This is Kazan in Russia ~ a beautiful city and a 4 hour drive away from the town where I was working. The town was the place in which I met many warm and welcoming people.
Strange how sometimes you lie awake at nights thinking about times past. Last night or rather earlier on this morning I was thinking about a situation I was once in when working in Russia. I met a woman working for the same company and we became friends, then I had to return to the UK and we kept in contact. The second time the company sent me out there was when we met again and she was still there. So of course we met a few times for coffee and chats. I was really surprised when she asked me to stay and to move in with her parents and it seemed her grandparents as she was still living with her family. She lived in a small but friendly Russian town near the Ural Mountains and there were only a handful of foreigners and even fewer Brits like myself there. The nearest capital city was a 6 to 7 hour bus ride so I thought do I really want to do this;I couldn't. I suppose then looking back I guess it's essential to feel comfortable and not too self-conscious in the environment you're living in.
This is a great thing to do and is becoming quite a habit now. I'm just looking around at my flat and things need sorting out so it's time for a well overdue spring-clean albeit in August. Oh well it's typical with me ~ reading and painting first then do the other things later. I'm learning Russian too as I've worked over there; 5 ice rinks in one city and -25c with a metre of snow, wonderful.
(The photos were taken in Kazan)
