как вы говорите то на русском языке?

So I'm enjoying a day off.  Well a faux day off really.  we training this morning, and we train again tomorrow afternoon.  so i guess when you put it together we get a day off... but its not the same.

Oddly enuf, I'm watching my old club Arago du Sete play via the internet as I write this.  My man Gav is down there playing for them so he gave me the heads up on the live feed.  Its pretty cool to watch a Sete game after playing in so many.  When I break it down in my head, playing in Sete was awesome.  such a nice little town.  nice guys on the team.  good little situation.

It also reminds me of my first year playing pro in Poland.  Man that was a tuff growing experience.  Just 6 months of always being uncomfortable and lonely.

And noooow I'm in Russia.  There's parts of my experience here as of now that remind me of pieces of the previous two years.  For instance, the work ethic of the athletes here is similar to the Polish players.  Also the way they interact with each other, virtually always yelling, regardless if its an argument or a friendly conversation is similar to the Pols.  Reading that, it sounds rude of me to say, but thats honestly how it is.  

Also there's the whole smiling thing.  I've been told that I look silly a lot because I generally smile from time to time.  Apparently if I was Russian, the yaroslavich (peeps from around here)  would think I'm crazy.  This is also how most people tell I'm not from this neck of the woods.  Most people walk around with their heads down like its the dark ages trying to avoid contact n stuff.

Still, I'm enjoying my time here.  Although, because I had NOTHing to do today, I felt almost home sick.  not really home sick in the traditional sense, since I don't technically have a home anywhere, but I wanted to be in edmonton enjoying the saturday with friends and family rather then sitting in my apartment in Yaroslavl doing nothing.  So upon this juncture, I decided to get a taste of home.

Knowing the local mall-like establishment had a foodishcourtish thing with a baskin robins, we decided to venture outwards.  Once we hit the fakemall I had a sudden case of anorexia and decided I was too fat to eat ice cream on my day off, and rationalized that it would make more sense to get proper food.  So thinking logically, I settled for a taco time/bell rip off called "chimmychonga".  It certainly looked like a taco time; the colors on the walls and the menu was the same.  Things were lookin up and I had totally forgotten what alberta looked like by this point.

Of course my little fantasy bubble of being someplace like home was smashed slowly but surely.  how slow u ask,  about 35 mins.  beleeeive that.  it took 35 mins, for the 4 people behind the counter to make a macho burrito and a nacho supreme.  that itself brought things back to reality.  I could go into the food itself and how it was nothing like the pictures displayed, but I'm not sure about the miss-advertising laws in Russia.  Maybe I should look at the Burrito making laws first.  Anyways,  if your at home, enjoy it,  and if your not, keep pluggin away, cuz I know from experience, once you get home after longing for it, you appreciate the small things like say, oh I dunno, a friendly nod from someone sharing the sidewalk with you.

P.s. much love to my man Eric for digging mad balls.