Weekend Extravaganza

The has been quite a weekend so far! Friday night after class we went sledding on the steep hill that stands next to the Golden Gates down the block. (It's apparently an embankment that is one of the remains of the western city wall.) Then Saturday morning we got up and gathered at one of the city parks in an attempt to go cross-country skiing. Unfortunately that was the day of the Avtopribor(a car parts factory) company ski day. so we couldn't rent skis.

We left Joanna (who has her own skis) and ventured to the new mall that just opened in the center of town. It is new, clean, and best of all hosts a cafe called "Coffee Bean." This is nothing less than a little slice of paradise. Usual Russian cafes, as I have mentioned before, are notoriously lacking from our perspective: they often won't serve items on the menu, getting a seat is often dependant more on weather the person at the door likes the look of you and less on weather or not they have a seat. This place, on the other hand is nothing short of miraculous. It's run by an American, has great big cups of whatever you want and a plethora of big tables, couches, and chairs. In short, it's an real coffee shop! We sat for over an hour, had coffee, and the people who worked there were super friendly and helpful! It was awesome!

We followed this up with an American Home chess tournament. I acquitted myself pretty well, even though I haven't played in a while. In fact, I have a feeling I'll end up spending some free time in the future playing some more. We also had, thanks to Nicole, a delicious dinner of Middle Eastern cuisine. It was amazing too!

Finally - Sunday: not just any Sunday, Super Bowl Sunday. Now as you might know, I'm a huge fan of the Colts. I haven't missed a Super Bowl since before I was old enough to know what the Super Bowl was. Of course, now that I can't watch it, the only team that matters to me miraculously reaches the Big One. My plan is to camp out here at the American home and follow the game through Internet play by play and commentary from the family. I can't be there with them, so this is the next best thing.

The other interesting event showed up on Amanda's door this morning: a puppy, somewhere around 2 months old. It doesn't belong to anyone in her building. It's healthy but attention starved. It's some sort of Rottweiler or something related. Its tail has been clipped, so it belonged to someone at some point. I have no clue what we can do with it, but hopefully we can find someone with the space and time for a dog like that.





Things are not getting any less busy here. We have a Mardi Gras party to throw together, a vacation to plan and take, midterms to give and grade, and then another vacation. Somewhere we have to find time to work! I leave you with pictures of Nicole, Amanda, and Molly doing just that!