Kazan — summer 2014

1. Cold shower, as usual
2. Breakfast was katyk and bologna
3. Met with our teachers at McDonald's for the standard orientation. I've worked with three of them before. The new one made a good impression on me.
4. Returned home, read a bit, and waited for my landlady.

5. We went to the post office and processed my registration. When you come to Russia for more than a week, the person/organization that provides your housing has to inform the government that you have arrived. The form is called «Уведомление о прибытии иностранного гражданина или лица без гражданства в место пребывания» “Notification of the arrival of a foreign citizen or perons without citizenship at place of residence.” This time I made no errors in filling out the form. Yay! I did however neglect to make a few photocopies, so that slowed the process, but not too awfully. (Remember for next time: copies of my passport, migration card, visa, and passport of host.)

   All in all, it went smoother this time than any other.

   Last year I had downloaded the form in advance from the Federal Migration Service website. The sample lettering was shown in Comic Sans, so I filled out the form in Comic Sans. The woman at the post-office had whined about the font, which was amusing because I was copying the font shown on the form itself. But this time around I wanted to eliminate even that problem. Downloaded the form again. They had changed the font to something more dignified, so I used a copy of that one this time.

6. Then it was time to head to the Osipovs’ for dinner. Nice time as always. Flyura is a wonderful cook. She made манты, which are sort of like big пельмени. Think dim-sum dumplings, but stuffed with meat (and a bit of potato for moistness).
7. Home again, home again, jiggedy-jig

I got picked up by the institute at 1:45 a.m. to head to the airport to greet our first arrival in Kazan, Nick. Nick didn't look exhausted? What's up with that? He tells me that coffee is the secret. We delivered him to his home stay. I was back in bed by 4:00 a.m.

What just happened? I took a shower and the water turned warm? Is this just a cruel tease? If I have even tepidly warm water for the rest of the summer, I will be one happy Resident Director.

Much nap time today. A bit of reading. Started re-reading “Leviathan Wakes” by James Corey, which produced the quote of the day:

Half of our students have now arrived. We should see the other half by day's end.