Blogs from Yaroslavl, Centre, Russia, Europe - page 5

My new flat is on ulitsa Bolshaya Oktyabr'skaya, which runs opposite ulitsa Pobedy. My building is near where I went horse riding last month, and I'm only five minutes away from Chiara who lives in a neighbourhood I know quite well. The stairs are almost completely dark and smell worse than where I have moved from. My room is an early 1900's style living room with a brown rug, a small bed in the corner and a cupboard that takes up an entire wall. Along the other wall is a five-seat sofa, with a foot rest. It is on the first floor so there is a permanent loud, high-pitched squeaking and low-pitched grunting of trams outside, and when one passes the building twice a minute the room shakes. My new hozyaika is a lady called Marina ... read more

Another cold, dull day. There has been no real daylight at all this week and the sky is low and grey. In Viktor's class we talked about bribes; what to give someone if you want something done in Russia. Rich parents pay thousands of dollars to make sure their child gets into a good kindergarten. For a good school it will cost a computer or a colour printer. You need to pay even more for a comfortable bed in hospital. Twenty years ago it was only a bottle of cognac or a calendar of naked girls. Corruption goes higher than that in Russia - but that is none of my business. We finished our second workbook with Lena. There were twenty minutes free at the end of the lesson so we talked about the most embarrassing ... read more

Still below zero this morning and it's raining. In Viktor's class we talked about another of Russia's social problems - this time homelessness. Surprisingly for a Russian he is very open with discussing his country's faults. We moved on to the more comfortable topic of Oligarchs, especially Roman Abramovich. He has twice as much money - 14 billion dollars - as the second richest man in Russia. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, many businessmen have become extremely rich. Many of them have broken laws in doing so. Russia has vast oil supplies, and companies such as SibNeft' - owned by Abramovich - are some of the wealthiest in the world. It was interesting to hear Viktor's point of view on the rise of Novye Russkie, 'new Russians' since perestroika. Whereas there used to be ... read more

I got up late today. I badly needed a few hours to relax as I was exhausted after yesterday. My head doesn't hurt any more but my legs are sore and weak. Lunchtime completely undid the lie-in. Tamara Aleksandrovna's meals are always unpleasant. Sometimes the conversation is light hearted so I notice it less but this one made me angry. The table is only big enough for one. While I am eating she circles me - looking over my shoulder, telling me what to eat and when, how to eat, what she has bought and how much it cost, where it is from, do I want more, why the Russian food is best, how her last boy ate, why my diet is the reason for me being ill, asking me to comment on everything, telling Musya ... read more

I still wasn't well enough to go to classes today. I could open my eyes, but there was a horrible pain behind them, and my head was still very sore. I felt dizzy and couldn't think clearly. I went to Yartek and told them that I needed a doctor, so Valentina Ivanovna made some phone calls. I waited for an hour on a sofa outside one of the classrooms. When the class came out they all asked how I was. Chris J thought my skin was grey, Sarah said I looked yellow. They were really concerned for my health and I'm flattered they were so kind. I found out what I had missed the night before. The actors from 'Daughter's Lesson' went to Natasha's flat (where Jamie lives) and watched the play video. Everyone seemed to ... read more