Borodino, and other such things

Hi people. Sorry for the general radio silence. I've been busy. This Sunday I went to Borodino, a village 60 miles east of Moscow which was the site of a critical battle in 1812 and later, a WW2 tank battle. I went there with Dave and Zhenia and we roamed about the villages for the day, admiring the brightly colored houses that certainly did their best to brighten the otherwise bleak village surroundings. There is a nicely outfitted museum now, which was not so nice when I was in Borodino 7 years ago.

Some of you will recognize the pictures of the tank, and yes, I indeed perched on that tank 7 years ago. When I told Dave that I was climbing up on it and he needed to take a picture of me, he thought I was crazy, but when I explained that climbing on weapons-relics across the former Soviet Union is part of my modus operandi, he acceded, and even climbed on the tank himself. Zhenia, however did not join us.

Here are the pictures:

http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAM2TVm4bOGzCaA

Otherwise, I've been working. Its cold here again, at last, and we've been getting snow regularly. Nothing like the NE storm though! Tomorrow I'm going to see my friend Katya and her new son, Vanya (Ivan Aleksandrovich). Then a few more days at the archives here, and then its off to St. Petersburg.

I"m happy for a break from one archive in particular - the Moscow Regional archive. There is this lady who occasionally minds the front door and cloak room and has taken it upon herself to treat me like a 5 year old. The other day, I walked in and the first thing she said to me was "did you call your mother?" I was taken somewhat off-guard and answered "no". I was immediately informated that I am a bad person and she proceeded to tell another woman that I, the girl from America, is bad and doesn't call her mother. Later, while I was trying to eat my lunch she sat next to me, right next to me, and inquired why I only had a sandwich and that I should have the "first" course with lunch too, i.e. soup. I didn't see any soup. Today, when I told her I was leaving for St. Petersburg, she told me to remember to eat breakfast everyday. Now to everyone else, this probably sounds cute and endearing, and it would to me too, if this woman didn't smother me and talk to me like a child. I'm sorry, but I"m not going to smear on the mascara just so that people think I'm an adult.

I"m having a going away party on Friday, but its turned into Alana's party because she's invited all of her crazy Russian friends. I wanted to think of it more as my going away party for the apartment. I'm coming back to Moscow, but not to this apartment. But let me tell you how happy my bank account is about that!

When I have contact info in Petersburg, I'll let everyone know. It should be an interesting 2 months. Dave is going up with me, just so I don't have to handle my duffle bags by myself. Hell, the train ticket cost only $20 one way. (I bought his ticket in exchange for the help!)

I'm going to bed. Goodnight.