7th of October, 2022.
Hitchhiking in Russia.
There are no plugs available by the tables. Free wi-fi but no plugs. I try to explain to the ladies working here what I need. At first, they look a bit grumpy but soon enough they help me to plug my computer by an ice-cream freezer and even give a chair for me to sit.
The answer from my CS from before was great. She told me I can come any day but tonight she will have online lessons starting at 7 p.m., so for about 2 hours she will not be able to open the door. I don’t get proper directions to her place, which would cost me later, but I wasn’t in the best place to do it. I just write down her address and region, hopefully who ever drives me to town can drop me off closer to it.
I am outside already, trying to arrange to my backpack to stand still, when a man walks towards the shop. I show him my sign and ask, in English, if can help me to get there. He doesn’t say a word, just shakes his head in denial. I say “spasibo!” And keep trying to fix The Hulk. But when he comes out of the shop, he has turned into a different person, with a much more peaceful countenance, and tells me I can come with him. What happened?
Sasha is going to a medical appointment at the hospital. He can speak English and we chat on the way. When I tell him where I am going, he offers to drive me to the metro station nearby there, but it is quite far from his hospital, so I tell him he can just drop me off nearby his hospital, somewhere around the centre. My life would have been much easier if I had just accepted his full help.
In the mall where I get in, there is this weird McDonald’s. At first, I thought that this is how the name it looks like in Russian. Laugh. Later on, I would discover that, since the war, the brand McDonald’s was sold and replaced by this one. Again, I have trouble to get connect. I wait until some young ladies are about to leave and ask them if they could help me to get connected with their phones. They are bit uncertain at first but soon enough they help me and everything is OK.
But that only last one hour. I lost the track of time while deciding about too many things I was planning to do in Russia, which involves directly how much cash and which currency I would exchange, in order to get some second-hand boots and the Klean Kanteen bottle I should have bought years ago. Because of that, by the time I decide to not take the metro and simply walk the very long distance to my CS host, the wi-fi code has expired and I cannot get proper details about the journey. Luckily, I have the page open widely enough so I can see the way.
I thought I had enough time to get there with rest. But leaving the mall I realize, by quickly looking at somebody’s phone, that we are in Russian time, so one hour less for me. Damn it!
I am very hungry and have 13 Km to walk, so I decide to ask in a vegan food shop if they have any left-overs that I could have it. The lady with whom I talk is a doll and promptly offers to help me. She tells me to take a sit that she will prepare something for me. She first offers me some herbal tea. We chat a little while and I tell her about my travels. She is very sweet and seems much surprised about everything but she also tells me she would like to travel more. I write down to her my blog and Instagram address.
The dish she prepared for me are French fries and some delicious vegan nuggets, with an amazing cheese sauce. Everything is so good! I am in heaven with the flavours! But not so much with the time! It is almost 5 p.m. And I haven’t walked even half of my way. Ops! But at least now I have the strength to do it! The lovely girl even offer me some more food, which she kindly packs in a “to go” package. Such a sweet soul!
I walk and walk as fast as I can. It is crazy how further you can go when you really need. Even though without stopping to rest. My only problem now are the directions. Every time I have to stop and ask somebody for directions, I lost time. With almost everybody I talk it happens the same: within my first words, they are scared and serious, but then they realize I just need some information and they promptly help a lot. But it is tricky to get directions in this way, just look at the phones and trying to memorize a place or a street to turn. After asking to a few people, including a lady with a baby trolley and a man with his dog, the last person I ask is a young lady, at a mobile phone shop. She can speak English (thanks Loki!) and perfectly explains to me how to get to the address I need to. She also tells me she loves Brazil and that she is impressed about my travels. Yeah, even though I have only a few minutes before 7 p.m., I quickly tell her about what I am doing and even give her my Instagram. She is lovely!
I arrive at Alyona’s apartment a few minutes before her meeting starts. Yay! She shows me the apartment quickly, tells me I can take a shower and she has even prepared some dinner. How nice! I get settled, take a shower and have some of the nice pasta she made it, with the salad and lovely remains of the vegan nuggets. What a day!
10 Years Around the World 