Finally I've figured it out!

Well it's about time Blogger finally decided to work for me, almost a month since my last post

I also figured people would want to see what my apartment looks like. Well here it is, my living/bedroom has been rearranged, I moved the bed to where the futon/entertainment center are, and put the futon and entertainment center on the other side of the room. The first picture of course is my bathroom, when you picture an old soviet apartment, I'd imagine you'd expect that bathroom. Then goes the kitchen, with a stove that is 60 years old, and an oven that won't light. Then the living/bedroom, I live in a relatively typical soviet flat. The first two weeks in it were hard, but I've finally come to accept it as my "home"

School is going great, I teach from 2:45-8:45 on Mondays then 4-9 every other day. It's a pretty awesome schedule. I'm loving all my classes so far, ESL isn't Social Studies which is something to cope with. Other than that, I love it. I'll put up pictures of my classroom, the other teachers, and the office on Monday hopefully.

I just emailed my mom a letter applying to become a product tester for LL Bean, hopefully the take pity on me and say yes. It snowed yesterday morning, I mean it was only flurries and nothing stuck...but it's September! I have about a 40 minute commute to work everyday, that consists of a lot of walking. Wednesday and Thursday, it was so cold I NEEDED a scarf. I'm not used to weather like this in September especially when it's still in the 60's at home.  Apparently when it comes to winter, Russia doesn't disappoint

On Wednesday I had to go to a special foreigner clinic to get tested for HIV. As some of you might know, I got tested for HIV in July before I applied for my visa, well apparently 2 months later it is no good. So I needed a new HIV test. Well Justin one of the other Language Link teachers came with me. The best part about the clinic is there is a sheep pen right outside of it. Well we got there at about 11:20, and walked into a waiting room with 20 people from Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan,   and Uzbekistan. Well little known secret, these people are all over Russia, and in huge numbers. Comparable to "Illegal" Mexican immigrants in America. The major difference, is the racism. Sure there's alienation towards Mexican immigrants in the US, but I'd say that's mostly class discrimination, not race.  Anyway though, Justin and I walked into the clinic gave the receptionist my documentation, which she promptly put into a pile of other passports without looking at it. Justin and I went back to the waiting room to sit down. About ten minutes later the women both leave the reception area. Then 15 minutes after that, an old security guard comes out to say that the registration women are on lunch break and to come back at one. So Justin and I headed off to grab some lunch. When we got back at 1:10, the old security guard shot into the waiting room and bee-lined right for us. Yelling "Americanski!" Well I'm not sure what he said, because it was all in Russian, but the gist of it was that they had been calling my name for 10 minutes, and it was my turn. Well there were still several familiar faces in the waiting room when I had left for lunch, that obviously had got in line before me. As soon as the registration desk noticed my passport though, I got put on the top of the list.  So I was led in to to get my blood drawn, and Justin talked to the security guard named Sergei, whom Justin knows from all of the times he's had to go the clinic. (You need an HIV test whenever you get a new visa, and Justin has been here for 4 years) Moral of the story is Sergei loves Americans and hates the "Stani's". So after my blood was drawn by two nurses that were totally thrilled to be taking the blood of an American, I went into a room to get asked all sorts of questions. Well the questions are asked in Russian, so Justin came in with me to translate. Our friendly doctor was having no part of this and told Justin that it was my problem that I don't speak Russian, then had Justin to leave. Well I was slightly worried about this interaction I would be having with the friendly doctor, but he stamped my paper had me sign it then shooed me out. Then Sergei spent 10 minutes explaining to me when to come get my test results, and how I should go about it. Oh and one more thing, Westerners only need an HIV test, those coming from the "Stans" need to get 4. I know racism is bad and all, and everyone is created equal, but I won't lie; it felt good to be put in front of everyone else just because I'm American. The guilt was there of course, but in Russia, that is just the way it goes.

Until I post again, which will be probably tomorrow. Thanks for reading.