To Swim At Last!

Finally, Ira and I made it to the pool!! On my way home from Russian lessons I pass by a sports store, and finally got brave enough to go in and see if they had any swim caps which I could buy for Ira and myself. Well, my Russian is very much in its simple form, and since the term for swimming cap, has not been introduced into my vocabulary yet, I was forced to speak simply and use gestures. :) So I asked the lady if she had any ‘swim hats’ and then acted out those very same words. She understood, which made me feel good. It is a good feeling when you can communicate, no matter how limited your vocab. So Ira and I planned our next visit to the pool- Saturday, after baseball and the picnic with the people from English club. I don’t think we could have picked a better time to go! On Saturday it was about 106 degrees! So after playing baseball, and having been to the detention center earlier that day, it was sooooooooo nice to get into a nice cool pool!!!! It was like heaven. Well maybe not quite that good, but it was close! We swam for the entire time (you pay by the hour), and by time we left, it was a little after 9pm- the sun had gone down and it was a nice night with a cool breeze. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the day!! Though, maybe not having to take the long marshruka ride and then walking three blocks home, might have been a little better. After such a long day, I was completely exhausted! But when I got home, I was hungry and asked Tanya and Salavat if they would like to eat, and then we ended up walking to the 24hour store to get some food! We didn’t end up eating until midnight. Which is normal, well, maybe not normal, but I don’t think I can remember when I last ate dinner before 9pm. Oh wait, when Ron and Ruth were visiting. But I am told that it is a very Asiatic thing to eat dinner so late. I guess it can be a good thing, because Tanya says I am really an Asiatic person. She thinks I am more Asiatic than American. I take it as a compliment. It just confirms that I was made to be here! :) That, and I can be late to any function and it is normal- because everyone else is too! I love Central Asia!!!