Busy 2 weeks.

The last two weeks went by as a hurricane. The good weather officially arrived and with it life itself

As it turned out, it is not so simple after all to renew my visa. In theory the university would have done it for me, but after days of suffering it finally turned out yesterday (25th April), that I have to go to the police by myself and do the whole process again. After all I’m not surprised at all, but it would have been so much easier to tell me right away to do it on my own. It is not so difficult to understand that I don’t wish to fiddle around in the country with a valid visa. Hopefully today I’ll manage to carry out the sacred act and get the necessary stamps.

Though yesterday I was furious, the lovely Anna in the office, who’s the mother and saint of the foreign students, managed to calm me down, since she promised that I could copy everything in the office. I just want to get my Russian transit visa done on Monday, because I don’t want to deal with all the paper work just before I go home. I saw it yesterday that it would be a nightmare. On Friday I accompanied Mélanie in her heroic search for the accountant in the university. It’s good that I was with her, because now I’ll be able to prepare myself when I’ll have to do it myself. 

Changing the groups proved to be a great idea. I like our group a lot. The people are nice and the teacher is good as well. Though she sees that I’m a bit behind, but I’ve managed to prove her that I have a place in the group. I’ve tried so many different groups compared to the average students, that I could become an advisor for students, when it comes to which group they should choose. :D For this reason the lady in the library also learnt my name by this time.

This week was quite crazy, in terms of activities and events and the running around. On Monday I bought a very useful book about Russian Syntax. It cost a fortune, but those who study foreign languages, in my opinion, are used to pricey books. It is worth every ruble though, because the book is very detailed and modern.

On Tuesday we visited a monastery nearby Minsk with our and a few other groups. It was very interesting and I bought a jar of honey with pollen that the nurses made. They manufacture and sell a huge variety of products, from soaps, ceramic pots to clothes. It is quite impressive. The day had a perfect ending: on our way home a sudden and fierce downpour surprised us, for which I was really grateful because I’ve been missing it for a while. I love storms.

Since Mélanie and Simon go home soon (Mélanie on Sunday, Simon on Monday), I sort of gave upon studying in the end of the week. :D On Thursday we ended up going to small get-together at Nikita’s, a local friend from CS, place. It’s been a lovely night with lovely people and Zubrovka. J

Friday I decided to skip university and we organized with Mélanie the birthday of Simon. We went to a local restaurant called Kyхмистр (Kuxmistr). The decoration of the place is just something beyond words. The wallpaper was simply gorgeous: peacocks with butterflies and flowers. Pure kitsch! :D A must see. I wanted to rip off a tiny piece and keep it as a memory. But in the end I just took some Roni-style artistic pictures.

I ordered and tasted draniki, the local dish at last. It is potato pancakes served usually with sour cream. I ordered mine with bacon and onions. I basically stuffed myself. I was so full I could hardly move.  It was super delicious.

Here I have to babble a few words about mistranslations in Belarus. It is yet again another country, where language freaks can have a great time discovering the different mistakes. For example, yesterday I ordered draniki, right? The English translation was the following: “Potato pancakes with fried lard and onions”. They translated the Russian word “сало” as lard. Obviously it is a giant mistake. They should have translated it as e.g. streaky bacon. Having seen lard for the first time, I had the impression that something went seriously wrong. Imagine that you don’t speak Russian, and you see the word lard. Wow, they serve soft white fat obtained from piggies? Yummy…  Doesn’t sound that good. It was a funny experience. 

We welcome the month of public holidays, May with a week almost entirely without classes. I have to go to the Russian Embassy on Monday, so I’ll have to miss half of the classes. Then, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are holidays. As I’ve mentioned that before, I’m going to Brest on 29-30 and am going to return to see the parade on the 1^st of May in Minsk.

The official countdown has begun. 35 days left and I go home. With only 5 weeks left here and with Mélanie and Simon gone, I shall dedicate myself completely to Russian.

Well, that was a summary of the last few days. With busy days behind me, all I long for now is peace and calmness.

Пока!