current location: Moscow, Russia

i'm here, and i don't even know where to begin.

my grandparents picked me up and wisked me off, in my jet-lagged stupor, straight to the dacha (summer home where we grow vegetables, etc), and... oh god. It's this ridiculous combination of the olden huts made out of logs that have always been there, mixed up with enormous McMansions built by the New Russians (or nouveau-riche, if you will) who want a nice summer home near the city. this state of affairs was already in full swing the last time i was here, three years ago, but this time, there's a blue Disneyland-style castle standing a mere two huts away from my grandparents' place.

the metro smells like it did when i was a child, a distinct maternal smell that i've never encountered in any other public transport anywhere else in the world. it's oddly comforting.

there are lots of people about wearing CCCP sweatshirts. i have yet to ascertain whether this is a fashion statement, or a political one.

there's still something very special to me about walking down an unassuming street and crossing paths with an enormous metal statue of Lenin.