Explorations

B (who lives about a ten minute walk from me) and I decided to go exploring today. It has been very easy to fall into the routine of getting up, going to work, then simply coming home. While I have done some exploring in the area surrounding the AH, I have not done much exploration near my home, and neither had she. So, we met outside my apartment a little after 11:00am, and began to walk. We went into a lot of different small stores in our neighborhood, and looked at various things we could buy if one day we happened to need those items. We discovered that exactly midway between her apartment and mine is the World of Shoes, a rather amazing shoe store full of all of the boots (leather and lined with fur, but pointy toed and atop stiletto heels) that any woman living in Russia would need during the winter. No, I did not purchase any (I'm certain I can get boots cheaper at the market), but I can easily envision myself purchasing several pairs. Sigh. We also discovered a nice bookstore very close to Brooke's apartment. No English language books, of course, but a nice selection of very Russian notebooks. (My students, male, female, adult, and teen) all have the most adorable notebooks that they use in class. I bought one today; I simply could not help myself. On the cover is the cutest little black kitten, sitting atop an open book. The Russian caption reads "How great to have the ability to read!" We took some pictures of typical Russian apartment buildings, and I took some incredibly cool shots of two mushrooms growing out of a knot in a tree. We also went to the post office and mailed some letters to the States. (Again: hint, hint, people!) Afterwards, we went to the AH. J offered a clinic in playing American Football this afternoon. I think I have mentioned before how impressive J is with a football. Anyhow, sports are definitely not my forte, but I was very pleased to see that not only was there a large turnout among our students for the clinic, but many of them were girls. Good for them! Meanwhile, I went inside and participated in the great American sport of internet surfing, which is far more up my alley. The Weather Channel had predicted a cold snap for the beginning of last week. True, it has been a tad cooler, but the cold snap never materialized. Of course, this evening it has begun to rain, and I suspect that the wonderful weather we've been having might now be coming to an end. We shall see.