Super-Duper Wacky n' Tacky Euro Adventure

Finally getting back to Russia and I'm ready to flex my culinary muscles again without the burden of a host family. This is the result. Oh no. It could be a very long summer.
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What?! A duracell bunny? Did I miss something here. I've asked other Europeans. Apparently this is not the least bit odd.
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For some damn reason, you just cannot avoid a ferris wheel if it's available. Why?!
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So these girls totally ambushed me and Darren with German flag paint, but we were both ok with it for some reason.
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A drum circle always livens the party.
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Don't know if it's an actual mile, but it was a bloody long street of DJs, big screens, and beer every five feet.
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Arriving at fan-mile.
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The Americans and Italians celebrate a well-fought game and a 1-1 result.
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Although it is very tough to tell, that is the actual (OMG!) world cup trophy being held in the middle of the crowd and broadcasted by the commentators during half-time.
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Those suckers in the stadium seating had to wait forever while we got the choice restaurant tickets with a perfect view of the screen.
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The lovely ladies with the most Mexican pride I've seen in awhile.
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Potsdame Platz to watch the Italy v. US game.
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Basketball court at the Stanford center. No, I'm not jealous.
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Where I spent at least half of my time in Berlin: at the Stanford center redoing the paper I accidentaly erased the day before.
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There was a random giant circle so we of course had to see who could get the highest.
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We all enjoy the modern architecture.
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An international broadcast (we think it was in arabic) is crashed by drunk Germans and yours truly.
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Darren the expert demonstrates how you can't really see anything at night.
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The city.
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Potsdamer Platz where I spent the entire previous day.
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We of course are extremely excited.
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The Reichstag.
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The Germans were finally out to show their pride even on a non-game night.
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Of course I don't remember the names of any of the sights I saw, but this gigantic ball in front of that famous monument was a definite highlight.
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This is one of Puma's more brilliant ideas: A travelling trolley store that stops every once in awhile and manages to just confuse the hell out of people instead of enticing them in.
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Mexicans and not go to the local Latino joint in Berlin to watch the game.
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We challenged these fellow Mexicans to a shot for every goal that we scored. They happily obliged, but the team did not as a 0-0 tie put a damper on that one.
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This is the out-of-control 60 inch flat screen at the Berlin center with convenient wi-fi making studying and the World Cup to new glorious heights.
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Look at how rediculous that hair was getting!
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These kids aren't nearly as excited
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Future judges.
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This is the ECHR building.
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The EU and ECHR centers here are nothing really more than fancy buildings.
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Oooh. How international.
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Tim and I actually find a beer on a Monday night in this lonely town.
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The most exciting thing in Strasbourg.
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Metro Line 14 is completely machine-operated leaving little kids and Johnny to live out their deep-seeded fantasies of operating a metro train.
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We had a good time anyway.
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We wanted to get into the Mexico V. France friendly, but our student budgets forced us to the pub beside the stadium with all the other poor Mexicans and Frenchies.
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And Munster wins!
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Johnny loves his windows.
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An ode to that one time Johnny scarfed down on ten microwaved hot dogs and a mustard-smeared baguette for a grand total of 1.92 euro. Well done.
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is one of my less busy days as it seems much of the office is busy getting some audit (whoda thunk it!) done by today and they don't have time to continue giving pet projects to the intern. Good for them, and my nytime.com browsing skills, but not so good for productivitys sake.

Can you believe that on Sunday I will have already have been here for two weeks?! Me neither! That's what this crazy town does to you. It just keeps you so damn busy that already the time is passing way way too quickly.

Yesterday I took a quick trip to my local bougie grocery store (they don't charge for the plastic bags!) as I was hankering for something hardy at dinner time. After rummaging through the store and settling on potatoes and some sort of pork cutlets, it was time to make my exit. But not before strolling the impulse aisle before you get to the register. I settled on a pack of Orbit Мятный Бриз, as my Costco gum supply that my parents presented me with on their visit a few months ago had now vanished. I got out my rubes, payed the lady, and franticly tried to bag all my stuff before the next customer booted me out of the way (It's not that bougie that they'll actually pack your bags for you!). I barely made it before being yelled at for being to slow and returned to the lockers to retrieve my bag. After fiddling with the key for about a minute, I got a tap on my shoulder and an uncomprehensible sentence from someone behind me. Turns out the checkout lady had left her post just to give me my pack of gum that I had forgotten by the plastic bags in my rush. I thanked her and took my gum, finally getting the locker open and liberating my belongings. I couldn't help but think of all those nay-sayers who say all Russians are mean and rude to strangers. I'm sure our constant anecdotes of unruly behavior sent home doesn't help the image back in the states. But these kinds of stories never do get told. So there you go. You never know when a complete stranger in Russia can make your day and save you 50 cents. Now if only the babushka at the entrance to the metro would stop yelling at me for reasons unknown!

for writing a quick entry because it's supposed to be my lunch break but the gargantuan tempest outside seems to be impeding my grave hunger. So I'll just take a little company time to update the ol' blog.

So a lot has definitely happened in the past week and I suppose the biggest is that I can actually take company time from my new internship to write this. As soon as I got in last Monday, I gave a call to my contact in Moore Stephens and an interview was set up for the next day. Turns out they were pretty certain on taking me, but they just needed to sit me down and make sure I wasn't completely off my rocker. Fair play. So I started last Friday and everything seems to be going fairly well so far. The firm is a mainly accounting and auditing firm that delves into stuff like consultancy every once in awhile. I'm working mostly with a very chill guy who's main job is putting together proposals for audits for a variety of Russian firms. Of course, the pay isn't great (in fact it sucks) but it's exactly what I need: a paying internship in the right field.

Moscow is kinda just how I remember it, except that the difference between seasons here is absolutely insane. Spring and summer welcome full trees, loudly playing kids (seemingly always outside the window!), and what is fondly referred to as пух. It's that stuff that grows on the ends of stemmed weeds around Texas that you can pick up and blow off for a wishful delight. It's not quite so delightful here because it is, quite frankly, everywhere. On the streets, in the room in the apartment, in my laptop case, in my hair, and other unmentionable locations. It's kinda like snow that makes one sneeze uncontrollably. Luckily the rain is known to tame this wild beast for a certain period of time.

I hate the world cup. No I don't. But my teams are out and I am in my period of grief right now. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy the rest I suppose.

Rain seems to be calming down. Can't wait for the yummy sandwich that awaits me.