the good and the bad

Dear friends,

Things are fine and dandy…

Few exceptions:

1) I’m sick! …I’ve been sick for the past 5 (possibly 6) weeks! (shh, don’t tell my mom; she’ll get worried/mad at me!) It’s getting ridiculous now, and I’m breaking down and taking medication tomorrow. It’s the new climate…new sets of germs, new air…new CITY air…smoking people everywhere; new everything really, so my body is probably adjusting in a way that makes my nose either clogged or runny. Sigh! : )

2) My poor left toe; the other day, I stubbed it (which blows in general to begin with), then I dropped a big plank of wood (from my closet) horizontally across the front AND THEN cut it a bit on a sharp edge of something near the floor. I spent the evening apologizing to it for not being more careful! No one is more sorry than I am for hurting you, Left Toe!! It’s all bruised, hahahhaa! What a pathetic sight. What a patey thing to do…

3) I’m working so much I can’t find the time to appreciate Moscow the way I really want to. I made a quota for myself; at least ONE cultural thing every 2 weeks. Seeing as how I’m sick, I get home pretty zonked and my weekends are mostly spent either shopping for stuff for the flat, or getting stuff done…(or the past two, at least have been… No more, hopefully, after this!) All of this to say, that I haven’t really done all that much; minus the walks to Red Square (which is nice), but no museums, nothing worth writing home about at least. This WILL change though!

4) I’m dying to talk to people at home…dying to get the internet hooked up at home! E-mail only does so much. I realized yesterday that I haven’t heard my mother’s voice in over 3 weeks. Whenever I e-mail home, it’s my dad that responds since he’s the more internet savvy,…I’ve had almost nothing recognizable from my mother in almost a month. Not cool : ( …I miss my mom…

5) I met my roomie yesterday morning…which was fine; he’s this American dude… and he’s nice enough, but honestly, quite a bit boring…. I tried to stimulate a conversation and spoke American politics and general North American history with him…and it led to him telling me how the States were very much a country that came from wars…then he asked me “Canada hasn’t really been in any wars at all, right?”. My oh my. Not only that, but I came home today (the most tired I’ve been in a long time) and (happier news; treated myself to some salmon! Yum!) found that he had cooked, and 1) didn’t really clean my wok as it should probably be cleaned 2) had spilled salt all over the floor and didn’t really clean it up. AM I MORE ANAL THAN I THOUGHT I WAS?! He hasn’t come home yet, so I’m not sure how I will breach the subject. I don’t want to start nagging after the first day….Arr…thankfully he’s only here for another 20 days. Then it’s a really interesting sounding Swiss dude who’s coming to catch up on his Russian. He just finished defending his thesis on something to do with sustainability in aviation and the Kyoto protocol, so YAY! And he also said that since he’s Swiss, he enjoys cleaning a bit too much. Good times will be had in patey’s flat!

Now to the happier news:

1) On Sunday, Elena took me to this shopping “complex”, as she called it, and friends, I have NEVER…I repeat, NEVER seen so many shoe stores in a row…SHOES SHOES SHOES! I was SOOOOO overwhelmed! Elena was like “Yu donn like?”…and I was like… “Noo, no…I’m just…very…overwhelmed…do you know what that word means?” hahha WOW, was it insanely big. Found these boots…and there was such love for them! But they didn’t have my size which was so disappointing. They were DAMN sexy, and we could have had such a nice life together, but I was a big girl and let it go…it was just a love that wasn’t meant to be. How sad… (Speaking of which, I saw Mouse again this weekend…I was quite happy to see him…he didn’t seem all that interested in me (some take getting dumped SO badly!) but he came around after a few nudges and belly rubs)

2) My fabulous job:
a. I realize that I haven’t really written about the job…really, I think it’s cause the only net connection I have IS at school, so it’s weird to talk about it with people walking around everywhere.
b. It’s a pretty small school, but it’s small in a really quaint way. I love it….
c. The other teachers are fabuloso…the staff makes fun of my work ethic… “ Pahtzee! Kakdilla! So early! You sleep here?” haha …I LOVE how Europe is so laid back. People do what they need to do, but once you hit a level of any kind of stress, they think you’re insane. Relax! Don’t kill yourself! Here’s some vodka! (haha, that hasn’t actually happened)
d. The kiddies are the AWESOMEST little goobers! I have the older ones….which is nice. I could talk about some of them for HOURS, and I look at them and know that I am not meant to be anywhere else in the world other than right here next to them. They are the coolest bunch. There’s this Norwegian/Russian girl, who’s got SO much personality, it kills me! She’s the only kid I teach that hasn’t given me a high five; only because she decided against it! Haha, and she’s SO particular and SO picky and So damn cute…and the first time she looked and me and refused to hold anyone else’s hand except for mine, I figured I was doing something right. Her acceptance means that you’ve TRULY earned a special spot in a special little heart. The craziest thing is that all that zest is in such a little being! She’s really quiet, but you can tell that it’s only because she’s chosen not to speak to you…and once in class (I forget what stupidity I was acting out,) but to my surprise, she started BLABBING away! Blublublahblahblah! ALL in Russian, and I just looked at her and said; “MARIA! I didn’t understand what you said, but I LOVE that you are speaking!! High Five!!! No?? …OKAY! Maybe later!” HAHAHA. I wish you guys could see her….I have a pic, but yah know, privacy laws I’d like to respect, and I’m not about to ask her dad if I could post her pic on my blog. haha
e. One of my favorite things about teaching at Ptit Cref is the wee little Russian goobers…they are so happy to see people…when they see me, they ramble ON and ON in Russian, and they KNOW I don’t understand….but they want to share so much that they really don’t care! Hahah I sometimes get the gist of what they are saying, but anyone that’s worked with kids for more than 20 minutes knows that anything a 6 year old kid tells you with a big smile is something that you can respond “Ohhhh! WOW…that’s GREAT (insert name)!!” to. I LOVE that, and I LOVE them. They are fabulous; They are my little goobers : )
f. It’s SO interesting working in a trilingual setting. Not only do I get to learn Russian from 6 year olds and practice my French, but it’s just SUCH a cool atmosphere. You never know what language will pop out of people’s mouths! And the abilities of these little kids! It’s madness! There’s this kid who’s fluent in Russian and French...and he’s got some skills in English (as his mom spent her childhood in Canada, but speaks to him in French), and his English improves SO drastically every MINUTE he spends with me (it’s actually really shocking!). His name is Benjamin, and he’s SUCH a great kid. He’s got this nerve thing...whenever he gets excited or happy, he has this tick arm thing going on...which freaked a teacher out during the summer, until they asked the mother about it...and she said that it’s just a genetic thing his father has too, and not to worry and try to make him feel normal about it...and EVERY TIME he gets it, I look at him and say “Ben, I am SO happy that you are happy!”. I make it my DUTY to make him happy; it’s really the purest, happiest and most genuine thing I can do during my day.

I could talk about the kids for hours and hours...there are so many of them too! But I will spare you! I’m at home right now, pre-writing this entry to post tomorrow. I have a clock on my table which I have yet to find the will to change to Moscow time. It says that it’s almost 2 pm now. I think I’ll keep it because every time I look at it, I think; that’s the time in Montreal...I wonder what so-and-so is doing at this time. Or...oh, they must be sleeping, or Oh, they must be finishing their day...It’s a nice reminder of where I am and keeping perspective.

I heart heart and hug
Patey:]