A spontaneous scavenger hunt

Yesterday, I was due to give my first official lecture to a group of fourth year English students. I spent several hours preparing the lecture on the American university system and student life and had practiced speaking slowly and clearly the night before. I arrived at the kafedra early in the morning, although the class wasn't scheduled to start until noon, in case there were any other
lessons I could sit in on first. I was a little confused when, walking into the room, the secretary (the only one there) gave me a funny look, but I sat down in the back with the little dictionary I've been working on and quietly studied for a little while. Around 11:45, after I had been there for over two hours, I finally decided to ask where everyone was. As it turned out, in typical Russian fashion, the schedule had changed at the last moment, and no one had thought to tell the foreigner. It seems that yesterday, today, and tomorrow are "kolkhoz" days--a holdover from the Soviet era of collective farming, I suppose--and all of the students were either working in the gardens, the fields, or picking apples in the orchard, and that there are no classes for the rest of the week. That would explain her surprise at seeing me there, as well as the students I saw gardening on the campus lawn as I walked in... At any rate, that meant that, although my lecture will be postponed, I have one and a half days all to myself (it would have been two had I known, but, alas! I think I'll get over it). They happened, moreover, to be exceptionally nice days. Cool enough to wear a sweater, but sunny and warm enough that you wouldn't be too chilly wandering around outside. So that's exactly what I did--and consequently, the rest of the day turned into a spontaneous scavenger hunt.

I left campus around noon and decided to head to the rinok (marketplace), my new favorite place to wander around. I got off the marshrutka in the town center and walked to the rinok from there, where I promptly bought myself a pirozhok and some "coffee" (there's nothing like a nice, hot beverage on a chilly fall day) and began to slowly wander the aisles. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, but I ended up with some good finds. Item number one: clotheshangers! Russians are not big on closets, or on hanging things up, for that matter. Lying your clothes on shelves is the way to go here. I adjusted with my sweaters and dress pants, but I can't help but look at my dresses and coats forlornly as I get dressed each morning. I hadn't been able to find hangers anywhere, but yesterday, at long last, success! After fumbling through the language and fumbling with my food and my wallet, I happily walked away with enough hangers to hang my dresses and coats.

Pleased with myself, I decided to make one last round of the boots before heading to Moscow. The weather in Moscow is, let's say, not as pleasant as the weather in Slavyansk, and I don't think my dress shoes and flats will suffice, and I don't want to subject my nice boots to the freezing rain. I had gone around town, to shops and to the market, with Katya on Sunday to find warm winter boots, but to no avail. Since it's still rather warm here, most people aren't yet selling winter boots, and those that are available are rather expensive. Moreover, Katya was a little apprehensive about my ability to converse with the shopkeepers at this point. Well! Item number two then came as a pleasant surprise: warm winter boots! I was standing in front of a stall, just looking, when the very pleasant shopkeeper came over and showed me some boots that I hadn't seen. I wasn't looking to purchase, but she showed me a pair that was just what I was looking for at a price that I was willing to pay and was, moreover, my size! This woman was very pleasant and spoke slowly and clearly when I explained that Russian was not my first language. She assured me that the boots were in fashion, but were so cheap (about $46 USD, which, for the quality, is much cheaper than you could get in the states) because they were last year's model. I decided to get them. I might have been able to get a better deal in a month or two, but I'd rather be prepared for the winter than cold if it comes up unexpectedly. Plus, now I'll be warm in Moscow!

Very satisfied with my finds, I decided to drop them off at home and then set out again on another walk. On my way home, I made another unexpected find: a bank that a) would exchange my dollars, hence saving me from the extreme charges of using an ATM and b) was actually open. I returned as soon as I dropped my purchases off at home and stocked up on roubles. As I was walking back with these purchases, I made my final exciting find of the day: an internet cafe! Moreover, an internet cafe where I can scan, print, fax, and basically do anything I could do at a Kinkos back home. Hooray! I haven't checked rates yet, but with all of the internet issues I've had, I'm glad to at least know it's here.

In short, the day was no Scav (ah, I miss my U of C...), but it was still pretty exciting.

After a day of absolutely perfect weather, we had a rather intense rainstorm last night. Fortunately, I had been home for a little while already and could enjoy it from the comfort of my room with a hot beverage and a cookie. The skies cleared this morning, and I have another lovely day off. I think I'll spend it taking some more walks and enjoying the sun and warm air before departing for Moscow tomorrow. The next post: adventures in MOSCOW! Can I contain my excitement until then..?