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We talked about Gogol's 'Revizor' in the literature lesson, and read a page about essay-writing techique in the afternoon. <br />

It's the thought that counts, Tver.

Jonathan Campion
2006-04-11 22:04:57

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We talked about Gogol's 'Revizor' in the literature lesson, and read a page about essay-writing techique in the afternoon.

Ulitsa Trekhsvyatskaya is thawing so much that the middle part of the road is a river. The weather is warmer - plus 6 today - but it is dark all the time because of low grey clouds. A heap of snow the size of a car tyre crashed to the ground from the roof of a building twenty yards in front of me near bar Kalinin - I count myself very lucky that I bumped into Tamzin in reception before leaving the obshezhitie and chatted to her for a few seconds.

There are a group of Uzbek gypsies that gather where Trekhsvyatskaya meets ulitsa Radischeva. The men have black beards and wear scruffy suit trousers and leather jackets, the women have shawls over their heads and jewellery on both hands. As I walk past them they approach me and quietly ask if I will sell them gold, or if I want to buy a mobile phone. When I ignore them they follow me with a few final words. If more people strolled around the shops on a thursday afternoon with gold in their pockets and fewer with 'phones they would do better business. They are easily the loudest people in Tver, always shouting to each other from across the street and laughing in groups.

I bought Anya's birthday card from a gift shop. There was no envelope underneath it so I asked for one at the counter. The lady told me to go to the post office on the other side of ploschad' Sovetskaya - because a card shop sells cards, the post office sells envelopes.

We threw a party for Anya on my corridor and everyone came. There were three bottles of champagne, two bottles of vodka, a cake and hundreds of biscuits from the Tver bread factory. Kolya played 'Kalinka' and some other Russian folk songs on his guitar and most of us sang or danced. When it got too cramped for everyone to fit into Yenu and Christa's kitchen a game of charades started in the lounge.