New apartment!

      Yes, yes, I know I JUST moved to Moscow 2 weeks and 1 day ago.  However, there was an opportunity for me to move to an apartment in a more convenient location with one of my roommates; Ashley.  So we took it! In our old apartment, here was our trek to work: Leave the flat at 7:15 am, stand at the bus stop right outside for anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes.  Catch the bus, ride it for abut 15 minutes. Get off the bus.  Walk 15 minutes to our school's campus in the city. Get on a bus provided to the teachers by the school. Ride that bus for 45 minutes outside of Moscow to our school. The ride home was even longer because of Moscow traffic (by the way, it is the absolute craziest, most unorganized traffic I have ever seen.) BUT NOW, I walk about 15 minutes to the city school where I catch the bus to my school. Living at my new apartment saves me about 30 minutes in the morning. Another perk to my new apartment is that Ashely and I have our own rooms, we no longer are separated in a wall-less room by a curtain.  I do miss all the mirrors though.

     I like to name the places where I live. Silly, I know.  I do not know what to name my new flat! Maybe all of you readers can give suggestions. Look at these pictures:

This is the entrance hallway. The door to the right is the entrance, the doors to the left are to my room. That chair/couch thing ahead folds down to a bed. 

 Here is the other end of the hall, and the entrance to Ashley's room....and a coat rack that will get a whole lot of use.

This is the hallway to the kitchen. That door is to the bathroom.

This is the bathroom. Notice the shower head that is not attached to the wall. It is removable, and I have to hold it to clean myself.

Kitchen. See that stove? It is gas, and it needs to be started with matches. I'm terrified of matches. I'm not sure how I will eat if my roommate is not home.

We have a washing machine in the kitchen. Just a washing machine, no dryer.

Here are the doors to my room. There really is no privacy in Russia.

This is my room. In the back there is a door to my balcony!

Another view of my room.

This is bed. I know you are thinking it looks like a couch. That is because it is.  It folds down, but I will leave it like this because, quite frankly I do not feel like pushing it down. I believe in Soviet times, families would always sleep on these things. Some whole families would live in one room, and fold the bed(s) up during the day, and down at night.  No, it is not a futon..it is different, trust me. I do not think we have these in the states.  Oh, and yes I still sleep with stuffed animals...I bet you do too, admit it! 

View from my balcony.

Another view from my balcony.

A view from my balcony at night (I know, I know, I NEED a better camera...)

   We live on the 9th floor, this is our elevator. Yes, it is as creepy as it looks.  It is tiny, you can hear the ropes and pulley things click all the way up. The lights are dim, and there is nothing inside the elevator to tell you which floor you are on.

   So that is the new flat! What should we name it? We think it sort of looks like a hotel suite, and we might  like the work "sunset" in its name because we get a really nice view of the sun setting in the evening.  Get creative, people! :)

   Today my roommate and I went a store that it like Walmart, but less organized and way more crowded.  I would be happy if I never went there again.  We needed supplies for our new flat.  Times like these I wish I had a car here, and that traffic did not exist.  We each had big tote bags filled with essential kitchen, and lesson items, Ashley carried a drying rack, and I carried this seemingly enormous mattress squishy cover (for my bed...to make it more comfortable) all through the city back to our flat. Imagine squeezing onto a crowded metro with all this stuff...everyone staring at you more than usual.

    Speaking of metro, when we stepped on a train this afternoon with all of our stuff, we saw a man lying right there, face down on the floor in the middle. I wasn't sure if he was intoxicated, dead, or thought that was the most appropriate place to take a nap. A guard came on the train and tried to wake him up. He sort of moved ( he was breathing), but seemed unconscious. So a few other passengers helped the guard to drag him off of the train. It was interesting to me that no one on the train seemed to budge, flinch, or react in anyway to this man...it was completely silent on the train until I entered, saw this sleeping floor man, and blurted out in confusion "WHAT?!" People had to be asked to help move him, no one seemed to jump up and do so without being prompted.

    I am finding that I might be too short for this city.  I have trouble reaching my cabinets (in my new and old apartment), and the the bars on the metro (up above to hold onto). I just have to practice good balance, thats all.

-Gina