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I’ve been back in Moscow for a little over a week now. As if returning to the work/study mindset wasn’t difficult enough, Moscow’s cold, wet weather (it snowed on Thursday, folks. . .) only leaves me daydreaming of Sochi. It’s not too bad though; this is our last week of classes. I buckled down and finished up my research paper over the weekend, so it should be smooth sailing from here.

On Saturday morning Viktor, Tatyana, and I, along with a menagerie of her plants, piled into Tatyana’s brother Sasha’s Lada and headed out to the dacha for the weekend. Though I’ve had the fortune of meeting a few other members of the extended family, I hadn’t met Sasha until this weekend. Interestingly enough, he shares the same odd gnomish limp most of the rest of the relatives walk with. He wasn’t supposed to have any alcohol due to some illness (seems like Russians would usually prescribe alcohol for that type of thing. . .), so it was just Viktor and I who enjoyed some Ted over the Shashlik. Meanwhile, Sasha asked me about American window frames, automobiles, ice cream, and the war in Iraq.

Wes and the FSU bunch arrived in Moscow while I was in Sochi, but I’ve only managed to meet up with them once so far. I’m thinking of going out to Suzdal’ for a few days when their group takes an excursion out there. The Moscow expat magazine Passport mentioned in its last issue an old renovated monastery that has been turned into a hotel with rooms that start at $15/night. It’s worth looking into at least.