Where were you when the lights went out?
Okay, so I just stole that from Kim, who just asked me that question, of course we all know that its really the title of a Doris Day movie.
Yes, in case you didn't hear, there was a black out in Moscow yesterday. There was apparently panic in someplaces, most likely in the Metro when people were trapped underground in the dark (did I mention its been almost 90 degrees the past few days?), cabs were charging $180 bucks for rides to one of the airports, etc. etc. Mind you, this was not a city-wide black out. I, for instance, only heard about it, as I was in a quadrant in the center that was fine, although 2 blocks away was hit. And by the time I went home, my line of the Metro was up and running, and I didn't lose any of the food in my fridge. A fire in one power station caused the black out, and they wondered how it could happen. A fire in one power station caused the black out, and they wondered how it could happen? I guess they weren't paying attention when a small mishap at a power station in po-dunk Ohio sent the whole NORTHEAST plummeting into darkness. And Putin blamed the minister of energy Anatoly Chubais and he might even get fired, because, well folks, this is Russia. Lets all be glad its not 1937, because Chubais would already have had a speedy show trial and a bullet in the back of his head.
The weather's cooled a little, thank goodness, although I am enjoying the skirt and sandals weather after what feels like the-winter-that-lasted-8-years.
I'm never going to finish the story by the way, not in any detail. The last day in Piter, the weather sucked, we went to the Alexander-Nevskii monastery, saw a church service, went to the cupola of St. Isaacs to see the city view and bounced from 1 cafe to another, eating drinking and dodging the rain until it was time to catch the train. On her last full day in Moscow, Sarah finally saw Red Square, we went souvenir shopping and had pizza for dinner! Then I put her in a cab by herself the next morning, with a map of the airport drawn on a napkin, and much to the shock and dismay of everyone, sent her on her way! :-)
As for Sarah's impressions of Russia, well I hope it made a good and lasting impression, but for the final verdict you'll have to ask her. In the meantime, I've been getting to know some of the graduate students I failed to meet while in St. Pete's, went back up to St. Pete's for Sasha's dance recital. Got waaaaaay too drunk one Friday and had a wicked hangover, worked, worked some more, went on a few runs, strolled in the sun, oh, and worked.
