11 July 2006
dateline: Moscow
MOSCOW - Saunaed in Russian baths yesterday that were so hot they hurt my eyeballs. We're writing down key words for things to remember in these little notebooks his father gave us, but we don't have those with us right now.
The hotel view is astonishing and we immediately rearranged the beds so that we could look at the Stalinesque towers until we fell asleep---gaudy, enormous, intimidating, and increasingly decorated in neon this and that---and the Kremlin. The skyline isn't Jetsons-ish Shanghai, but it's more European than I would have expected. The people are about as heavy as Americans, but far less friendly, and seem to be as color-blind in their fashion choices as Londoners. Dirk says they feel superior to Americans and Americans feel superior to them.
Being veggie isn't hard, but the cake is overpriced and the breakfasts . . . well, we load up a plate, but only eat half. And not because it's so much food.
It's setting in, that this is it: we're heading East and we'll keep heading East. I'll study Dutch tonight and he'll write letters and practice the Russian alphabet and numbers. I'm wearing a skirt and black glasses and he's in linen pants---so it all seems very movie-star-like.
Blah. Movie stars suck.
"We don't suck!" Dirk says.
betholindo at 13:18