I forgot to mention that when we were at the Georgian restaurant, the people ordered a hookah. Not a hooker, a hookah .you know, one of those weird water pipes the caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland smoked. It just looks so interesting and oriental. I didn’t notice any tobacco smell at all.
Today was very satisfying. I went to bank no. 1 and withdrew money without assistance. Then I went to the post office to mail a package. The nice ladies there make it so easy. I’m understanding more and more of what they ask, but my responses are very elementary. Then I pedaled down to bank no.2 and deposited my money with just a little help. But the big help came when I asked the nice lady to show me how to check my account online. She took more than an hour helping me, occasionally translating on her phone. I heard another guy getting mad because she was taking so long with me, but her colleague told him to knock it off because I was a foreigner. I certainly feel more confident in the bank now. I going to have to take those people a box of chocolates when I go to pick up my new debit card.
I was so satisfied, I went to MacDonald’s and treated myself to lunch. I also tried to Skype a friend in Germany whose call I missed while I was at the bank. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. But I didn’t dare interrupt my bank instructions. I’ve finally got to get this right.
I then went and bought my favorite bread and went grocery shopping at the big grocery store. On the way home, who do I run into but the manager of the little grocery store I often shop at on the way home from work. I almost felt like a traitor, having groceries in my basket from another store. This guy is so very nice and friendly. I’ll have to buy two cartons of milk the next time I go!
After a brief rest at home, I took off again for downtown, but without the bike. I looked into the Catholic Church, which was much more simply decorated than the orthodox churches. They had a statue honoring John Paul II. Then I walked up the hill to the Lenin Museum. First I found one house he lived in for awhile. There was a plaque on the front commemorating it, but otherwise it was in a sad state of disrepair. Just down the street was the house that he and his extended family lived in for about two years. The first thing I had to do when I entered was put on felt booties over my shoes and check my coat and backpack. I was the only one in the museum and there were two employees, one of whom spoke very decent English. She basically gave me a private tour. The whole thing was very interesting, not only because I learned new things, but at the end, we three sat there and talked about world peace and lamented the lack of tolerance. They were wishing that politicians showed more openness to change and stopped trying to instill fear in people.
After I left the museum, I walked back to the subway station in below-freezing weather. I also bought myself a pair of warm winter boots in one of the shops in the subway station. I had seen them last week and figured I’d better pick them up before the slow really starts to fly.
My apartment has been cold all week because the radiators will not turn on. After I got home, the guy came over to check what was wrong. It turns out a main valve had never been turned on. So now I’m nice and toasty.
Tomorrow I’m going to go out with the new Spanish teacher, Sonia. We’re going to head for the public market. She also likes to walk and take public transportation, but she doesn’t like museums, so I figured the public market would be a good choice and it’s a place I’ve wanted to visit. I hope we don’t have to wade through a couple inches of snow. In any case, I’m prepared with the boots.
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