The water is always bluer on the other side.

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I thought a day of doing nothing would be the best plan. It was quiet, but not peaceful.

My head is cluttered with calculations at the moment, rather than homework or seeing Russia. There is still time to change what I will do between leaving Tver on the 16th May and going home in on the 17th July.

If I stay with Ana in Popasnaya for a fortnight (rather than rent a flat in Kiev for six weeks) it will cost me ten times less; and living with the Kovalchuks again will improve my Russian much more than one lesson per day at a language school. When she flies to America in early June I can stay in Kiev for a long weekend over my 21st birthday - hopefully with my Dad - then from there take a train to Finland on my own, via either Tallinn or Petersburg depending on my visa situation.

Once I'm in Finland I will have about five weeks, with enough friends to stay with and the promise of very beautiful lakes and hills if I stay on Karin's archipelago. Flights to London from Tampere are fairly cheap; if everything goes to plan I should have enough money in my pocket in late July to replace my laptop.

I bought two magazines, 'Mir' and 'Huligan', to read in the evening. In Mir there is an article about Uzbekistan, which was escapism to match even my Ukrainian and Finnish plans. Andrei appeared in the obshezhitie tonight, which was strange as everyone he knows is in Moscow for the weekend, and while he was watching a film in the lounge I crept downstairs and copied the information from his student card to give to the militsiya. The woman in reception today co-operated, and even helped me.

His surname is Skorobogatov. If it turns out that he is involved with the theft it would be a cruel irony.

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