12 November: All Quiet on the Western Front

It’s been nearly a month since Denis moved, and nearly 2 months since Clara moved from this apartment. Sabrina and I have finding our own rutines, and is making this “home” bit by bit. I must say I have come to like it. A 3 roomed apartment (excl. kitchen), just for the two of us, is not bad for two volunteers. Although we only use Denis´ (messy) room for things in our rooms we don’t like, such as a mid90s tv in the middle of my room. And after overcoming our better judgements we’ve managed to clean/disinfect the bathroom and the toilet, and even better: we’re nearly done cleaning/disin.. the entire kictchen! Cleaning this apartment after Denis´ yearlong neglect must be the biggest cleaning project in memory of mankind!

Luckily the weather has gotten better since last: From -12°C and harsh wind to 0°C, snow and mild wind, hurrah! Nevertheless that hasn’t stopped me from going out and getting myself some winterboots. Fluffy, warm and pretty they are best pair of shoes I’ve ever had! I also invested in some winterfriendly tights. So a total of 4000 Rubbels spent in the last week on keeping me warm. Speaking of which, the kidney and throat inflammations are starting to wear off. 5 days more on medicine and then I should be back to health.



We had a bit of issues (according to Anastasia) with Denis´ mother, but they seem to have been solved now. Previously we thought that Denis´s mum lived with his brother next door, but apparently she does not. Up on ‘till 1pm this day we thought Denis´ mum was the old lady (approx. 65+ years old), who regularly often visits Denis´ older brother and his wife next door - so you can imagine our surprise when a women in her early 50s rang our doorbell today and introduced herself as “Denis mama!”, and thereafter spend 10 minutes grabbing some of her winterclothes and sowing stuff like she did this every Saturday. But not to say that she was rude or uncomfortable, she wasn't.


It feels like I can finally say I’m starting to pick up a bit of Russian (not thanks to my host organisation, but) thanks to Alexa and “Rosetta Stone”, which is a brilliant program to learn languages. I have also started to use Rosetta stone to get some proper German skills (Danes a taught a little German in middle school), and I must say learning Germans goes fast!

Work is still a bummer, and I’m still used as 3 professionals rather than 1 volunteer. I’ve only been to work once since I got sick. The first thing I did after that day (Tuesday) was to call in sick for the rest of this week.

Last but not least I bought a ticket home (a return ticket!) so that I can spend Christmas with my family back home. The prospect of this break in my EVS really makes the bad things seem easier to overcome: In the middle of my 9 months here I will now have 2 weeks of normalcy. I look forward to going home for 2 weeks. While I don’t have problems with being far away from friends and family - Skype (which is a Danish invention btw!) doesn’t exactly make it easier to miss people - I do however miss the convenience of my life back home: No language barriers, to know the system, to know the mentality, to know people all over the country, quality public transport (and my recently sold car!) and being able to go where I please. But I asked for different, I asked for new perspective and I asked for adventure, and I got it! So I’m not complaining, I'm just reflecting.

Oh, and speaking of reflection, I’ve decided to rename this blog into something that felt more fitting: “Glamorous Retrospect”, from the quote “Travel is glamorous only in retrospect” by Paul Theroux, Which couldn't be more true.

But yes, for now, all quiet and calm for us westerners occupying southwestern Russia.

6 November: Father Frost arrives

Father Frost (Russian folklore figure similar to western Santa Claus) has arrived! The weather has suddenly become freezing cold and windy! In just a few days the temperature dropped 14 degrees from +7 to –7 yesterday, and today another 4 drop, which might just be why we drove with Alexa and her mother to a large mall nearby to try and get some wintershopping done. Unfortunately her mother was tired so we did not have much time, I did however end up with a nice white winter hat partially in wool for just 300 Rubbels  - yay! Alexa lives in the blok just behind us, but nevertheless just the walk over there felt like an hour.

I finally got my USB internet fixed now after 3 weeks. After Denis went I “borrowed” his for the few days it lasted after his leave, but other than that I’ve been off the wire for 3 weeks. While simultaneously sick in the apartment without money on my phone and kidney inflammation (being from north Europe is apartment no help even in southern Russia, eventhough is nearly 1500km further south). Getting sick in Russia, especially as a foreigner, is expensive, luckily us EVS pricks are well insured by EU, and I get treated in a nearby fancy private hospital with English speaking doctors and all.

As my posts may also revel my head is sometimes a mess full of waaaay too many thoughts going at once.  Being in Russia hasn’t exactly helped to make my head more structured so a few days ago I raided (or rather, bought) the local mall for some post-its. They showed up to be a double win as not only can I now keep my head and business in order, it also helps personalise my room a bit, which is much needed as it looks like a furniture/decoration graveyard (and I’m now allowed to change the look at all). Until now it’s felt like anything but my room, little by little it’s now starting to look like my own living space.