bleh.

Okay, I am a champion marshmallow roaster. That is all.

Also we have no cold water in the apartment, making it hard to take a shower (which I haven’t done in three days). I tried, but my host mother insisted that I couldn’t because I’d burn myself (even though I told her that the “hot” water coming out of the faucet is really more lukewarm). I think it’s hot now though. But enough is enough. I’m willing to risk scalding myself for cleanliness.

Actually I won’t scald myself, I’ll just put a bunch of water in little tubs and wait for them to cool off before using them. Yea, so not hard.

Being at the children’s home was also surprisingly good for my Russian. I was playing with this one girl, Dasha, and we were coloring (well, she didn’t really want to color so much) but she kept telling me what she wanted me to draw. Sometimes I could, and if there was a word I didn’t know, I’d have her color it to show me. This means a) I was learning new words and b) it gave her something to do.

The sad part about all of this is that I look at a lot of the cute little boys and think that in 15 years, they’ll probably be sleazy Russian men.

Karrina still loves me, just as an update. Oh, and my host mother just told me that marshmallows are food. Fruit is not, but marshmallows are. Also the other day when she asked me what the most important part of my body to keep warm was, she told me my legs (I said head, since how much of your body heat escapes through your head? Like a lot). She told me if my legs weren’t warm then soon my face, sinuses, and teeth would start hurting. She also told me to ask my Dad, since he’s a doctor. She also just yelled at me for eating marshmallows, because it clearly means I’m hungry, and should be in the kitchen eating soup.

See, now I’m thinking that I might just not come back to Irkutsk after I leave for Moscow, like, the day after classes end. If I could get Middlebury to just reimburse me for my plane ticket from Irkutsk to Moscow…that would be fabulous. They also said they’d pay for a train ticket instead, but train tickets are WAY less expensive than train tickets…so I’d sort of rather just buy the train ticket myself and have them reimburse me for the plane ticket.

Obituary

Purple “Cricket” Swedish Match Lighter

Born: November 18^th, 12:35 PM

Died: November 19^th, 2:13 PM

Lifespan: 40 marshmallows

I’d give a eulogy, but I don’t really think that’s necessary.