So this is what winter feels like!

Hello all!

While descending down into Domodedovo airport on a Tuesday morning early in November, I couldn't help but think about how on earth the sun was ever going to penetrate through the kilometres of thick cloud hanging above Moscow. I concluded that if I see the sun in the next three months it has got to be close to a miracle! However after my first month back, I have come to realise that seeing the sun actually isn't as nice as I thought. Once the clouds go the warmth that they had been keeping in goes to, so on sunny days it is horrendously cold. A fine example of that is today, from inside it looks like a beautiful sunny day to go out and play in the snow... but no, it's -22˚ out!

My mental preparations while back home had worked very well. I was coping with the cold exceedingly well. That of course was while the temperature was hovering above zero, which was very bearable. Now I am very much not coping. It's hard to breath when it's this cold. Going outside takes a lot of motivation. I was waiting at the bus stop and there was five minutes to go before the bus arrived, it felt like it was about an hour wait. My nose and checks where stinging from the cold, and my fingers where frozen.

I had forgotten how short the days get in winter, and with most daylight hours being very overcast it's hard to determine the time of day, it all just seems like night a lot of the time.

Once I got back to Russia, for my birthday Nelli, her sister and their boys took me to the Russian circus. It was a Wednesday night and completely sold out. It was very good, but I don't really like the animal acts. They had horses, chetahs, panthers, tigers and bears. Oh and six little sausage dogs, they were adorable. The clowns were very good, and the acrobats where amazing. Moscow has two permanent circus's, I think we went to the better of the two. I'll have to find the name, I've forgotten it at the moment.

Russian circus and Russian ballet done. I'll have to think of some other things to put on my to do list. I would really like to go to Saint Petersburg one weekend, I think I'll wait until there is a little bit more snow.

Moscow has turned into a white christmas wonderland. All the shops are decorated and there are christmas trees sprouting up everywhere. Not far from where I live there is an actual place to go and buy a real tree. It is so pretty, there must be hundreds of trees in there and they are all covered in snow. We haven't put up our christmas things just yet, hopefully soon though. Even though it's freezing, it still feels like christmas (thank goodness).

There is no Santa Claus in Russia, they have a guy called Ded Moroz, he brings presents on new years eve, then Christmas is celebrated on the 6th and 7th of January. I plan to have a little mini christmas on the 25th as well.

Well besides the temperature, I really don't have much to report. Life in Russia is just cruising along like always. My Russian family is well, and are looking after me like always. The kids both have birthdays coming up soon which will be great to be here for.

I hope everyone is well (and warm) back home in Australia.

Missing everyone, as I always am!

Dasvidanya!

Sara

Home again

Hello!

I haven't posted much about Russia lately, it all just feels like routine now.

As I'm flying back to Australia tonight though I thought I should sum up my Russian autumn and start afresh when I return to Moscow.

For some odd reason I didn't think it would be all that cold here in autumn, I haven't a clue why I thought this. It certainly isn't just a bit chilly, like at home. We haven't had a day above 10 degrees in weeks!

I wasn't mentally prepared for the cold, so this month has been hard to cope with. I went for a walk this morning and it was 1 degree, I did get some good photo's for my effort though.

I'm struggling with the fact that it's going to drop at least another 30degrees.

On the 19th of last month, Nelli, her mum and I went to the ballet. It was simply magnificent. So very Russian. I loved it. The orchestra, the stage and costumes where amazing. The dancing really goes without saying, incredible! We watched the show at the Kremlin palace and where pretty much in the best seats. I felt very spoilt and can't wait to go again.

I still have to go to the circus and then I think I will have done everything on my Russian to do list.

I was hoping to write more, but I'm a little pressed for time so hopefully I can add more later.

Grace is currently unpacking my suitcase, suppose I won't have to worry about that extra baggage anymore.

Hope everyone is well, and hopefully I will have time to catch up with everybody this time.

Dasvidanya.

Contiki

Hello Everyone,

I finally found some time to do an update. I have been a busy little bumble bee!

This post is going to be a long one, so grab a cuppa and settle down and get cosy.

On the 18th of August I flew to London to meet up with some girls I went to school with. Hannah, Tiff and Hayley, who were already in England. We stayed at the generator hostel, which was nice. I had chicken schnitzel and chips for tea, I was in heaven! The best thing about not being in Russia is the food is so much better everywhere else.

I didn't have much time to explore London, I didn't really see anything besides the hostel and Heathrow.

The next morning we jumped on the bus and started our tour. We drove down to Dover to catch the ferry to France. I didn't even come close to finding my sea legs, I sat down most of the time. Once we got to France we drove straight to Paris. Basically day one was spent on the bus. We got to our cabins and then had a bit of a scenic bus ride around the city. We then went to have some French champagne and try out some Escargot, in other words, snails. They weren't as bad as I thought, mainly because they were smothered in garlic butter, and its hard for anything to taste bad in garlic butter. I couldn't get my snail out of the shell so they bought me a new one, which was steamy fresh. All I can say is, I tasted it, I won't ever feel the need to do it again. After that we went and got our first look at the Eiffel Tower.

Day two was a free day around Paris. First thing that morning the girls and I went to the Louvre to check out the Mona Lisa and the Venus De Milo (The lady with no arms). From the Louvre we slowly wondered through the city to the Eiffel tower picking up supplies for a picnic on the way. We grabbed a great spot under some shady trees, with a magnificent view. Not only of the Eiffel tower, the people watching was fantastic. In all the touristy areas there are loads of Gypsies trying to sell stuff, or just asking for money. Selling things without a permit is illegal so whenever the police rode around on their bikes it was like watching sheep getting herded. They came out of no where and there was loads of them running away. It was hilarious. A few people got their mini Eiffel towers confiscated, but that was about it.

That night we got all dressed up for a night on the town. Our group went out to a nice little restaurant before going to a cabaret show, across from the Moulin Rouge. We got back to the cabins and continued partying, it was a great night.

Day three started off rather slowly. I was very, very hungover. Kids, don't mix your drinks!

Luckily though it was another day mainly on the bus, so I didn't really have to function.

We headed down the south of France and spent the night in a gorgeous 16th century chateau, surrounded by vineyards. The rest of the group went and did some wine tasting, but I thought it best if I sat that one out.

That night there was another party, in the cellar. I went for a little bit, but put myself to bed early. Good decision, as the next day everyone else was hung over, but I was fine!

Day four was more driving. We stopped of in the walled city of Avignon where the Pope hung out in a palace their back in the 14th century (I think it was then, a long time ago anyway).

We continued on and stopped of again at a very smelly perfume factory.

Than finally made it to the French Riviera. We were in cabins again, just a short walk away from the beach. The girls and about half of our tour group headed down to the beach. It was gorgeous, the Mediterranean sea, with a full moon, and a Ferris wheel off to the side. In the distance we could see the lights of Nice. We sat down on the pebbles and watched the boys try and hit a buoy out in the ocean with stones.

Day five. I was finally starting to remember every ones names. Our bus was completely full, and its quite hard to remember 51 names. We were so lucky, everyone on our tour was great, I really don't think there could have been a better bunch of people to tour around Europe with.

Today was another free day, I accidentally slept in, then headed into Nice to meet up with the girls. Nice was lovely, we got scooters and roller blades and cruised along the beach for a while.

Later that evening we got all dolled up and headed to Monaco. We had some champagne and then tried our luck at the casino. I was down twenty euros and decided to stop. Some boys on our tour however were up 800 euros (that also may not be exact, it was a lot anyway). They shouted the whole group a drink at the bar!

Day six, we left France and headed into Italy! I love Italy, I won't ever be able to live there because I would get too fat to be able to fly out of the country. Italian food is divine. The pizza, pasta and gelato, oh it is oh so good! The people are so lovely, and Italy is gorgeous.

Our first stop was Pisa, which is an incredibly boring place. Besides a building that is slowly falling over, there isn't much else to see or do. Except eat of course.

After taking our photo's of either holding the tower up or pushing it over, we drove to Florence. A city of beautiful churches and is rich in history. I really liked Florence. We had yet another big partying night, which involved huge jugs of cocktails, karaoke and I had a minor wardrobe malfunction. Yet another fabulous evening with my new contiki friends.

Day seven, half way through the tour. It started going very fast from here.

Today was our free day in Rome. It was really hot in Rome, without much shade around the city. First up we went to the Trevi fountain, which is gorgeous. We all through our coin in over our shoulder. We will all now supposedly return to Rome, I certainly hope so!

From there we walked to the Spanish steps which are apparently famous but to be honest until I was there I was slightly unaware of them. The rest of the group went off on a walking tour and the girls and I went off on our own. It was way too hot to be following a guide around the city.

We headed to the Colosseum, which was really cool. I loved seeing all these places, I got to cross lots of things off on my "to-do list". We didn't go inside, but I was super impressed with the outside anyway. We grabbed a very expensive bite to eat and waited for the rest of the group. We all then headed to the Vatican. Michelangelo's work is simply incredible, everyone should definitely go and see it for themselves.

More partying that night at the club where our cabins where, loads of fun!

Day eight. I woke up covered head to toe in bed bug and mosquito bites. To say I wanted to claw my skin off is an understatement. It was really painful and extremely itchy. A friend gave me some antihistamines but that's all I could get at the time, there wasn't a chemist near by.

We headed down to Venice, before we got to the camp site our tour manager Daz, said to watch out, because there are loads of mosquito's at this camp. I nearly cried when he said that. I ran to the shop and covered myself in mozzie spray!

We caught the boat over to Venice, were unfortunately all I was thinking about was finding a pharmacy, even so, it is pretty impossible not to take in the beauty of the city. There are no cars anywhere in Venice, so everyone pushes there little carts around, it's very cute. Kind of like stepping back in time. We grabbed a bottle of Italian bubbly and had a gondola ride through the canals. It was very relaxing.

We grabbed some dinner in Venice, then headed back to the mainland, where I could continue fixing my bites!

Day nine we were off to Germany!

After complaining about the heat for a week, Munich was freezing. Stepping off the bus my first thought was "please don't let Moscow be this cold yet", it's not as cold as Munich was, it's much colder!

I didn't think I would like Germany, but I really enjoyed it. I meet a few Germans who weren't very nice, but I don't want to judge everyone on them. I'll definitely be going back for another visit.

We went to the main square and watched the glockenspiel, a giant cuckoo clock. Then off to the hostel to get ready for our night at the beer hall. We learnt a German beer song and set off to consume copious amounts of beer steins. I don't usually drink beer, but German beer wasn't too shabby.

Day ten we left Munich and headed up to the Rhine Valley and stayed in a little German village called ST Goar. On the drive up we stopped at Dachau concentration camp, which was incredibly sad. I'm glad we went, but I struggle to understand and cope with the amount of evil that happened in world war two.

It was a very beautiful drive, Europe is the kind of green you just don't see at home.

More wine tasting today and I bought my first investment. A rare bottle of wine, which is called ice wine, it's a very sweet dessert wine.

Day eleven, The Netherlands. I love Holland, everyone cruises along on their bikes and it is just so picture perfect. I didn't know the country was so low and flat, they have so much water there. Before going to Amsterdam we went to a little village to see what the real Holland was like. As everyone says, Amsterdam is not a reflection on the rest of the country. We went for a bike ride around Edam. It was lovely, even though it rained and was cold.

After that we went to a clog factory and then tasted some Dutch Cheese, which was really yummy.

Then came the "Amsterdamage"!

What can I say??

What happens in Amsterdam, stays in Amsterdam!

It is one crazy place, with all sorts of crazy people.

Day thirteen. Another friend from school, Monique came to party with us, which was brilliant!

It was our last night on tour, and we all went a bit wild in the red light district, but it was certainly a great way to end our tour, and a night to remember.

Day Fourteen. The long, hungover trip back to London.

We had arranged amongst ourselves to meet up one last time at an Aussie bar, so we could say one last farewell to everyone. We certainly have all made some great friends from all over the world. I even have a friend coming to visit me here in Russia next year, I'm super excited about that.

The next day I flew back to Moscow. It was so great to have a holiday, I was feeling really homesick, so it was the perfect fix!

It's Autumn here now, and all the leaves are changing. Apparently we aren't going to ease into winter here in Russia, it literally went from heat wave to ten degrees in the two weeks I was away! I keep thinking about how warm it is at home, oh well, I don't think I'll experience another Russian winter after this one, so I'll just suck it up. Please remind me of this in December.

Other than my contiki news, I don't have anything else to report on. My Russian family are all fine, and I'm still loving Moscow.

So that's all for now, I hope you enjoyed!

Dasvidanya, au revoir, ciao, Auf Wiedersehen, vaarwel!

Fire.

Hello everyone!

Apparently our problems in Russia have made it to the news in Australia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jIdtuuqFpc&feature=fvhl

Summed up, it's bloody hot, the forests are burning and the smoke is unbearable.

There are almost 1000 fires burning. As far as I know 48 lives have been claimed.

The government is reporting that they have moved all rockets and Nuclear materials to a safer location... I dread to think about it. Words like "radiation," "explosion" and "nuclear security" all in the same sentence sends a shiver down my spine.

There is no sign that the fires are going to be ending anytime soon, so everyone here is hoping for summer to end and the snow to arrive. It's not looking good at the moment.

Some of the airports have had to ground flights temporarily, which is a concern as I'm meant to fly out in 10 days. Which I'm absolutely thrilled about. I'm heading to London to see Hannah, Hayley and Tiff. We are doing a two week Contiki tour, which will be fabulous!

I don't have a lot to report on, we have all been stuck inside due to the carbon monoxide poisoning our atmosphere. I have been helping Luida cook, and teaching her some more English. I am still unable to create dishes from home even semi successfully here. I can never find the right ingredients, and nothing ever works out. Thankfully Russians are use to eating bad food, and think everything I make is delicious. If they only knew!

Billy is on holidays still, so he is often in and out of my room looking for things to do. I have a treasure box that's full of all sort of goodies the kids like to play with and they love my ipod and my phone. Grace often picks up random objects, puts them to her ear and shouts "Ello!" then falls about laughing.

I'm not sure if I've already mentioned this or not but Grace doesn't call me Sara. Most of my babies I've looked after struggle with saying Sara, I've been called mum, mummy Sara and sair. But Grace flat out refuses to say my name. I ask her to and she says "ssssss Nanya!" Then cracks up laughing. All up she has said Sara twice, she can say it, she just won't. She says nanya with the biggest cheekiest grin, it's wildly frustrating but a delightful game we have now as well.

Nanya means nanny in Russian.

We have all been cooped up inside, thank goodness our house is so big. However yesterday I had to go into town, for a rather urgent matter, once I got home though I found out I never had to leave in the first place.

As soon as I stepped outside, I wanted to go back in. Visibility is shocking, and I had to walk to the bus stop. My eyes were stinging and my lungs were burning. It was awful, I would hate to be anywhere close to the flames.

I managed to stay inside most of the time, but I did have to walk around a fair bit. Plus the smoke has now entered all the shopping centres, down in the Metro is really bad you feel like you could suffocate.

At the grocery shop they were handing out surgical masks at the check outs. About a third of Moscow is wearing masks of some description.

Outside I had just finished telling an elderly man that I think what he was looking for was around the corner and apologising for my terrible Russian, when some one else started talking to me... honestly all I say when I'm out is "извините, я не говорю по-русский" (sorry, I don't speak Russian).

His name is Boraya, he is such a sweetie. He doesn't speak a word of English, I handed him my phrase book when I realised I couldn't just excuse myself out of talking to him. Russian's can be very determined. We had possibly the slowest conversation in history, while he was trying to help me out with finding the shop I needed. Mildly long story short, he is a total gentleman and gave me a rose. Making breathing in the toxic fumes and what turned out to be an unnecessary trip a rather nice experience.

I am undecided if being able to speak the same language with some one is totally necessary to be friends with them... basically I want some one to carry my shopping and give me flowers.

Oh well something to think about while I'm still stuck in the house.

That's all my news really.

I hope everyone is well at home, I'm missing everyone lots.

until next time,

Dasvidanya!

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!

Hello everyone!

I thought I would deliver another update before I started getting fresh demands!

We are back into our same old routine, and fully recovered from our holiday. It's incredible how exhausting holidays can be.

Billy is on summer school holidays, so both kids at home all day everyday is creating a very noisy household. The average temperature here during the day at the moment is in the high 30's usually around 36 though. It's very warm! It's strange to think of Russia as being hot. I always associated it with snow, and minus 30 temps, without much thought to summer.

It has been a bit of a slow week really. Although Saturday night's adventure was quite exciting and loads of fun!

I was going to go to the circus, but thought dressing up and dancing the night away would be much more fun (and cheaper). I arranged to meet a few new Russian people at a club called "Club Che" which is yet another salsa club. I exchanged numbers with a few people and jumped on the bus to head to the train station.

Whilst sitting on the bus I realised my phone was not working, I'd forgotten to look at the map to see exactly where the club was (I knew which Metro station, but that was all) and in an effort to get my phone working again I turned my phone off. I of course forgot that I need a pin to turn my phone back on. A pin I don't know.

So in a moment of brilliance I thought "Oh well, instead of going home I'll just buy a new Sim card." After purchasing the new Sim card, in very bad Russian and very bad reciprocated English, it was only then that I realised I don't have access to anyone else's numbers, and no one knows my new number.

Sometimes I am truly concerned about the lack of thought that goes into some of the things I do.

I set off into the city anyway, not too disheartened by the events that had already unfolded.

I made it to Lubyanka metro station and was heading out of the exit when I heard some girls knocking on the glass booth of the sleeping security guard saying "umm excuse me, do you speak English......?" I turned around and exclaimed "I speak English!" And that is how I met my first Australians in Russia.

I was so excited, if we weren't on an unstable escalator I would have hugged them! The girls, Angela and Ashley (Such normal names!) where heading to a club called Propaganda. I showed them the way and discovered that they were on a tour, with more Australians. Everyone on the tour said that they were a bit over meeting Australians everywhere they go, but I was by far the most enthusiastic one they had met thus far. It was fabulous, I hang out with them for a few hours, but they all eventually dwindled away because of their busy tour scheduled the next day.

I did try to get into club Che to meet up with my Russian friends, but wasn't allowed in (face control can be nasty!)

I decided my night was not over yet, there was bound to be more alcohol waiting in a bar for me somewhere. I walked to Karma bar, but didn't quite make it to the door, when I was stopped. A group of guys were walking out and told me that it wasn't worth going to, but they knew of another really good place. They didn't seem like serial killers so I tagged along with them for the walk to "Papa's". They turned out to be a great bunch of people, they even introduced me to another Aussie, who works at the embassy. We got to Papa's to find a Christmas in July party, complete with fake snow all through the club. It was brilliant fun. When I finally thought it must be getting late and time for me to head home, I stepped outside to be greeted by blazing sunshine, and rouble hungry taxi drivers.

Definitely one of the best Saturday nights I've had in Moscow!

Meeting so many genuinely lovely people last night and making some new friends has certainly lifted my cloud of homesickness that I seem to be under a lot lately.

So another week begins, my goodness where did July go?

I hope all is well at home,

I'm missing everyone lots!

I'm off to continue watching the large fireworks display that is quite literally, next door. Grace has slept through so far, although how exactly I'm not sure.

However until I have more to report on, this is all for now.

Dasvidanya!

Two weeks in Malta

Hello all!

We flew back into Moscow at 4:30am this morning. Not such a fabulous time for a flight with two children aged three and under!

Considering how tired they were though, they did pretty well. However I'm jumping ahead!

Friday the 2nd, the kids and I were getting ready for a walk to the park before having dinner when Baba Sveta comes flying down the stairs with a piece of paper and speaking to me very quickly in Russian. I looked at Billy for a translation but he looked more confused then I did. Upon inspection of the piece of paper it turned out we were flying to Malta Friday night not Saturday night.

I would like to think it was a controlled chaos that broke out in our household after that, but others may use different words. We fed the kids, packed their suitcases, packed our own and headed to the airport. The next morning we were eating breakfast in Malta.

The island of Malta is smaller then the city of Moscow, it is tiny! Despite it's small size, I loved it! It was so normal.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Moscow isn't normal... it's just not my kind of normal.

In Malta they drive on the left hand side, and they don't drive like maniacs.

They all speak English! It was fabulous.

I also found Vegemite and Tim Tams, really, what more needs to be said?

The other fantastic thing was the heat. While the rest of the tourists seemed to be melting, Billy and I were loving it.

The kids and I went swimming nearly everyday and our resort had a fantastic kids club. We hung out there for a few hours most days. Grace was more then happy reclining on a deck chair next to me, with her sun glasses on. Admittedly her sunnies occasionally ended up being chewed on as she is teething, but generally she looked the part of a glamorous girl.

Malta doesn't have sandy beaches, just big rocks. Not like pebbles, actual huge rocks. I'll post pictures on facebook tonight and put the link up.

We did the touristy things, like harbour tours. I found myself with Baba sveta and billy on a Russian tour through Mdina... I found an English tour going in the opposite direction and was tempted to tag along with them but it was more fun oohing and ahhing with the Russian's, and pretending I knew what was going on.

The first week went by and week two began with a house call from a doctor for Billy who had a temperature of 40 and a stomach bug. He was sick for two days and despite my best efforts Grace got sick for two days as well. And what kind of nanny would I be if I didn't get it too?

So for the last two days in Malta I was either in bed or hugging the toilet bowl.

Despite our tummy bug, we had a great time.

The best night was the night of the world cup final. All of Malta was cheering for Spain. After dinner Billy and I headed out onto the streets to join the crowd. We wandered through the packed streets found a spot to see the big screen and cheered along with everyone else. For a three year old, that boy knows how to party! He clapped and yelled "Go Spain GO!" for a good hour.

As we all know though, all good things must come to an end. We headed to the airport with our sleepy, cranky baby and hyper billy. I decided to take Billy for a walk through the airport to use up some of his energy. We ended up playing "security guards" in a book store, using books as phones. Unfortunately the book shelves where only chest height, so everyone could see me talking into my "phone" and no one could see Billy!

As we were taking off, out of our window we could see a huge fireworks display which made for quite a send off. We finally settled down and were almost asleep just to be woken up again and given the most dreadful aeroplane food ever. If you ever fly Air Malta, take your own food!

So now we are home again, and will be back to our normal routine tomorrow.

I was excited to be coming back to Moscow, but was disappointed not to have that "yay I'm home" feeling. I guess I will only feel that when I land in Australia again.

I really loved Malta, but there was one thing not quite right with it, it wasn't quite paradise. It was bugging me that I couldn't figure out what it was that was letting Malta down. Once we got back here I realised straight away. Malta isn't green enough. There aren't enough trees! That is the sole thing I can fault Malta for.

Well I have washing and unpacking to do, and I must search for that packet of Tim Tams that I bought....

So until next time,

Dasvidanya!

Summer in Moscow.

Hello all!

Sorry for the delay in updating my blog. I have been super busy! However due to popular demand and some pushy emails I have found some time to fill you in.

I will leave out my whirl wind experience of coming home and my visa problems and just get straight back to Moscow.

I flew with Thai airways this time and their chairs are a bit more comfortable than emirates, which was nice but I still didn't sleep. I was a delirious mess when I got back. I finally made it through passport control, found my bags and was greeted by Urha, one of our security guards. It took an hour in the car to get home. Moscow seems to be in a constant state of peak hour traffic with all sorts of crazy drivers.

It was a miserable cloudy day, like the very first day I flew into Moscow. The only difference was that everything is so super green. It is amazing how green it is! Russians really know how to make the most of summer too. There are flowers absolutely everywhere it is just beautiful. All the cafes have set up tables outside, on every corner there are people selling flowers and fruit, I even saw someone selling little turtles. I was so very tempted to buy one!

The kids where so excited to see me, which was great. It would have been dreadful if I'd flown all that way to be greeted with shyness or worse, tears! Billy ran and jumped into a big bear like hug and Grace was quick to follow. They filled me in on all their news, we read some books and by then I was just about exhausted. I fell into bed, just to have to get up again to put a blanket over the curtains because it wasn't dark yet, at 10:30pm.

It was great to see Luidmiela again, oh how I missed her Kasha while I was away! The security guards seemed happy to see me too. Although it's a little difficult to pick up on their emotions. Except for Ivan, he smiles and is far to happy for someone who has a gun.

For those of you who are lucky enough to not have had to endure jet lag yet, it is substantially easier travelling back in time, as opposed to gaining time. I recovered almost the day after I was back in Moscow!

The second (or maybe it was the third) night I was back, I headed out to watch the socceroos in the world cup and made some new friends. I'm finding it so much easier to make friends now, I know where to find people who speak English, and I'm really learning my way around now. I haven't been geographically confused once since I have been back!

I headed into the city to see the fountains now that they have been turned on, it's very pretty, I really do enjoy walking around red square and the Kremlin. Absolutely fantastic people watching! I will post some photo's soon.

My social life has pretty much picked up where it left off, which is lovely. Although I am missing one good friend, who had to go back to Belgium. Last Saturday I went out with Anna and one of her friends, she couldn't speak English so poor Anna had to translate for us. We had dinner then went out salsa dancing! I really like salsa, but when I go to Spain, I'm just going to be reminded of Russia, which is a bit backwards, but anyway. We went to a new place called Pancho Villa, it was fabulous, cheap yummy margaritas, great live music and English menus. At one stage there was even a salsa conga line!

I am also pleased that the bus drivers remember me, and the taxi drivers! It is very strange that I am comforted by the fact these middle aged overweight men remember me and like talking to me. I think it's just nice to have people in the area I live in to say hello to, and it's nice to know the taxi drivers are always around the metro if I ever need help. None of them speak any English, yet I know all there names, and I know about there wives and children and they don't over charge me anymore!

Yesterday I went to the movies and watched the documentary "Babies". Please don't make fun of me for that, I am more then aware of how overly maternal I am. The movie lived up to all my expectations, it was really good. I recommend it to everyone. It follows the first year of four babies lives. One baby from America, one in Peru, one in Japan and the other is from Africa. It is fascinating.

After that I did a much more age appropriate activity and went out for dinner and had drinks at an Irish pub.

Next Saturday, I will be boarding a plane to Malta (a tiny island in the Mediterranean). The kids have never been to the beach before, so we are spending two weeks there. I am so unbelievably excited!!

So my next blog update will be after our trip, unless I can pull myself away from the deck chairs to fill you in on my hectic working day.

I hope everyone is fine at home, there are so many people I didn't get to see. I think I will be home again in September, which is really just around the corner. So I'm sure I will get time to catch up with everyone then!

Until next time,

Dasvidanya!