The weird plane ride

I got up and got to the airport in plenty of time. It was foggy but the sun was trying to shine through so I didn’t thing too much about it. When I got to the airport and went to check-in, they said all flights had been delayed because of weather. I asked if I would make my connecting flight and they told me to get in line “over there” and change it.  “Over there” was one Aeroflot counter with one young lady at the computer and 20 people waiting in line. OK. While standing in line, an acquaintance came by who was in the same boat. He was flying with Utair, which is a subsidiary of Aeroflot, but her sign said she dealt with all airline. This lady did not seem busy at all. Vladimir took me up to her and explained the situation in Russian, but she said she couldn’t help me. Meanwhile, the line behind me was growing around the corner. After two hours, I had made it to the third place in line, near the not-busy lady’s counter. I looked at her, looked at the line behind me and asked her if there was really no way she could help the poor individual who was doing all the work alone. So she took my passport and in 5 minutes I had my flight changes. But that didn’t help the other people in line.
So I went back to check-in and got done in 3 seconds. I also ran into a British guy I know who got someone to change his flight online, but they wouldn’t let him check in because he didn’t have it on paper. So he had to get into the same line I just got out of and he waited 2.5 hours. What a nightmare for everybody.
The flight wa OK but then I had to wait for 4 hours in Moscow to get my connecting flight. Meanwhile I was texting frantically to make sure everyone knew that I didn’t need to be picked up at the time I originally thought.
We finally boarded and then they had to de-ice the plane in Moscow, which should tell you something about Moscow winters. The flight’s almost over and just as I think nothing else can go wrong, the flight attendants call over the loudspeaker for medical assistance for the guy sitting a few rows ahead of me. Of course when we landed in Frankfurt, medical personnel came on board. But as it was, we were only about 30 minutes late. Since I had no check-in luggage I got out rather quickly and was glad to get picked up.

The blah week

Compared to last week, this week was a dud. The snow melts and the streets get really slippery when it refreezes and starts to snow again. A guy ahead of my on the sidewalk took a really hard spill when he hit a patch of ice. I’ve really been tiptoeing around and walking VERY carefully.
The kids were all in a good mood this week, which means they were very active. I came home exhausted everyday. We talked about recycling this week because  they are finally going to introduce it big time here in Kazan.  Up until now, I’ve only seen plastic collection containers next to the normal garbage containers, although a friend told me there are paper recycling spots in the city, but you have to find them and drive to them. Some of the kids have been sorting with our little garbage can kit all week and really getting into it. We watched The Lorax and they are all very aware that, If water is dirty, fish will die.
This next week is spring vacation for the school and since my vacation schedule follows the school and not the kindergarten, I’m flying to Germany for a week. But one of the girls is headed to the Maldives with her family and a little boy and his family are headed for Portugal. It will be great to have a break. Sonia headed home to Spain last night already.
Monday night I had coffee with Dmitry, Tuesday night at stayed home, Wednesday night I went to table tennis and played a little bit. We were 5 players on two tables, so I got a chance to sit down a lot. No damage to my foot. Thursday was the opening of the German film festival here. Anna and I went to the reception before the film and then watched “Toni Erdmann”. It was a wonderful film and if you can find it somewhere on Netflix in English or with subtitles, it is worth it.
Friday night I came home from work and just zoned out. I was in Bed at 9. Today I packed my suitcase for Germany and then started packing some bags to send back to the States. It’s starting to get a little depressing. I’ve had a great time here and now it’s almost over. And I’ve collected so many things. Where is Marie Kondo when you need her? And things are generally not very upbeat at the moment, so I’ll finish up one more suitcase then I’ll clean up the apartment a little and then meet Anna for dinner, after which we will see another film at the German film festival.
Boy, do I need a vacation.

That was the week that REALLY was!

What a week. I haven’t even really had much time to write about it. Weather-wise, it’s getting to be spring. One day it’s melts, the next day it’s freeze. Not ideal conditions fo4 walking around on my sore foot.
So on Monday, I had wanted to meet Dmitry for coffee but he had to postpone. We decided to do it Thursday. Instead, I hobbled down to the tram stop to go to the big store to get some things. I was just glad to get home without falling. Then it felt good to put my foot up.
Tuesday was a funny day in school. One of the boys punch one of the girls and gave her a bloody nose. The owner’s son Immediately came to me and asked, “Would you like me to tell my mother?”
I though that was priceless! In the evening we surprised Ravil will a birthday dinner. Sonia had set it up that she was going to meet him, then a bunch of us came along without him suspecting it. It was a fun evening.  But again, I was glad to get home so I could put my foot up.
Wednesday I went along to table tennis, but I didn’t play. Claudia and Frank came along for the first time. Claudia played very well. You could tell she had played in a club when she was younger. She was much more of a challenge to the other guys than I am.
Thursday Mahmoud got in touch with me and said that my bike presentation would be that evening. Yikes, we really got our wires crossed on that one. I had understood that he would give me a new date. I didn’t know it had just been postponed for a week. Quick, see if Dmitry can postpone again. Yep, we’re on for Monday.
OK, so I google map where I’m supposed to go, get to the place, and, of course can’t find the right entrance. It’s one of those deals where you have to walk around the entire building because it’s an entire city block, but the whole building is only one address. Confusing, but I happened to meet Mahmoud on the street and we went in together. It turned out to be a group of six business people who are trying to improve their English so they ask guests to come and discuss various topics. Interestingly enough, one of the women knew about me because her son used to attend our school and will be coming back in the fall. I gave my bike talk and everyone was very receptive to the idea. We discussed different things for about an hour and a half, then I headed home to clean up a little because I was having the guys over for pizza on Friday.
Friday came and we had a great time sitting around the kitchen table just talking, drinking tea and acting pizza. Ravil learned the expression “loose tea”! Tea is a really popular drink here. People drink  cappuccino and lattes, but I’m thinking the first hot drink of choice is tea. And there is a LARGE variety to choose from.
I was glad that the school week was over. I wore the foot brace to school every day and only took it off when I was off my feet for awhile.
Saturday I met Ravil on the other side of town at 10 a.m. I had asked him to go to DHL with me to see what it would cost to send some of my things back. HOLY CRAP! For 100 kilos that wanted more that $3500! I mean, I know it’s in my contract that the school will pay for it, but that is just ridiculous. So Ravil suggested I just send it through the postal service. He had helped Thomas do that when Thomas left. It cost about one tenth as much! So I’m going to start packing Tuesday and get a lot of stuff out of the way. Yes, I’m really coming back. I need a break from 8-hour work days with VERY active children.
After that harrowing experience with DHL,  we stopped in at MacDonald’s for a coffee. With us that always turns into an hour-long conversation. Ravil is probably one of the most intelligent, thoughtful people I have ever met.
I took the metro home and did all the dishes from the pizza party. Then I Skyped with Germany before I met Paul outside to head for Fouad’s birthday party. It had gotten so cold and icy, we decided to take a taxi because I didn’t want to risk a fall again. We managed to hold out until about 10, then we came on back home. Neither of us is a big party-goer.
Now, I’m just going to have another cup of coffee of coffee before I meet Anna At the Kremlin. We want to see an exhibit about Kasachstan at on of the museums there. After that I will stay right in town because the bosses have invited me to dinner. It was supposed to be last night, but they   postponed. It’s going to be the annual meeting where they try to convince me to stay another year. This time it won’t work.

Party time

An old mosque on the edge of town

The end of the saga

We made it! We got up early and Claudia went out to start the car. It actually worked so we sat down and had breakfast and were on the road at about 8:30. I was still limping so it took me some time to get down the 4 flights of stairs to the parking lot, but once I was settle, we drove right through, only stopping shortly before Kazan to get gas. As soon as we hit town we drove to the address we had gotten for the store that sold foot braces. And it had them. I got just the sort of ankle supporter I was looking for and I will make sure I wear it as long as I am on my feet.
The streets here are a mess. This great amount of snow is melting so quickly! We drove through flooded streets and when I got out of the car I stepped in more than one puddle.
When I got in the house, I outlined my lesson plans , did two loads of wash, cooked spaghetti sauce and just basically got stuff done. Tomorrow it’s back to work. Boy, it’s the middle of March. Where is the time going? I will be home before I know it.

Pictures from Almetyevsk

The saga continues

Ramil towed the car until it jumped on. He seems to think it’s a problem with the oil filter. As long as the car is running and warm, there’s no problem. But Claudia will try to start the carcearly tomorrow so that we can call for help if we need it. Now we’ve got two bus drivers staying I. The hotel, so someone will be able to give us a hand.
In any case, the hotel lady recommended a nice restaurant for supper and since it wasn’t too far and since a thick layer of snow had covered the ice, I said we could walk. I also still wanted to stop at a pharmacy and get a foot bandage. We had a great supper with a lot of sea food and veggies. It’s almost like tapas. The portions are very small so we ordered several and shared. Then we decided to find a pharmacy. At the first one we found, the lady to.d us that only one place in town sold the foot brace thingies that I was looking for. She gave us the address and I decided I could walk that far. Of course we found the address but no pharmacy. We asked in two or three others but they all said nope, only this once place has it. But it had disappeared off the face of the earth.
We gave up and called a taxi to get back to the hotel. No way was I going to walk back. We asked the taxi driver and she said the place had moved. Oh crap. Nobody else In Town seemed to know that. But it seems to be a canon like Walgreen’s so there are also several in Kazan. And we will try to find one when we get back tomorrow. IF we get back tomorrow. We plan on leaving early. I’m Not holding my breath.

Almetyevsk

So, here comes the good part. I had been to Almetyevsk a month ago with the bosses and was so impressed by the bike infrastructure here and Claudia had always wanted to see the city, so we had chosen this weekend to come back for a visit. It was a great ride down because the sun was shining and the landscape was beautiful. I had booked a room at the Sultanmurat hotel with free breakfast and free WiFi for .........wait for it.........$21.50 a night per person, mostly because I liked the name. It turned out to be one of those places on the fourth floor of and apartment building where the entire floor is converted to a hotel.  It was a great room, lots of space and clean. We checked in with the nice young man at the counter and asked for directions to the museums I had checked out online. Turns out one was closed permanently and the other one was just down the street. Ok, it’s only about 3:30 in the afternoon so off we go. We get to the museum and the sign on the door says it’s closed for the Women’s Day holiday weekend. Great. So we head down to the mall because we figured we would go to the movies. Keep in mind the the ground is covered with inches-thick ice because of what has collected all winter, plus the fact that it had rained and frozen on Thursday.
We get to the mall and it is absolutely PACKED with people. It’s a very attractive mall with a food court and all the stores you can imagine. We were even able to find birthday presents and souvenirs for people we know.
 We first went to the food court because Claudia hadn’t eaten all day. She got Sushi and I had a pizza. Both were actually very good. And, since all the table were continuously occupied, there was a security guy walking around, kicking out anybody who didn’t appear to be consuming food.
Then we headed down to the other end of the mall, bought our tickets for Captain Marvel (Don’t ask!) and looked around the mall some more until the movie started.
The movie ends and we start to walk back to the hotel. And wouldn’t you know it, I step on a patch of ice and slip. I didn’t even fall hard, but I twisted my ankle. I couldn’t even get up for 5 minutes. That took care of walking home, so Claudia called a taxi. When we got in the room, She went outside and got me a bag of ice. That certainly kept the swelling down but the ankle was still sore. We texted a little bit, then got to bed around 11. I have to say, I really slept well in spite of the ankle.
This morning we wanted to drive over and see the ski resort before we headed home.  We got to breakfast at shortly before 9. The mother of the young man who was the receptionist made us, porridge, French toast, three eggs each, plus yoghurt, coffee and homemade relish.  Then the young man came in and we started talking. And talking. And talking. We didn’t get finished until 2 o’clock. He had all sorts of questions about America and Germany, from “Do you throw garbage on the streets,” to “May the police entire your house without your permission.” It was such an interesting conversation and since just about everything was closed anyway, we didn’t mind sitting there and talking with him. I think we learned a lot about Russia too.
But now we figured we had really better start getting ready because we had a 3.5 hour drive, it was snowing, and Claudia wanted to take a short nap before we started out. She wakes up, we load up, say goodbye to the nice people and get In The car. And......wait for it...... the car doesn’t start. By this time it’s sleeting and getting dark. Claudia calls the nice young receptionist, whose name is Ramil, and he says he will be over to try and tow the car.  We look at each other and decide we aren’t driving home tonight, in any case! So we check back into our room.
I’m sitting here nursing my sore ankle and Claudia is downstairs with Ramil trying to get the car going. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.

What an end to the week!

Wednesday we had our class presentation in our room (as opposed to the multi-purpose room). It went very, very well. The kids sang songs and then performed their little skit. Then all the parents did a craft project with the kids that I had prepared. They had the best time. And, of course, the mom of one kid didn’t show up, but all the other parents really included her in everything. Then we had tea and ate the cookies we had baked on Tuesday. Also, the kitchen baked some cakes for us. Some parents stayed two hours andplayed with the kids. I was a great afternoon. These parents are not used to this kind of celebration. They’ve always had the presentation where the kids have to perform on the stage like some trained animal act. This was so much more relaxed and enjoyable.
Since  Narzullo’s son is in my class and the party  lasted so long, he picked Paul and me up a little later for table tennis. Ravil met us there, but Andy and Marat couldn’t make it, so it was just the four of us. Man, I still can’t beat any of them, but I’m getting better and better every week. And with Narzullo as my partner, we even won a doubles set against Paul  and Ravil. I really work up a sweat when I’m playing against these guys.
Oh, and I didn’t go back to the clinic to get my blood drawn because I needed the kids’ nap time to prepare for the party.
So, Thursday was the celebration for the rites of spring. Of course, one of the kids hit another one so I told him he couldn’t go to that celebration. After two minutes of crying he knew I wasn’t kidding, so he just quit protesting. While the others went outside to the celebration, he and I went for a walk. This is a 4-year-old who is so bright, he can look at three-digit numbers on license plates and tell me which is the biggest and which is the smallest. Amazing. He just can’t keep his hands to himself.
After lunch the kids went down for their nap and Linar and I headed to the clinic for the blood draw. No problem. Took one hour back and forth. I can get the results on Monday.
The rest of the day dragged and I was really pooped. But I was psyched because I was supposed to give my bike ed presentation to a group of Tatar businessmen who are learning English that night. I was just headed out the door when Mahmoud called and said it was postponed because everyone was celebrating International Women’s Day.(The school and the parents shower us with presents. In the States I had never even heard of the day!)
OK, that was cool. So I headed out to the couch surfing meeting. I met Sonia, Ravil, Albert and Dmitry there But was really so tired, I only stayed an hour because Friday Claudia and I wanted to take off for the city of Almetyevsk, about 3.5 hours away. So I vasically got home and flopped not bed.

It’s gonna be a short week!

Friday is International Woman’s Day so we have the day off. Hip hip hooray! Tomorrow is our little “performance” for the the moms to celebrate. We’re going to sing and do a little play in the room. Then we’ll eat the cookies that we baked today.
Yesterday I met Dmitry downtown for a cup of coffee. He’s a new friend from couch surfing and is also a cyclist. He had lots of great tips on the best and cheapest sports shops in town. Today I went to the clinic to get blood drawn to check my thyroid meds, but they sent me home because I forgot I couldn’t eat anything. Rats. I’ll try again tomorrow.
Today after work I walked over to the post office and the bank. After I left the post office, I went into MacDonald’s to use the bathroom and ran into Matthew and Valeria eating dinner. They were also headed for the bank so I sinned and had a hamburger and French fries. Please note that I had eaten a salad and fruit before I left the house!
They were going to stop in sort of a Walmart-type clothing store on the way so I went with them to check it out. I was looking for a pair of sweat pants that I could wear for table tennis. What I like didn’t fit and what fit I didn’t like. Oh, well.
Then we stopped at the bank and afterwards they went grocery shopping and I headed straight home.
The exciting news is that the local bike club asked if I could get my presentation translated into Russian because they want to show it around. Seems like we’re making some headway in trying to influence the powers that be to make some changes in infrastructure.
So now it’s time to quit writing and go to bed.

The non-moving trolley, ice berg lettuce and no bacon

Ok, this was weird. Yesterday I wanted to go shopping at the store where I know I can find the good stuff like bacon and spinach. Sonia was headed for a concert and was going to come over afterwards for a late dinner so I figured I had plenty of time to go shopping for everything I needed. I walk to the trolley stop near the metro station and wait with a about a hundred other people. The trolley didn’t come. People were standing on the tracks looking down the route to see if it was coming. Meanwhile people were checking their phones and starting to walk away. After 20 minutes I though, screw this, and walked around the corner to a little local store I like. I just got the stuff I needed for dinner and figured I could go shopping for the other stuff today. I went home and cooked stuffed peppers and stuffed tomatoes. Sonia got there about 10:30 and we ate and yakked until 1:30.
In spite of getting to bed late, I still woke up at 7:30. I started looking online for what was playing at my favorite theater. It turns out that Green Book is playing at 5:30 and Favorite is playing at 8:30. Aha, I figure I’m going to do a double feature. I text Anna right away and she is in.  So tonight will be a long movie night.
I finally got moving and went out to the water dispenser to fill up my drinking water bottle. Then I decided to head for my good store again. I’m just walking through the underground passage at the subway to get to the trolley stop and I see Jennifer coming toward me. We talked for a few minutes and then she decided to come with me. We walk up the stairs to the trolley stop and on the tracks going in the opposite direction that we want, a trolley is sitting there and not moving. And, again people are coming on our side of the tracks, checking their phones and then leaving. I look down the track and the trolley is siting about a quarter of a mile away and not moving. And not moving. And not moving. So we decided not to waste anymore time there and started walking back home.
First I showed her the indoor public market. And to my great surprise, I found ice berg lettuce. I was delirious with joy because my purpose of the shopping trip had been to find bacon for BLTs, which I had been going to eat without the L. Now I had the L but no B. Jenn had not known the market was there and she really liked it. After we left there , we went across the street to the little mall that has a store with really cheap kitchen utensils because she was looking for a certain type of mop. We also found a yarn shop where she got some neat yarn for crafts for her kids.
We didn’t find her mop so we went down to the grocery store on the lower level. No bacon, but Jennifer got some of the delicious grapefruit. We headed for home after that and stopped at one more grocery store along the way. Still none of the good bacon I like. Much of the stuff called bacon her3 is inedible to me. It has to be labeled Spanish bacon. In any case, we walked back home and I ate two LTs. I still have a little while before I have to leave for the movies, so I might as well take a nap.