So I said before I would post some pictures, and then post some more from my birthday party. It turns out, I don't really have any pictures that are worth posting at the moment, much to my chagrin. I only took about 7 at my party, and none of them are very good.

In any case, the party was fun, I'm 21, and still in Russia...for the forseeable future. My tutor gave me the DVDs of my favorite Russian TV show, which I'm super pumped about, and Matt's tutor gave me some rockin' banya-wear. Picture a wool hat not unlike the one Gilligan wore on "Gilligan's Island," and an over sized wool mitten, but just one. Oh yeah, it's as sexy as it sounds. We drank and sang and played backgammon to our hearts content. The place was lovely, and the sauna was as hot as ever. Of course the fact that we had school the next day made things a little harder on the old noggin, but I snapped out of it by the time the first class ended.

Monday was spent in horrible fear, however. In a drunken haze, at about 4am Monday morning, I had crawled out of bed and gone to the kitchen, pouring myself a big glass of tapwater. No problem, right? Well, they say the tapwater here is like the water in Mexico. I finished the water, then came to my senses. I returned to bed fearing for my guts. The next day was spent overanalyzing every little pop and gurgle my tummy made, though such noises aren't out of the ordinary for me here (fucking cabbage). I think everything is fine though, knock wood.

I finish my semester up next Monday, and not a day too soon. I really need to take it easy for a while. It's amazing how burnt out I am. It's hard to describe just how tiring life here is, speaking, and even listening to, Russian all day really takes it out of a guy. A month of hibernation sounds like just fine to me right now. Hopefully this strange weather will pass, and the temperature will drop below freezing again. December without snow just isn't December, especially when you're in fucking Russia.

So that's it for now. I look forward to the day where I can walk into an American bar and proudly use my now fully functional ID, but until then I shall have to make do.