Observation one. People stand outside of buildings to smoke here too.
Observation two. Men here spit all over the streets. It is gross buckets. I'm always running slalom to avoid loogies. The three second rule does NOT apply here.
School was good Thursday and Friday. Friday there were only four kids so I could give a lot of individual attention. The kids are now repeating complete sentences in English and counting in English while recognizing the numbers. We looked at apple seeds last week and this week we will cut open a pumpkin to look at the seeds and mess with the goop inside. The. I'm going to fill it with baking soda and vinegar and the let the "volcano" gush out the top. That should entertain them for a day. I may not carve it into a jack-o-lantern. Many parents at our school feel Halloween is a religious holiday and I was told not to mention it in class.
Buying the pumpkin was a hoot. I went shopping and stopped at the open-air market.(By the way, fish is sold exactly the way the meat is sold. There are just big piles of fish on an open table.) I saw one nice one and asked how much it was. The lady wanted to charge me 25 rubles a gram. So she weighs the thing and it's supposed to cost me 1180 rubles, which is $20.34. Hell, no. So I walk down a couple of booths and there is the perfect pumpkin. She only wants 150 rubles, which is $2.59. Not only can I live with that price, but I get free entertainment. Because of the accent, the bike and the helmet, I draw a crowd. Where are you from, what are you doing here, how much did your bike cost, do you want to come and drink vodka with me? And always the big question, do you like it here? The people are very concerned that guests like their city.
I also ended up buying something similar to cottage cheese in a plastic bag. It's a little dryer but very tasty. I will mix a little jelly in it and have it for lunch. At the supermarket, I bought a marinated steak and a really great looking salad at the deli. That's going to be my supper tonight.
So, I had a lot of stuff to truck home in my bike basket. Good thing I find those bungee cords a couple of weeks ago, or I never would have made it back with everything.
At one I met Anna at the subway station and we did another tour of the city. This time we walked through Gorky Park. Think Highland Park when an event is going on. There were all sorts of playgrounds, and sports training centers for kids, miles of paths to walk or bike through the beautiful fall leaves, and they also have one of those treetop parks with the obstacle course way up in the trees. It was a great place. And in spite of the overcast day, a lot of people were out. We walked ack into town and stopped for tea at Truffo's. I had a chocolate-filled croissant and Anna had two macaroons.. Delicious.
Our next stop was the art gallery, where we visited and exhibit of Russian painters. The building itself was gorgeous. It used to be the home of a general and each room had lovely tiled ovens. I will put up a picture.
We left there at five and it was already dark so we walked over to Agafredo's Italian Restaurant. I had a pepperoni pizza which was excellent. The crust was paper thin. And it was spicy. It was a pleasant change from the bland stuff they serve a school. We sat there for a long while and just discussed politics and culture. By the time we left, it had started to rain. So we hustled down to the subway station and I headed home. My jacket was pretty wet by the time i walked the ten minutes, but I stayed relatively dry. The only problem is, I'm coming down with yet another cold and this did not help things. I'm going to be drinking a lot of tea today and won't be too active.
Now I'm off to eat my new cottage cheese.
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