This country makes me sleepy

There's probably a billion reasons why I'm so tired. But I'm going to blame Moscow. Seriously though, come 2 pm it's like a master feat to keep my eyes open. I'm not actually tired per se, I just can't keep my eyelids open. What I'd really like is to close my eyes and listen to the lecture but unfortunately that comes off as sleeping, go figure. I thought it was just our classroom at school but today we visited the Moscow City Government and I had the same problem.

First, I thought it was going to be a tour of the government. Maybe I've been spoiled by buildings in DC, London, and Paris, but I really like looking at cool old buildings. That's not quite done here apparently. We only went inside a church and a museum at the Kremlin and today we sat in the Press room and saw the inside of the elevator plus a flight of stairs. So ok, it's a lecture instead, that's alright I like politics. But it ended up being mainly about transportation issues. Which is not exactly what I'm interested in but was still interesting and touched on the modernization problems and developmental issues that are complicating Moscow life. All in all it was interesting and we got to see our friends Maria and Zach again. (At first I typed "Friends" with a capital F...as far as I know they aren't Quakers but who knows).

Then the group went to this Uzbek restaurant...which I must admit made me a little nervous. You all know I'm not exactly un-adventurous...but please lets not play around with my eating! (Seriously, Jess and Linds, I should be obese). But it was what the group wanted to I packed up my courage and dove in to...what appears to be very much like the middle eastern food I eat at home. Yay!! The food was great, well cooked, and the waitress was really nice. Creme brulee for dessert was missing some crunch but other than that we had fabulous bread, dumplings, rice, hummus, yum yum yum.

And let me just make a quick comment about the waitress. First of all she was adorable. But she was NICE. She listened politely to my Russian, spoke slowly so I could understand her, and actually understood me! And SMILED! I love her and I want to take her home with me. Really though, up until this point I hadn't noticed how Soviet stoicness had affected me. I mean, I don't feel like smiling on the hot, crowded metro either. But when I see a cute baby, I generally smile while the nanny glares at me like I'm juggling knives over the pram. And while I get along with most people in our group well, it's not quite the same as walking into my apartment at school to cries of "My love!!" Ok, maybe my friends and I are a little too close, but still. I miss my presence being appreciated. Here I just feel like I'm in the way.

But I think perhaps I'm just a bit melancholy lately. Homesickness was bound to hit eventually of course, no matter how many buffers I had to hold it off. Hopefully I'll shake the feeling soon and will be back on my feet. I'm still enjoying my time here but I don't look out the window with the feeling that this city is mine anymore. Like London, I feel like an outsider, but like London, I'll get the happy feeling back and will love this city again. In the meantime I think I'll pamper myself with a nice relaxing bath and an early bedtime.