Spent the morning waiting for Irina to text me with the time and place we were meeting... it was supposed to be after 2... but I didn't really know when exactly... or where. Got a text saying she'd be late and had to figure out when that was exactly. After our slight miscommunication or two, we met up and headed back to Starbuck's to study for a bit. She had invited me to join her and Amy for a trip to the theater in the evening and it started about 19.00 and was supposed to last about 3-4 hours. We wrapped up around 16.45 or so and headed to a new bar for expats that was supposed to be doing a soft open today. Turns out there was a flood next door followed by an electrician not showing up, so the open was pushed to tomorrow. We took the train back a few stops and looked at an outdoor art gallery with photographs taken from around the world and had a really awesome time.
Amy showed up about 18.40 or so and we headed to the theater. It should probably go without saying that the play was in Russian ... and I understood pretty much nothing that was said. That being said, I enjoyed the performance tremendously. I want to say the name of the play was 'Cherry Blossom' and was about a group living in a house that had many beautiful trees surrounding it (among them a cherry blossom of course) for many years, not being able to afford it anymore, and selling it to a man who cut the trees down. From what I was able to discern, it had a rather subtle Russian humor to it. Russia's sense of humor pretty much encompasses anything that makes Russians smile for about .0000000001 of a second and then quickly masking all emotion again.
Subtle stuff like the grandfather who was pretty much senile and one of the men simply says, "Please die soon." in a muffled voice into a newspaper. The entire audience smiled just a little bit, and 1 girl laughed .. but only for about half a second before realizing she was in Russia and shutting up. Irina gave me a more accurate description of what all had transpired at the end.
She also presented me with a t-shirt she bought for me at the mall this morning with a really goofy picture of a rabbit and a caption I won't post here .. once I get to posting these videos on YouTube, those of you that speak Russian will see it and understand why =P Regardless, I love it! When we were at the theater, Irina's hair kept getting caught in the seat number tag on the back of the seat and I draped the shirt over the back of her chair to help. Then when the play was over we left and I forgot it. By the time we got to the end of the block, Irina realized we had had forgotten it and ordered Amy to pull over. She parked and together we ran back through traffic to the theater where we couldn't find it in the auditorium, but managed to recover it from the administrator's office, much to the relief of both of us.
Amy drove me to the right entrance to the underground and I met with Petr who got me my train ticket for the morning. Лёша and Petr and I sat down to a quick bite to eat near the metro at Konkova and as seems to be the case here, they said let's get something and I ordered ... and then they don't. Then I sit there awkwardly, eating by myself while they drink. They explained they had just eaten, and they understood I had spent the day with 2 girls, so they understood, and it was okay. I ordered a hamburger which looked fantastic and was ... not bad. Considering how fantastic it looked, I was a bit disappointed honestly.
The wall of the restaurant depicted pictures of a slaughter house, complete with a giant cow head staring dead at me with it's skin flayed off, and I was really interested that anyone would choose to put this anywhere near where people eat ... for that matter, who makes wallpaper of a slaughterhouse? What the hell? Anywaysssss.... they took the train with me to Prince Plaza since it's incredibly close but costs about $10 less to get to Troitsk by cab from there. Left them at the station to return to the train depot since their train leaves at 2am. They'll be gone until the 6th on a business trip to the Chuvash region where Лёша and Sasha are from. On the way home I organized to meet with Irina to meet in the morning before my departure to Saratov to help me run a quick errand and then to catch my train since ... well, since I've never done it.
I have to say that it's really strange to be the guy in a group where there are girls involved, and you almost have to act like an animal marking your territory because guys are relentless. For instance, when Amy and Irina dropped me off at the metro, Amy accidentally waved at a group of guys standing in front of the car, and the entire group just started staring at her while they pulled on their cigarettes... it was super creepy even for me, and I wasn't even the one being stared at. My acknowledging they existed, now they thought she was interested. She even said, "oops..." right after she did it. This isn't just my imagination. The girls turned their backs completely to the guys to talk to me, and I moved to the center of the truck and stared back at them until the saw me and turned away. When I got out of the truck I stood between the girls and them until they were gone to make sure they didn't approach. These guys seriously do act like animals, it's just ridiculous. I wonder if that isn't the real reason that guys are always groping their girlfriends in public ... marking their territory. It sounds ridiculous unless you see it someday, and then you'll understand.
I really should get to packing, but I'm far too exhausted. I'll just have to deal with it in the morning. I hope everyone has an awesome day! I'm not sure what the internet situation will be like on the train or in Saratov, but I will definitely be bringing my computer and at the very least will continue to write and will post my blogs upon my return! If I don't see you for the next few days, have a great week... and wish me luck crossing borders by myself in a country in which I don't fluently speak the language. Exciting!
Amy showed up about 18.40 or so and we headed to the theater. It should probably go without saying that the play was in Russian ... and I understood pretty much nothing that was said. That being said, I enjoyed the performance tremendously. I want to say the name of the play was 'Cherry Blossom' and was about a group living in a house that had many beautiful trees surrounding it (among them a cherry blossom of course) for many years, not being able to afford it anymore, and selling it to a man who cut the trees down. From what I was able to discern, it had a rather subtle Russian humor to it. Russia's sense of humor pretty much encompasses anything that makes Russians smile for about .0000000001 of a second and then quickly masking all emotion again.
Subtle stuff like the grandfather who was pretty much senile and one of the men simply says, "Please die soon." in a muffled voice into a newspaper. The entire audience smiled just a little bit, and 1 girl laughed .. but only for about half a second before realizing she was in Russia and shutting up. Irina gave me a more accurate description of what all had transpired at the end.
She also presented me with a t-shirt she bought for me at the mall this morning with a really goofy picture of a rabbit and a caption I won't post here .. once I get to posting these videos on YouTube, those of you that speak Russian will see it and understand why =P Regardless, I love it! When we were at the theater, Irina's hair kept getting caught in the seat number tag on the back of the seat and I draped the shirt over the back of her chair to help. Then when the play was over we left and I forgot it. By the time we got to the end of the block, Irina realized we had had forgotten it and ordered Amy to pull over. She parked and together we ran back through traffic to the theater where we couldn't find it in the auditorium, but managed to recover it from the administrator's office, much to the relief of both of us.
Amy drove me to the right entrance to the underground and I met with Petr who got me my train ticket for the morning. Лёша and Petr and I sat down to a quick bite to eat near the metro at Konkova and as seems to be the case here, they said let's get something and I ordered ... and then they don't. Then I sit there awkwardly, eating by myself while they drink. They explained they had just eaten, and they understood I had spent the day with 2 girls, so they understood, and it was okay. I ordered a hamburger which looked fantastic and was ... not bad. Considering how fantastic it looked, I was a bit disappointed honestly.
The wall of the restaurant depicted pictures of a slaughter house, complete with a giant cow head staring dead at me with it's skin flayed off, and I was really interested that anyone would choose to put this anywhere near where people eat ... for that matter, who makes wallpaper of a slaughterhouse? What the hell? Anywaysssss.... they took the train with me to Prince Plaza since it's incredibly close but costs about $10 less to get to Troitsk by cab from there. Left them at the station to return to the train depot since their train leaves at 2am. They'll be gone until the 6th on a business trip to the Chuvash region where Лёша and Sasha are from. On the way home I organized to meet with Irina to meet in the morning before my departure to Saratov to help me run a quick errand and then to catch my train since ... well, since I've never done it.
I have to say that it's really strange to be the guy in a group where there are girls involved, and you almost have to act like an animal marking your territory because guys are relentless. For instance, when Amy and Irina dropped me off at the metro, Amy accidentally waved at a group of guys standing in front of the car, and the entire group just started staring at her while they pulled on their cigarettes... it was super creepy even for me, and I wasn't even the one being stared at. My acknowledging they existed, now they thought she was interested. She even said, "oops..." right after she did it. This isn't just my imagination. The girls turned their backs completely to the guys to talk to me, and I moved to the center of the truck and stared back at them until the saw me and turned away. When I got out of the truck I stood between the girls and them until they were gone to make sure they didn't approach. These guys seriously do act like animals, it's just ridiculous. I wonder if that isn't the real reason that guys are always groping their girlfriends in public ... marking their territory. It sounds ridiculous unless you see it someday, and then you'll understand.
I really should get to packing, but I'm far too exhausted. I'll just have to deal with it in the morning. I hope everyone has an awesome day! I'm not sure what the internet situation will be like on the train or in Saratov, but I will definitely be bringing my computer and at the very least will continue to write and will post my blogs upon my return! If I don't see you for the next few days, have a great week... and wish me luck crossing borders by myself in a country in which I don't fluently speak the language. Exciting!
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