetyevo airport. These days, the airlines are loath to allow you to take bottles of booze on as hand luggage. Aeroflot in particular, because Russia is involved in its on “war on terror”, is very strict on these rules. I’ve had my shoes scanned for explosives only in Moscow. There are metal detectors at all the stadia and big theatres. They really are concerned about this. (TatNeft Arena, home of Ak Bars hockey team, has an interesting set of “not allowed” on the wall – first time I’ve seen knives and handguns listed. But then, I’ve not been to a game in the redneck belt.)
Because I’m going to spending a few hours, like 12, in Moscow before the plane flies out, I’ll be doing a bit of sight-seeing. I don’t expect to see any snow there, Moscow’s had the warmest early December on record and only now, in mid-December are the temperatures staying below 0°C during the day. We’ve had the same problem in Kazan; it’s probably going to be a brown Christmas. Provided I don’t go silly with the money, and there’s no large state functions, I’ll probably do a quick tour of the Moscow Kremlin. Apparently there are a few churches worth seeing. I know how to find it. The bags, or two of them, will be stuck in left luggage at Cavyolovskaya railway station (Савёловская Вокзал). I’ll use that one as it’s the terminal for the express out to Sheremetyevo airport.
There will be a furious bout of repacking at the airport, I suppose, as I try and arrange things the way I want them and still comply with all the airline rules and regulations. Damn this flying cattle class! I just know I’ll have to pay excess baggage.
Next Post: What I’ll Miss (or Not).
I have this feeling that I’m going to have to leave one or two things behind. The first casualty will be a couple of pairs of old socks. I came here with both summer and winter weight socks. The laundrette managed to lose one sock. (I attach no blame to the, socks are a migratory species of clothing and occasionally get lost when separated from the flock. Either that, or there is an, as yet, undiscovered species that preys on socks.) One of my old pairs of winter weight socks suffered terminal drying, and shrivelled at the point where it was worn threadbare. I think these two pairs are for the rubbish bin.
What next? I will have to tightly roll and carefully fold all the clothing. I’m sure to gain an extra 500ml of space. Of course, on the return leg I’ll be wearing slightly more clothes (and wishing wasn’t) than on the way here. That’s one sweatshirt, a heavy pair of socks, and heavy trousers. Oh yes, a long-sleeved shirt and the “winter” boots. I wore a pair of very comfortable walking shoes on the way over, but they were cheap. The laces snapped (both are now knotted together) and a D-ring one lace threads through has broken. Quite annoying, as they really are comfortable. Lesson: don’t expect to get full wear out of shoes bought at Nº1 Shoe Warehouse.
Right, I’ve now freed up enough space to stuff in the soft and compressible gifts I bought. If I put the books and the laptop in its bag and carry it separately, I might have enough room for the things I can’t get in the suitcase, into my rucksack. This may entail a spot of repacking at Moscow-Sheremetyevo airport. These days, the airlines are loath to allow you to take bottles of booze on as hand luggage. Aeroflot in particular, because Russia is involved in its on “war on terror”, is very strict on these rules. I’ve had my shoes scanned for explosives only in Moscow. There are metal detectors at all the stadia and big theatres. They really are concerned about this. (TatNeft Arena, home of Ak Bars hockey team, has an interesting set of “not allowed” on the wall – first time I’ve seen knives and handguns listed. But then, I’ve not been to a game in the redneck belt.)
Because I’m going to spending a few hours, like 12, in Moscow before the plane flies out, I’ll be doing a bit of sight-seeing. I don’t expect to see any snow there, Moscow’s had the warmest early December on record and only now, in mid-December are the temperatures staying below 0°C during the day. We’ve had the same problem in Kazan; it’s probably going to be a brown Christmas. Provided I don’t go silly with the money, and there’s no large state functions, I’ll probably do a quick tour of the Moscow Kremlin. Apparently there are a few churches worth seeing. I know how to find it. The bags, or two of them, will be stuck in left luggage at Cavyolovskaya railway station (Савёловская Вокзал). I’ll use that one as it’s the terminal for the express out to Sheremetyevo airport.
There will be a furious bout of repacking at the airport, I suppose, as I try and arrange things the way I want them and still comply with all the airline rules and regulations. Damn this flying cattle class! I just know I’ll have to pay excess baggage.
Next Post: What I’ll Miss (or Not).
Monday, December 8, 2008
What I Would Have Done Differently
When you go on a long trip, and that essentially is what this has been, you can look back with 20:20 hindsight and declare that some things could have been done better, or at least differently. I’m in that position, nearing the end of my stay in Kazan and Russia and have decided to catalogue the list of mistakes I wish to correct, or replay so that I can get a better outcome.
The first, and most obvious, is that I would have done this sooner! And that includes moving to Aukalofa, starting and finishing the B.A. at least two years earlier, etc. For a start, I would have had more money and had a happier girlfriend. I would also have been two years younger, which may have helped with acquiring a new language. Who am I kidding; Russian is acknowledged as being one of the harder Indo-European languages to learn. Compared to Russian, French, Italian or Spanish are a doddle.
Secondly, I would have brought cash instead of traveller’s cheques. The commission charged on changing traveller’s cheques into local currency is high – it can reach 10%, even when you find a bank that is happy to cash them. Cash may be easier to steal, but it attracts a much lower exchange commission.
Thirdly, there was a travel scholarship I didn’t know existed until AFTER applications for it closed. Even $1000 would have been useful, assuming I’d got it. If ever you are in the position of being a student planning foreign study, look at ALL the possible sources of money that exist, especially the travel ones. The useful information is often hidden in obscure corners of the university campus, far from enquiring wallets and minds.
Fourthly, I would have checked that power supply for the laptop before I packed it. Murphy’s Law can strike at the worst possible moment, and the old adage of “measure twice, cut once” can be applied to more than just carpentry. Similarly, and fifth, wandering around Shanghai with the cables for the digital camera was asking to lose them, considering I was operating on adrenaline as opposed to sleep. I think I should have been ruder to the Chinese, too.
Sixthly, I should really have read up on the weather here before packing. The rain isn’t hard; it would qualify as “showers” or “light rain” in New Zealand. The heavy overcoat would have stayed at home. This would have lightened the suitcase by about 2-3 kilos, plus given me a bit more room. I also would have brought more long sleeved shirts, instead of just the five I did. I have to wear summer shirts part of the time. This hasn’t been a problem only because the winter has been surprisingly mild. This is the second warmest December on record, and they’re on track to have a brown Christmas.
Seventhly, I would have done a lot more language practice before I left. Spending several days waiting for my ears to adjust to Russian was not fun or productive. I thought I had a handle on the language before I arrived, but I was more than a little bit wrong. Large amounts of listening practice should have been done before I left.
I’m certain I chose the right city to learn. Moscow and Saint Petersburg, lovely though they may be, are BIG. Moscow is also the most expensive city in the world. Here I knew nobody, so was basically thrown in the deep end. This was both good and bad, for the usual reasons of not knowing anybody. It is cheaper than Moscow, but it meant that I had to find, or be found by, people with whom to practise my Russian. I know somebody in Moscow, a native, who would’ve been happy to help, but he also wants to practise his English, and that would probably mean my Russian wouldn’t have been spoken at all. Plus, in a smaller city, people are friendlier, and I get to see another face of Russia.
I think I should have spent fewer days in Warsaw and even less time in Kaliningrad. They’re both nice cities (actually, K’grad is a bit of a hole but it could be nice, if they finish the improvements) but I would like have seen more of Poland and maybe even some Lithuania. I definitely want to see more of Russia. I’ve taken the night train here, so I haven’t seen that much out the window – kind of obvious, that – it was night and the countryside was dark, nothing to see. I would like to have caught Mashina Vremeni in concert; apparently they played in Kazan for free one day before I arrived.
Naturally, if I’d had more money (and more confidence in my command of Russian) I would have taken a cruise on the Volga, but where too? Astrakhan is about 3½ days down river, and Moscow the same up river, if The Lonely Planet is to be believed. Prices quoted in my (Galina’s) copy suggest that it is a cheap form of travel. Still, a quiet cruise on a quiet river would have been nice, even if I’d been sharing with Russians.
My only problem with the Russians is the language barrier. I can now hold a fairly reasonable conversation and understand most of what is said, provided there’s not too much background noise, but early on I was crap. Russians are like people everywhere, and generous hosts desperate to create a good impression. No wonder Russian officialdom has always been suspicious of foreigners: the locals would be too busy leering it up with the visitors to get any work done.
So my advice to everyone is “Go to Russia – you’ll have a really good time”. Next Post: Packing up.
The first, and most obvious, is that I would have done this sooner! And that includes moving to Aukalofa, starting and finishing the B.A. at least two years earlier, etc. For a start, I would have had more money and had a happier girlfriend. I would also have been two years younger, which may have helped with acquiring a new language. Who am I kidding; Russian is acknowledged as being one of the harder Indo-European languages to learn. Compared to Russian, French, Italian or Spanish are a doddle.
Secondly, I would have brought cash instead of traveller’s cheques. The commission charged on changing traveller’s cheques into local currency is high – it can reach 10%, even when you find a bank that is happy to cash them. Cash may be easier to steal, but it attracts a much lower exchange commission.
Thirdly, there was a travel scholarship I didn’t know existed until AFTER applications for it closed. Even $1000 would have been useful, assuming I’d got it. If ever you are in the position of being a student planning foreign study, look at ALL the possible sources of money that exist, especially the travel ones. The useful information is often hidden in obscure corners of the university campus, far from enquiring wallets and minds.
Fourthly, I would have checked that power supply for the laptop before I packed it. Murphy’s Law can strike at the worst possible moment, and the old adage of “measure twice, cut once” can be applied to more than just carpentry. Similarly, and fifth, wandering around Shanghai with the cables for the digital camera was asking to lose them, considering I was operating on adrenaline as opposed to sleep. I think I should have been ruder to the Chinese, too.
Sixthly, I should really have read up on the weather here before packing. The rain isn’t hard; it would qualify as “showers” or “light rain” in New Zealand. The heavy overcoat would have stayed at home. This would have lightened the suitcase by about 2-3 kilos, plus given me a bit more room. I also would have brought more long sleeved shirts, instead of just the five I did. I have to wear summer shirts part of the time. This hasn’t been a problem only because the winter has been surprisingly mild. This is the second warmest December on record, and they’re on track to have a brown Christmas.
Seventhly, I would have done a lot more language practice before I left. Spending several days waiting for my ears to adjust to Russian was not fun or productive. I thought I had a handle on the language before I arrived, but I was more than a little bit wrong. Large amounts of listening practice should have been done before I left.
I’m certain I chose the right city to learn. Moscow and Saint Petersburg, lovely though they may be, are BIG. Moscow is also the most expensive city in the world. Here I knew nobody, so was basically thrown in the deep end. This was both good and bad, for the usual reasons of not knowing anybody. It is cheaper than Moscow, but it meant that I had to find, or be found by, people with whom to practise my Russian. I know somebody in Moscow, a native, who would’ve been happy to help, but he also wants to practise his English, and that would probably mean my Russian wouldn’t have been spoken at all. Plus, in a smaller city, people are friendlier, and I get to see another face of Russia.
I think I should have spent fewer days in Warsaw and even less time in Kaliningrad. They’re both nice cities (actually, K’grad is a bit of a hole but it could be nice, if they finish the improvements) but I would like have seen more of Poland and maybe even some Lithuania. I definitely want to see more of Russia. I’ve taken the night train here, so I haven’t seen that much out the window – kind of obvious, that – it was night and the countryside was dark, nothing to see. I would like to have caught Mashina Vremeni in concert; apparently they played in Kazan for free one day before I arrived.
Naturally, if I’d had more money (and more confidence in my command of Russian) I would have taken a cruise on the Volga, but where too? Astrakhan is about 3½ days down river, and Moscow the same up river, if The Lonely Planet is to be believed. Prices quoted in my (Galina’s) copy suggest that it is a cheap form of travel. Still, a quiet cruise on a quiet river would have been nice, even if I’d been sharing with Russians.
My only problem with the Russians is the language barrier. I can now hold a fairly reasonable conversation and understand most of what is said, provided there’s not too much background noise, but early on I was crap. Russians are like people everywhere, and generous hosts desperate to create a good impression. No wonder Russian officialdom has always been suspicious of foreigners: the locals would be too busy leering it up with the visitors to get any work done.
So my advice to everyone is “Go to Russia – you’ll have a really good time”. Next Post: Packing up.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Daily Routines
It doesn’t matter where I am; my life tends to follow a series of routines. And being in Kazan is no different. I tend to follow the same routine during the week, and have a slightly different one for the weekend. I suppose I’m like everybody else in this regard. Routines allow us to organise our day and leave room for the mess to creep in.
A typical day starts with a shower and freshening of the fangs. I like to face the world feeling clean. Then comes breakfast, which is whatever Galina has decided I deserve – she has yet to serve fillet aspirin, for which I am grateful - with the usual cups of coffee and toast. I call it toast, but it may be fried bread, or micro-waved or something. If I rise early enough, I eat with Galina and we watch morning TV, but if I’m lazy and get up late, I watch TV by myself. Then it’s back to my room to watch an hour or so of morning TV, to kick the brain into thinking, or at least accepting, Russian, make the bed and gather up the stuff for KGU.
Then there’s the morning walk to KGU, which goes through the shortcut, down the street, under the road, up the hill and we’re there. The shortcut can be exciting, because after a rainfall, it becomes a bit of a swamp. Theoretically there is asphalt under the dirt, but the dirt has done a great job of disguise and I can only find the asphalt at either end. The walk down the hill (hill? It would qualify as a small ridge in Aukalofa, and a slight rise in Wellywood) takes me past a pothole that is growing daily. I’m sure that a small family could live in it, flooding notwithstanding, as it extends from the edge of the curb out under the road.
I use the subway to cross the only busy street between me and KGU as I don’t want to become road pizza. Russian road rules scare me; it seems the only one they have is “give way to the right”. This applies even if you are not turning. It leads to a fair amount of confusion and some impressive traffic jams. I head to KGU for 10 o’clock classes and the road isn’t busy then, but still, better safe than in a Russian hospital. The subway has a selection of kiosks that sell flowers, or t-shirts, or CDs/DVDs, that sort of carry on. If I’ve got some time up my sleeve, I’ll do a bit of browsing, mostly by looking in the window. The door on the kiosk is for the providor, not the customer, thank you. If you can’t see it, they ain’t got it.
Then it’s arrive at KGU, disrobe and climb the stairs. I’d use the lifts, but I’ve mentioned the lift/student ration before. The exercise keeps me fit, and the walk is faster than the wait and ride. And then two 1½ hour lessons separated by a ten minute break. This is Russia, we have a 20 minute break, and the lessons are about 80 minutes long. The Russians actually have a word for one and a half, which is useful. During the break, we stretch our legs, eat morning tea if we’ve brought it, and generally relax. The teachers get to unwind too.
After classes, we usually go our separate ways, but sometimes it’s the great lunch hunt, with our mouths all trying to decide what flavours they want today. We’ve all tried a fair range of places, and the best deals seem to be either the “business lunch” (100RR) at a cafe /bar on Baumana, or the daily sandwich at Subway (79RR). Either is pretty cheap, filling, and tasty. Then it’s off home to do the homework, watch more TV, read, do Sudoku’s, and catch the weather forecast. Of course, I also cook and eat dinner, which is kind of important, or I’d be spending heaps on food.
Some days, I take the laptop with me in order to check e-mails or post this blog, or carry a load of laundry to the laundrette. Galina started off doing my laundry, but her washing machine has a minor malfunction now; the door-catch is worn and the door leaks badly with a full load. So every five days I go to the laundrette, where they wash my clothes, dry and fold them and only charge me 91RR for 3kg, which is more than five days dirty clothes. Collecting the clothes, I way myself on their scales, and I’ve lost about 4-5kg since this trip began. All that walking, plus two attacks of the midnight two-step, will do that. McDonalds has acquired the nickname “the Embassy”, as it’s where most of us foreign students go to check our email. It’s one of the few places around town with free Wi-Fi internet. Okay, you’re limited to a 30 minute session and a few MB of download, but, hey, it’s free.
Going home, and because the homework usually only takes an hour to do, I’ll do some window shopping in the mall directly on my path. I’ve caught a few shorts for up and coming films - Ice Age 3, Dawn of the Dinosaurs, for example, looks a hoot. I wonder if I’ll see it on the plane ride home? I also go into the local book shops, browse there in the military section, or stroll past the souvenir vendors on Baumana, looking for suitable gifts for nearest and dearest back home. There’s an awful lot of ticky-tacky in the souvenirs, just like souvenirs everywhere.
That’s about my day, with the real trivia and “too much information” filtered out. Next post: What I would have done differently.
A typical day starts with a shower and freshening of the fangs. I like to face the world feeling clean. Then comes breakfast, which is whatever Galina has decided I deserve – she has yet to serve fillet aspirin, for which I am grateful - with the usual cups of coffee and toast. I call it toast, but it may be fried bread, or micro-waved or something. If I rise early enough, I eat with Galina and we watch morning TV, but if I’m lazy and get up late, I watch TV by myself. Then it’s back to my room to watch an hour or so of morning TV, to kick the brain into thinking, or at least accepting, Russian, make the bed and gather up the stuff for KGU.
Then there’s the morning walk to KGU, which goes through the shortcut, down the street, under the road, up the hill and we’re there. The shortcut can be exciting, because after a rainfall, it becomes a bit of a swamp. Theoretically there is asphalt under the dirt, but the dirt has done a great job of disguise and I can only find the asphalt at either end. The walk down the hill (hill? It would qualify as a small ridge in Aukalofa, and a slight rise in Wellywood) takes me past a pothole that is growing daily. I’m sure that a small family could live in it, flooding notwithstanding, as it extends from the edge of the curb out under the road.
I use the subway to cross the only busy street between me and KGU as I don’t want to become road pizza. Russian road rules scare me; it seems the only one they have is “give way to the right”. This applies even if you are not turning. It leads to a fair amount of confusion and some impressive traffic jams. I head to KGU for 10 o’clock classes and the road isn’t busy then, but still, better safe than in a Russian hospital. The subway has a selection of kiosks that sell flowers, or t-shirts, or CDs/DVDs, that sort of carry on. If I’ve got some time up my sleeve, I’ll do a bit of browsing, mostly by looking in the window. The door on the kiosk is for the providor, not the customer, thank you. If you can’t see it, they ain’t got it.
Then it’s arrive at KGU, disrobe and climb the stairs. I’d use the lifts, but I’ve mentioned the lift/student ration before. The exercise keeps me fit, and the walk is faster than the wait and ride. And then two 1½ hour lessons separated by a ten minute break. This is Russia, we have a 20 minute break, and the lessons are about 80 minutes long. The Russians actually have a word for one and a half, which is useful. During the break, we stretch our legs, eat morning tea if we’ve brought it, and generally relax. The teachers get to unwind too.
After classes, we usually go our separate ways, but sometimes it’s the great lunch hunt, with our mouths all trying to decide what flavours they want today. We’ve all tried a fair range of places, and the best deals seem to be either the “business lunch” (100RR) at a cafe /bar on Baumana, or the daily sandwich at Subway (79RR). Either is pretty cheap, filling, and tasty. Then it’s off home to do the homework, watch more TV, read, do Sudoku’s, and catch the weather forecast. Of course, I also cook and eat dinner, which is kind of important, or I’d be spending heaps on food.
Some days, I take the laptop with me in order to check e-mails or post this blog, or carry a load of laundry to the laundrette. Galina started off doing my laundry, but her washing machine has a minor malfunction now; the door-catch is worn and the door leaks badly with a full load. So every five days I go to the laundrette, where they wash my clothes, dry and fold them and only charge me 91RR for 3kg, which is more than five days dirty clothes. Collecting the clothes, I way myself on their scales, and I’ve lost about 4-5kg since this trip began. All that walking, plus two attacks of the midnight two-step, will do that. McDonalds has acquired the nickname “the Embassy”, as it’s where most of us foreign students go to check our email. It’s one of the few places around town with free Wi-Fi internet. Okay, you’re limited to a 30 minute session and a few MB of download, but, hey, it’s free.
Going home, and because the homework usually only takes an hour to do, I’ll do some window shopping in the mall directly on my path. I’ve caught a few shorts for up and coming films - Ice Age 3, Dawn of the Dinosaurs, for example, looks a hoot. I wonder if I’ll see it on the plane ride home? I also go into the local book shops, browse there in the military section, or stroll past the souvenir vendors on Baumana, looking for suitable gifts for nearest and dearest back home. There’s an awful lot of ticky-tacky in the souvenirs, just like souvenirs everywhere.
That’s about my day, with the real trivia and “too much information” filtered out. Next post: What I would have done differently.
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