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Published: March 27th 2006
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Yartek is a thirty minute walk from Yaroslavl Glavnyi station - it took us almost exactly fourteen hours to get from my new school to my old one. While we walked I showed Liisa, Claire, Tamzin and Orphais the places that mean something to me; the poliklinika where I took my shirt off for the three women to examine me when I was ill, the Tolbukhina block of flats where I used to live, the Shinnik football stadium, the shop where I bought my winter coat, and Pizzeria Tashir.
If the lady with the lazy eye (who always used to make me hot drinks when I was cold) was on night duty at Yartek I knew she would help us to find a hotel. If she wasn't we would have to start looking for somewhere to stay on our own. I rang the bell and we waited...
"Of course I remember you! Come in, come in Jonat'an, you all must be freezing. I'll make some tea."
We walked up the stone steps into my old classroom, and hung our coats on the rack as the lady left to fill the kettle. As she lectured me about where the
nearest hotels were she suddenly changed her mind.
"Or you could sleep here? Just don't tell Boris Aleksandrovich."
The invitation sounded fine to everyone. My one night on the sofa in January wasn't too bad, and we were all too tired to leave having just sat down. Claire and Orphais shared the 'L' shaped couch in one corner and myself, Liisa and Tamzin slept on the other.
In the morning the same lady told us that there used to be a hotel next door, at the House of Friendship. There is a link to Exeter somehow, but I had only ever been inside to see the concert when Chris J played the piano. When we rang the bell a women answered. She complained for five minutes but eventually let us stay, and showed us to our two rooms upstairs. We all had a shower and changed clothes, then met in the porch an hour later.
I tried to retrace my footsteps, to show my friends where I used to go whenever I was free for an afternoon. We walked from ulitsa Nekrasova to ulitsa Svobody, past the theatre and under the arch where ladies
The House of Friendship.
Also known as Exeter House. It is the turquoise building on the left - Yartek is the identical house next door. sell flowers, and down ulitsa Kirova. From there we went to the Church of Ilya Prororka and walked around its courtyard. While I was living so close to it I never appreciated how beautiful it is. We walked along a path beside the river Volga, which is just as quiet in Yaroslavl as it is in Tver, then went to bar Aktyor for lunch.
We had half a dozen cups of coffee each, and ate bowls of soup with black bread or pig's neck shashlyki. Our plan for the evening was to watch Natasha Safronova's next play, as most of the actors would be from the Oxford class who studied with my group. They invited everyone from the last play. I sent a lot of messages to Michael, Natasha and Louise and found out that it would start at 6 at a studio on ulitsa Sverdlova. Louise's advice was "it's three hours long, so bring a warm sweater and a book!"
Until then we wandered around town. Claire and Orphais left to do some sight-seeing of their own and myself, Tamzin and Liisa went to the market. Everything was just as it had been, apart from the people
A memorial.
Even after four and a half months in Yaroslavl there are still places that I never knew existed. who always used to chat to me had already forgotten who I was. I waited for one of the Armenian women to recognise me, but all she did was try to get me to buy a leather jacket.
On ulitsa Kirova I bumped into my friends. Clare, Laura and Jamie had come from Moscow for the weekend, Sarah, Bhav, Emma and Chiara from Petersburg and Chris W from Kazan. We hugged and agreed to meet in the building where the play would be at 5.30. It felt good to be back in the place where we shared so many memories, now that we have all moved so far away. I didn't realise how much I miss everyone. We weren't all in Yaroslavl because some of us haven't had our passports registered yet, and Chris J is busy working for a radio station in Prague.
The play was certainly worth travelling so far for. Michael was brilliant as a mummy's boy who wants to move out of home and find a wife. Louise was a bossy woman who constantly swigged from a bottle of vodka. The storyline seemed to pass me by, but everyone acted with flair, especially Jessica
as a fat man with a huge beard and drunken swagger. The Russian audience laughed with them as they forgot their lines and broke three of the props. When Michael lost his next line he said "um.... something or other" in English and continued with his speech. Seeing him blush afterwards brought tears to my eyes.
Afterwards there was just time to say quick privets to my old teachers. It was upsetting that I couldn't speak to them for more than a few seconds each. Olga was wearing a long headscarf, Lena a new hat, Viktor a new bright red scarf, Yulia has a new hairstyle and Larissa doesn't have the blue streak in her hair any more. I miss them all.
Tamzin and Liisa joined the after-show party at Yartek, and I met up with Katya again. Nothing has changed in Yaroslavl since I have moved, but sadly between us a lot has. Whatever happens to us, she will always be a huge part of an important time in my life. We went to a restaurant, then said goodbye almost as soon as we had said hello.
I went to the party for an hour, and tried to see as many friends as possible. No-one is enjoying their second semester as much as their first and seemed really happy to be together at school again, if only for a couple of days.
Sarah was ill recently and was given a 'nose-warmer' by her new landlady. Emma moved out of her first home because she couldn't stand either the hozyaika or her hyperactive pet budgie. Jamie has a good job in the big city but doesn't need to speak any Russian. Clare has joined a choir. Plans for the Jon and Chiara 42nd birthday party have started - our best idea yet is the Rolling Stones concert in Petersburg on the 13th June but nothing is certain yet.
Our curfew was 1.30, which we only just missed. I know my friends from Tver enjoyed their day as much as I did.
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Emma
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Landlady on Tol'bukina
Hi, i lived and studied in Yaroslavl too about 4 years ago.....happy memories! I noticed you said that you used to live on Ulitsa Tolbukina. Which landlady did you have, was it Tanya or Nina by any chance (they were neighbours)? If so do you have either one of their address' or telephone numbers as i desperately want to get back in touch with Nina! If you do, could you email me at emmasky_36@hotmail.com