Sometimes I wish we were an eagle.

The pictures are of the following - outside the back of a 'trolleybus' on a very nice day, behind you can see a 'marshrutnoye taksi/marshrutka', Petrozavodsk on a sunny day (side street where I play football with middle-aged men who may or may not use prostitutes occasionally, and my friend Joe outside Lenta supermarket.

Well, for those of you who were wondering how the HIV test went. It went well. I mean it took 3 there-and-back trips to get it sorted. But it worked out in the end.

Also have been to the bank this morning to pay for my visa. Due to the fact that I am actually Russian, I realised that, differing from England where I might give far too much information in the hope of helping the cashier, I simply need to slip the half-filled form through the thingymajig to the cashier.

And it worked, because it only took 5 quick minutes instead of the 5 dreadful, horrific minutes I was expecting when she asked me why I hadn't put my account details etc. Result. Although I initially did go to the wrong office, but they told me to go next door. Which I did.

On Friday I also went to the photo-shop to get some more photos for my visa-extension, and as it turns out, they are actually complete fuck-ups. Explanation as follows:

1) When I got home on Friday afternoon, I realised they'd only given me 2 photos, instead of the 4 I'd asked for.

2) They did them glossy, when I'd expressly requested MATTE photographs.

It's really not my fault as I thought they'd understood when I said 'Four' and 'Matte' in Russian.
And they said they understood.

They didn't. Why did they say they did, when they didn't. I mean, why lie? Just say you don't understand, it's fine, I'll say it as many times as I have to, to make myself understood.

Well, 'nechevo' as they say here 'doesn't matter/nothing/ok'.

The weekend however was fairly uneventful, apart from the fact that I've started playing football in yet another very Soviet-feeling sports hall with pictures of smiling Railway employees and faded Olympic signs.

I'm currently reading the following; Hard Times (FACTS!), Catch 22 (yet again, its even funnier this time) and Gogol's 'The Nose' in Russian. Which is solid by the way. Absolutely fucking solid.

Also - you can text me/ring me if you wish, however for that you need to either a) email me or b)facebook me for the details. I'll also say that there may be postcards soon, because I've been spurred on by recent adminstrative successes to tackle that fortress, that bastion of cold-shoulderness - THE POST OFFICE!

So if you'd kindly send me an address, then you may well receive a postcard.

xx