Delayed

Until I get the internet situation figured out in my apartment my blog posts are going to be delayed by a day, and even more over the weekend, so when I talk about "this morning," it really means yesterday morning.

First thing this morning I moved into my apartment. I felt a little bad because the people who ran the hostel, who were all very nice, seemed like they were personally hurt that I was leaving early. They were concerned that I hadn’t been comfortable and had decided to leave a day early just because I didn’t like the hostel. Even after I explained that I was moving into an apartment of my own they didn’t seem to understand why I would leave a day early. Wouldn’t anyone move out of a hostel if they could go have an apartment to themselves? Am I weird? The people at the hostel really were very nice, and while it wasn’t my favorite hostel ever, I did like them a lot and never complained to them about a single thing. There was also an interesting Russian biker gang staying there for the last couple nights. They added a lot to the general character of the place.

After getting to the apartment and taking a shower I suddenly realized that I had confused the time that church started. I had it in my head that the afternoon branch started at 1:30, but really it started at 12:30. I hurried, but I still was a little late. It was nice to go to church. No matter where in the world I go to church I always feel comfortable and welcome. I talked to a few people today and everyone was very friendly. Here’s a picture of the church building

and a picture of the larger building that the chapel is a part of. This isn’t even the entire building. It’s massive. I couldn’t fit it all in one shot.

So there’s a spot I’ve walked by a couple times now that has me curious. There’s a little statue of a cat sitting on a ledge on a building just off Nevskiy Prospekt. The statue is probably about fifteen feet above street level.

This would be curious enough, but every time I’ve walked by there has been at least one person throwing coins at the cat, presumably trying to get them to stay up on the ledge. I need to investigate this curious pastime.

Otherwise it was a quiet day. I bought some food and put all my clothes away and feel pretty much settled in. I’ll close with a couple pictures I just took looking out my bedroom window. Keep in mind it’s after 11:00 pm.


I’m having a hard time going to bed at a normal time because I’m never quite convinced it’s as late as the clock says. The only other time I experienced this on a regular basis was as a missionary, when I had a pretty strict schedule and bedtime. I remember eating dinner super late at night during family vacation in Alaska, being confused as to why the campground was so quiet, and then realizing it was almost midnight. Life for me here is like that. The days continue to get longer for more than three more weeks and they seem to be rapidly lengthening. I might have to stay out all night on the 21st, or whatever day they have their big celebrations here (in Lithuania they do it on the 26th, or something like that). Happy long weekend America!