Day 39/40: Pornstar hair and Margaret 'Thetcher' (12th/13th October)

12th October

FIRST SNOW! Not a lot, albeit, but wheyyyy snow!

13th October

First Experience of a Russian Beauty Salon

Plan for today was to go to Vasilevsky Island and travel round that bit, bite to eat, lots of photos of the various little places there... Instead, what do I do? I don't even leave on the metro and instead spend about six hours in a Beauty Salon getting my hair to be Courtney Love/pornstar style hair, as I thought blonde hair was a good idea. So far, I like it, but on the productivity front...? Roll on weekend - maybe the zoo and that lot...Manchurian Lions up there! (not real ones, beautiful ornamental ones - that excursion will probs be the next)

So, the beauty salon. Not a lot of differences from Britain, except that you can get everything done in just one place - pedicure, manicure, hair cut/dyed/styled...other things on the sign that I do not understand....A lot of odd-angled mirrors - I could see the back of my head about 3 times at the same time, on different mirrors, freebies at the end (hairspray, volume serum, deodorant - the latter, not for some kind of ill odour, it's a promo thingy...), general chit-chat as always, countless cups of tea, enduring the peroxide burning and itching your scalp, too expensive for a poor student, lots of awesome-as-music (you know you're in a salon too long when you hear Lady Gaga about 5 or 6 times, 3 times the same song - not that I don't enjoy it, I just wonder where my productivity is going.....) OH and I was FORCED to eat cake - I decided this new hair was a reward for being told I look less fat - and after dismissing chocolate as a treat, I decided on hair. I was offered  пироги, I kindly refused. She does a puppy-dog-'pwease' face and suddenly two are being put into my hands - omnom cream. NO! SINS! - anyway. All tickety boo. Jess is ringing tomorrow instead WOOPDIDDY DOO! British contact!

Russian news - Русские Новости

Which reminds me - I was hurriedly told to go into the kitchen, as Margaret Thatcher was on TV. I thought she'd popped her clogs - nah, she's 85, put that champagne back in the fridge...It's the nearest I've come to crying at the news (that was not an attempt of joking about Thatcher - that would be too easy) There was news about the Chile miners, who got stuck in August - they have been brought up from underground, alive, all of them ecstatic, chanting Spanish, embracing sons, daughters, wives, friends....mistresses?! I am so so pleased. BEST STORY of the year, by far. - Sis might see those videos and be reminded of the war heroes returning to loved ones and being ecstatic - she'll love it. When I have a computer again, I will find that story, I am so happy for their families.

Here are the other stories:

Story 2: Ukraine collision between a train and a bus, 43 killed, drivers injured. They even have safety barriers but it couldn't save them. Such a tragedy.

Story 3: Sochi 14 - saw a lot of cool things, saw Putin (wh...not that he's not cool), didn't hear anything cos they talked over it (something I'm told off for, like I'm her fucking daughter. Sigh.

Story 4: Disabled Latvian child who has walking problems and something visually wrong with his head (I'm not sure what exactly is wrong with him, these are just things that I noticed. We watch him on a horse, learning piano, singing - he is enthusiastic and he is an interesting boy to watch, he seems to inspire the kids he meets - but why must they point out that disabled people can still do things? Good on them, but why wouldn't they get on with their lives? I just hope he inspires a lot of people, despite the fact he's been slightly exploited.

Oh well. A little footy - spoken over again.

And here we are, the Iron Lady (which she is also called in Russia) WHY IS THIS NEWS?!

"Oh I don't like Thatcher, what she did - no way am I watching the documentary that's next" - says I - Lyuda tells me that they love her, something I only hear from my mother, and probably her mother, and other super-pro tories. Strange thing being that I reckon Lyuda and her mother would not be Tory - Lyuda seems very liberal and I think she may have some of the Tory thinking, but I think that if she had lived in Britain before Labour took control, she would not be a tory. So whoopdedoo, Maggie ain't dead yet. Then again, deciding between Thatcher and the soviet union, I can understand how she would be the less of two evils. Just about.

And then another story which I will keep as brief as possible, as I cannot even believe this is being reported about, especially in Russia - today is London's 50th day of correct parking. Firstly, the UK would barely touch on this subject and even so, the public wouldn't care unless it was a national holiday. Secondly the parking HERE?! In my early blog entries, I noted about the parking - people don't even think about parking - you can drive and park on PAVEMENTS. You can park on a pedestrian crossing. The driver is alrways right, no driver particularly cares about the pedestrian, unless they are wearing something even slightly feminine or showing flesh (like...an arm, or something - I have been subject to this) A pavement can be even tripled parked - a car by the kerb, a car parked on the road next to it, a car parked on the pavement - this is all fine...the most ironic thing is that the road that I see this most on - Moskovsky Prospect - is bang in the middle of the city/metro map and there is a massive carpark in the road parallel to this one. I nearly get run over most days, cars go through pedestrian crossings when people are walking on them, people turn in the street with no consideration for pedestrians. And this country, Russia is reporting the fact that UK is celebrating good parking? What message is this trying to send?

In fact, I am the clumsiest of all, how am I still alive?! Any wrinkles that I will get soon will be from simply crossing roads in Russia.
Gave into temptation, got Jungle Book on DVD in Russian, the most epic of disney films. Off to watch now while drawing up Russian politics timelines to decorate my wall with, I am that cool a person, indeed (made even cooler by putting 'indeed' at the end of sentences. FML, ok, stop now...) . Reminds me of Mikey Mowgli - I knew this would become part of the blog entry. (haven't seen this since I was 4 - cue tears!) Regardles of language, you just know that the magic is still there, particularly with something like The Jungle Book (Kniga Dzhungley)