Granted, it doesn’t rain that often in Kazan, but this one really blows my mind. We had a thunderstorm on Thursday and rain throughout the day. And Sonia’s Russian lesson got cancelled because of the rain! This is a city that has snow 5 months out of the year, but they can’t handle a little rain. That is really shocking to me!
But let’s start with last Sunday. Anna and I went out for breakfast and then ended up spending three hours at an art gallery. There was a whole hall just full of pictures painted by Shishkin. He happened to be born in that little town of Yelebuga that I visited lasted Friday and we visited his home there. It was a really pleasant afternoon.
On Monday several parents and kids from the class went to the professional soccer game together. The dad of one of my kids plays on the team and got us tickets in the really exclusive section. We got served snacks and tea! This was really classy. I was disappointed that some parents ordered tickets but then never showed up. The kid’s mom went out of her way to get them for us and then they just don’t bother to show. Pretty rude, as far as I’m concerned.
Tuesday was German night! Claudia had some guests from Germany so she invited a couple of us German speakers from Kazan over. We had a nice dinner, we sang some songs with guitar accompaniment and got into some great discussions. I got on the wrong bus going home and had to jump off a couple of stops later and catch one going in the other direction. I was afraid I wasn’t going to get to the metro in time before it stopped running. But I made it.
Wednesday was table tennis with Ravil and Paul. Paul taught me a new serve and I’m getting better and better. I really have to find a table tennis club to practice at when I get back.
Thursday was the rainy day so Sonia’s Russian lesson was cancelled. So instead, I went with her downtown to complete the paperwork she needs done to get her Mongolian visa. She and her friend are taking the Transsiberian Railroad this summer. This sounds as if it’s going to be a real adventure.
It was raining lightly when we went downtown. We got things down at the visa bureau and left. Then she realized she hadn’t asked them to make a copy of her passport. The passport had to be sent with the paperwork to Moscow. But you don’t dare walk around in Russia as a foreigner without your
passport. So we turned around and went back to get the passport copied. This time, when we left the bureau it was really pouring. Sonia had to go on to a meeting with friends and I wanted to get back home. So I caught a quick bus to the metro station. But then I decided to run up to the English book store and pick something up because I had just finished my last unpacked book. I didn’t find anything that interested me, so I walked downstairs to the metro and headed home. And I was nice and wet. Sonia said that she was drenched when she got home.
Tonight is cleaning night, tomorrow I meet with a lady who’s going to deliver a book that I ordered to me. It’s written by the guy here in Kazan who rode his bike around the world. I know it’s in Russian so it should motivate me to keep learning so that I can eventually get through it.
Sunday the group is going to get together for breakfast and then will see what the day brings.
On the school side of things, it was the last day today for the little boy whose dad plays soccer. Then next week I’m going to talk about the US and break it too the kids that I won’t be their teacher after this year. There are also some birthday parties coming up and we will be throwing a going away party for all the kids who are leaving. So this next month will go by quickly.
It’s time to go.
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