Nov 13: Our New Normal

11/13/07: This day marked the beginning of what would become our weekday routine.

Luda had arranged for a driver to pick us up each morning at 9:50. We were told he'd be driving a dark Kia. Dark seemed a little vague, until it hit me that the Russian words many people use for dark and black were the same. So we found our driver in his black Kia, and he drove us to the internat.

Every morning when we'd arrive at 10 AM, I'd walk to the office of the director, and her assistant (the only person who spoke any English) would go & get Stasik for us. She'd bring him to the art room, and we'd start our visits with a snack. Then he'd be curious to see what toys we'd brought that day. Every day included the UT football, because it was obvious it was his favorite. We'd also rotate between things like crayons and coloring book, magna doodle, legos, hot wheels, trucks, and a ninja turtle. Our visits lasted from 10 - 12.

After our visit, our driver would take us back to the apartment. We'd hang out and eat lunch, and watch some TV. We had no channels in English, but we could usually find soccer or basketball. I would often go ahead and write emails and blog posts, and save them and some pictures onto our flash drive. Then we'd walk down to the internet cafe for an hour. We'd send emails and update the blog, and sometimes we'd talk to family and friends on Skype. After that we'd stroll leisurely to the grocery store and pick up a couple of things.

Then we'd walk back to the apartment and get settled in for the night (remember, it got dark around 4:00!). Occasionally we would go back out once more, usually to Supermarket Moskva in the first floor of the building next door. But often we'd stay in for the evening as we didn't really like to venture out in the dark.

We'd nap and read for a while. Then we'd watch an episode of 24. After that we'd make dinner and watch another episode. We'd also watch an episode or two of The Office. We'd often watch a movie before bed.

Then it was off to try and get some sleep before another day of the same. Sometimes it was hard to fall asleep because the people in the apartment above us were very loud. They would play the piano at times. Or it would sound like they were dancing, or moving furniture, or as Zack once said, bowling! After a few nights of that, we began listening to the I-Pod as we went to sleep, to try and drown out the noise.