Azimut Hotel Ufa

... noodles & fruit, we continued our reading & chilling out. As 7pm approached, it felt appropriate to get the ball rolling by cracking open the second - & closely followed third - bottle of vodka. After more drinking games & all feeling slightly giddy, we watched Bruno before attempting to go to bed. We all awoke at 2am again, wide awake with train-lag setting in, and sat around for a few hours. We all pretty much ...

... go a very cool observation. In Russia it's apparently common to kiss someone on the cheek when you're saying goodbye. I thought that was only in Europe, but I guess we took some of their customs. Also it's very very difficult to shop for clothes in Russia because a)the sizes are different b)the brands are different c)unless you're with a local you can't really tell if something is a rip-off or just a very quality item. I'll leave you with those nuggets to ponder))

... I'll give you a brief rundown of our days. Each "para" is 95 minutes long.
Monday: Anatomy and English
Tuesday: Anatomy, Physics, and Bioethics
Wednesday: PE, Biology, and double paras of Chemistry
Thursday: Anatomy, English, and double History of Medicine
Friday: Chemistry, Physics, and PE
Saturday: Latin and Biology

Alright, I'm ridiculously tired so I will add more things later.

It seems so strange to write that today was my first day of school. Instantly this phrase brings up memories of the day 12 years ago when I first arrived on the steps of the building that would become a second home for three years. I've had many first days in my life already, first day of Russian school, first day of school in the US, first day of middle school, high school, and so on. But this is different. Today was my first day as a medical school student. The ...

And ever onwards east. Not surprisingly this is the bit they don't show you in the Long Way Round or anything else for that matter. It's the long slog trying to eat up the miles, as much as you can keeping to the 80kph speed limit and the roadworks and the delays. Wondering should I try to overtake that truck which is doing 78kph and is there a continuous white line just ahead and are my friends from the DPS waiting around the corner? No ...

... roadside, before purchasing a jar of the delicious stuff. Lordy knows when we'll get around to eating it...we don't even own a toaster.
A much longer day than we anticipated with speed limits and overtaking restrictions. Soon we were driving through lush English looking patchwork pastures, then to our relief, Ufa appeared on the horizon. After checking out a few hotels (most full due to a conference in town) we ...

. The Baskerian Village July 10, 2004 I met Arnold Schwartzeneggar while working in Baskeria (Russia). Ok, ok, its not him really but he looks like him. I spent a few days off with Gleb and his wife Dina, and their kids (not to mention a couple dozen relatives) in their village. The time there is worthy of a story: We headed out from Ufa, the capital of this autonomous region in south central Russia, driving through the picturesque countryside for about 1 ...