Day tour part 3

Once back at the apartment, I tried ot stay awake, but my concentration was shot. Jeremy came back around five and told me one great piece of unexpected news- most of the trips he has to make outside of Samara I'm welcome to accompany him! I imagined I'd be home alone when he had to head for lectures, but thankfully that's not so! At 7 we met up with the rest of the fellows and ate at this building that looked like something out of a Miyazaki movie. On the second level, to our surprise, we found a Georgian restaurant. I got a hot pot of pork, tomatoes and onions which was very nice. Plus, we all got a kind of fried bread with cheese inside. I'm guessing it was on the house. Jeremy ordered a little jar full of mutton stew that had a bit of a curry taste to it. In Russia, we've learned the restaurant experience is usually drawn out. We didn't leave until 9 something, so we were all very ready conk out.

Ok I am cheating and moving on to the next day, but you don't mind, do you?

The next morning, we had lunch at our favorite little cafe. Then Jeremy headed for the embassy and I took a very dirty bath. I had already been warned not to drink the water, but with my own eyes, I got to see why. The water looked a nice tan color for a pair of khakis, but quite alarming for a bather. I just imagined it was a mineral bath like in Turkey. I'm positive the color came from just their rusty pipes. They're infamous in Russia.

After Jeremy returned we made our way to the airport for Samara! (You can all applaud here) I made a nice list of things to do like just pay for someone to move your luggage and the extra weight fee when you get to the domestic airline area, but I won't bore you with the details, since most of you won't be coming to see us. For those that will, you'll get plenty of info from me when the time comes! Let's just say the plane was definitely Soviet Union era, so expect bumps and no leg room, but the snacks were definitely an unexpected treat!

At the Samara airport, Yulia, Jeremy's counterpart, met us. She is like a somewhat younger version of Maude from Harold and Maude at least from a physical perspective. She took us to a teachers' compound to spend the night there until we had settled on an apartment. To her surprise and to ours, we said we could handle seeing some perpspective homes that night. The first one was right on the corner of a tram line and a slight walk to the Volga. The inside had plenty of furniture with curved doorways and even an enclosed balcony- maybe big enough for two chair, but great for a little greenhouse. I was very partial to the place, but just for a comparison, we wanted to see how the other available apartment looked. It was quite dismal and so we felt secure in grabbing the first one before it got away.

The next day we were able to move in, but I'll tell you that boring story later!