Все никак не соберусь....

9:57pm: I love modesty. Yesterday, in a discussion of sports with a new teammate, it turned out his favorite sport is competitive swimming. So I talk about how I used to do competitive dancing but was never really any good, blah blah - he says he used to devote a lot of time to swimming but now just does it occasionally.
Today someone tells me the guy won a gold medal for swimming in the 1996 Olympic games. Blin:)

9:53am: Need advice: Russian preschools in Boston
Dears,

Looking for any pointers for good preschools (as well as specific ones to avoid) in the Boston area - please help if you know of any - or know someone who does. My criteria:
1. Russian-speaking environment
2. Not home-based
3. Within 30-min driving distance from Newton (I'll need to optimize for location later - now just want to figure out what's available)
4. Will allow a child to attend part-time (ideally, 2-3 half-days a week)

Would also appreciate pointers to any lists/communities where I can ask about this...

9:20am: Help finding a week-old WSJ article
Dears,
does anyone have access to the online edition of the Wall Street Journal or have other ideas on how I can find a WSJ article from about a week ago? I'm looking for an article on Thrifts and the situation they're in given the mortgage crisis. Should have been in Monday's (12/31), Tuesday's, or Wednesday's edition and supposedly on the 2nd or 3rd page.
If you help, I'll owe you a favor:)

5:21pm: Need help: choosing a digital camera
Dears,

can anyone recommend a digital camera - looking to buy something under $500. Priorities: picture quality, simple interface, small size, good looks:)
I'm thinking of this: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_sd900.asp
Advice?

9:58am: Бостончане: у кого-нибудь на работе нанимают (программистов)?
Знакомый ищет работу в Бостоне. Насколько я знаю, хороший, грамотный программист - больше 10ти лет работы в Америке. Если у кого-нибудь нанимают, свистните, пожалуйста - я кину резюме.

5:00pm: New Arrival
Знакомьтесь: Лера Вайсбурд

7:26pm: Argentina continued
So I came to the realization that Argentina is definitely a destination I would, and will, visit again. If I went again, I would skip Iguazu falls (big, beautiful waterfall, but not something that commanded dramatic emotions - for me, anyway), and I would probably not budget time for Tierra del Fuego again. What I would do is spend at least a week in Patagonia.
El Calafate: a beautiful, happening little town - great people, a lot to do, excellent food, and many great trails to trek, all of them quite secluded.
El Chalten - 5 hours by bus from El Calafate. Reminded me of Pai, but even less developed. Its whole reason for existance is that it´s a starting point for trekkers (gorgeous forests all around) and climbers. It is also about 30 minutes away from 2 glaciers, both of which are trekkable and climbable. It turns out that hiking on a huge blob of ice is mucho fun - unfortunatey, we only had time for a 1-day trek. Multi-day tours spend the night on the ice and do some semi-serious climbing - definitely a to do for next time.
Left for Buenos Aires with a sense of not having had enough time in Patagonia. Arrived to BA to find out that the city is in mourning because a club burned down last week and 170 people died...

9:33pm: Argentina - Ognennaya Zemlya
Pri slovah Ognennaya Zemlya vspominautsa Deti Kapitana Granta - hard to believe I am actually here. Absolutely must-do when visiting Argentina, I think - really unearthy (is that a word?) beauty... Snow-capped mountains everywhere, water everywhere else...
Next week: glaciers.
Interesting fact: in the Indian tribes that used to live here, fishing was the major way of obtaining food, and only women could swim. I always find examples of women's outright physical superiority sorta disturbing...

10:55pm: Nostalgiya
Post-spending 1 week in Eastern Europe, I'm ready to admit I miss Russia a little bit (something I've never done before)... The people seem different - even the appalling rudeness in restaurants and grocery stores seems endearing... And cursing in Chech sounds pretty similar to that in Russian...

I am especially impressed by Bratislava - definitely exceeded my expectations - beautiful streets, beautiful people, small enough for everything to be within walking distance, large enough to not feel like a village...

Travel rules!!!

11:34am: А мы идем skydiving в эту субботу... Начинаю бояться...

8:27pm: Австрийские достопримечательности?
Завтра еду в Австрию на две недели - на класс под названием "Workshop для начинающих лидеров" - вот... Вместо того чтоб делать обширное домашнее задание, люди уже неделю пытаются решить, что делать на выходные... Решили на один день в Зальтцбург, со вторым днем никак не разберемся - никто не знает хороших мест около Зальтцбурга? Вена слишком далеко.

- Начинающий лидер, блин:)

5:55pm: Help wanted...
Dears,

Podskazhite gde vsyat' kirillitsu - nam razdali novye komputery, a ya zabyla otkuda brala klaviaturu... Help...

2:38pm: Surreal или Марррразм за дверью...
Сижу дома - раздается стук в дверь. Я открываю. За дверью нет никого, кроме... большого, белого, пушистого кролика! Пост-Валентиновская шутка? Я наконец-то тронулась? Или одно из трех...

Кролика сдала суперу. Белый такой, пушистый... может надо было оставить?

11:48am: Malaysia...
Malacca sucked - was touted as the "cultural center" of Malaysia - it's a hole... Nothing to do, nothing to do, nothing to do, and tons of Muslim women in shapeless clothing with their heads covered... We had a hotel reserved, but, as we were getting out of the bus, were handed a piece of paper offering a "clean, air-conditioned room with a bath in the best part of town" for 40RM (about 12 bucks). We bit, and ended up staying deep within dirty, dirty Chinatown in a reasonably clean Muslim house.
Encountered several "Svastika Associations" while walking around town - what's up with that? Will need to do some research... Incidentally, the guidebook says that Israeli citizens are prohibited from entering Malaysia...

Kuala Lumpur:
Don't know if anyone has ever successfully used hostels.com, but I'm not using them again. The first time I did (Singapore), the hostel reserved our reservation 2 days after we arrived. The hostel I reserved in KL has (according to the neighbors) been out of business for a while... Ended up in a place on the busiest street in Chinatown for $15 - A/C, hot water - true luxury.
KL's cool - downtown is quite metropolitan, as expected. Interesting mix of Muslim architecture and skyscrapers.
I accidentally walked onto the territory of the main Mosque. Everyone was walking in, I followed and, after being half-carried, half-pushed out by the guard, realized that everyone who was walking in happened to be male...
Islam is everywhere - the buildings, the clothes, the faces - this is probably the city where i'd be most hesitant to flaunt my Jewishness...
Haven't seen any Russians - none. Generally, not as many tourists as one would expect - I guess everyone's in Thailand...

Yesterday our first logistical hick-up - trying to arrange the next leg of our transportation. We were originally thinking of spending a couple of days in Penang, but are now somewhat eager to get out of Malaysia and move on to Thailand. However, the trains seem to all be booked until at least Christmas. Ended up with tickets to an overnight (seater, not sleeper) train to Penang with unclear follow-on plans... Hmmm...

This night was the second hick-up: the hotel... The walls are paper thin: first (around 3am) someone was throwing up for about an hour and a half in the room on our left... Then at 5am or so, a woman started screaming on our right, then several kids joined in... Ended up with about 3 hours of sleep. I thought it was an interesting experience, Vadim doesn't seem to agree...

On to another day in KL. I should really try to make these blurbs shorter
Oh, I still have no desire to go back to work...

2:00pm: Singapore
Two days in Singapore - I like the city - combination of a cosmopolitan metropolis and Chinese / Indian / Arabic / Malay slums...

I suddenly noticed how beautiful Asian women are (still haven't noticed that about Asian men, unfortunately)... I think I'm starting to understand the white male's "asian females" fetish...

Beatiful temples - Hindi, Buddhist, you name it - side-by-side, coexisting quite happily. In general, the place seems less touristy then one would expect - we've seen hardly any Americans, and haven't met any Russians.

People here seem to take Christmas quite seriously - Christmas songs playing everywhere we go and such - quite annoying.
Other than the Christmas music - very livable... We even saw a ballroom studio - I could honestly spend a couple of months here, I think...

On to Malasia tomorrow morning.

4:47pm: Перуанские Фотки
Сюда
Очень, очень понравилось - когда-нибудь обязательно вернусь.

4:01pm: А мне летать...
До чего же трудно скоординироваться с кем-нибудь насчет отпуска! Нужен попутчик / попутчица в Азию, а все какие-то привередливые - одной время не подходит, другой хочет в Венезуэлу... Когда был "бойфрэнд", таких проблем как-то не возникало... Или ето только у меня?

1:16pm: Ну вот...
Клиент назвал меня бульдозером. Предназначалось как комплимент (по-моему) - вроде "меня ничто не остановит" - но воспринимается как-то не так. Надо было срочно с кем-то поделиться - до того надо, что начала писать журнал...