Journal 1 - The Journey Begins / Back to Moscow

Journal 1 - The Journey Begins / Back to Moscow

8-26-10 / 8-27-10

This is going to be a combined journal, simply because the day changes from when you get on the plane in the US, to when you land in Moscow. Essentially, we leave in the early evening from DC, and land in the mid-morning in Moscow.

8-26-10 - Gone to the Dogs… / I got an Upgrade!!! … Hey, wait a minute…

Today marks the last day I'll see the US until at least mid-May. I intend to stay in Russia, for dance, and language purposes, until my time in the ACTR program is over. There are also financial reasons for my staying -- namely, as an Academic Year student, I don't get a plane ticket home in the middle of the year! Which means, even if I wanted to go home, I'd have to pay for it out of pocket. Or I can just have a month off, kicking it in Moscow, between the end of December and January. I may take a vacation of sorts, but it will be around this side of the globe if I do.

I got off to the airport just fine, and after I said goodbye to Papa, I bustled off to go find the proper check in line. Coincidentally enough, the people who joined the line right after I did were Russians! We wound up speaking some -- which is always fun. Better still, was when another pair of Russians, completely lost, and accompanied by a frazzled, non-Russian-speaking airline employee showed up. Between the Russian couple I'd been speaking with, and myself, we got them directed to where they needed to be (i.e. the same place we were headed) -- much to the relief of the airline employee.

As I was sitting at the gate, I took advantage of a clear ticket counter, and went to go check in, where I learned that being nice pays! My seat got moved up, from almost the very back row of the plane, to the front-middle!! (…Although, this was to turn out to be not such a great thing, as I would find out later….)

If any of you remember my first airplane posting, where I talked about how international travel never goes smoothly for me -- I probably should have realized, with nothing having gone wrong up to that point, *something* was bound to happen.

Today, we got all the way to the *runway* -- and then had to turn around and go back to the gate!!!!

It seems that what had happened is that they discovered there were dogs being transported, that had been stowed next to some kind of chemical, that might have killed them. Or something to that effect -- so they had to move luggage around.

Then, we were ready to go again…. … And then they stopped us again! Seems they had to load more cargo on…

In the end, we were sitting on the plane for just over two hours. Whoo. I've never turned my phone on and off so much on a plane!

Thankfully, we made up one of those hours in the air.

*****

Now, I mentioned earlier, that my seat had been moved up more than halfway in the plane AND it was a window seat -- which would generally be quite a score! What I *wasn't* told when my seat was moved, is that I had been moved to an Exit Row. … I began to smell a rat, and wondered if it was less the counter agent being kind to me, and more a case of, "No one wants to sit here -- and here is someone on her own, whom I can put there!"

Generally, one can take comfort from an exit row that at least there is more leg room -- but that wasn't the case for this seat!! There wasn't much leg room, it was FREEZING in my seat area, my monitor was stuck, and of course, because it was an Exit Row, the seat is offset from the Window, so that one cannot even look out the window comfortably!!!

At least my seat reclined… (Which is unusual for an Exit Row seat, in my experience.)

*****

Still, not all was terrible. To lighten up all the less than pleasant things that had happened, Someone put a Rainbow in the sky for me to see, just before we landed!! I hadn't seen a rainbow in ages! It was such a beautiful welcome back to Russia!

*********

8-27-10 - Taxi Tricks - A Promise Kept

The first thing I noticed, as we were landing, was that all the smoke was GONE! The weather looked beautiful outside -- and as I would find out when I stepped outside, it had cooled WAY down! Essentially, if the Moscow I had left in such a rush was Hell, this Moscow was certainly Heaven. As much as Moscow could be called Heaven, anyway...

I de-planed and got through customs just fine; although getting my luggage caused my heart to skip a few beats! There was a period where some luggage had come out, and then it just stopped coming! I've never had to wait so long for my luggage, and I started wondering if somehow, even on a direct flight, it had gotten lost! Luckily for me, it did show up. While I was waiting, I saw a few military-esque bags, and wondered who was showing up to the Embassy now. I actually spoke with a family that was moving in that day -- and after I made sure they didn't need help with anything, I set off to go find the train into the city.

I finally found the train, bought my ticket, and boarded not 5 minutes before the train left! The ride in was EASY, and I know I nodded off just a little bit. The fun started when I left the train, and headed towards the Metro station. I had already planned that I would take a Taxi, because I didn't want to haul three bags through the Metro. More than that, I knew I'd have to haul three bags up many stairs, if I took the Metro all the way home. The problem with Taxis in Moscow is that they can be *ridiculously* over priced.

Where I was was around the 6 o'clock position of the Circle Line of the Moscow Metro. Where I needed to go was a little to the left of the 9 o'clock position. The first taxi man who approached me, I asked him how much it would be to get there. He said, "1200 Rubles," and tried to make it sound like a deal. For those who don't know the Ruble to Dollar conversion, he wanted $36 dollars, for a 15 minute-or so car ride. I told him I wanted it for 500 rubles (About $15) - and he looked at me as though I were crazy. So I walked past him. Another man who had heard this exchange approached me, and said, "600 rubles." I said, "500." He flat-out refused, I tried, "550," and he said, "Let's not argue over 50 rubles - 600;" at which point, I shrugged -- feeling that already arguing down by half was enough of a win for 11 AM in Moscow, after 19 days out of the city -- and I agreed to go with him. I probably still overpaid!

Also, before anyone flips out that I basically Gypsy-Cabbed it home, I think there was at least some kind of official-ness with the taxi I took; but more than that, I copied down all the license plate information, sent it to Mulzoff, and told him, "I'm getting in a cab to go home -- I will call you when I get there. If I don't call you in about 20 or 30 minutes there is a problem."

*****

I made it home just fine, and while I got my stuff inside, I didn't really unpack much, because I knew I'd be moving in the next few days. Not something I was looking forward to -- as far as the, "Packing all your stuff up," goes.

I spent some time relaxing, and tried to get a hold of Vitaly. As my luck would have it, just as he was out of town when I first came back in the summer, he was out of town again!! He is set to return on the 31st; but then will leave on the 2nd for LA! He'll have to say hello to the US for me. Ha ha.

This just means that for the next few days, I can practice, and I'll have time to work on my journals!! It also means I'll have time to see Mulzoff! We've planned to get together tomorrow, and I can't wait!!

Quick Funny: my host mum's friend Olga stopped by the place, and she walked into my room -- she was so surprised to see me! She didn't even realize that I had come in!!! (I think my family was out for the afternoon, and she had come by to check on something for them, is what had happened, and she didn't know I was supposed to come back that day.)

*****

(Some Hours Later)

So, I slept through the time when I should have gone for practice… This is because I'd spent the afternoon trying to find my new, Fox belt buckles and I was tuckered out after that!

I *did,* however, get to Liga Pap to give Pete his Beef Jerkey! He said he was going to eat it all tonight!!!! I laughed so hard! I also teased him *I* had come through for him, after our Boys had disappointed him so many times! [They had been promising for weeks to bring him Beef Jerkey, and they hadn't.] Also, our friend Kiril was there! I hadn't seen him in ages, so it was good to catch up.

Pete and I agreed that we'd head out to Dunkin' Donuts (DD) on Monday (the 30th), so I'm also really looking forward to that!

I came home, hopped online, and was chatting with friends. I was so excited, I got to talk with my buddy Lissay, and even better (Although I do love you, Lissay!) -- I got to talk with Mi Mi!!! (My best friend back home, with whom I hadn't had the chance to speak with in WEEKS. I was really missing her!)

As far as plans for tomorrow go, I'll hopefully be checking out the new bar, where my friends had tried to get me a connection. We'll see if it happens or not -- I already have my plans to see Mulzoff, and promised I'd go back to Liga, too.

Now, it's bedtime!!! It's 4 AM!

Session III Foreword

Session III Foreword

10-8-10

Fasten your seat belts!! Moscow Kitty is back, and the adventure in Moscow, Russia continues!! I've been away *far* too long, admittedly, but I'm ready to get things rolling again!

I'm also thinking about investing in a netbook of sorts, so that I can write my journals during the hours I have on the Metro every day!!! That would make it much, much easier to update "on time."

Thanks to everyone for sticking with me -- there should be lots of updates today! The plan is to spend all of today, until it's time for practice, journaling!!!

Much love,

Moscow Kitty; 2:53 PM

=^__^=

Journal 124

Journal 124

5-20-10

An hour after I laid down, it was time to get up!! We grabbed all of our stuff, and headed downstairs, to check on when the bus would arrive to take us to the airport.

People were bustling around, trying to figure out if they were overweight, or underweight with their bags; others were trying to find those who only had one checked back to take on another one (instead of having to pay for 3 checked bags); others were simply trying to find space in people's bags for their excess weight.

I took a little walk to go buy breakfast, and on the way back, I called my parents, with a final check in. I knew that once we got to the airport, it would be a horrendous time, in the US, to call.

Eventually, the bus arrived, we loaded it up, and piled on.

As we wound our way through the city, Moscow threw a few last minute things of interest at me:

*I got a few more nice building shots.

*I finally saw my first bears in Russia! (… Painted on a hospital!!)

*And I saw a poster advertising that Guns n' Roses is coming to Moscow!!! -- That certainly was a kicker for me! I thought of one of my best friends, and knew he'd also get a kick out of having seen that.

Then, the exhaustion kicked in, and I passed the hell out on the bus, the rest of the way in to the airport.

*****

I won't bore anyone with the details of getting checked in, getting on the plane, etc. -- almost everyone knows what that process is like. But I do have to say, amongst all of my compatriots, and the rest of the passengers on the plane, I'm quite sure I had a very *unique* thought running through my head, after all that time in Russia, as we were flying home:

I can't *wait* to go shooting!!! I'm gonna get to hold my rifle again!!!

Ha ha ha ha ha -- I am my Father's daughter, and my Granddaddy's granddaughter.

Journal 123

Journal 123

2-19-10

. . . . . .

Today…

Was the MORNING FROM HELL!!!!

Good, God, Almighty [Whom I love!] -- The DAY before I am supposed to leave Moscow, the *last* *Day*, and I wake up to yet ANOTHER installment of the, "I Am Ruining My Host Family's Floor, One Bit At A Time" Drama!

… Of course, I didn't wake up right away to it.

Oh, no!

I woke up happy, thrilled, thinking of the breakfast with my two amazing friends, to which I would soon be on my way! I got up, got dressed, and grabbed my things, all without incident! I was going to be on time!

And *right* as I am ready to walk out the door, I hear it… … This… Hissing noise…

First, I think, "What on *Earth* is that?" No panic. … Yet.

I quickly zeroed in on where the sound was coming from -- and when I realized it was coming from my bookbag, *then* I panicked. I lifted the bag up… And there, on my floor, was a shiny, wet spot, about 5-6 inches in diameter or so….

You see, when we had our recital yesterday, I had put a can of hairspray into my bag, both for myself, and for any girl who was going to need it to do her hair. When I got home from the Embassy, my bag went down on the floor, and I went to bed.

*Somehow,* at *some* point during the 5 hours between when I went to bed, and when I woke up, the cap of the hairspray (which was pointed downwards in my bag) was knocked off, and the can was depressed. So for Heaven-Only-Knows how long, the Hairspray was just spraying… Spraying into my bag… Leaking through my bag… *Staining* *my* *floor.*

The best way I can really describe my reaction at that point is to tell you all of the feelings that simultaneously ran through me:

1. My stomach completely dropped out.

2. I'm pretty sure I *died* a little inside. Or, well, all the way.

3. I thought about how, "Did this HAVE to happen before I was going to BREAKFAST!!! I'm going to be late!!!"

4. "Never mind being late, I'm going to be DEAD! My Host Mum is going to KILL me!!!!!"

5. "Did this have to happen the DAY BEFORE I LEAVE!?!?!"

6. "It's still wet… Okay, I have to tell my Host Mum now… Maybe it'll come out … Some…"

So, I dutifully ran out to find my host mum… And as soon as she saw the, "I'm Dead, I'm Dead, I'm Dead, I'm Dead" look on my face, and once I said the words, "my floor" -- she game running.

I took a massive yelling/lecture. The whole time she was scrubbing acetone on it:

"I *told* you not to get anything on this floor!"

"I can understand a *child* making a mess -- but you are an adult! I told you! I told you more than once!"

"Do you know how expensive it is to replace this floor?!"

"It's not even about the money -- it's a hassle to replace this floor! You have to deal with moving all the furniture, and being out of a room!"

Etc, etc, ad nauseum.

I tried to say I would pay for it, if I had to -- she told me, "It's not for students to have to pay for it! What money could you have?! You don't work!"

I tried to say it was an accident, but I didn't know the word for accident, so when all I could say was, "I didn't mean to," the response was, "It doesn't matter what you *meant* to do -- this is what you did!"

… And then… God took pity on me is all I can think, because the gargantuan stain began to come out…. The more it came out, the better my Host Mum began to feel. By the end, when it looked as though one would never be able to tell that anything had ever happened, and after I'd stood through the verbal beating the whole time, she looked at me -- and I must have looked absolutely *pathetic* by this point -- and said, "Oh, don't wilt so -- that's just how I am. Don't worry."

Thus, with enough stress to have turned my hair white forever, I managed to get out of my house, instead of on-time, about 30 minutes late.

**********

Luckily for me, Mulzoff and Lawson are entirely amazing, and waited for me, and gave me lots of hugs to help me start feeling better, when I showed up. We headed out for breakfast, using the Metro, and going on foot this time -- and as we were walking down the street, I noticed that Mulzoff and Lawson would keep looking behind themselves, to see where I was. (It just so happened that, with the construction on the street we were on, there was only room to walk single file, really, and I just happened to be last in line when we got onto the street.)

I laughed and told them, "You keep looking back -- I'm still here!" Then I paused for a moment, " -- Although, how bad would it be -- after telling my friends and family, "I'll be fine! Nothing's gonna happen to me!" -- to get kidnapped on my LAST day in Moscow?"

We all laughed, and they responded, somewhat seriously, "Especially when you're walking around with two Marines."

*****

Once we got into the diner, we got our menus, but they only handed us Russian ones -- probably because I'd grabbed the table for us, using Russian. So, when I was trying to suggest that Mulzoff get a hot chocolate (because I thought it was the real, "melted chocolate" kind), he couldn't read the item off to the waitress. Because I was getting one, too, I just spoke up for both of us to the waitress. I figured it was just easier to tell her to bring two.

She walked off, and Mulzoff looked at me and said, "Did you just order for me? I feel so emasculated!"

We all laughed, and breakfast passed in a marvelous fashion.

*****

On our way out, we had a lovely discussion concerning the merits, and disadvantages of sacrificing oneself for a friend. This was brought on my Mulzoff's insistence that he crosses the street on whatever side of me the traffic is coming from.

"I'd take a car for you!" I cried, as he once again outmaneuvered me to be in the "sacrificial spot."

-- "But I don't want you to." Mulzoff replied, in his, "I'm going to win this argument," voice.

"But if you died to protect me, then I'd have a bunch of pissed off Marines after me!!" I countered.

-- 'Yeah, I'd have to kill you,' Lawson added in, nonchalantly.

"See? They'd revenge you! Then your sacrifice would be for nothing!!!!"

That argument didn't produce any effect upon Mulzoff, so I sighed and said, "Oh well… At least we'd both not have to pay taxes."

*****

I left Mulzoff and Lawson's company there, and started my present-buying mission.

First stop? The Babaevskii Chocolate factory!

Mission accomplished? How does walking out with SIX POUNDS of chocolate sound?!?!

Granted, in all fairness, as I was putting together my, "List of people I am buying things for," it basically wound up having over 40 people on it. Buying a mass of Russian chocolate to distribute was pretty darn cost effective!

*****

As I was leaving from the chocolate factory, I was trying to rearrange some things in my purse, and as a result, I wound up working my water bottle out of my purse, and it fell to the ground with an obscenely loud noise. I heard someone cry out when it hit the ground, and after I'd stooped to pick up my bottle, I saw an older woman, just behind me, who looked as though I'd just given her a heart attack!! She told me that I had scared her to death, and I apologized, but I have an accent, and so… … It was time for one more, "Moscow Kitty gets into conversations with any one, at any time," before I left the city!

She asked me where where I was from; although it took me a few tries to understand *her,* but then, that was the end of any communication difficulties between us. I told her that I was from the US, and she told me, to quote, "I'm jealous of you." Paraphrasing now, she continued, 'I always wanted to go to the US, but I never could. There was always something; my husband was sick, and couldn't travel, my husband died; I have a sick child…' LIfe was just always getting in the way. I asked her, couldn't she still try to go, and she said, "I'm too old for that, now." I think she said she was seventy-some-odd years old.

She told me about the differences between society then and now -- how when she was little, her mum used to read all the Russian Classics to her. Authors like Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekov. "Now," she said, reflecting, "all the books and TV shows are about sex!!" She paused. Then added, "-- Not that I have anything against sex…!!" I couldn't stop laughing! More power to her.

Her name was Svetlana Semyënova, and we walked and talked together almost the whole way back from the factory to the Metro. Cool lady.

**********

My next stop was a place called Izmailovsky Park. This place is famous both for its open air "Market," and the "miniatures" of some of Moscow's most famous buildings. Also tucked away in there somewhere is a Vodka Museum. The Market contains about everything you could ever possibly want… Ever. Plus about twice as much stuff you'd NEVER want! Or maybe it's that you just would never need it… Either way, some of it is insanely expensive, some of it is priced to kill, and most of it, you're supposed to try and haggle like crazy for. It is certainly an experience to behold.

It was here that I came to try and find some interesting, although probably stereotypically Russian and kitzhy kind of items. Lighters with the Russian Crest on them, Matriëshki (the nesting dolls), etc. I had a pretty basic, "For Boys," and "For Girls" idea about what I wanted to try to find for people. In the middle of all of my searching, I ran across a pair of women -- a mother and a daughter -- who were speaking in bits of Russian with a shop keeper, but mostly French betwixt themselves. I moved closer and asked if they needed help with anything, and while it was a bit painful for me -- because I hadn't used my French in months by this point -- I managed to help interpret between French-Russian-and English! When the pair of women found out that I spoke English, they asked me where I was from, and were *so* surprised to hear me say I was an American! I quote their initial reaction:

"We thought you were Russian! You have such pretty eyes! All the Russian girls have such pretty eyes! We thought you were Russian!"

And for the rest of the time we were standing next to each other, and I was helping them, they kept expressing their disbelief that I was not Russian!

It was a really great thing I stopped to help them though, because the place that they were standing, trying to buy some things from, was home to one of the coolest Matriëshki dolls I have seen in my entire time in Russia! They were small to begin with (the outermost layer was maybe 2.5 to 3 inches high), but they were all the more remarkable because they had TEN layers. When the shopkeeper opened them all the way up for us, the final "layer" was no bigger than the little plastic head of a straight pin! It was so cool!!!

*****

Thus, when I finally made it home, from all the chocolate and souvenir buying craziness, my pockets were a little over $100 lighter, but over 40 people at home were going to be very happy to receive a little something from the land that had stolen me away for a few months! As a shopper, I'm pretty sure I'm impressed with the fact that I averaged the cost per person out to about 2-3 dollars. Not bad, if I do say so myself.

I further impressed myself in packing in 2 hours. Although, I suppose I was cheating a bit, in that I was leaving stuff behind at my host family's house, knowing that I was coming back for the summer. That was really nice. I'd have been in SOOO much trouble, otherwise. Suffice it to say, I know I'll be mailing things home, at the end… Eek.

(But with those presents, and travel - I'm going to be a Felon -- because I'm bringing back lighters as presents… And I *know* that's not allowed… Whoops.)

**********

Now, the day had started on a terrible note; calmed down some; then got crazy again with all the present buying -- so I should have figured the rest of the day could not go smoothly. Ever the optimist however (usually), I had no reason to suspect just what was in store for me.

The trouble mounted slowly -- the taxi that was supposed to pick me up from my host family's house was an hour late in coming to get me. I was stressed out about that, because it put me on a tighter time line to get to dance practice -- and I *needed* to go there, because I knew that once I got back to the US, I'd have no places/opportunities to practice. Still, we got my things loaded up, and headed out to the dorm. I saw Jon on the way inside, dropped my stuff off as quickly as I could, and immediately turned around to beat it for the Metro, to get to practice!!

I got to the studio, a little bit late, but not by much! I breathed a sigh of relief, and looked forward to the next hour and a half or so of practice. … Then I went to change. … And discovered that I had brought one shoe from two *different* pairs! How did that even *happen*!?!? I seriously grabbed one shoe that had an inch heel on it, and another that had a *three* inch heel. … I was so incredibly frustrated!! It meant that practice was entirely impossible. So, instead of dancing, I visited with a few of my friends, with whom I exchanged my goodbyes. After watching everyone else for a few more minutes, I set off for home, hoping to get at least one, *matching* pair of shoes, in case the opportunity to practice should arise; and then I planned to return Mulzoff's hood to him, before heading back to the dorm to finish any last packing bits.

By that point, as I was in the middle of transit home, I had shaken off the floor, and the late taxi, and I was trying to forgive myself for the shoe snafu, when all of the sudden, I heard the "ding" of my phone that signaled a text message. Being that it was around 9 PM, I wondered who could be texting me. I took my phone out, and the message was from Jon (my RD). I read the message… And hit the roof. It read something akin to the following:

'I understand that you have left things behind in your host family's house; if you are moving you MUST get EVERYTHING out of their house TONIGHT!"

I had three very good reasons why that little message had me more angry than I've ever been in my entire life:

1. You may remember my earlier journals, dealing with the whole, "moving," subject -- and the fiasco that it has been, to try to talk about it. Namely, that everyone kept working behind my back, not telling me what they were doing, leading to my host mother ambushing me about the topic at terribly inconvenient times, and making it look like *I* was the one sneaking around trying to move out on them.

2. I walked *right* *by* Jon on my way to drop my things off at the dorm not 3 hours before. If he had known about this "problem," why did he not tell me then?!

3. NOBODY had said A THING to me that the moving process was going ahead, or that I would be being put any place else! Thus, my plans were set to stay with my host family for the summer.

Thus, I think it's understandable that I had a sudden urge to completely and utterly go off on a few people, or punch a few walls.

I called my host family right after that, to let them know that I was on my way home to switch out the shoes, and they also asked me what was going on - if I was moving, why had I left my stuff there - I couldn't do that; and if I was staying, they needed to know. I tried to assuage them that there had been some kind of mistake, and that this mess had been sprung on me, too, and that I would call Jon and get it worked out. Next, I called Jon, and with as much restraint as I have ever mustered in my life, politely explained my confusion to him, asked him why no one had seen fit to inform me, oh, I don't know, earlier than *the night before our departure from Russia,* that I was supposed to be moving, and told him that it was settled that I was staying with my host family for the summer, and my things would be remaining there. He said ok, and that was it.

So, essentially, I had even more white hairs added to my head for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Charming.

I arrived at my host family's house, and they let me in - because I had already turned their key back to them, not expecting to return until June! - and explained to them what a mess had been made of my situation, but that it was all smoothed over, I was in fact, staying with them during the summer. We said goodbye again, and I headed for the one place in all of Moscow that I knew wasn't going to cause me any grief: my Marines' House.

**********

Mulzoff picked me up at the gate, and even from when I'd called him to let him know I was on my way, he knew I hadn't had a great evening. As we walked in to the House, I told him that the night had just been one irritating experience, followed by another, with exponential growth in the, "level of irritation." I gave him his hoodie back, and we walked into the bar, to join Conard and Williams, who were already there.

It seemed that most everybody had had some kind of a bad day -- so there we all were, catharthsis-ing at the bar. Ha ha ha! I just listened to them, and finally, they looked at me, and I got something of the, 'You look absolutely miserable,' or that sort -- at which point, I explained how my morning and evening had gone -- and all of them were right on my side about how stupid and ridiculous my run-around treatment had been, and offered sympathy for the sillier things (like the mis-mated shoes).

Once we got through all of the "bad day less-than-pleasantries," the boys tucked in to sharing sea stories, and I just sat back to enjoy the ride. I didn't want to leave. I could have sat there all night listening to their stories; but perhaps, more than that, it was just that the calmness and feeling of security of being around my guys was such a de-stresser that I really just didn't want to go. As well as the fact that I knew I was gonna miss them like crazy while I was gone!

Eventually, I called it a night with them -- but it was more of a morning, at that point. I left around 12:45 AM - just in time to get to the Metro to go one stop!

I walked back to the dorm, got up to my room, where, thankfully the other girl was still up herself. She went to bed not too long after I got back -- but she was a very heavy sleeper, which gave me the freedom to do what I needed to do, concerning my need to finish packing.

Really, what I was doing was making 41 little present baggies for people.

Which, essentially, took all night -- so that I laid down for about 1 hour of sleep….

Journal 122

Journal 122

5-18-10

Today we had the last of our testing for the RLASP program -- the listening conversation. There was *so* much of it!!! It wasn't terrible, just tedious. I was certainly happy to be through with it!!

We had a last meeting about how things would be going for the next few days, detailing moving back to the dorm the night before we'd be leaving, and a few other things. We also learned that Jon, our RD, was going to surprise Juan with McDonalds on the plane. (As I've never mentioned it before, Juan, a boy from my group, is almost obsessed with McD's here. He's really, really fond of it.)

After the meeting was over, we were off for one last dance practice, and then, the Gauntlet -- I mean, the Recital…

It wasn't actually so bad, and I'm sure that everyone had a really good time. I did the solo that Irina had asked me to do -- twice even, because we did an "encore," of the Russian Waltz number. I finally just looked at the situation as, thanks to the fact that no one in the audience was going to be a serious connoisseur of dance, no one, except for me, would be critical in any real fashion.

After all the dancing was finished, it was time for the part all of us were truly wanting to get to -- dinner!! It was our Goodbye Dinner, which they have in order for all the students and teachers, who have spent so much time together, to have one last get-together. It's also a chance for the students to give their teachers gifts. Gift-giving is actually a very important custom here in Russia, and especially so in the arena of schooling and education. Mostly, chocolates and flowers are always good bets for women, but we were also encouraged to be original, if we could be! For the lecture teachers, we all pitched in and bought gifts together -- notably, the bottle of whisky for our Geography and Economics teacher. (He's famously fond of the stuff -- not in a bad way though!)

We had an absolutely fantastic time, I must say. The spread was excellent, and we spent quite a bit of the time sharing stories, singing along to our favorite songs we'd been singing all semester in Phonetics, and making toasts! Here are some highlights from dinner:

** Vladimir Supik's favorite Toast:

"Pick three things that people want in life -- [this is typically Happiness, Love, Health, etc.]. Okay -- one day, Happiness, Love, and Health were walking along together. As the day went on, they became tired, and began to look for a place to stop for the night. They came to a little house, but there was only one place available, so Love went in to stay there. Happiness and Health continued on their way, and soon enough, came to a second house. Unfortunately, as with the first, there was only one space, and Happiness went in. Eventually, Health found a place to stay, too. But here is hoping that you will always have three places in your home, for Love, Health, and Happiness!"

(Obviously, this can be adapted to whatever your guests pick, when giving this toast.)

** I learned that, without he proper application of liquor, your 50+ year old music teacher can pick you up and put you on his shoulder, out of nowhere!!!! (There are pictures. This really *did* happen!!)

** We danced some ourselves to a few of the songs that were playing, and eventually had a mini-encore of the recital, for a few teachers who had to come late. (I wasn't thrilled to do the solo again, but it made them happy, and that was what was important.)

** My teachers have apparently taken it to heart, learning how much I love sweets, because two of the professors gave me their ice cream from dessert! (Seriously, not, "Does anybody want this?" -- it was, "Here, Katya, you take this!") So, they either know how much I love sweets, or they thought I was too skinny. Ha ha, who knows?

** Irina, our dance teacher, took me aside toward the end of dinner, and told me that she had a present she wanted to give to me. She pulled out a little packet, with earrings inside, that matched *exactly* with the necklace she almost always wears. The earrings, and the necklace, are two people/dancers in an embrace. She told me how much she had loved having me in class, and watching me dance, and that she hoped we would continue to stay in touch, and see each other, and that she could follow my dancing.

** For some of the professors, I had wanted to get them a present, but had gotten rained out yesterday -- and when I apologized to them, and told them that I would have presents for them when I returned from the US, they told me, "You coming back is enough of a present!!!"

Awwww……… I seriously felt *so* incredibly loved at that dinner, by all my teachers. I am so blessed that I found a program with such amazing, talented, knowledgable teachers, with such big hearts! And I am humbled that my efforts to get to know them, and show them that I was excited to be here, and to be learning from them, paid off with such dividends, as shown by the love, and kindness, and affections that they have bestowed upon me!

**********

Eventually, I left to go home and drop my stuff off (and to grab my things for hustle); afterwards, I stopped by the Embassy to hang out until it was time to leave for dance. I was so cross with myself once I'd arrived: I realized that I had forgotten to bring back Mulzoff's Hoodie!!!!

It didn't matter though; Mulzoff said he had no need of it, and we sat down in the bar area, just talking and relaxing. Not too much later, Lawson and Williams joined us, and as the group got bigger, we migrated to one of the couches in the center of the room -- where we all just flat-out Puppy-Piled. It was *so* nice. I think all of us had been stressed out about something or other as of late, and we all just needed a good dose of, "sit down, chat, and relax with people you love" time. [For anyone who is unfamiliar with the term, when I say, "Puppy Pile," it's like when puppies all glom together and cuddle. So, if you think about a group of friends who are just sitting/laying all over each other -- that was us. Ha ha. =^__^= ]

Of course, when hanging out with Lawson, Williams, and Mulzoff, I'm pretty sure that it's a law of Nature that Hilarity must ensue at one point or another.

Lawson took care of fulfilling this law, when he extricated himself from the pile to go get a soda. As he came back, and nestled in again, he looked around for a place to put his soda down, that he could still reach, when snugly fit into our group. He looked down, and there I was, back on his lap, and he said, "Don't. Move." -- I, of course, saw the cold soda, and realized my chest was starting to look like the perfect table, immediately started to move, saying, "Don't you *dare!* That's cold!!!!" A few, "Shhh!!!" s later, however, Lawson had turned me into a Soda Stand, and I was playfully grousing, "Great -- just because I'm not well-endowed, that means I'm only good for being a *Soda Stand*!?!?"

I was having so much fun with My Boys, and enjoying just sitting there and relaxing with them that I realized I definitely wasn't going to Hustle anymore. I was sad about it, and I hoped that no one there would be mad (especially because that meant I wasn't saying goodbye before I left for another three weeks!) -- but, on the other hand, I knew that the puppy pile with my friends was something I really needed. I had been so stressed out from the end of the semester going-ons, and trying to think about what to take home, etc.

Eventually, I left the Embassy, and at 2 AM, it's time for bed!!!!

I am SO excited for tomorrow, however! Not because it's the day before I leave Russia (Boo!), but because I'm going to breakfast in the morning with Lawson and Mulzoff, at Starlite!!! (Starlite Diner is the American, authentic Diner restaurant [chain] here in Moscow).

Also, I'll be running around like a chicken with my head cut off, doing my final gift buying run all around town, and trying to pack, and move to the University Dorms (as we are required to do, in order to leave with the group).

Yay, Breakfast!! =^___^=