It's dark...

As per the title, it is in fact dark. Primarily because the sun went down at about 4 PM today, which is at least mildly depressing in and of itself, but even more depressing is the fact that my entire block's power is out for the second time today. There are few things worse than waking up long before you feel like it, only to discover that it's dark and grey outside, and then having to search the bedside table for the little tiny reading lamp, because the lights won't work. 'Twas not a happy morning today.

In other news, after twenty years of maternal worry and protection at candlelight services (seriously - I didn't get my own candle until I was like twelve...), I set my hair on fire on Monday. Twice. (Note: anytime I set something on fire, I seem to do it twice in quick sucession. Remember this should I ever burn my house down, k?) Now that my mother is having a panic attack (you talked to me on Tuesday - clearly, I'm fine), I swear the damage isn't bad. I was toasting bread in our toaster oven (which has no settings at all - it's either plugged in or it's not), and heating water for coffee at the same time. Leaned over to rescue the bread, and dragged a strand of hair in the gas burner (I'm going to need an electric cooktop for safety when I grow up). By the time I realized what the sound was, I'd moved my head, and the flame had puttered out - it only burned an inch or two. Burning hair really does have a very distinctive smell, though. The second time, the burner was off, but still hot enough to singe some more off. You can't tell or anything - I just thought it was interesting. And I really hope someone took pictures of my mother while she was reading that...

This has been a week for creepy Russian men. Monday, I was out doing a touch of shopping, which, as always, involved crossing plenty of streets on foot. While I was waiting for a light to turn, the guy (who was probably at least 30) next to me started talking to me. I have difficulty understanding anything if I'm not really paying attention (gee, imagine that), so I had to ask him to repeat himself. The second time around, I still couldn't sort out what he was saying, but I decided I didn't like the way he was looking at me, so I walked away and stood between a couple of ladies. Sadly, el Creepo didn't get the hint and continued talking to me when we hit the next waiting point and crossed the next street (sometimes you cross half a street, wait, and then cross the rest of the way). Since ignoring wasn't working, and I'm not sure of the best way to say "Buzz off" and mean it in Russian, I ended up going around the opposite side of a kiosk from him, except he kept going, while I stopped and essentially hid behind it so he'd go on and leave me alone. One of the ladies I'd originally tried to hide beside came up and told me to walk with her and whatnot - I believe she got a bit of a kick out of it.

Then, last night I was out with Lindsey and her grandparents, on our way to Spartok to meet some people. Again, we were waiting at a light (hitting on random girls on the street is actually considered a valid pick-up technique here...) I'd been turned, talking to Lindsey, so when I turned to face forward, I realize that the guy in front of me is twisted around staring at me. Not just glancing or something, but hard-core, creepy staring. He then proceeds to inform me that my hair is interesting (I had it up in a Dutch braid) and ask if it's natural. Now, I get the hair question a lot here, but from random dudes on the street? Not so much. I just ignored him and turned back to Lindsey, but the guy kept talking and kinda getting in our faces. Lindsey starts trying to shoo him, asking him what he wants, making it pretty clear that he's not welcome, but he just stared at her as though he couldn't figure out why she was even part of the conversation, and keeps talking at me. Finally, the light turns and he rejoined his friends, but there was more turning around and pointing... Ugh! He was even blonde, but believe me, Lulu, you didn't want him anyways (and no, I'm not bringing either of them back.)

That's enough for today, methinks. I finished that book y'all sent already - it was good, and I can't wait to read the sequel. Happy finals-ing and stay sane!

Last Day of Freedom

In answer to the first of Erica's bajillion questions (:D), I start classes tomorrow. At least, I'm under the general impression that tomorrow is Monday. Between all the travel weirdness and the lack of defined schedule, I'm a little out of the loop as far as normal times of day are concerned. Russia runs on the 24-hour clock, so I'm constanly subtracting 12 from times, too.

The WP kids had an assignment to complete after Saturday's jaunt around the city. We (the Baylor girls) kinda think we might have one, too, but since Ben only grabbed enough for them, we're pretending we don't.

I really wanted to upload pictures from my trip and from yesterday, but I put them on my USB, only to discover that this internet cafe doesn't have accessible USB ports. I'll either burn them to CD and upload from there, or I'll have to go to the expensive gaming cafe and use their USB ports. (On the gaming cafe - the boys told us it was so much cheaper, etc, etc, and we went rather out of our way, only to discover that if you're on the Internet, it's actually rather pricey...)

Laura and I went to the gym today - it's only about $40/month for full time access and full classes and all that - it's pretty nice. I know I'm going to hurt tomorrow, though. The showers and all are nice, so I think we may just start showering there at least part-time, so we don't have to feel bad about using the water or anything. They didn't have a squat rack, though. Who runs a gym without a squat rack?

I had my first moment of major frustration today. My transformer wasn't working with my laptop (BestBuy lady lied!), and there was an adapter laying out, so I just used it. Turns out it was Sasha the elder's, and I thought he was mad at me. I don't think he really was, but I was upset, and I kept trying to ask where I could buy one, and he kept telling me over and over that he bought it in China. I understood, but he wouldn't answer my question. It really didn't help that apparently what we call an adapter is not what Russian call an adapter. Argh! I was so frustrated with not being able to communicate (on top of major difficulties trying to get directions to the Catholic Church for Laura) that I just needed to get out (and to eat), so I went down to the street vendor and bought a pita. After a little food and a little space, I felt better.

One of the little stands plays music, and for a moment I thought I'd found an affirmative answer to the title question. Alas, I think it was actually the William Tell Overture, so no luck yet.

Take care and have a good week of classes, guys!