On the road again!

So, it looks like the video embedding phase has passed, and now I can write about what's really on my mind, which is this:

I'm going home soon!

And also:

I'm spending a week in Costa Rica!

For some reason*, though, I'm really freaked out about botflies. Even though a botfly infestation is probably not going to be harmful (I've searched the internet, but I can't find a single example of long term healh problems caused by botflies), they still really creep me out.

The best piece of advice I have heard is to prevent mosquito bites (there are a lot of reasons why this is a good idea) and iron everything, as sometimes the flies lay eggs on wet clothes.


Speaking of travel advice, I read this article recently. I agree with most of what she says, though I also agree with the commenters that she glosses over safety issues a bit. I think there are two reasons for this:

1. It's a short article. What do you want?
2. There is so much information out there about how dangerous and weird other countries can be, especially for American women (actually, for us there is a lot of information out there about how dangerous and weird every single square foot of the planet, including your own home, can be), that she is setting herself up as the opposing voice.

I'm actually really bothered by the assumption that a short article on women travelling has to deal with safety issues. A longer, more in-depth, article about a specific location would, of course, have to address safety issues, no matter who it was aimed at. But a short interview?

Well, I've written about this before, actually.

As for her comments about not feeling comfortable in the Middle East, I think most American women would agree. I find it far more interesting that she has a friend who does feel comfortable there. I'd like to see an interview with her next.

What she was getting at, though, is that if you travel to a country where you look very different, you are going to get a lot of attention. If you can't deal with that (I couldn't, but now I can), you have to choose your destinations more carefully (I did, but now I don't).

(I also feel compelled to add that 5'2" is not really tall in Asia. I was hoping it might be, but it is not).


* I'm pretty sure the reason is that they are fly larvae that burrow into your skin, grow, and then burrow back out again.

Egypt Post 1

One problem that I have is that I tend not to do anything if I can't do it perfectly. That's how my room is generally a mess because I spent the day I set aside to clean it doing something totally insignificant. I don't care how clean the room appears; if your sweater dresses are not organized by hex code, it is all a lie.

It is also the reason that most of the trips I've taken remain un-blogged.

A big part of the problem is that I would really like to make a map of the whole trip, as well as each leg of the trip. But I need a map that:
- shows the places I visited
- shows the paths between places
- doesn't give so much information as to be unreadable (basically, I want all the major cities and famous places, and any non-main places I visited, and nothing else).

What I really want is a webpage that can generate that based on my itinerary. But, since I don't have that, take out an atlas and follow along:

20/12 - fly from Moscow to Hurghada
21/12 - leave really early in the morning, tourist van to Luxor, board boat
22/12 - boat to Edfu, Kom Ombo
23/12 - boat to Aswan, side trip to Abu Simbel
24/12 - Aswan, catch night train to Cairo
25/12 - Cairo
26/12 - was supposed to be Alexandria, but I got sick
27/12 - 03/01 - Hurghada

So, in the interest of getting over my stupid perfectionism, I'm going to do this in chronological order and just write and post pictures until I have to stop for the day.

December 20 - Hurghada

I'll come back to this later, because at this point Hurghada was just a place to stay before going to Luxor. But, in short, Hurghada is on the Red Sea and 80% of its tourists are Russian. It's sort of a less-rich man's Sharm el-Sheikh.

Hurghada has an international airport that doesn't really handle its tourists well at all. First, you buy a visa. This is no big deal. But then you wait in not-line for about an hour to get your passport stamped. I think I'm claustrophobic about people because waiting in not-line does bad things to my heart rate.* In the future, I need to make sure to:
1. warn people I'm travelling with about this.
2. stand in the line that's next to the wall, no matter how much longer it is.
3. bring more suitcases so as to make a little fortress around myself.

Anyway, once that was done, we were shuttled to the resort and told that we'd be leaving for Luxor at 5:30 am the next day. I didn't really have time to get an impression of the resort, except that the buffet was really good and there seemed to be mosquitoes.

December 21 - Luxor
Luxor day was a very, very tiring day. First off, we were picked up at 6 am. It turns out that they adjust times for Russian tourists, which is probably a good idea. It takes about four hours to drive from Hurghada to Luxor. Most of this is through the desert. We stopped briefly at a cafeteria where it seemed like all the tour buses stopped. Lots of people were standing around wearing old-fashioned clothes and tending goats and camels and charging tourists for pictures:

At some point I decided I was totally cool with being a stereotypical tourist.

Andrey bought a hat from a vendor. He negotiated the price down from 400 Egyptian pounds (about $80) to 50 ($10). I really hate negotiating, so I was impressed. The vendor congratulated me on my new president.

It's immediately obvious when you are approaching the Nile because everything turns green and habitable. I'd like to say that the desert has its own beauty, and I'm sure that I will say that in a later entry, but I really wasn't feeling that on Luxor day.

As for the city of Luxor, I can't say much because we just drove through there on our way to different tourist attractions. What I could see looked very agricultural, with no offices or shops, but it's entirely possible that we just never drove through the commercial district. I saw a lot of apartment buildings being built up while people had already moved into the lower floors. I am guessing it's due to a housing shortage, stopped construction projects, or both. I wish I had asked the tour guide about it. I didn't because I thought it was a rude question, and it probably is. It took me a couple days to realize that answering tourists' rude questions is the tour guide's job.

All the women I saw walking around were mostly dressed in black, totally covered up except for their faces. This blog tells me that this is either a Khimar or a Chador. I was surprised and a little bit worried. I wasn't prepared for it to be quite that conservative.

[Marin takes a couple hours getting lost reading someone else's blog].

So, as I was saying, I didn't get much of an impression of the city because I didn't spend any time there. The tourist attractions were more than enough for one day. But they will have to wait for the next blog entry, because I have work tomorrow.

* It depends on how tall the people around are. If they're around my height, I'm fine. If they're taller (or I'm sitting down), it really bothers me. In this case, a flight from Switzerland got in at the same time as ours.

Just your typical prototype

This poll was brought to you by iTunes (and not locking your door when you know you have friends coming over)

What is the most embarrassing song to be caught singing along to?
a) Journey, "Don't Stop Believin'"
b) Dragonforce, "Through the Fire and Flames"
c) Cabaret, "Mein Herr"
d) All of the above, though certainly embarrassing, still play into the whole self-conciously nerdy thing you have going on. The right answer is "Piece of Me" by Britney Spears.
e) Having heard you sing, I can tell you that it's embarrassing no matter what the song.
f) Sorry, but this is really bothering me. Aren't prototypes, by definition, typical?


On planning a trip to Egypt

"I just want to be respectful of the local culture. And buy some new clothes."

Yes, I am finally going to Egypt! I started to make a packing list and then realized that almost everything I own, save for my orange scarf, is not really suitable for Egypt. I'm pretty sure that Russia is the exact opposite of Egypt in terms of cultural climate and climate climate.

Which is kind of funny, since a lot of the stuff I'm reading about Egypt is also stuff that I read about Russia years ago. Specifically:
- beware of pickpockets and don't leave your passport in your hotel room
- don't drink the water and be wary of street food
- don't bother driving and look out when crossing the street because drivers are crazy
- health and safety standards are lower, and fatal transport accidents are not unheard-of
- do not even go anywhere near illegal drugs
- don't take photos of government buildings or military personnel
- you will stand out more and might be harrassed if you have dark skin/light hair (I'll let you figure out which country is which here)
- don't go anywhere with strangers who approach you (find me a country where it IS advisable to do this and I'll cash in my life savings and move there)
- I came to Russia just after Beslan, so even the terrorism warnings sound vaguely familiar to me.

A lot of this turned out to be very good advice, and a lot of it is just common sense. I would say that they are all true, or at least not-untrue. Taken all together, though, it makes Moscow sound a lot scarier than it actually is, so I try and keep that in mind when I read the exact same things about Cairo, or anywhere else I travel, for that matter.

Even worse, before I came to Russia, somebody told me that I could be kidnapped and they would cut off my fingers and send them to my parents one-by-one until they agreed to pay millions of dollars for my release. Hasn't happened yet. The other day somebody told me that foreign women in Egypt can get kidnapped and shipped to brothels in other middle eastern countries never to be heard from again.

Honestly, these stories mostly just make the people telling them sound creepy. These both sound like things that could happen, or even have happened in the past.* But do you tell visitors to America that they might get all serial-killed?

I don't mean to minimize the risks of international travel, especially to a country whose culture is so very far removed from your own, and, yeah, I am a bit nervous. But I do what I can to minimize risks (in this case that means using a reputable travel agency, dressing conservatively, and not going alone**), and I read a lot about any place before I make the decision to visit it. So I ask everybody to please trust my judgement (about travelling -- I certainly won't ask you to trust my judgement about music).


I have changed

Yeah, when did that happen? Still look like a robot in photographs, though:

This was taken at the Polytechnic museum in Moscow last weekend. This is an awesome museum and I cannot believe I did not visit it earlier. It was a robotic tour guide for an exhibition, but I don't know if it was ever actually used.

* The ONLY similar account I found for either scenario in either country was the tourist kidnapping in September, which had a happy ending. Plus, I won't be anywhere near that part of the country.

** I feel really conflicted about these last two concessions. As in, if I can't travel alone and dress however I want without the risk of being harrassed, does the country deserve my tourism dollars at all? I could argue that Egypt is making progress in this area, or that being in the country as a polite, respectful American can only have a good influence on people's attitudes, or even that I have no right to ask this question in the first place. But I really just want to see the pyramids.

And a towel. Don't forget to bring a towel.

So over at one of the fashion blogs I read, there is a question about what to pack if you're going backpacking for two months. I'm not really what you'd call a backpacker, but I did go on a 6-week vacation this one time when I wasn't really staying in one place and had to carry everything with me.

Anyway, I started to write a response in the comments, but it got kind of long-winded and I didn't want to hijack the thread. So I decided to copy it here instead. Then I added footnotes wherein I talk about myself, as this is my blog and I can do that.

No matter where you go, I strongly recommend a scarf-shawl type thing. It will keep you warm, keep the sun off of you, and allow you to visit any churches with strict dress codes.

If you're going to spend a lot of time in cities: bring lots of sundresses in different lengths. They don't take up much space in your luggage. Depending on the weather or how conservative the place is, you can wear a hoodie or the aforementioned scarf to cover up (also make sure the material is opaque, as that can be embarassing otherwise). What's more, you can hand wash them, they dry quickly, and you don't have to plan an outfit. (If you're not comfortable wearing dresses, though, disregard this paragraph because you shouldn't travel in clothes you're not comfortable in).

For outdoor activities, you'll need pants and shirts (layers are good here), but probably not as many as you think.

As for shoes,
1. don't bother with "nice" shoes. You will never wear them. You'll be walking so much that, even if you do go out in the evening, you'll probably end up choosing comfort over style. It also leaves you with an excuse (and space) to buy shoes there, and who doesn't want that?
2. you should definitely bring sandals, but make sure they are comfortable and have good arch support. Actually, that should be true of all the shoes you bring.
3. Shoes are heavy, so the fewer you can get away with, the better. I only really needed two pairs.*

With regard to maintenance, get a haircut that will look ok when it grows out, and bring some hair ties. Keep your nails short, but bring a nail file so they still look neat. I don't like travelling with nail polish, but if you can't live without it, go for something light, iridescent and quick-drying. I also brought a bar of detergent for hand-washing clothes. I didn't even know they existed until just before I left, but they are very useful.

Finally, if you forget something, or you end up wanting something you didn't pack, you can more than likely buy it there. Then you have something useful with nice memories attached to it.**



* I can't believe I just advised somebody to bring fewer pairs of shoes. Does the fact that I advocated buying more balance it out?

** I bought a lot of clothes when I was travelling, the weirdest being the cordouroy jacket that brings all the boys to the yard. In fact, I wore it today and this really good-looking guy who had travelled a lot around Russia was flirting with me. When I wore it two weeks ago, I went to Moscow and an Italian tourist sang to me (I have no idea what he was singing. Perhaps it was some aria from an opera about an ugly girl with a nice jacket). It's also the jacket that prompted my student to tell me I had "a perfect figure" some months ago. There is NOTHING remarkable about this jacket. I will find a picture.

Perhaps I can make an analogy.
unremarkable cordouroy jacket : European men :: graph paper shirt, conservative haircut, and glasses :

a) European women
b) All women everywhere
c) Stephen Colbert's wife
d) Just you, weirdo

No accusations, just friendly crustaceans

So, I made it home in one piece but haven't felt like answering any of the recent Friday Fives. Tomorrow I am going on a cruise to Alaska with my family. This is exciting because I get to go snorkelling for the first time ever.* Also, free food, a giant boat with a swimming pool and library, rainy weather, and opportunities to dress formally.


Coming home gives me an opportunity to see my family and friends, but also to catch up on movies and TV:

I saw Wall-E, which I liked for the first half and then really disliked due to its contempt for its audience (I don't often say this about movies). I also felt that they were putting forward a Lamarckian view of evolution, despite the fact that the society in the movie probably did not involve any natural selection whatsoever. The ending credits actually made up for the rest of the movie, though. First of all, they were nice to look at, but, more importantly, it was sort of like they were saying "but civilization produces some good things too!" Which I appreciated.

Pan's Labyrinth was really good, though it went over my head (here be spoilers):
"I was really shocked that they did that."
"Well, it worked out for her. It's not like she actually died."
"What?"
"Yeah, she got to go to the magical land where her parents were waiting for her."
"..."
"Have I taken this movie too literally? Because it would not be the first time."

Project Runway started on Wednesday. I think I hate Blayne, and not in a love-to-hate way. It's probably good that I'll be going home before the season really takes off.

I watched the entire first season of Mad Men in about three days and came to the conclusion that early-1960s America is like present-day Russia but with better clothes and hair (but not shoes).** I had a whole analysis of why this would be the case (essentially, it's that the characters in the show grew up during the depression, while the characters in Russia grew up during the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union). There is less smoking in Russia, but the amount of drinking is about right in certain circles. I also noticed that the characters on the show do not seem very religious compared to present-day America (which, again, is also true of present-day Russia), but maybe it just hasn't been a topic on the show yet. Anyway, the similarities were kind of creepy.


* I was asked to choose excursions, so the first thing I did is go down the list and cross out everything involving floatplanes, helicopters, and ziplines. Then I chose snorkelling and a tour of an abandoned mine. I only mention this because I'm watching my brother play Super Mario and remembering how much I suck at air worlds but am actually pretty good at underground worlds. I am consistent if nothing else.

** I once had a plan to invent a time machine and travel back to that era to go shopping and also hang out around optometrists' offices and pick up men. The physical impossibility of a) time travel and b) fitting into 1960s clothes did not deter me. This series totally did.

Once this seemed so appealing

My allergies are making me suffer. And as much as I try to tell myself that allergies are just God's way of reminding us that our immune system is working, or that I have it pretty easy compared to all the people with food allergies, I am still feeling pretty sorry for myself.

Here's a Friday Five (more like a Sunday Ten, but whatever) to cheer me up:

Theme: International Travel
1. You have the summer and plenty of money to travel abroad. Where all would you go?
Okay, so this was actually a writing assignment for my Russian class, but we had to make a whole years' worth of plans. This is probably the only assignment I completed within a couple hours of its being assigned. I can't remember the exact plan, though it was something like this:

June - Australia, Tanzania, Zambia

July - Costa Rica, Peru, the Galapagos Islands

August - Kamchatka, Murmansk, Petrozavodsk, Arkhangelsk, maybe St. Petersburg

2. What foods would you be sure you got to eat?
Seeing as I've been to McDonald's in every country I've visited, I have to continue that tradition.

The countries on that list aren't exactly famous for their food. In Australia, I'd be sure to have Chinese and Indian food, both of which are hard to find and pretty expensive in Russia. I would also try kangaroo at least once.

I really know nothing about African food, but I do love ostrich meat, so that's probably what I'd eat.

I also don't know anything about food in Costa Rica or Peru, though in both cases I have heard that there is lots of seafood and it is awesome. So I'd buy a guidebook and eat what it told me to eat. I would also have to try Inca Kola, one of only two local soft drinks to outsell Coca-Cola anywhere in the world.

In Russia, well, I'd eat the same stuff that I do now (mostly cold soup, which sounds a lot sadder than it is).

3. What landmarks would you be sure you got to see?
In Australia, I'd mostly be visiting my friend, who lives near Melbourne, but I would also like to go to Tasmania to see some weird animals, Sydney to see the opera house, and somehow I'd learn to go SCUBA diving and see the Great Barrier Reef.

In Zambia, I would like to see Victoria Falls because they look really beautiful. In Tanzania, I would like to climb Mt. Kilmanjaro. Actually, I'd probably give up after the first day as I am afraid of heights, but it'd be worth a try what with the unlimited budget and all.

In Costa Rica and on the Galapagos islands, I would be all about the weird animals. In Peru, which is probably the place I am most interested in, I would visit lots and lots of archaeological sites. I would visit churches in both Costa Rica and Peru.

Kamchatka has interesting geology, Arkhangelsk and Murmansk are cities that I'm told you don't really need to spend more than a couple days in, and Petrozavodsk has Kizhi island, which is basically a museum of wooden architecture. I'd spend the rest of the time (assuming there is any) in St. Petersburg, visiting the Hermitage and the palaces and fortresses around the city.

4. What airline would you use?
Any one with a decent safety record. Since I'm short and average-weight, there's no reason whatsoever for me to be picky about airlines.

5. Would your knowledge of other languages influence where you went? (i.e. would you be more likely to go to France if you spoke French?)
From the list above, it looks like it would, but that's really just coincidence. Anywhere I went, I'd stick to cities and touristy places, at least until I got more comfortable, which would probably happen fastest in Australia (where I speak the language and look like everyone else) and slowest in Peru (where I don't).

The second set is about travel within the USA.

Theme: USA Road Trip
1. Who would you take with you on a road trip?
Somebody who can drive.

2. What states would you visit?
Good question. I would really like to visit Chicago (again), Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. (again), Atlanta, and New Orleans. Those are cities rather than states. And I would go to Florida because I want to drive on that bridge that connects the Florida keys.

3. What national parks and/or monuments would you go see?
I want to see Carlsbad Caverns and Niagara Falls. I also want to go back to Lassen, Yellowstone, and Denali. This last would be a rather long drive.

4. Las Vegas: Overrated or a Must-See?
I seem like the type of person who would say overrated, but actually I think it's a total must-see.

5. How long would you be gone?
As long as it takes!


So it seems like this Friday Five was pretty much written for me, but actually it makes me kind of sad because I don't have the time, money, or driving ability to do any of this. Yet. I have a student who responds to half of what I say with "you sound like somebody who went from Vladivostok to Moscow by train." This has become my defining characteristic as far as that student is concerned.

What will actually cheer me up: going home in three days!

I want it more than I can tell

I am suddenly having an awful week. For one thing, it is six days long. Russia doesn't do "observed" holidays, so if an important holiday falls on a Thursday or Tuesday, you get the Friday or Monday off. Or, rather, the Friday or Monday is moved to a weekend day.

For example, June 12 (Thursday) is Independence Day (the day Russia adopted its constitution). This year, we get both June 12 and June 13 off, making a four-day weekend. But, to make up for this, everyone has to work on Saturday. I am using the four-day weekend to go to Volgograd (20-24 hours by train, so not really doable on a three-day weekend). I bought the tickets earlier in the week and everything has gone downhill ever since. But the effect of that is that I am happy to be having a mini-holiday soon. So I guess it all works out.


I saw "Enchanted" the other day. I loved the premise. I liked the first half. I began to hate it after I realized where they were going with it. As far as I can understand, the point of the film is that what men actually want is some hot, dumb, inappropriately dressed girl to clean up after them. This is sexist and depressing.

And it's not often that I find a movie sexist. In fact, the only movie I can remember saying that about was "Sin City."* Honestly, I never really found the Disney cartoons to be sexist. My generation's Disney cartoons, in particular, kind of went out of their way not to be. But even the older cartoons just don't seem sexist to me. "Sleeping Beauty," for example, has three male characters, none of whom get much screen time. The rest of the characters, including the good and evil fairies, who drive the story, are all female and all kind of varied, character-wise. Is it kind of silly that "Cinderella" (and most of the other ones, too) ends with her marrying the prince and living happily ever after even though they didn't meet all that long before? Yes, but it's certainly not sexist, since, you know, the prince is doing the exact same thing. "Beauty and the Beast" (my favorite one!) is interesting in that the main character doesn't really gain anything by being beautiful. In fact, it kind of causes more problems than it solves. There are not a lot of movies like that.

So it's kind of funny that "Enchanted" strikes me as way more sexist than the films it was making fun of. Kind of funny. Mostly sad. Definitely not a film I'd take a kid to see.


Anyway, I got tagged for a book meme over a month ago, but got distracted by work, Perm, Eurovision, and work.

The closest book is the same travel book again:

Since they take the most direct route between cities the savings in time can be considerable over slow trains and meandering buses. Typically you will find drivers offering this service outside bus terminals. Someone in your party must speak Russian to negotiate a price with the driver that typically works out to about R5 per kilometre.

I feel less bad about this now because my mother and my brother also had practical-sounding books.

I'd like to also do my mother's version of the same meme, but this is harder because all of my page 123s are so boring (she had a really good one, though I have no idea what it is). I've got two so far.

Too easy:

Speed.
More important than any of those things, however, was one final requirement.
Luck.

This one is funny to me because I'm pretty sure these are the least distinctive three sentences in this book:

Why did you do it, why? But I'll save you. I'll save you.



* And I take that back now. When I saw it, it bothered me that all the female characters were sex workers and/or victims. The more I think about it, though, the more I think that that's totally accurate for the environment of the film.

Drop another line like Decoto with the Kurds

Because I am unable to go for three whole days without internet access, I am on an old computer in a crowded, inadequately air-conditioned post office. I complain, but it reminds me so much of last summer that I actually feel kind of happy.

The very least I can give you is a horrifying student conversation. This one also doubles as a nationality test. I asked the student about his work history:

S: When I was at university, I had a business selling chemical substances.
M: Really.
S: Yes, for people to clean their houses.
M: Ah. You should find another way to say that.
[in the end we settled on "household cleaners" and a great laugh was had by all]
S: And after that, I sold pirated DVDs.

Nationality test: Does that last line make the story any funnier? If so, you are probably American.

But I do what I can

Tomorrow I am leaving for Perm, which is one of the cities I missed on my summer trip. There are ice caves nearby. They might be closed due to flooding (it's a nearby river, not extreme global warming), but I can't get any information on that. I will be horribly disappointed if they are, but I don't really have a choice about when my holidays are, and there is other stuff to see. I suppose I will find out.

It's 20.5 hours from Moscow to Perm, but I went to the Crimea on a 24-hour train a couple years ago, and from Khabarovsk to Ulan-Ude for 51 hours this summer. So I think I'll manage.

What this all means is that I'm going to be out of town for the inauguration on May 7 (in fact, I'm going to be on a train for most of May 7), when Dmitry Medvedev will be sworn in as the President of Russia. With the help of an endorsement from Putin, Medvedev won the election back in March with 70% of the vote, meaning that there were other candidates, too.

I pay attention to politics, but I don't worry much about Russian politics (I learned my lesson worrying about American politics, so I'm not about to start with a new country) as long as I can still have a visa. On an entirely superficial level, though, I am going to miss Putin, at least until he becomes Prime Minister. This is because, like a lot of women in Russia, I have a huge crush on him. That's wrong on a few levels (morally, politically, half-plus-sevenly until 2026), but what can you do?

Anyway, back in 2004 when I was taking a class about Russian politics I read somewhere that there was a pop song about him. This made me feel less weird. By the time I came to Russia, it wasn't very popular anymore, though I heard it a couple times.

It wasn't until today, thanks to YouTube, that I learned that there is an English (sort of) version, which I am posting here. I have no idea why there exists an English version of this song. But could there be a more appropriate song for this moment in history? Probably, but you know I'm kind of lazy.



Other stuff about Putin: Like me, he is right-handed but wears his watch on his right hand. Unlike me, he is the President of Russia. He has also visited Zelenograd, but it was a business visit, so I didn't see him, and he wasn't giving autographs. I did, however, get to see the conference room where the meeting was held (one of my colleagues actually teaches in there. So unfair!)

When I get back Russia will have a new president and I'll do the book memes (the only book nearby right now is a travel book. Page 123 has some advice on taking taxis), post pictures from the holiday and a couple of horrifying student conversations.

Yeah, well, you're interferon with our good time

I have a number of excuses for not having updated. To start with, I was in Siberia. I got back to Moscow two days before starting work, so I've been busy (the start of the year is busy for me).

Now I am preoccupied because my boyfriend is in the hospital with pneumonia. They caught it really really early (they can't even hear it), so he will be fine. He has to stay in the hospital for at least a week because it's Russia. The hospital is clean and they're treating him well, so hopefully he won't still be there in a month (this happened to a friend of mine who went in for appendicitis, was neglected by hospital staff, almost died, changed hospitals, and needed a bunch more surgeries). He doesn't like the food, but there's a little cafe on the first floor and plenty of people to bring him food. The hospital itself is close to one of the companies I teach at, which would be great if the visiting hours were longer (remember, this is Russia). As it is, though, it's pretty easy to get to.

I don't have much to say about the trip right now other than that it was super awesome and I want to go back to Siberia. I think I will find the time to blog more about it. I took a ton of photos that will also need to be posted.

It is also worth noting that my birthday is coming up in less than two months (somebody older and wiser advised me to enjoy these months because it's all downhill from there), and I have decided that this is certainly the perfect gift for me. Because I like to travel, I worry excessively about security, and I am la бегемотка, which is very bastardized Russian for "little hippopotamus."* And because I've always wanted a luggage lock that costs 3-5x as much as any item of luggage I own.


* In Russian, this isn't insulting. Cartoon hippopotami are funny and friendly, so that's what it means. I like it because they're depicted as friendly creatures but are actually quite deadly. I also enjoy having a nickname that requires a footnote.

Pictures!

I'm leaving tomorrow. I did manage to upload the pictures from New York before I left: Pictures!

So what happened was I got sick and still had to work and completely neglected the blog, which is unfortunate, because a lot has happened in the past month or so.

To start with, I'm home! The journey home was not easy. Czech Air said that I didn't need a paper ticket to get onto my flight, just the reservation prinout and my ID. This would be true if not for the fact that they codeshare with Aeroflot and Aeroflot:
- is stuck in the 20th century and hasn't figured out how e-tickets work
- has rude, incompetent staff

So, while they acknowledged that I had reservations and that my passport was, in fact, valid, they still would not let me onto the plane. I had to drag my Russian-speaking coworker to the Czech Air office (in central Moscow rather than in the airport, because Czech Air, too, is disorganized and incompetent) and try and get a reservation for the next day. Which I did, thanks to one really helpful employee. "She has restored my faith in Russian customer service," I said. "She's not Russian. She was speaking Russian with an accent," said my friend. Oh, well.

The flight, when I actually managed to get onto it, was really pleasant.

I missed the graduation by a couple hours.

After that, we spent a couple days in New York being tourists. I really liked the museums, but the city itself seemed really, really loud and very hard for me to adjust to. People in New York seem to feel the need to speak at the top of their lungs, but part of the problem was that I'm in the habit of listening to all the English I hear. Where I live, if I hear English, it's usually directed at me and I can tune everything else out. In New York, I was surrounded by really loud conversations in English and didn't know where to listen. So I found New York overwhelming in this way. But I liked the museums and the public library, and Central Park is pretty. There is also a 3-story Ann Taylor on 5th Avenue. Anyway, I can provide pictures later. There are some funny pictures.

Now I'm in California, trying to plan the second part of my journey and talking myself out of buying shoes and clothes (both of which are cheaper here than in Moscow) because I will have to carry everything I buy all the way across Siberia.

One thing I cannot get over is how friendly people in San Francisco are. When I went to the Chinese Embassy to apply for my visa, I had a nice conversation about travel plans with the people around me, which involved minimal complaining about how long the line was (it was out the door, but moved fairly quickly). On my way back, a woman stopped me on the street to compliment my outfit, which made my day. And then I went to the shopping centre, where all the store clerks except the ones at Bloomingdale's (it's like they can sense poverty) did the same.

So that's what I've been up to. I'll be better about updating.

Siberia!

So, the plane tickets are purchased and now I can say that I'm going to Siberia!

Coworker: People used to say that in the 1950's, too, but I think it was in a different tone.

I wrote a possible itinerary and now have to go about getting all my ducks in a row so I can write the final itinerary. But, basically, I'm going to New York for my brother's graduation, on to California for a couple weeks at home, then to Beijing for a few days (trying to figure out just how many is the hard part), then I'm taking the trans-Mongolian railway back to Moscow. So, from Beijing, I want to go to another city in China because otherwise it's a long train ride. In any case, it goes: Beijing - ? - Ulan Baatar (the capital of Mongolia) - Ulan Ude (first stop in Russia) - Lake Baikal and Irkutsk, where I'll spend a few days - Zima (which not only breaks up the train journey, but was also described as "a weird little town" on one website and has a poem written about it) - Krasnoyarsk - Novosibirsk - Omsk - Tobolsk - Yekaterinburg, where I'll spend another few days - Perm - Nizhny Novgorod - Moscow. Of course, this is idealistic, as train timetables, money, and the fact that I might get fed up and quit will all disrupt the itinerary. But this is the dream.

And it has led to the biggest packing challenge of my life (which is why I've started thinking about it two months in advance). I need to bring a camera, documents, money, and some other stuff. The other stuff has to be suitable for a graduation ceremony in New York (my current wardrobe, I feel, is inadequately preppy), walking around New York City (inadequately fashionable), walking around Beijing (I don't really think I can blend in here, but I don't want to stand out more than I have to), walking around small, nature-infested Siberian towns and Lake Baikal (inadequately rugged), walking around bigger Russian cities (I at least have this one covered), and spending a lot of time on trains. It will also have to not need ironing, be hand-washable, and fit into no more than two small bags and a backpack.

Anyway, I went shopping this weekend for something graduation-y (I decided to start from the beginning of the journey), but all I found were tent-shaped minidresses, dresses with a waistband that is supposed to fall somewhere around your hips (this wasn't due to my height (I have more sense than to try such a dress on), it's the way the dresses are actually supposed to fit), a lot of loud prints, and some passable clothes that were out of my price range. There was also a nice red skirt that I could afford and that looked like it would probably fit, but by the time I came across it I was feeling far too pear-shaped for a brightly colored skirt. It would have been inadequately preppy, anyway.

Anyway, looking around at all the cute clothes made me think of how much money I've probably saved by being rather difficult to shop for. If I were six feet tall and rail-thin, there's no way I'd have enough money to go to Siberia because I'd have spent all my money on clothes because everything I tried on would look good. At least, that's what I imagine such a life would be like.

I also discovered that, no matter how many shoes I have, I can't not walk into a shoe store. Just to look, of course. I'm like a recovering alcoholic who still goes to bars, or a newlywed who still reads Craigslist. In other words, it might not end well.

Really I'm just jealous because I wish the world revolved around me

I was sick yesterday, so I called in sick, which means I don't get paid. I also made a mistake on some documents on Monday that had to be done, er, on Monday. So I had to go to work yesterday anyway. Paperwork takes less energy than teaching, but considerably more energy than sleeping the day away and drinking orange juice.

Also annoying is the fact that Spring is here and the sun is out, which will, of course, add years and years and freckles to my appearance and give me cataracts when I'm old. To make matters worse, everybody else is all "Woohoo! Photons!" because they love premature aging, I suppose.

I've just started to remind myself of Mr. Burns. That can't be good.

The good news is, Moscow is actually protected by a cloud of pollution, so it's not as bad as, say, California, what with its semi-clean air and fresh food. And it's the first week of the year that the streets aren't totally destructive to normal, non-waterproof shoes.

But the point of this post was to mention that I'm still alive, and to wonder out loud what I should do this summer. Basically, I have to go to New York (and Boston, because I've been meaning to visit for about 4 years now). But what then? Do I fly back to Moscow? Do I go to California for a while and then fly back to Moscow?

Or do I attempt the superholiday? The superholiday will take me from Moscow to New York to San Francisco to Beijing and then across Siberia by train, back to Moscow. I would have to plan this all in 2.5 months. And, actually, since I'm going to New York no matter what, I have to buy that ticket as soon as possible. So the question I have to answer now is whether I buy round trip or one-way. Buying round trip means that I have forfeited the superholiday. Buying one way means that I could still forfeit the superholiday, but it would be a monumental waste of money to do so (of course, some would say that the superholiday itself is a monumental waste of money, but let's assume for the sake of argument that it's not).

Let's bee friends

Yesterday while I was leaving one of my lessons, an old woman shoveled a pile of snow onto me and then yelled at me for being in her way. Did I get angry? Did I think she was being illogical? Did I wonder why somebody was making an old woman shovel snow? Nope! My only thought about this was "oh, good, it's clean." Which made me think that perhaps I had been in Russia too long.

But, on the other hand, I actually understood a news report on the radio today.

I also had four glasses of wine at a work party yesterday after basically not drinking for 14 months. I never gave up drinking completely, to be fair, but I placed so many restrictions that it was like I had given it up completely. To then turn around and, at one party (and a work party at that!), double my intake of alcohol for the year is worrisome, to say the least. So, I won't be doing that again.

At the same party, we had a love letter writing competition for Valentine's day. Basically, there was a list of 29 words and a time limit to write a letter or poem using as many as possible. I only got 16, so I didn't win, but I did learn that my style of writing is inappropriately formal for love letters. Also, it was written to a guy named Mark, which is the name of my husband in Sims 2, but I didn't want to tell anybody that, so I told them it was nobody (which is technically true), which probably made me sound evasive and mysterious.

Also, we had a competition to see who got the most valentines. I got six, two of which were from myself. The winner got 13.

On Wednesday I started teaching a new class, so they got to (okay, had to) ask me questions about myself. I am not that interesting, but I did figure out that I've been to 10 different countries (counting England and Scotland separately, but not counting Vatican City). Not bad. That means I should make it to about 32 in my lifetime, assuming that I have an average life expectancy, the world doesn't get destroyed, and it's still possible to travel long distances comfortably.

Finally!

I've finally started a Russia blog (about 2 years after I said I would), and I've finally put up my pictures from Turkey: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marinb. Er...more later. Work is busy.