Back in the (former) USSR

I don’t know what it was that I ate Tuesday night before I left, but Wednesday morning I threw up all over Mary Ellen's lawn. Yuck! I was just glad I made it to the lawn and didn’t hit the patio and was super glad it didn’t happen in the airplane. I felt weak all day and hardly ate anything during the flights. I was relieved that there was very little traffic in all the airports and I got through all the lines quickly. Even at immigration in Moscow, it didn’t take me 5 minutes. How nice that was! While still in JFK In NY, I was feeling a little hungry and decided to by a Chobani vanilla yoghurt. Ready for it? $5.48 for one stinking yoghurt. I could have bought stock in the factory for that. All the flights went smoothly and were on time. What a unique experience. And Ravil met me at the airport. What a doll this guy is. Boy this time I was so tired, I couldn’t even think straight. He got the taxi and I was at the apartment in 20 minutes because the guys here still drive like crazy. The weather was extremely pleasant with a nice breeze. When I got to the apartment, the first thing I noticed was that the oven had been installed. The only problem is, they did not cut a hole in the countertop to put the cord through, so I have to pull it out through the opening under the stove. Then I have to stretch it over the stove and it STILL doesn’t reach the extension cord. I see there is going to have to be some moderation made. I also noticed that the apartment had been used by someone. It was extremely dirty, there was hair in the bathtub drain and other clues. I’m going to get this straightened out, you can bet on that. After Ravil left, I quickly rode over to school to give up my passport and immigration paper so that The liaison could register me with the police. That went smoothly. I also made an appointment with the international staff to show them the materials I had brought back from the States. I came back home, putzted around a little bit and finally went to bed. I slept for almost 14 hours. I woke up 20 minutes before my meeting. I made it and was only a few minutes late. No big problem. When I finished that meeting, I went upstairs to a meeting with the principal. We talked about bike projects. The director wants to do a bike tour at the end of September. I suggested we ride on the path in the forest for a mile to the sky park. It’s one of those deals where you climb from platform to platform in the treetops. The director didn’t even know the place existed. So I bike down, photographed the information board for her and came back to meet her for supper. Now all she has to do is find the date and reserve the park. After dinner I came home and rested a little before I went to the City Club meeting. The city has done wonders to our street. They’ve repacked the street and the sidewalks and cut down the curbs so that bikes and strollers can roll up ramps. What a relief. It’s so much better than getting off the bike and lifting it up over the curb stone every time. And on one straight on my way to the Metro station, they’ve actually installed a pedestrian crosswalk with speed bumps for the cars! What an improvement. Now I’ve got to get out and see how long it takes me to get to the new subway station. It should be about the same distance as the one I use now, but the sidewalks to the new one are better and I can probably get there much faster on the bike. The City Club meeting was fun and it was good to see many old friends. I met some new people too and got some great ideas for some weekend trips for this year. Sonia will be back next weekend and Fouad comes back in October. Sonia and I are already making a list of things we want to see. Tomorrow Matthew and Valeriya will show me how to get all the way downtown on the bikes. So I’ll get some exercise on the way to my shopping trip. I still have to get some groceries in and buy a few things. Sunday I’m going to clean the place thoroughly and Monday I will go In and say hello to the kids and do some lesson plans. And now I’m going to finally try to fall asleep.