In my embarrassment over my self-reflective post, I want to push it further down the page and give you updates on some of the more ridiculous aspects of my life in Russia.

1.
Yes, MC Hammer is coming to Petersburg. I really should stop this blog entry here, because this is the only thing that really matters about my time here. I am doing my best to get tickets.

2. I joined "Planet Fitness" a couple of days ago, which is the Russian equivalent of an upscale fitness center. I decided that walking around the city wasn't cutting it as far as exercise goes, and bliny are not the most healthy of foods. I was anticipating a normal gym where I pay and am then let go to exercise how I see fit. I found out this was not true with the Planet Fitness family. Before being allowed to exercise, I had to make an appointment with the on-site sports doctor. This meeting, which was held in a mixture of his broken English and his broken Russian, was the most intense physical I have ever received, the highlight of which was the doctor diagnosing me with "mild scoliosis" (these were two of the random English words he knew). After all of my various diagnostic tests, he recommended me certain exercises that I should do to target my overall health goal. One of these is pilates. No thanks, Dr. Slav, I'll stick to the treadmill and weights.

3. The other day, I ate bull tongue. My house mother walked in my room and said, in Russian, that she was preparing something. I say "something" because I couldn't make out what she said in Russian. When I asked her what she said, she simply pointed to her tongue, smiled, and said "tasty." It all happened so fast. In actuality, it wasn't too bad. Just imagine a very tender steak, except that it is bull tongue.

More to come, but I have to go jog and lift weights at the gym.