Beaten by the system

Very serviceoriented and clever babysjka this morning. She followed me to the shower, unlocked the door, brought the key and left.
On the flip side - nothing nurtures my cold like an icy shower every now and then. :-)

Landed Kiev

Again - an excellent landing. Aerosvit flies a lot better than RyanAir, that's for sure!

Jalta landscape...

This picture, taken earlier this week shows you Yalta, beautifully squeezed in between the mountains.
To the left is 2 kilometers of bars and restaurants, on the smaller hills to the right a wineyard and some hotels, in the middle the town centre and in the foreground... of course.. the black sea.

At home at last

After a day travelling I finish the day happily in my own flat in Stockholm. I have caught quite a cold during my stay in Jalta, and now I'll try to sleep it out.
This is the first time i really have a chance to see what I wrote and sent you from Jalta. Feels funny to see the blog - I created it but still - I've never sen it until now. The picture quality is impressing, most of the time the images looked much worse on the phone. Some posts seems never to have appeared on the blog. Strange...

Landed ARN!

Rumors tell me it's 25'C outside.

Simferopol airport

It's over!

Writing at the Iventus chartered bus to Sinferopol (the airport). We now said our goodbyes to the women running our dorm. I said the stay was pleasant, and they said we were also very pleasant guests. It propably true.
We pretend to pay and they pretend to work.
Vce normalna.

Now they're talking!

I realised it might be kind of stupid to be stuck 6 hours at Kiev airport tomorrow, with only 30 Sek worth of local currency (one might want food, for instance), so just before going to bedI decided to go out and take a marschroutna to tsentr, where the are cashpoints. Once down here I heard something interesting and followed the soinds to the large stage in the harbour. They've now rebuilt it and it turns out that this weeks theme is hardtrance DJing. And the day after tomorrow t.A.t.U gets here. One could do with a few more days. :-)

The last...icecream

Jummy!

Last of the last...

Trolley bus no 1, Krasnoarmeskaja ul - Autovoksal.

Local plumming...

Took this pic near a restaurant by the sea. Gives a hint on why water is such an issue..?

A premature summary

I have (so far, knock on wood) been very lucky with this trip. All from the start until the end.
Even though it's not all over yet, after the last lesson was over today, my mind started it's wandering home. This evening I am at home, feeling the cold take a new grip with a freezing sensation although we have like 30 degrees here. I have taken the opportunity to clean my room and pack my suitcase. Left out of there is clothes for tomorrow; bathing shorts and a towel.
t feels natural to think about the two weeks here and summarise. I have been trying to recall what my expectations were... My only point of reference for a russian student home was the student home I had the privilige to visit for an exciting week in StP in 1999. Apart from that I had a vision of small dark classroom and harsh older russian woman as a teacher repeating vocabulary. (Think this image came from a fellow student at stockholm uni, who experienced nightmare-lessons in Moskow.) And finally had huge expectations on the climate and beaches.
How did turn out? As you already noticed I've been very happy with the time here. Clearly, the very best part has been the teaching. On our agenda has been nothing that was entirely new to me, but it has felt like it was when finally was explained in a way that made all the pices fit together. Most importantly it has left a certain belief in my ability to communicate in russian. I have seen that with an empathic listener I can make myself understood, and if I take my time I am able to penetrate more texts than I would have thought without a dictionary.
As far as the dormatory goes, it is the only thing here that's been less uncomfortable than expected. Loud noise at night, combined with a really bad and worn out camping bed has made sleeping a hastle. The standard has been farlover than it was in the mentioned doormatory in StP. Absence of water during late evenings and night's has made washing and hygiene somewhat difficult. On the other hand, the staff is nice and patient with our limited ability to speak and most importantly the food has been of a good standard, almost identical in quality and content to the food at the transsiberian railway. You should remember that when it comes to the living we get what we pay for: the dormatory is the cheepest form of accomodation, and at the price of 350 Sek/day we get living, two hot meals, teaching and access to swedish speaking guides.
Finally the climate... Well! wow! :-)

The last break

Today is the last of everything. Last lesson, last frases, last break... I've almost got more of travel-fever now than before I went here.

The last lunch

So the lessons are over, we arrived at our last lunch by school. Our teacher amost cried her goodbye's and hopes to see us here again. Loads of pictures taken, and as a great finale of our school life here Håkan managed to get the lunch waiter (see previously posted picture) to try Swedish snuff. "Krepkij", he said.

Jalta cries

The day we arrived several days of rain seased. Today it reappeared, with unseen intensity.

Newsflash of the day

No comments. :-)

(Kosmosolskaja pravda, v ykr. 21-27/7/06)

Sushi dinner

Somwhow we managed: beautiful sushi without shrimp. Maybe sushi tastes better at home anyway. :-)

Jalta beach

V.I.P.

We've been upgraded. Today the lunch restaurant invited u to sit in one of the tents with more luxorius chairs and benches.

The teachers

Our teachers - both very skilled and they really love their work. Closest to the camera is the teacher of our group, Irina, honestly one of the best teachers I've ever had.