Baby Steps.

Today, Patrick, Genevieve, Maureen, and I successfully went to a coffee house (in Russian, it's also phonetically pronounced "coffee house") and bought drinks and dessert! I am saving the receipt so we can forever remember how young and comically naieve we once were in the grand ol' city of Moscow. When deciding who would ask for the check, we employed our tried and true tactic of "No Nose Goes" but, after maybe five minutes of everyone stubbornly pressing a finger to his or her respective nose, Genevieve shocked and impressed us all by standing up and walking to the register of her own accord. It was the most beautiful and selfless act I have probably ever witnessed in my entire 20 years on this earth. Never again will I take for granted how wonderful it is to know how to ask for food and, perhaps more importantly, how to pay for it. In Moscow, I am truly a giant baby blindly stumbling through the streets. I often only manage to survive due to the sympathy of passerby, elicited by my wide eyes, which almost always appear glassy and on the verge of tears. In other news, I am getting along very well with my host mom and her cats. One of the cats has taken to silently following me around the apartment. When I open my bedroom door each morning, he is sitting in the hallway, waiting for me. When I walk into the bathroom, he runs in before I can close the door behind me. When I brush my teeth, he climbs onto the tub to put his face close to mine, and then licks the water from the sink. Sometimes, he'll scare himself when he looks into the mirror and he'll run away really fast, usually making a loud commotion. However, when I take a step backwards from the sink a minute later, I'll step on him accidentally because, somehow, he manages to sneak back into the room without my noticing. Yesterday, after I stepped out of the shower, I leaned down to grab a towel and his tiny little arm shot out from under the bathroom door that was separating us. I mean, I'm not going to lie, I enjoy the attention, but this creepy little guy is really starting to cross the line...

#tea #coffee #lost