16.11.08

feeling dirty and unwashed, we went to Mcdonalds at about ten! serhan left us getting on the bus to Hannes' dorms, where we went to his room for 'chi', and i suddenly got a little homesick, because it was clean and my friend has his bedsheets. he shares a dorm with another austrian, of which there has been this anti-climatic 'buzz' among the female volunteers. i then went with jehnya, whom i met last weekend at the party, to vineyard church. was pretty decent, sermon was very good; the pastor is one of those direct blunt americans that cracks dry jokes and doesnt accept excuses. met an american girl who was been here studying for a semester, and cant speak russian. i was also introduced to Almira, a very very fluent english speaking middle aged russian woman, who just provoked this huge outburst of warmth and relief in me. at this point, i was feeling oddly 'unedged'. she was genuine and forthright, speaking her thoughts which i love. she told me i was beautiful, and then asked for my phone number; she is going to contact me about events they organise for my age group; including a housegroup for international students. she is just one of those people i know i will be able to be honest with, because she is honest herself, she directly asked me about any problems i might have, and i kind of gulped and said if i do, they will probably come out soon. i barely know this woman but i thank the lord for her, i thank God for people that have innative enough to be forceful, and expect openness. i thank God for blunt people. and i really hope i can fit in with this church, and make christian friends. Jehnya is so good, he is so friendly, and introduced me to as many people as he could, and he is 'always happy', everyone loves him. after church i met up with Kasia, Sara, Marie-Ann, and Hannes at the tram station.
Leaving Hannes at the super market, we went to the International Day of Tolerance event hosted and organised by the Polish Association, of which Kasia is a recent member. What an interesting meeting. Firstly there was the russian chairman, a grandfatherly 50 year old with a camera, that kept taking photos of everything, and me in particular- even asking me to write down my name because i was 'his taste in a woman, although (his) wife is a blonde' which after the vodka shots got going, he reiterated three times. Then there was the vodka shots, glasses of wine and smartly dressed, suited up adults who had come to get drunk. Then there was this floppy haired spectacled professor, a brilliant man in his field apparently, but just quite crazy. When we first met him we wondered if he was drunk, he spoke very loudly cracked the strangest jokes, would ridiculously compromise your personal space, stood with the oddest off balance poise and flirted with his three students. Then there was the three students, very intelligent eighteen year old girls with text book fluent english- using vocabulary i barely possess, who got drunk and started singing 'my heart will go on', 'the lemon tree' and 'i'm blue' and dragged Marie-Ann to the front of the room for a rendition of some french song. Then there was the singing, the warbling, and the lets hold hands and dance around the room in a merry circle. and then there was the accordian that appeared from nowhere. it was very interesting, and very polish. After our 'dasvadanyas' and last photos, it took about half an hour for them to finally let us leave. i got the bus 71 with Sara, Kasia and Marie Ann- who all got off at Polshad Lenina, my stop was the next one, but i missed it, and very aware that i was now hurtling into some unknown region of the city i sat and watched Nizhny Novgorod go by, in exhaustion. Eventually got off to cross the road and get a bus back to Moskowski Woksal. and now i am home, exhausted, going to hand wash my clothes in the morning and then meet Sergei for a russian lesson, and hopefully, another discussion. p.s. the state of my teeth and skin is a joke. i never feel clean. the water here is so crap, it goes straight through me -_- i'm always thirsty.