Yesterday I returned from a refreshing week in Novosibirsk spent talking to large groups of students about my hobbies and how I got myself to Russia, giving lessons on the words frenemy and bromance with the Siberian ETA elite, meeting new people, getting new ideas, and playing an epic game of rummy (it's not over yet!)

Now I'm back home and, frustration of frustrations, my internet has mysteriously stopped working. Once again, the internet people have no idea what to do with me because of my incomprehensible macintosh computer, and I'm not feeling optimistic about having internet again within the next week. But I'll survive, and probably get some good work done.

I'm starting to feel like I've been in Russia for a while and some things that usually don't bother me are really getting on my nerves, like being addressed as "girl" all the time. It's normal, but it still annoys me. Especially since it is usually because my elbow is in someone's face on the bus or something. An honest mistake in a crowded space! People just aren't that civil to each other in public here. And in a way I dig that there's no sugar coating, no niceness just to be nice, but at the same time, it seems like life might be more pleasant if people were nicer to each other in trivial social interactions.

But I've got a lot of projects and the weather promises to be ABOVE 30 for the whole week. So things are good.