Saturday, March 1, 2008
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Two blogs for the price of one!
***This was written last weekend, I just haven't had a chance to get online long enough to post it***
Recently I've been terrified of HIV. Most of it is probably paranoia but it's gotten to the point where I picture myself coming back from somewhere, chilling in my bed with HIV. What the heck would you do in that kind of situation.
There was a story we heard that lead to this. This one girl went to the club and she was having a good time. Just dancing and whatnot. Then she feels a prick, no big deal or anything, people feel random pricks all the time. Later that night, she reaches in her pocket and finds a note. It read: "You are now one of us, you are HIV positive." That is the suck right there! Seriously!
1 in 6 Russians have the HIV.
I've been pressured into going to the club this upcoming weekend. I guess it's a foam party, where the dance floor is covered with foam. Prime HIV contracting scenario. Knock on wood, dear God, knock on wood.
The trip is starting to wind down. This is our last full week of classes. I have mixed feelings about us leaving. I'm ready to leave this place, but not the people. Some of which, I will never see again. It's just the nature of the beast I guess. You meet people, become attached, and then it's over. On one hand, you can try to not get too attached to make the good bye easier, or you can just get as close as you can and make the best out of the time left. I've chosen the ladder, a long time ago. I think everyone has, and I'm feeling a giant group hug at the end of the trip, all 80 of us losers.
In a little more than a week, everyone will be getting on a train to go back to Moscow. That train ride will be ridiculous, my God... Once we get back to Moscow, my group, 3, will be peacing out to groups 1 and 2 as they fly to Prague in Europe. My group will spend 3 wild and crazy days in Moscow and then we'll be back in the states July 3rd.
***This is the one I wrote today***
We didn't go to the foam party, in fear of the STDs and the HIV, so we went on a party boat, aka, a booze cruise. It was our last weekend in Volgograd so it had to end with a bang. Boy o boy, what a bang. I think I was the only sober one out of our whole group. It was pretty fun actually. I was kissed several times, got my nose bitten, peed in the worst smelling bathroom I've ever seen, and got puked on. What a night!
Finals week is coming up, I haven't really studied.
I'm ready to come home.
Should I not say goodbye to people and just leave, or say bye and risk sissy water coming from my eyes?
In either case, I'll be home in about a week yos.
*Congrats to Shayla and Steve!*
Recently I've been terrified of HIV. Most of it is probably paranoia but it's gotten to the point where I picture myself coming back from somewhere, chilling in my bed with HIV. What the heck would you do in that kind of situation.
There was a story we heard that lead to this. This one girl went to the club and she was having a good time. Just dancing and whatnot. Then she feels a prick, no big deal or anything, people feel random pricks all the time. Later that night, she reaches in her pocket and finds a note. It read: "You are now one of us, you are HIV positive." That is the suck right there! Seriously!
1 in 6 Russians have the HIV.
I've been pressured into going to the club this upcoming weekend. I guess it's a foam party, where the dance floor is covered with foam. Prime HIV contracting scenario. Knock on wood, dear God, knock on wood.
The trip is starting to wind down. This is our last full week of classes. I have mixed feelings about us leaving. I'm ready to leave this place, but not the people. Some of which, I will never see again. It's just the nature of the beast I guess. You meet people, become attached, and then it's over. On one hand, you can try to not get too attached to make the good bye easier, or you can just get as close as you can and make the best out of the time left. I've chosen the ladder, a long time ago. I think everyone has, and I'm feeling a giant group hug at the end of the trip, all 80 of us losers.
In a little more than a week, everyone will be getting on a train to go back to Moscow. That train ride will be ridiculous, my God... Once we get back to Moscow, my group, 3, will be peacing out to groups 1 and 2 as they fly to Prague in Europe. My group will spend 3 wild and crazy days in Moscow and then we'll be back in the states July 3rd.
***This is the one I wrote today***
We didn't go to the foam party, in fear of the STDs and the HIV, so we went on a party boat, aka, a booze cruise. It was our last weekend in Volgograd so it had to end with a bang. Boy o boy, what a bang. I think I was the only sober one out of our whole group. It was pretty fun actually. I was kissed several times, got my nose bitten, peed in the worst smelling bathroom I've ever seen, and got puked on. What a night!
Finals week is coming up, I haven't really studied.
I'm ready to come home.
Should I not say goodbye to people and just leave, or say bye and risk sissy water coming from my eyes?
In either case, I'll be home in about a week yos.
*Congrats to Shayla and Steve!*
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
"So then I HAD to hit her"
Lately we've been talking about things to say on an elevator. Here are some examples:
So then I HAD to hit her.
So I tested positive.
You want me to do WHAT in a frog suit?
And that's why you always leave a note.
About five minutes in, I realized it was a sofa.
That's the last time he pooped anything solid until he died.
Had a guys slumber party last night. Use your imagination.
We went to the circus yesterday. I was having the time of my life until the animals came out. They all looked miserable. I hated it so much. I can't imagine there being animal rights laws here after seeing those elephants. It was sick. I wanted to just leave but there were ladies at each of the gates telling us to sit back down in our seats.
We complain about America a lot. But it sometimes it takes living in another country to really appreciate it. Common courtesy and kindness are non-existant here. People walking along the side walk refuse to move for someone else walking in the other direction. I heard about a dude and a lady walking towards each other, colliding, and then arguing about how the other didn't get out of the way. It was the most pathetic thing I've ever seen. It's weird to smile, to hold open a door, or to pick something up for someone.
The Independance Day celebration was kind of lame. We went to the embankment and hung out, expecting fireworks at 10. 10 came by, no fireworks. Didn't surprise me actually.
The pizza here is really good. The dancing is really bad though.
2 weeks and counting!
So then I HAD to hit her.
So I tested positive.
You want me to do WHAT in a frog suit?
And that's why you always leave a note.
About five minutes in, I realized it was a sofa.
That's the last time he pooped anything solid until he died.
Had a guys slumber party last night. Use your imagination.
We went to the circus yesterday. I was having the time of my life until the animals came out. They all looked miserable. I hated it so much. I can't imagine there being animal rights laws here after seeing those elephants. It was sick. I wanted to just leave but there were ladies at each of the gates telling us to sit back down in our seats.
We complain about America a lot. But it sometimes it takes living in another country to really appreciate it. Common courtesy and kindness are non-existant here. People walking along the side walk refuse to move for someone else walking in the other direction. I heard about a dude and a lady walking towards each other, colliding, and then arguing about how the other didn't get out of the way. It was the most pathetic thing I've ever seen. It's weird to smile, to hold open a door, or to pick something up for someone.
The Independance Day celebration was kind of lame. We went to the embankment and hung out, expecting fireworks at 10. 10 came by, no fireworks. Didn't surprise me actually.
The pizza here is really good. The dancing is really bad though.
2 weeks and counting!
Monday, June 4, 2007
The Projects
I'm writing this in the 3rd floor lobby of the hotel because the housekeepers are cleaning my room right now. I feel bad for them, it smells like fish in there for some reason.
This past weekend, we went to a war museum, located on the battle sight of the last battle for Stalingrad, now named Volgograd. It was so sweet. Right next to the museum is a building left untouched from the war. It was messed up pretty bad.
They had all these weapons and a huge panaramic painting of the battle from start to finish. There was a story about this one guy who was about to throw a makeshift granade made out of a bottle full of mortar stuff, but then someone shot him and the bottle broke, spilling the stuff all over him and he caught on fire. But then he grabbed another one and ran up to a tank and jumped on it, blowing the tank and himself up. Sounds like something I would do.
Volgograd is very strange. They're rebuilding the city and it's come a long way but just seems fishy. There's always construction, but it seems like they never finish anything. They start another project midway through and then quit, and start another. A prime example is this bridge across the Volgo river. It's been under construction for about 12 years now, and only half of it is done. There seems to be no attempt to finish it either. My theory is that they just want to make it look like they're trying to rebuild so everyone feels good about it, but they really don't have the resources or labor to complete stuff.
The term "they" is used very loosely. Usually it could mean the government or someone in charge, but here, that would be the mob. The police are corrupt, as evident from some of our groups' experiences. Every now and then, we would see brand new cars with tinted windows, they stand out because every other car resembles "The Bone". They would park right next to each other, two men get out from either car, and go into the other car and would chill for a few minutes then leave. I don't know what they're talking about, but I'm sure its not sports. Awhile ago, the mob used to be the most stable thing in Russia. People never gave money to banks because they would crash, and I'm not real sure how far they've gone from that.
There's a busted water pipe in the street thats been shooting out water for the past 3 days, with no indications of being fixed any time soon. It kind of reminds me of the projects.
The city would be pretty unattractive if it weren't for the women.
This past weekend, we went to a war museum, located on the battle sight of the last battle for Stalingrad, now named Volgograd. It was so sweet. Right next to the museum is a building left untouched from the war. It was messed up pretty bad.
They had all these weapons and a huge panaramic painting of the battle from start to finish. There was a story about this one guy who was about to throw a makeshift granade made out of a bottle full of mortar stuff, but then someone shot him and the bottle broke, spilling the stuff all over him and he caught on fire. But then he grabbed another one and ran up to a tank and jumped on it, blowing the tank and himself up. Sounds like something I would do.
Volgograd is very strange. They're rebuilding the city and it's come a long way but just seems fishy. There's always construction, but it seems like they never finish anything. They start another project midway through and then quit, and start another. A prime example is this bridge across the Volgo river. It's been under construction for about 12 years now, and only half of it is done. There seems to be no attempt to finish it either. My theory is that they just want to make it look like they're trying to rebuild so everyone feels good about it, but they really don't have the resources or labor to complete stuff.
The term "they" is used very loosely. Usually it could mean the government or someone in charge, but here, that would be the mob. The police are corrupt, as evident from some of our groups' experiences. Every now and then, we would see brand new cars with tinted windows, they stand out because every other car resembles "The Bone". They would park right next to each other, two men get out from either car, and go into the other car and would chill for a few minutes then leave. I don't know what they're talking about, but I'm sure its not sports. Awhile ago, the mob used to be the most stable thing in Russia. People never gave money to banks because they would crash, and I'm not real sure how far they've gone from that.
There's a busted water pipe in the street thats been shooting out water for the past 3 days, with no indications of being fixed any time soon. It kind of reminds me of the projects.
The city would be pretty unattractive if it weren't for the women.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Too much fun
The first full week of classes is starting to wind down. I've gotten 100% on both of my quizes so far so all is well. The past two nights have been pretty laid back, me just living. I did laundry by hand for the first time the other night. My roommate and I engineered a sweet setup for a clothes line for maximum dryness. It worked sweet.
Being in a hotel full of engineers is a lot of fun. The other night, I was in the third floor lobby just hanging out, doing some hw (not really), with a friend of mine from class. People kept walking by and talking to us and by the end of the night, there were atleast 15 of us in the lobby. Everyone was drinking except for my friend and I and it what we saw was hilarious. Only engineers would sit around getting excited about math problems while they were drunk. One of the guys is in calc 1, we call it baby calc, and had some questions. Right away, everyone started doing the problem, and this kept going for atleast 2 hours. Thats the technological future of America for ya. Honestly though, if these are the future inventers of the world, I think we will be in good hands. The people here are so nice and so much fun. I can't get over how many good, new friends I've made in such a short amount of time.
Of course I miss everyone back home though, even Missy. I haven't had a chance to buy postcards yet, keep meaning to but never have the time, so sorry if it takes a while. I buy phone cards every weekend and make calls late at night, so in the afternoon time back home. The number comes up as "restricted" so answer it. Keep the emails coming, I love reading them and hearing about how everyone is doing. What the heck is up with the Pistons?
This morning I heard tires screeching and then a crash. Somehow, the ambulance was right there. Which reminds me, a few posts back, I mentioned an accident. Well, that one, there was a ambulance right there seconds after it happened too. We have a theory for all this but I might be in danger if I share it here.
It was 80 degrees today and I put on a jacket, I'm screwed when I get home. Look up the weaher in Volgograd and you'll see that its 110+ degrees consistantly.
I have girls pants and underwear hanging up in my room to dry. It's kind of funny.
Being in a hotel full of engineers is a lot of fun. The other night, I was in the third floor lobby just hanging out, doing some hw (not really), with a friend of mine from class. People kept walking by and talking to us and by the end of the night, there were atleast 15 of us in the lobby. Everyone was drinking except for my friend and I and it what we saw was hilarious. Only engineers would sit around getting excited about math problems while they were drunk. One of the guys is in calc 1, we call it baby calc, and had some questions. Right away, everyone started doing the problem, and this kept going for atleast 2 hours. Thats the technological future of America for ya. Honestly though, if these are the future inventers of the world, I think we will be in good hands. The people here are so nice and so much fun. I can't get over how many good, new friends I've made in such a short amount of time.
Of course I miss everyone back home though, even Missy. I haven't had a chance to buy postcards yet, keep meaning to but never have the time, so sorry if it takes a while. I buy phone cards every weekend and make calls late at night, so in the afternoon time back home. The number comes up as "restricted" so answer it. Keep the emails coming, I love reading them and hearing about how everyone is doing. What the heck is up with the Pistons?
This morning I heard tires screeching and then a crash. Somehow, the ambulance was right there. Which reminds me, a few posts back, I mentioned an accident. Well, that one, there was a ambulance right there seconds after it happened too. We have a theory for all this but I might be in danger if I share it here.
It was 80 degrees today and I put on a jacket, I'm screwed when I get home. Look up the weaher in Volgograd and you'll see that its 110+ degrees consistantly.
I have girls pants and underwear hanging up in my room to dry. It's kind of funny.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Settling Down
Every weekday, I have a class from 10:30 to 12:20, eat lunch, then another class at 1:30 to 2:40. It's pretty boring to sit through such long class periods but I gotta admit, I'm learning a lot. There are 8 people in each of my classes and its amazing how much I learn when I pay attention and do homework. I withdraw my previous notions of homework being over-rated. This will be the first full week of class and things are finally starting to settle down (but still don't make sense). Between the two classes, the majority of my time is spent doing homework. The free time I have is spent watching episodes of The Office or talking to the friends.
I bought 25 packs of Ramen Noodles yesterday at the market for 50 rubles, 2 US dollars. Its about the same as it would be back home but this is dorm life all over again.
Yesterday, a black cat crossed in front of me and now I have bad luck. I missed the bus to go to the concert, and had to walk, my yogurt packet broke in my backpack and spilled all over my iPod, and I've just been embarrassing myself in the worst ways possible and a friend of mine got rushed to the hospital last night with kidney stones. On a good note, I discovered Choco-Pies at the market.
Calling home makes me homesick.
I bought 25 packs of Ramen Noodles yesterday at the market for 50 rubles, 2 US dollars. Its about the same as it would be back home but this is dorm life all over again.
Yesterday, a black cat crossed in front of me and now I have bad luck. I missed the bus to go to the concert, and had to walk, my yogurt packet broke in my backpack and spilled all over my iPod, and I've just been embarrassing myself in the worst ways possible and a friend of mine got rushed to the hospital last night with kidney stones. On a good note, I discovered Choco-Pies at the market.
Calling home makes me homesick.
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