3-10-2010; 1:40 AM
I am going to be *sore* tomorrow!! Goodness, I do love Hustle!
Recap time!!
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3-8-2010
As I said at the start of my last post -- today was International Women's Day! It was certainly an up-and-down day!!! Mostly up, don't worry!!! But let me explain the one "down" part….
If you remember, I had bought flowers the night before, for Polina and her Mum -- but in my rush to get home, and get them put away before anyone came home, I didn't have time to get them in any water… And even though I'd bought them in the evening time, they were *not* happy with me in the morning… Oh, I felt so awful!! One of the roses pulled through, with just a few lost petals, but the other rose had just had it, and we couldn't get it to perk back up. … At least I gave them each a chocolate to go with the roses. = o///o = At some point in the future, I intend to buy them flowers again, to make up for the whole fiasco…
That little mishap aside, the day was full of ups!!! My host family bought me crocuses and a card -- it was so sweet of them!! When Igor came in with all of the flowers for Olga, and Polina, and Myself -- as well as when Olga had her flowers out to take to friends later in the day, I couldn't help but think of something one of my lovely Russian teachers from the US had said once: "After Women's Day (March 8th), the mood in Moscow gets much brighter, and people really start to feel Spring coming." -- After having been through my first Women's Day, and seeing all of those brightly colored flowers in front of me, I can certainly say I understand! My mood was quite bright!
I also got a very sweet text from Aleksei (the sweet, cute boy I met a few weeks ago at Hustle, but haven't seen since)! I didn't quite understand all of it at first -- even after I'd looked up some of the words -- so when Polina came home, I asked her, "Hey, I got this sms from someone, but I didn't understand it all -- can you help me translate it?" I handed her the phone, and as soon as she read through it, she just said, "Aww!!!!!!!" It seems that, after the initial, "Happy 8th of March," message, he said something to the effect of, "I hope you always stay as natural and charming as you are!" -- which is sweet enough as is; but the word for "charming" can also mean "bewitching," according to my dictionary -- which just makes it a fantastic word, in and of itself! Ha ha ha!
(For anyone who knows Russian, and is curious, here is the text of the above-mentioned excerpt of that message:
"С 8 марта тебя, Кать! Желаю оставаться такой же естественной и очаровательной! ;) " )
After that, it was just more bed-rest for me -- but with plenty of happy feelings!
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3-9-2010
With the 3-day weekend over, plus Friday not really being a school day (just Excursions) -- it was essentially another 4-day weekend from class! So, it was kind of nice to get back to school!
Unfortunately, Lilia Leonidovna was sick, so we had a substitute in Grammar! That's not *so* bad -- because we had had this professor as a substitute before, and she's really cool, too! She's more of a Literature and Razvitie Rechi (conversation building) professor, and she's just *amazing* when it comes to the Literature end! She can be talking about something, and before you know it, what she's saying is suddenly sounding like beautiful poetry -- and you come to find out that she's just segued into an Alexander Pushkin poem!!!
So, today, in Grammar, we had a bit of a history lesson on Russia, and talked about Saint Petersburg, and its history!
Fast Fact -- Did you know that St. Petersburg has actually had three names? St. Petersburg, Petrograd, and Leningrad!
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A bit randomly -- at one point, our substitute's cell phone went off, and she rushed out to answer it. This led to a mini-discussion between myself and my group members about just how important phones (and cell phones) seem here in Russia! People leave them on *everywhere!*
I'm not joking.
Even the *Bolshoi* isn't immune from cell-phones!!!!!! -- I remembered, in the middle of our conversation, that I had heard at least a handful of phones go off when I was at "Giselle!" Can you believe it?! I was so shocked!
Also -- This Friday's excursion will be to the Cold War Museum -- I can't wait!!!!!
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This afternoon, I had my first hair appointment in Russia! Back on the 5th of March, when I was visiting with Sasha, I asked him if he knew any cheap salons where I could go get a trim, and he said, "Oh, I'll just send you to the lady who does my hair while I am here." And called her up, and put us on the phone with each other, to set things up!
Normally, she only does guys' hair; but Sasha said she had a daughter whose hair she did, and so long as I didn't need anything fancy done, I could go to her. As all I was looking for was a trim, it was just fine.
I was surprised by just how far away from the Metro the salon was though!! It was a good 20 minute walk, at a *fast* pace.
That aside, it's always fun to have another "haircut in a foreign country" under my belt! (The first took place in China; where, without Yitian and her family, I'd have been *completely* done for…).
Our conversation flowed well -- and we spoke about the same kinds of things that you might with your hairdresser in the States, to help the time pass by -- hobbies, music, "what do you want with your hair, exactly?" etc! Concerning music, I about died laughing on the inside, as we were talking about Lady Gaga, of all people! -- They love her here, you know!
The hairdresser, Lena, was really nice -- and she, like many other people before her, praised me for my language use -- and I, like all the previous times, told her she was being too nice! But, really, I didn't get tripped over too much that day, so, I accepted more of the praise without a fight than I normally would have…
Once it was all said and done, the whole experience only set me back $15 USD -- that was for: a wash, trim, dry, and a little bit of a styling. Not bad.
Unfortunately, however, it took an hour and a half for her to dry/straighten my hair (I'm still not quite sure why it took *that* long), so I was only home for 15 min before running out to hustle!!!!! (As I said before, it was at least a 20 minute, fast-paced walk back to the Metro, and then it was a little bit of a trip back home, for me.)
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At Hustle:
As per usual, Yuri and Sergei were there, being their awesome, DJ-selves! There was also another DJ tonight, who also had some really great music!!! I was thrilled!
Among the other positives of the night: Maxim was back!!! Hooray!!! We had quite a few dances together, and Maxim even did some pick-up/swing type moves with me! Wowee!! (I did feel bad at one point -- I didn't do quite what he wanted me to -- but if I had, I'd have kicked some poor waiter outright!)
Andrei didn't disappoint either -- he brought me more chocolates! I still can't get over it, every time he does! It's so nice of him!
I danced with two different Vladimirs tonight -- the first was probably in his middle 30s, and he's apparently quite fond of my smile; while the second was closer to my age, and had an AWESOME hip hop style that he incorporated into the Hustle! I was trying to follow it somewhat -- but warned him that while I love hip hop, I don't dance it so well yet! All in all, there were no complications, and we had a good time dancing together! (We also got to "headband" a little bit; because at one point, the new DJ played Limp Bizkit's "Take A Look Around" -- ha ha ha! *That* was interesting, let me tell you. Nothing like a little hard rock to go with your Hustle/Ballroom dancing!)
Also, the people from Yuri and Sergei's club were there tonight! Fun!!!! I danced the final dance with the blond one (Sasha?) -- and it was MUCH better than our first dance!! I completely adored the song: it was a fast version of "Libertango," which segued into the song that uses the same tune, but has lyrics to it (Some, in French!). So, naturally, with a faster song, there was lots of fun footwork; and since Sasha's also something of a ballroom person, we had fun playing around with the music/between ourselves.
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In the middle of all that -- I was thinking that Zhenya wasn't going to be there, as I didn't see him for the first hour or so of the party. Not that it would have been a problem if he hadn't come -- but he really was a good dancer, so I was hoping we'd at least get to dance more. But -- lo and behold, he did show up! He was growing his beard out, so I almost didn't recognize him at first! He actually came over to the corner of the room I was dancing with, to wait for me -- and I wondered, briefly, if maybe things had changed or something… Nope!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! He was still intent on trying to get close and steal some kisses (although, less ardently than the week before -- so, he can be taught?) -- and when I made sure to break up our dances, so that I could go enjoy my dances with other people, he wound up with another girl, of course!
I'm not jealous -- as I've said before, I'm not his mother or his girlfriend, so he's free to do whatever he wants -- it's just that I know that if I'm going to be with someone, I'd personally rather that they weren't *also* with everyone else… *laughs*
It is odd, though -- I realized at one point, that even while he was dancing with a few of the other girls he was getting all close with, he was still looking right at *me.* (I happened to see this while I was being led through a spin.) That, and when I walked past him at one point, he grabbed my hand and squeezed it… … as he was following another girl out of the dance hall! Even at the end of the night, when he and the girl he'd finally wound up with were both all ready to go -- they still hadn't left the club -- and when I walked out to leave, he was looking at me. I looked at her, looked at him, laughed and said, "Poka (Bye)," he said the same back, and I walked out. Hope he had fun with her, I suppose. *shrugs* It's all just funny to me, at this point.
*rolls her eyes* Sometimes, I just don't get boys.
*laughs* I suppose that's ok with some of you at home there, huh? =^_~=
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Oh! Speaking of funny things! Here are a few gems from the night:
1. I had my first interpreting job!! And while that was more fun than funny, how I got *into* it was nothing short of hilarious!
I had been dancing with Zhenya -- and it was one of those slower songs, so Zhenya was rather close to me -- and Yuri (one of the DJs) came up and said, "I need to borrow Katya."
Now, Zhenya is by no means small, but Yuri *dwarfs* him -- and I don't think Yuri quite explained what he needed me for -- just that he was borrowing me. So I'm pretty sure that what Yuri said came across to Zhenya as, "Oi! You're dancing a little too close to our little Katya for your own good!" -- Because Zhenya let go of me so fast, and the look on his face was one of a little kid being caught with their hand in the cookie jar! Ha ha ha!!!!!! It was soooo funny!!!!
And for anyone who actually cares about how the interpreting went -- it went just fine! Nice and easy! There were two guys at the door to the club who only spoke English -- and when they realized that I spoke English, they both got a look of, "Oh, THANK GOD!!!" in their eyes/all over their faces! *laughing* Poor boys.
2. Later, while I was talking with Vladimir (the second), Yuri was asking me if I liked dancing with Maxim, and then mentioned something about a competition coming up in a month or two. I told Yuri that I enjoy dancing with Maxim very much, but I'd think Maxim had better people to dance with than me!! I also asked Yuri if Maxim knew Yuri was volunteering him to dance with me -- and of course, Yuri just laughed and said no!!
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All in all, it was a really nice night. =^__^=
Things even ended on a lovely night, as Maxim and his friend (by a little bit of chance) wound up walking me to the Metro. Hooray for not being alone!!! When I had left the club, I thought I recognized Maxim -- he and his friend had stopped to light a cigarette -- and I managed to catch up to them, and asked if they were going to the Metro.
Maxim and I had a re-hash of the "It's always the leader's fault" conversation/argument we were having while dancing with each other (he believes it's always the guy's fault -- while I'm on the "it takes two to tango," bandwagon); and I asked him, "How do you say "I had fun!"" when I got frustrated and realized there was no simple way to say as much in Russian.
Thus, my line of the night, after I ran into a few instances where I just had *no* idea how to say something, or to answer one of his questions, was: "I hate being a student sometimes!!!!"
Right before we all parted ways, Maxim invited me to come back to Yuri and Sergei's other club. I hadn't really thought I was going to go back, but since he asked, I just might.
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Other Random Bits:
* I got asked if I was from *Poland!* (That's a first!)
* I wound up dancing with my hair down!!!! Apparently, here, the guys like it! Ha ha ha… That was quite a change for me, as I've spent so much time either being told to, "Get your hair up!" or being worried about it hitting people if I danced with it down! But when I asked the guys, "But what if it hits you?" or "You don't mind??" -- they all just told me to leave it down, and that it was very pretty. =^__^= ''
* The only bad thing of the night (besides Zhenya being a total player?) -- I lost one of my moon and star earrings!!!!! I'm so upset!!!! I even thought about it, that I shouldn't wear them -- but did I listen to myself…? No….. Ack…. *sighs* I told Yuri about it, but I don't think anyone found the other one -- and I forgot to look after everything was finished… Maybe I'll run by tomorrow… If they haven't just thrown it away… =ToT=
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I came back home and finally got my dinner -- and looks like I won't be getting any homework finished… Whoops….
Now, I must go write down some of the songs I heard tonight, before I forget them… And then BED!!!!
Love,
Moscow Kitty; 1:55 AM (3-10-2010)
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