Joy Mirage Kazan

... that Tatarstan is in the same time zone as Saint Petersburg, even though Kazan is located far more east. Due to this, you wake up in the morning at eight, as the sun is already shining and by 4 o'clock its dark already. Anyway, a funny similarity to other Russian cities is the popularity of McDonald's. As you walk by the main walking street, most of the restaurants look more or less empty, but McDonald's is always packed with people. Well, the "big ...

... bag of milk. 29. Once again, contemplate dividing a piece of bread (this time a giant flattish circle with a knob in the middle twice the size of a human head) four ways. 30. Realize you left the pan in the oven again. 31. Put the bread into the oven to toast for forty five seconds. 32. Remove and scrape off char. 33. Run cold water over the burns on your fingers. Next time use three hot pads. 34 ...

... up into one big mass of arms, legs, and laps.  It was something to see.  Apparently, after a few blocks of driving, the taxi driver decided to let the extra man out.  We were so tight in the back seat that none of us could open the door and we had to get him to open it for us.  I moved to the front.  Finally, we were able to breathe.  It was fun.             We get to the apartment and it has no elevator (which might be good since elevators here are very ...

... is seen forever after.  Bush, who I solidly stand behind despite his approval rating, has a major flaw.  He screwed it up.  He screwed up his relationship with Russia.  I can't understand how he screwed it up because doesn't his greatest adviser, Condoleeza Rice, have a degree in Russian something? I mean, yes, our economies are going down the tubes and Russia's is sinking really low (although you would never hear about it on the news) but they are a ...

... and they invited us to a volleyball game.  I have to say that I went a little begrudgingly.  I mean volleyball, really?             So here is just a little bit of random information. Kazan has all this sorts of sports teams.  They have the obligatory football (or soccer) called the Rubens, basketball called the Unics and a volleyball team called the Zenit.  The government or big business funds them and they are dirt cheap to go to ...

... the Republic of Tatarstan and they have their own flag and everything, but I guess I don't think that they could survive without the support of Russia.  The Russian population here is 43% versus 53% of Tatars and that doesn't include the population of other ethnic groups.  I just feel like it is something that is wishful thinking, but almost every weekend there is a protest at different places throughout the city.  It has yet to become dangerous and the Militia ...

... duds.  I'm thinking that perhaps, she is going to a friend's house to watch the "big moment", but we were both really puzzled because she had said dinner again when Kristen came home.  Before we knew it she was saying "poka!" (goodbye) and she was out of here.  We both kind of looked at each other with brows furrowed and just shrugged it off.              It is really close to 7pm so we sat down to watch her on the news.  The funny thing was we waited and ...

... and says "hey" and I realize that this is awesome!  I am so blessed to be here and I missed them so much.             They are doing work in our room so we couldn't go in there so Kristen and I sat in the kitchen, drank some chai and talked about what we saw in St. Pete and also what I missed while I was gone.  Babushka joined in asking me questions and telling me how beautiful the ...

... anyway,  we finally got our tickets after waiting forever then we hopped on a bus back and saw that we were already an hour late.  So we decided to go to Subway and get a sub instead. (can you believe that Kazan has two Subways??  Me neither.  I walked through that door,  got a whiff of that Subway smell and was in heaven!)              So really, how rude is it to show up to class late?? I think it is totally disrespectful, so I skipped, at least I tried ...

... decided to give them a try and went in search of ketchup. We found several kinds and finally settled on a bottle that looked like an American bottle, however, there was no seal. I thought that perhaps, the seal had not been put on and reached for another one. I realized that sealed condiments and other foods are something that is not done here. I had to suck it up and put my faith in God that that it was safe, what other choice do you have? Ketchup also is something can be ...