Hugs

I was going to write this very long and charasmatic blog entry last night when I got home from playing hockey, but instead I spent two hours reading the Russian travel book that I borrowed from Megan (our RC) and decided that I need to go whitewater rafting in Kamchatka.

Anyways, there are lots of stories to tell (in no particular order).

Last night I went to play hockey again which was amazing as usual. However, Monday's are always pretty hectic because I have basketball practice from 5:30 to 7 and then I have to get to the rink as fast as I can so that we can play for as long as possible before they kick us off the ice at 10:30. So although I have considered taking my hockey stick with me to basketball practice, I have ultimately decided against this. So usually I get home around 4:30 and pack for basketball and hockey. Then I take my basketball stuff and go to practice. Then I jump on a trolley bus and come back to the apartment and grab all of my hockey stuff and go wait for the 97 marshrootka.

Except yesterday I got home a little bit earlier than usual which sent Margarita into this excited bustling about becuase it meant I would be able to eat before basketball practice and not have to wait until 11:30 like I usually do to eat dinner. So then I got to eat my first dinner at approximately 3:30 p.m. Then she told me she would have food waiting for me when I came back from basketball which I could eat for five minutes (second dinner) and then I could eat my real (third dinner) upon returning after hockey. Except this is ridiculous. Becuase eating 3 dinners is craziness especially when every "dinner" has approximately 6 times the number of calories I could hope to expend in playing both basketball and hockey.

So I decided that I would just tell her we were playing hockey earlier than usual so I had to take all of my stuff with me and couldn't come home for "second dinnner." So then I packed all of my stuff and repacked it all and checked to make sure I had skates and gloves and various hats and gloves and basketball shoes and shorts and etc... And then I came up with the brilliant plan to hide my hockey stick somewhere so that I wouldn't have to actually take it to basketball practice with me. This plan is actually really ridiculous becuase I essentially have to pass the apartment coming from basketball going to hockey if I want to get the correct marshrootka, but anyways. I feel like this story is not really going to make sense, but that is sort of the point. So then I took my hockey stick and decided I would hide it in the entry way to the apartment building so that I would not have to actually carry the hockey stick in the streets while it is daylight. Mainly I think carrying the hockey stick at night is more acceptable because people cannot actually see what you are carrying and they might just think I have lost my mind and am carrying it for protection purposes. Once again, I really just want a foldable hockey stick. Okay, so I hid the hockey stick behind the door in our подьезд and I rushed off to basketball. And then I realized I had forgetten a hair tie becuase I was wearing a hat so my hair was down. And then this became a catastrophe because it is impossible to play either hockey or basketball with volumptuos hair all over the place. So I spent the entire 20 minute walk to basketball searching the ground for a rubber band. I had never spent a long time studying the trash present on russian streets. Now, I have. There were lots of cigarettes. If only it became fashioanable for cigarettes to be sold instead of in boxes, but lashed together with rubber bands. There were also an alarming amount of condoms all over the place. Also I was so focused on staring at the ground, that I could have been carrying my hockey stick because I would have forgotten to be self-conscious about it. And then I got to basketball and still hadn't found a rubber band. But then a very nice girl gave me this large yellow scrunchy thing when I tried to explain (demonstrate) me putting up my hair. And then we played basketball. And then I decided I would just take the yellow scrunchy with me to hockey and return it to her on Thursday at our next practice. This probably is creating a stereotype of Americans as forgetfull and insensitive hair-scrunchy stealers.

Then I got on the trolleybus and went all the way back to the apartment and entered the outer door carrying a yellow bag and two seconds later exited carrying the bag plus a hockey stick. Except I don't think there was anyone around to see this insanity that was occuring. And then I walked to the bus stop. Also I have this problem where I am able to run to the bus stop when I see the bus coming and then it stops and I relax just a tiny bit and maybe stop running so fast and just as I approach to get on, the doors close and it pulls away. That happened last night where I saw the bus and ran and then as soon as I began to enter the door, it left. Oh well. Then I went to hockey.

Important back-story: Last week when Andrei and I went to play hockey, some other guy introduced himself to me, except of course I immediately forgot his name. Anyways he was very nice (last week).

This week he sort of lost his mind. So I got on the ice. Usually I spend the first 30 seconds looking around for any other girl that might have magically appeared to play hockey. Usually, I think I see like 3 girls. Then I realize they are all just amazing mullet-ed men. So I stepped on the ice and suddenly Andrei began pointing at something behind me and then I turned around and the guy from last week is skating towards me with open arms. And he is very tall so he is sort of just towering over me. And then he sort of tries to hug me, except I had no idea what to do. And then he says something like "Abby!!!!!! Warm up and then come play with us!!!" And I say "Ok." And am really fairly alarmed by the towering russian man who just tried to give me a hug. And then essentially the hugging just continued for the rest of the evening. Like whenever anything would happen: I would fall down, I would stand up, I would score a goal, I would make a pass...And hugs would accompany all of these actions. It was just quite ridiculous. And then of course there was another hug upon his departure. So yes.

Also I just returned from the train station where I succesfully bought a ticket to Archangelsk and back for our end of October/beginning of November vacation. And by "bought a ticket" I mean that I attempted to explain what I wanted and then the woman just took the piece of paper (I had written out of what trains I needed on what dates) from me and did it all. I think she was not impressed by my slow-ness to say "the 31st of October." Regardless, that is a very large success. Now the newest problem will be finding a hotel room. And then calling the hotel to reserve the hotel room. I am already frightened.

Also, there is a lot of snow in Yaroslavl. And it is very beautiful. And I just wander around looking at all of the amazing hats. It is impossible to be in a bad mood when you get to admire all of the different hats. The miliary men have some of the coolest hats. It makes me a tiny bit less scared of them.

Also, Happy Birthday Miss Aiko Sophia Weverka!!!