The gods must be smiling on me

Because on the trip back home I was mercifully bumped up to business class from DC to Frankfurt! A lifetime dream has been fulfilled!

My parents drove me up to DC and bade farewell to me at Dulles. While they were holding my carry-ons I went to check in. I pitifully asked for an aisle or bulkhead because I wasn't able to pick the seats when I bought the ticket. I got the "its a really full flight ma'am, you can try asking at the gate." But I think the guy must have liked me because he said, "I can move you to business class, would that be acceptable?" Hells yeah, its acceptable.

Too bad most of the flight over the north Atlantic was so bumpy that it felt like we were going to fall in the ocean. Ugh.

So I am home safe and sound and jet lagged. Went to the archives for a few hours today, but couldn't concentrate much.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to see me - it was wonderful to see everyone!

"What is the purpose of your visit?"

Well folks, I"ve spent a restlful 10 days in the Good Ole' USA, which I normally wouldn't refer to as such because I"m not generally nostalgic in a patriotic sort of way. But the visit was nice. I made my way south after staying with 2 old college friends in the DC area, and in Charlottesville, and then to Danville where I met my parents at my Aunt's house, where I was promptly stuffed with food. (actually Alina made a point of stuffing me with food up in DC - I'm sure I've gained at least 5 pounds in 10 days!)

My trip in went smoothly, except when the lady at the Moscow passport control claimed I didn't look anything like my passport photo. I swear she examined it 20 times, staring at it, and then at me, at it, and then at me, etc....I had to explain I was 19 when the picture was taken, and shock! may have changed since then. Of course when I arrived in Washington, that passport control lady - in the US citizens line - when she looked at my US passport asked me "what is the purpose of your visit to the US?". I thought "is this a trick question?" I LIVE HERE. Sort of. I mean, I'm a citizen, but don't have a residence, live in another country, but INTEND to live here again. That one threw me. Maybe she usually works the foreign visitors line.

What was hardest to believe - especially after the jet lag/plane induced lack of sleep - that instead of just coming home from Russia, tomorrow I have to get on a plane AND GO BACK.

It doesn't seem so bad now, since I have had a much needed rest, have gorged myself with food, exercised just a little, driven a car, read old magazines, slept in my own bed, received wonderful gifts of warm socks, brownie mix, wool sweaters, and a pretty necklace from my friends and family. Its all about the creature comforts. My duffle home includes, in addition to wool/cashmere blend sweaters: brownie mix, hot cocoa mix, fuzzy socks, a bottle of Virginia wine, the new 2005 Onion headline desk calendar, a jar of Smuckers all Natural Peanut butter, Almond M&Ms, 3 new Smithsonians, granola bars, my trail shoes, new hiking socks, and 3-section collapsable trekking poles and a bunjy cord. Its a wonder it all fit! THank you all!

Unfortunately, the 1953 Soviet version of Russian Scrabble wouldn't fit, but that's waiting for me when I return! A gift rescued from the trash by my mother's co-worker whose husband used to live in Russia! A scrabble game I will finally win (if I play against you all)

Well, off to pack the carry on. More from the other side of the pond when I finally arrive.

Ciao!

Leavin' on a jet plane

Well, I"m off today! Please send me your best thoughts for keeping the plane in the air (this is a common concern of mine) and here's to hoping that I don't have another "extended visit" at the Frankfurt airport like last time. :-)

See many of you soon!

Desi's top 10 reasons she is happy to be leaving Russia for 10 days

(there are actually about 100, but I"ll just do the highlights)

Drum roll please......

10. Potable drinking water (The District of Columbia excepted)

9. Sensible shoes CAN be fashionable

8. More than 5 hours of daylight

7. 10 days without Desi's lunch special - Cheese and cabbage sandwiches - whoo hoo!

6. Pedestrians' right of way

5. Affordable produce of the non-root-vegetable sort (can we say $12 for a pint of strawberries?!)

4. My dad's cooking

3. Higher standards of personal hygiene. Hell, any standard of personal hygiene.

2. Toilet seats

And the number 1 reason Desi is happy to be leaving Russia for 10 days.......

1. No need to carry your own toilet paper!


You know you need to leave Russia when......you can really imagine yourself punching the guy in the Metro whose pushing you like you are nothing more than some crappy 5 foot 4 inch sardine instead of a HUMAN BEING GODDAMNIT! Yes folks, I'm about to get violent. Its time to come home.

addendum to "Refree" post - The Basque lives!

So the important part about the Refree band post was that the lead singer looks JUST like this guy I dated a few years ago, also Spanish, known to by some of you as "the Basque" and by "spry" to others!

It was weird!

I laugh at your "severe" weather

Mwah ha ha ha ha ha!

(I realize that the gods are going to send one hell of a snowstorm to VA because of this, but I can't resist!)

From weather.com: {key phrases are highlighted}

Severe Weather Alert from the National Weather Service
...ALBEMARLE VA-...DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DC-FAIRFAX VA-...-PRINCE GEORGES MD-PRINCE WILLIAM/MANASSAS/MANASSAS PARK VA- ...-SHENANDOAH VA-SOUTHERN BALTIMORE MD- ...- 438 AM EST MON DEC 13 2004
... BREEZY AND COLDER WEATHER IS ARRIVING...
A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL PRESS EAST FROM THE APPALACHIANS EARLY THIS MORNING... REACHING THE CHESAPEAKE BAY BY MIDDAY. WINDS GUSTING TO 35 TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THE COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE... PERSISTING THROUGH THE MID AFTERNOON. THESE WINDS WILL BRING MUCH COOLER AIR INTO THE REGION... ALLOWING TEMPERATURES TO FALL INTO THE 30S BY LATE AFTERNOON.
THE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO SLACKEN DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON... BUT WILL STILL REMAIN BREEZY ENOUGH TO ALLOW WIND CHILL VALUES TO FALL INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS WEST OF THE BLUE RIDGE... AND TO NEAR 20 DEGREES ALONG AND EAST OF INTERSTATE 95 CORRIDOR INCLUDING DOWNTOWN BALTIMORE AND WASHINGTON.
COLD AIR WILL CONTINUE TO POUR ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. TEMPERATURES WILL STRUGGLE TO RISE THROUGH THE 30S TUESDAY... WITH HIGHS ONLY ECLIPSING 40 DEGREES SOUTH OF FREDERICKSBURG TO ANNAPOLIS. WITH WINDS AT 15 TO 25 MPH ... IT WILL FEEL LIKE ITS IN THE 20S ON TUESDAY.
ON TUESDAY NIGHT... TEMPERATURES WILL DROP INTO THE UPPER TEENS IN THE INTERIOR SUBURBS... LOWER 20S SOUTHEAST OF WASHINGTON AND BALTIMORE... AND MID 20S IN TOWN. WIND CHILLS WILL BE IN THE TEENS ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA.
ALTHOUGH THESE CONDITIONS ARE NOT UNUSUAL FOR DECEMBER... SINCE THIS WILL BE THE FIRST COLD SNAP OF THE SEASON... RESIDENTS WILL NEED TO TAKE A FEW PRECAUTIONS UNTIL ACCLIMATED TO THE COLDER TEMPERATURES. MOST IMPORTANT WILL BE TO WEAR MULTIPLE LAYERS OF CLOTHING. AVOID WEARING COTTON CLOTHING... AS IT TENDS TO LET BODY HEAT ESCAPE. ALSO... A HAT AND GLOVES WILL HELP YOU STAY WARM.

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

that's all I have to say.

Biathalon is awesome!

This is my new addiction, watching women's biathalon on channel "Sport". Its very exciting! And the Russian commentator is very excited too. This is a real sport over in Europe, and apparently the women are much better than the men, considering this gets live coverage every weekend. I think I want to be a biathalete (sp?) when I grow up - these women rock my world! Some French woman just won the 10km, but a Russian finished 2nd, and 2 other Russian women finished in the top 10.

This morning I sent my roomate and her Russian friend off to Borodino. I was supposed to go too, but really really just wanted to sleep for 12 hours, which I did. I'm a little worried though, as they seemed unconcerned that they were going out to the middle of NOwhere, to wander around in fields and that it would be cold. I fully expect them to be miserably cold when they get back, as the Russian friend didn't even have warm socks. I warned them. City girls! Borodino is a cool place, as Alina would testify if she weren't working 20 hours a day. Its like the Russian - Gettysburg. I'll go again when I'm more rested.

Refree

Refree is the name of the Spanish folk-jazz band I saw last night with my roomate Alana. Yes! i actually went out on the town, instead of being my usual bump on the log self! This is only because Alana was on the list and we got in free - I would not have paid 400 rubles to go to a concert, even though it turns out they were great and I really liked them alot. I even bought their CD (after verifying that it wasn't made in Russia)

It was so fun and funny to watch all of the young, upper-middle class Russians. I mean, this was a face- control elite show, so it was more a mix of normalish Russians in their late teens and 20s.

And today, I did some Christmas shopping....no, not for you guys. For my family! While I would love to bring everybody back something, its not gonna happen this trip - no room in the bag. The rest of you will have Christmas in July! :-) I'm swapping out TONS of clothes. Its nice to have the opportunity, knowing now what isn't working for me over here, to rummage through all of my boxed up belongings in my aunt and uncles attic and see what I can scrounge up for a change of pace!

Sorry if this is boring, I'm pooped, and still have to go out to a farewell party this evening. A farewell party for my German friend, Maika, who I only recently learned is a great cook.... I am very sad.

sleepy...

And today on NPR....Ducks who think they are penguins

First of all, that is SO a title you would here on NPR!

Thank you for the compliment, Ellen. I don't think I have an NPR quality voice though, so you'll have to keep reading and imagining. Maybe if I had a British accent....?

Secondly, I have had the song "Midnight train to Georgia" stuck in my head since I wrote that last post.

And third - I do intent to write today about a group of apparently identity-confused ducks.

On my way home from the archive this evening (I am back in Moscow as of 8am this morning, and back at work) I was waiting for the bus by the banks of the Moscow river. The river isn't completely frozen, since we are having a brief heat-wave of 32 degree temps. But there are ice floes roaming around the river. There is also a pack of ducks (a gaggle? a herd?), which I have noticed before. A few weeks ago, I thought to myself, "where do ducks go in the winter?" because this is the extent to which my intellect can exert itself after a day transcribing Soviet bureaucratic documents. Well, I saw my group of ducks again today, and darned if they weren't acting like penguins! Why?, you ask? First of all - its really cold here! Its practically Arctic (or an-arctic) here sometimes! There were ducks hanging out on the river icebergs! And one of them got some food or something, and boy did those other ducks chase after him! (These are Mallards, incidentally). Go home! Its cold here! Fly somewhere!

Does anyone know anything about the migratory (or non-) patterns of ducks? What will they eat when the river freezes? Where will they paddle around? I'm very concerned that this is not normal duck-behavior and that these ducks are doomed to die in Moscow, Russia, which is certainly not a place where I would want to die.

1 week until I come home. I'm hopin' for a heat wave! Something that doesn't require my new puffy coat - oh yeah, I bought a bright red down coat a "pukhovik" in Russian-speak, to insulate my endothermic self.

Coming soon....Desi's top 10 reasons she's thrilled to be leaving Moscow for a brief 10 day respite.

things are loking up some

Well I'm still in St. Petersburg, and heading back to Moscow on a midnight train. (I'm on that midnight train to Moscow - sing along!)

The research aspect of the trip has gone well, and I got a lot of work done to prep for my time here. It's just exhausting not having a place to rest my head - I checked out of the hostel this morning, so I"m just killing time....and I missed the showing of Bridget Jone's Diary II. I think the internet cafe is cheaper anyhow.

But I *think* I might have a place to live. It sounds too good, that I am afraid to jinx it. I had been making phone calls from the hostel, using their phone because the phone card their pay phone, for which they had sold me a card, broke. So the women working the desk yesterday became well aquainted with my search for a place, including complete strangers, whose numbers other people had given me. "Hi, are you the friends of Alexandra? I am the friend of a person in Moscow who knows her, and she said you might have a room." (In that instance, the woman who could answer this question was NEVER home.). Or - I called this woman Svetlana, and she told me to call Irina, who told me to call Nadezhda, who was the one with the apartment (also never home). I also emailed some people who haven't answered yet, including a Russian scholar whose book I've read, whose email I got from an American scholar who bought me a beer and onion rings the other night (I'd read his book too), and asked for the Russian scholar's mother's phone number, because SHE knows people with rooms.

But I digress. On one of my calling attempts last night, the woman at the hostel - who is very nice and conversational. I met her the last time I was here, also at the same hostel - said to me "I have an offer for you - come live with me for the 2 months you'll be here." So her offer is this: I would live with her and her 2 daughters (age 9, and 20is), her cat, and a talking bird, and sometimes a dog, and I would speak English to them half of the time, and we would buy food together, and otherwise, the room would be FREE. (Like I said, I'm afraid to jinx this). She's very nice, and appears normal. I have no problem speaking my native language for my rent, and they live basically in the center of town, and on the same metro line as my boondock archive, so this sounds great! And free rent would really free up my photocopy budget for Petersburg, because there is TONS of stuff here that I need. So, we exchanged info, she told me to think about it and call her. a) I have no other options b) I am poor - how can I not accept????

Perhaps the gods were smiling on me last night.

Now if only my nose would stop producing copious quantities of viscous snot, all would be well in my world!

But in general, thanks for all the moral support! I need it and I do appreciate it! THANK YOU!

Now lets hope that I don't get stuck in a train compartment with 3 men again, like I did on the way here. They all snored, and I couldn't help but think that the it really sucks that the compartment door locked from the inside. ANd speaking of trains! Even though I"m travelling 2nd class (3rd was sold out), and paid more than 3rd class to Latvia - on the Riga train, in 3rd class we got free water, free breakfast and free sheets. On the 2nd class Russian train I still had to pay for my freakin' sheets and there was NO food or water. Cheapie Russians!

sigh

You know you've been in russia too long when your web browser is all in Russian and you don't even notice. (This used to freak me out).

I still don't have an apartment, but I have some leads. I'm tired and I'm tired of having to spend money. And one of my socks is getting a hole in the heel. Curses!

St. Petersburg

Oh, and I'm off to St. Petes for 3 days - not for fun - a work trip. Hopefully I will find a place to live for Feb. and March, and make some arrangements with the archives. There is also an American professor up there right now and he thinks my project is cool, so I'm having a meeting with him as well. Here's to hoping I don't make a fool of myself. (I read his book, but like 2 years ago).

In other news, the official length of daylight in St. Petersburg right now is 6 hours and 16 minutes. The sun rises after 9am!

BUT! It is going to be in the upper 30s and low 40s this week! I am sooooooo excited for temps above freezing I can't even tell you.

Another Cold War?

I'll tell you guys about the story of my night out with 3 American boys some other time. It was fun, but not anything particularly exciting, except that one of them was good friends with David Arkush and other NCHS people from summer camp, and he even went out with Lisa Scheidler! (this reference is only meaningful to the few high school friends reading this).

I am very happy that the Ukrainian Supreme court showed some post-Soviet balls and approved a new election. Of course I think Yushchenko is the better choice, but the important thing is just to have elections, and let the legitimate winner, whoever he may be, take power. I haven't been watching much TV lately, but the Russian news media, as well as Putin and the Russian government is just slamming the events in Kiev and elsewhere. Which is no surprise, as the Duma has already passed the first reading of a bill to take away the electoral element for regional governors, making them all appointed by Putin. On the one hand, maybe, from Putin's perspective, the Russian people haven't "earned" democracy yet, as he obviously and openly doesn't trust the people as an electorate, to make decisions for themselves. And, honestly, the vast majority of Russians are politically apathetic. Putin stole his reelection coming and going and no one took to the streets like they did in Kiev. Most people voted for Putin, just because. In contrast, the Ukrainians (okay half of them, because the other half is still very tied to Russia) have really demonstrated that they value political rights and will stand up for them. This is not the perspective of the Russians though.

A quote from Saturday's NY Times re the Supreme Court decision to hold new elections:

"The court's ruling reverberated beyond the nation's borders. The United States and European countries, having denounced the election results, welcomed the decision.
Mr. Putin, traveling in India, did not immediately react. In Moscow, Russia's Parliament adopted a resolution before the court's ruling that accused the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe of fomenting unrest in Ukraine. "

The Russian news media calls the protest, the "Orange Putsch", claiming that all of those 100,000 Ukrainians are being paid to show up and rally for Yushchenko. Of course they don't mention that it was really the Yanukovich people who were bussed in from other regions, and many of them are getting paid. I mean, lets talk about media bias here, people.

Okay, I'll confess. The outpouring of popular protest in Ukraine is really a CIA-organized, US government funded operation to bring down Ukraine, and then Russia. They're on to us! I wonder if the delegates in the Russian State Duma take themselves seriously. Are they just like the lackey's of the Communist Party? Do they really believe, or are they so power hungry that they can actively and automatically suspend disbelief and convince themselves that the world around them looks nothing like it really is? No, Putin hasn't killed millions of people, so far as I know, but at least the Communists tried to give the people an idea to believe in and get behind, as flawed as it may have been, and everything was at least veiled by the idea of the power of the people. But Putin has nothing to offer the people, except that he doesn't trust them as far as he can throw them. No wonder they're apathetic. I can't blame them.

Sigh. It makes me sad. I love Russia and I want to see it flourish, and its just going down the toilet.

Ahchoo!

Okay, never mind. I typed a long - but witty - blog in a semi-drunken state, all about my sneezing, snotty (as in my nose), drunken self, who after 3 months in Russia finally had some vodka with some American BOYS, which just made me happy, because I like boys and don't see enough of them here, (and I hadn't had any vodka yet) and rambled on about my weak nose muscles' inability to keep the byproducts of my cold from succombing (sp?) to gravity, and well, it was damn funny, and then my web browers farted and I lost it all, so f*** that, I'm going to bed.

Goodnight. Damn internet.

slump....

Well, I'm going to confess to something terrible. I have played hookey from the archives/libraries 2 times this week. Gasp! Now, I do have a cold, and am somewhat drained as a result, but I am still functional. Yesterday was the only day that was worthwhile. For those 6 hours in the archive, I was going gangbusters, transcribing like a mad woman, so I felt good about that. But otherwise, its really hard to concentrate.

Today, I am at home trying to organize my database, to help me write my new research proposal, which is just something I DON'T want to do. Now, Nicole, you should say to me, "get off your damn blog and get back to work!", like you have encouraged me, and others to do for you. (How's that paper coming?) And I don't even have a full time job. This IS my job.

And I like my research, I'm enjoying it, I'm just tired. I'm just complaining, I suppose. Feel free to ignore me.

On a funnier note, I am about to challenge the world record for the number of times a person has seriously injured, or nearly broken her ASS in 4 months. (The previous world record holder is none other than Desi Hopkins, who in 1997 in Moscow, fell on the ice at a shoe market two times in the same day, fell naked in the bathtub on her ass, and fell again on the ice, while very drunk on Thanksgiving.) The other day I took a fall down some slippery 'perekhod' stairs the other day and have a big ole' bruise on my right buttock. Now, the winter is just starting here, which portents a long hard road ahead. But this first fall comes only a month - 1 month - after my tail bone finally, truly healed, after the what is known as "The time Desi fell out of a tree in the middle of the Mt. Rogers wilderness area, while she was camping all alone, when she tried to rescue her bear bag rope up in the tree, and forgot to hang on to the tree and landed on a root with her ass Incident". As my mother said I after that, "at least in Moscow I don't have to worry about you falling out of any trees." True, true, but that is no guarantee that won't break my ass again.