City of Cats

Part I: The Town Ruled by Cats

You all know that I love cats. On one hand I am excited that the city seems bursting with friendly felines, but on the other hand it simply breaks my heart. Today (during a break between seminars and testing) I decided to go for a walk. I had read that the road that parallels Bolshaya Moscovskaya (the main street of Vladimir) to the south leads to a good view of the Uspenski Sobor (Assumption Cathedral) from a distance. I walked to the end of the road, and was met first with a tangle of brush. I could see the golden domes of the Uspenski Sobor gleaming through the leaves, but I had to do a bit of climbing and precarious leaning to take some good pictures. (And I did get some excellent shots, by the way. I will try and post one if I have time.) This spot (off the end of Georgievsnaya Ulitsa, I think) would make an excellent spot for cheesy tourist shots if only the brush was trimmed. If I were the mayor or tourism director of the city, I would most definitely clear this spot out and post signs. But as it was, it was just me, clambering through the brush with my camera. And, of course, there were the cats.

K, one of our two lead teachers, and who spent last year teaching at the AH as well, has a theory that the city of Vladimir is ruled by cats. They are everywhere, and at times it is almost creepy. Initially, it was actually creepy. There I was, up on this stone ledge, leaning awkwardly through the brush in order to snap some photos... I turn around, and there are cats everywhere. At least six of them, perhaps more. They were not afraid of me, although they also did not seem very interested in me either - especially when they realized I was not going to feed them. They all vanished into an opening under a nearby building. No doubt to hold a meeting of their Secret Feline Government. I decided to head back to the main street. On my way, I encountered a teeny tiny little fuzzball. The fuzzball uncurled itself and formed an adorable, if incredibly dirty kitten. When I know I cannot take in a cat, I try my hardest not to pet strays, but this one was just so cute that I could not help myself. It responded enthusiastically to having its head rubbed, so I sat down on the step next to it... and the little thing promptly climbed up into my lap and began to purr. I sat there for a long time. A couple of people walked by, and either entered or exited nearby apartment buildings. I asked if it was their cat, but no one claimed it. Like I said, it was very dirty, and underneath its size-giving fuzz, it was skin and bones. I really wanted to bring it home, but Gosha (the AH cat) does not like other cats in HIS house (I have seen him defend his territory), and I do not know how Nina M would react to a stray (and probably sickly) kitten. I may have cried over the poor little thing. I did not even have anything to give it for a snack. In the end I simply wished it well and resumed my walk. The whole experience left me feeling rather depressed.

Part II: Back to work

At 6:00pm we tested a group of approximately fifty new students (students who had never studied at the AH before) to determine what course we would place them in. The students took a written test (sentences and multiple choice) and had to do an oral interview with us as well. This was my first chance to meet average AH students (as opposed to yesterday when we met the cream of the crop), and I was still impressed. Certainly no one I interviewed was at the same level as the students I met yesterday (and some of them were literally either scared stiff or shaking like leaves), but for the most part they all seemed genuinely interested in being there. It was a good to get a feel for the average student.

Okay, it has been a long day. I did not get home until 9pm (we were grading tests!) and I still have Russian homework to do and EFL info to read……