The lady and her dog can wait, I'm sleeping.

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Literature class isn't compulsory so I had a lie-in until 11. Since Kazan I have been feeling very weak and tired all the time, and sleeping and eating more isn't making a difference. I fall asleep most evenings at about 9 and wake up an hour later, which means I miss the best part of every day. A trip to see Helen in Moscow on saturday should give me some of my energy back, so I can make the most of my last three weeks in Russia. I don't want to let them pass me by, although there isn't much I want to do any more.

In the afternoon lesson we were allowed to work on our own towards our 'referat'. It is a big essay that influences our marks at the end of the course. Unsurprisingly I chose to research the attitude of the Russian people towards oligarchs, from the start of Mikhail Gorbachev's leadership up to the present day. The sun shining in through the classroom window was so hot that I had to take my jumper off, revealing my 35-rouble blue t-shirt that I bought at Yaroslavl market, that has shrunk to half its' old size and has holes in both shoulders. Given my new hairsyle and the fact that I haven't shaved for a week I was far from looking my best. I will smarten myself up for the oral presentation!

I met Liisa at the Lenin statue at 8 and we walked to the river Volga. Now it has completely thawed it is a calm dark blue. Ducks paddle on the edge of the water and some seagulls fly over it near the second bridge. A barge with a bar and restaurant floated past us as we were talking, and stopped two hundred yards further down the river. We sat on a stone wall and dipped our hands in, then sat in a café nearby for an hour when the sun had set.

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