Month: August 2006

It turned out that getting back on tracks is way too difficult. I can’t keep up with my email, my with feeds, my with my pictures. I am getting tired and lose focus easily. I can’t blog. It’s been ten days since I’ve returned and I still can manage only about 60% of my regular daily load, information-wise. But it’s getting better. Seven days ago I could go only through about 25%.

That’s the reason for the slow blogging. But I’ll get back. Really. I promise.

I guess, I’ll have to make a break in my mega trip blogging to catch up with the rest of the stuff. But I still have loads to write and post about that adventure.

So much to blog, so little time…

We’ve just had our power back. Somehow, while we were in Russia, our electricity bill wasn’t payed because of an insufficient funds at that bank account. The bill wasn’t forwarded properly and there were no notices either from the bank, or from the electricity company.

Yesterday the power was cut around 11:00am. We thought that it was only a temporary thing. Around 1:30pm I called the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) and asked them to troubleshoot the problem. It was then I was told that the bill wasn’t payed and that the offices are closing in about twenty minutes.

Today morning I payed the bill and 23 CYP of reconnection charges and the power was switched back on in less then an hour. We are back to normal with appologies to everyone who sufferred.

During the last 24 hours or so I came to realize how deeply we are dependant on electricity. So many things that I’ve missed so much… First of all, no Internet. Either incoming or outgoing. Not only was I cut off from the universe, but the universe was cut off from me too. Extra pain. Secondly – computers. While my laptop’s battery provided for some digital entertainment, it didn’t last for long. No picture editing, no word processing, no reading, no gaming. Boring. Air conditioning was off. With 35C in shadow it wasn’t much fun. Hot. And even the fan was off. Very hot. Fridge stopped freezing things, although it maintained those items inside somewhat cool. But our consumption of cold drinks raised and we were off limits. Food – cooker wasn’t working. Coffee – pot wasn’t working. TV and lights were off which cut off our analog entertainment (even reading).

I hope I won’t have to go through another day like this ever again in my life. Cut it one day short, if need be. Just kidding.

I’ve finally finished post-processing pictures from my trip. Overall, I’ve left about 200 images. You can see and comment them at Russia 2006 Flickr set.

On one hand, I wish I could have taken more photos. I wish that weather was better on many occasions (grey skies, rainy weather aren’t that photogenic). But on the other hand, I’m glad that I didn’t take more pictures as it would have taken me years to edit and upload.

Enjoy what’s there…

The biggest shock and stress that I’ve experienced during my trip was on my first day, in Moscow. Yes, that’s right – rats.

I’ve read a few times that there is a problem with rats and mice in both Moscow and St.Petersburg, but those weren’t large stories in important papers, so I didn’t pay much attention. Imagine my shock when I saw rats running on the streets.

My mother and I went for a little walk around the block in the evening. As we were walking along the main road I noticed some movement in the grass near the pavement. Next thing I know – a huge rat walks out of the grass and crosses the road. Then I saw another one. Then another one. Then another.

At a few moments I could see as much as five rats simultaneously. They are not afraid of humans. They don’t run or rush. They just walk around. Humans seem to pay no attention too.

I am afraid of rats. They can jump high and walk the walls. They bite. They can be very organized. They carry a lot of dangerous deseases. When they are all around me, I, to say the least, don’t feel very comfortable.

Nothing shocked or stressed me as much as those beasts. But almost when I calmed myself, I was told that rats can be seen in the center of Moscow too. And in the bright daylight.

For that, here is my official statement: I am not going back to Moscow until they fix this problem. Thanks, but no thanks.