A person does not live by only eating bread

For (person = Troy) and (bread = large pizza). But I've done it for the past three days in a row. On Thursday I griped to one of my classes that I was having a difficult time finding cheese I liked. The general consensus is that in Kaliningrad the choices for cheese are slim. Later that day somebody asked me if I had had pizza since arriving. I said that I hadn't. He recommended a place for me to eat at, but said that it was expensive - 500 rubles for a pizza. I thought about checking the place out - 500 rubles is only about $17 which is a little on the high side, but not unreasonable. But in America that $17 only represents about an hour of work. Here it represents closer to nine hours. I decided that store bought pizza wasn't worth that much to me. When I opened the fridge the next day and discovered my hunk of cheese was changing colors on me I decided the time was right for some homemade pizza. And again on Saturday I whipped up some pizza. Just finished my third, as a matter of fact. The main reason I did it was to get rid of the frozen pizza crusts I had purchased a few weeks ago as they were freezer burned and I didn't want them to go any further. Next time I get a hankering for pizza (which probably won't be for awhile) I will be making my own crust. It is amazing how much actually goes into a pizza. The amount of cheese is a little sickening in my opinion. For what it is worth I've figured out what to put on the pizza to make it luscious, and some things to avoid. My main discovery was a rather pricey sauce (about $1 for a jar). It has peppers and mushrooms in it already so adds quite a bit of flavor over the normal ketchupy tomato sauce available. If you ever get creative with your pizza, stay away from pickles, nutella, apricots, and pears. Carrots are good, however.

Right now I'm taking a break from cleaning the apartment. I've been at it all day and it is exhausting. I really wanted to reclaim my balcony area because laundry needs to be done and wet things need a place to drip. There is so much junk that I got from the center last week! Fortunately, fleas are not one of them. There are books all over my floor and desk right now. If I just sat in my room and read until I need to come back home, I'd probably finish everything. One doesn't come all the way to Russia to just set and read though. There is even a near mint condition Risk game. I guess this place isn't so primitive after all. In a way I wish that I didn't have all this junk. Sure it is nice to have more dishes than I'll ever use and a different set of sheets for each night of the week, but before getting it all, my apartment was trim, fit, and spiffy. And now I get this bloated feeling. Of course that could be my pizza(s) talking to me. A pleasant discovery was a Russian hymnal. As far as I can tell, church operates on the 'bring your own hymnal if you haven't learned all the words yet' policy. I definitely fall into that category.

Some other highlights of the weekend include walking to and from church (I used your scarf for the first time, Anastasia). The walk home was a bit depressing, but still good exercise. It was sunny until about two minutes after I started walking and then it began to rain. When I could see my apartment the sun resumed its shining. About a 45 minute hike. The afternoon meeting went well. I continued gathering ideas for my novel. It is nice to be able to point at somebody and ask for their life story. I learned how to become a very rich man - bet on sports. For only a 20 ruble deposit, I could wind up with $100 000. Or several broken appendages and a price on my head. The alternative isn't too scary, so we'll see what happens. The Bible part of discussion was great. I think for the first time people were pretty polarized on their opinions. In the evening I was planning on getting to bed early again (last Saturday it was about 8:30 when I sacked out), but figured I would just take a peak at the movie Chiff let me borrow. After only five minutes I was hooked, so connected the laptop to the tv and enjoyed Ночной Дозор - a vampire movie. Some movies are meant to be watched when it is dark outside. I tell myself that it would not have had the same affect on me had I watched it today. Oh well, what's done is done.

I believe it is time for me to cut my hair. If my memory isn't too far off, I think the last bush whacking I had was prior to the family vacation in late July. It doesn't seem possible, but that was already three months ago. Time does prance forward whether you've got ahold of the reins or not. I opted to not see My Fair Lady this weekend. Next weekend Don Juan is playing and that will give me a chance to check out the local music scene as well as enjoy a night at the opera. Also next Sunday, Том Хенкс in Терминал opens in local theatres. Maybe I should try that one again.

I don't feel any more motivated to put my place back in order now than I do when I started typing this, but it needs to be done today so I might as well get started. For those out there that know in what state I'm prone to keep my bed in will be glad to hear that I've made the bed and set it up into couch every day I've been here with two exceptions. They were both last week, but I'm hoping that isn't any indication of what is coming. If you haven't already received an email from me, prepare to do so within the next 72 hours. I'm changing to a new address and am finally finalizing everything.