Zhila-byla devushka....

Privyet everyone! Somehow another week has managed to pass by. On Monday, I felt like I wouldn't live to see another weekend, but here it is already!

It's been a really good week, overall. I've figured out my routine here, which is just what I need to feel comfortable. I have class from 8 till lunch, and after lunch I head to the library for three hours, where I get most or all of my homework done. Then I work out, take a shower, and chill for an hour or so before dinner. After dinner I finish up homework, read, watch movies, hang out with friends. I like it.

Sunday yoga starts, and Monday the cooking club meets for the first time. I'm also interested in the clubs of "Televidenie," or Russian news programs and the Russian songs club (although I'm not sure if we'll be singing or listening).

Wednesday we watched a Russian cult classic called The White Sun of the Desert. It was shot in 1969, when all films made in the Soviet Union had to be about Revolution (I know, boring, huh?). So of course, filmmakers did their best to make the genre more interesting. White Sun is shot like a western, but it takes place in central Asia. It was... interesting, to say the least. It's hard to decide if I actually liked it or not.

I've continued to make friends with students in various levels of study here. I really enjoy conversing with the first-years, because it's simply fascinating to watch how quickly they're picking up language. However, sometimes I miss talking about topics unrelated to Middlebury-- even among the seventh-years, it's hard for us to fully express ourselves on more abstract topics, so they rarely come up. I'm hoping that the more practice we get, the more varied our conversations will be.

If anyone's following soccer, Russia lost to Spain yesterday. Rats. I'm still going to watch the Spain-Germany game on Sunday, even though it would have been better if it were Russia-Germany.

In class we're watching this fantastic movie called The Stroll, which I love because 1) it shows all my favorite places in St. Petersburg, and 2) it stars two of my favorite Russian actors, Pavel Barshak and Evgeny Tsyganov. I'm looking forward to watching another 25 minutes on Monday.

I'm headed out the door to the gym in a few minutes. Tonight we're having an evening of charades. Tomorrow I have no idea what I'm going to do during the day, but I think I'm headed to the disco again in the evening. Any questions so far? Let me know what you'd like to hear about, I'll be happy to oblige!