When Oleg and Alex met up, we all went out for a meal in the evening, and tried out the outside section above two of our ‘regular’ restaurant. The service was friendly, and the waitress even spoke a little English with us. Anyway, here is a quick snap shot of the table…

Later on we went back to the flat, had a little to drink, talked, and played a game. When the sun came up, we decided to end the ‘evening’ and slept in a little late that day Anyway, hopefully Ira and I will meet up with Oleg again before he returns to Moscow…

He has been away in Moscow studying for almost a year now, so it is really good to have him back around, if only for a couple of weeks. We (Ira, myself, AlexC and Oleg himself), all went out for a meal this evening. We headed over to where Irina works (KMG), as she was called in on her day off (quel surprise), and once we were all together, headed to the Uzbek restaurant near there. It turns out they now have a outdoor section, shared with the Samovar restaurant (Russian food) next door, which was based on the roof. For once, the food was tasty and hot, the service was incredibly good by Kazakh standards, with smiles and a few English phrases thrown in by the waitress. Hopefully have a few pictures to follow soon .

The European Space Agency is organizing an experiment, to prepare for an eventual manned flight to Mars. They are looking for volunteers to spend almost a year and a half living in isolation with five other volunteers in complete isolation from the outside workd.

However, there are no plans for the process to be televised, and unlike Big Brother, there will be no ‘evictions’. The experiment is to take place in Moscow, and the distance from Earth to Mars will be simulated by there being a delay imposed with the radio communications with those inside the experiment.

The ESA hope to understand a little better the group dynamics involved when people are couped up in cramped conditions for extended periods of time.

Those who pass selection (25-50 years old, no smokers, drug dependents, must be in good health & preferably Russian and English language skills) will not just be sitting around, a la BB, but instead will simulate all activities that the real space journey will involve. Obviously weightlessness is not possible, but a simulated launch, and demo runs of what would be needed to be done in a real life emergency.

The reward, other than helping further this planet’s space and planet exploration, will be around 75 pounds a day.

Wow, luckily, she had not started packing yet, as her work no longer need her back in Moscow for a 3rd week. It will be nice to have her all to myself for once
Before I forget, I meant to link to another plug in yesterday. For anyone who hasn’t noticed yet, if you look at the bottom of the right hand side bar, you will notice a random picture is now displayed. It takes photos that I have previously published, at random, and displays the post title, and Alt tag for the image. You can download it here.

This post is NOT sponsored, in fact the reverse is opposite - I made a $5 donation to the plugin author, as I had been looking for something like this for a while. I didn’t want to have to modify any theme files. Oh, and if you check the (American) author’s gallery, you’ll see he has been to Almaty (just after the time Ira and I got married in Astana!)

Looks like I spoke to soon when I posted on Ira only having to spend two weeks away in Moscow.
We won’t know for definite until the end of Tuesday, but it looks like she is needed once more. I hope you has a safe journey, and that her bosses appreciate her efforts.

My toe is still quite swollen and the nail is now a consistent green. I won’t horror you all with another photo (apologies for the last one, I think I was quite fascinated by the toe’s reaction and its visual impact…) Anyway I’ve moved my Russian lesson from Tuesday to Thursday, as although I can actually walk on the side of my foot, putting on a shoe makes hobbling too painful.

She did indeed have to work Saturday, but was able to work from home on Sunday, which is great, and she does not need to go to Moscow again this week
Ira bought me a little pressy back from Moscow, which will look vaguely familiar to Seb back in England.

Yep, its a shell/big bullet shaped lighter Don’t think I’ll be taking that through an x-ray machine @ customs any time soon

Ira was away this week again in Moscow, for work. They require her to go to the office tomorrow and possibly Sunday as well, which will mean that by this coming Friday she will have worked 19 of the last 21 days, with international travel on four of her nights ‘off’. Luckily, it looks like she won’t be required to go with her boss to Moscow again next week, fingers crossed. Also hoping they won’t need her in the office next weekend, as that would then equate to 21 out of 23 days away from home.
This is another example of why I want to make sure I earn enough money from my sponsored posts and other online incomes - the idea of being EXPECTED to work those sort of hours, with a vague promise of 1 extra day off, if things are not too busy, puts me off ever wanting to work in an office over here, even more than I disliked the prospect of doing so in an English office. (Kate’s team not withstanding, she was a boss who knew how to get the best out of her workers, and maintained a good office atmosphere. She has recently won a local election to become a Labour councillor, so huge congrats to her, as I couldn’t find any reference to this event elsewhere on this blog).

He was away in China on another business trip, but we’ve just heard he has returned safe and sound. We’ll be meeting up with him tomorrow evening to say a quick ‘hi’, and so he can say good bye before Irina leaves for Moscow (see two below this post).
Hopefully, he will have grabbed us a silk duvet over in China, as such items have had glowing reports from him and Ira’s mum. They have the same issues we have, except the genders are reversed… He gets cold without a lot of layers, she doesn’t like being over heated. According to them, the silk duvet seems like a good compromise - everyone ends up the right temperature!

(btw, no this isn’t a bizarre sponsored post to further the global sales of Chinese silk duvets )

Irina is off to Moscow again for work. She will be gone from Monday night until Sunday morning. Which probably means there will be a mountain of washing up and general clutter until last thing Saturday, at which point I will be running around like a headless chicken, trying to make our flat a little more presentable.
Whilst I’m glad that her bosses think she is capable of helping out in their negotiations, I’ll be missing her like crazy, as will Karra and Muska.
In case she happens to read this before she goes, and I forget to say it in ‘real life’, have a safe journey, and I’ll give the kittens a hug from you before going to sleep

Just turned on the news, and heard that Mr Yeltsin has passed on. Although not exactly viewed as a hero in Russia these days, no one can deny his role in an incredible and important time for Russia & the former USSR.

He was 76, and was previously known for his alcohol-related problems.
Although many Russians hoped for more from his term as president, in terms of prosperity, it is undeniable that he was involved in a time of great change in Moscow, namely the end of the communist era, defending President Gorbachev on the streets during a coup attempt, and ordering troops to fire on his own parliament building when it was occupied by hard-liners.

It is believed his death was heart-related.