23rd November: A New Plan of Action

Since last writing I’ve come up with a several solutions to my problem, none of them ideal but all of them possible. My first option is to move in with another landlady provided by the university. They’ve suggested one to me already; she lives near Glavnii Station, which is obviously a lot less convenient than my current location, but still a reasonable distance away. She doesn’t mind catering for vegetarians, but the flat does sound very small; I would have to walk through her bedroom every time I wanted to get into mine. Another option is to live at one of the apartments where the students have already moved out or will be moving out next week at the end of the thirteen-week course. Ben also has a free space in his apartment since the girl who used to be living there when he arrived left a couple of months ago – and his landlady is used to catering for a lot of people, there having been three tenants at one point.

Living with Ben, or something similar, would be great, because we already know their landladies are reasonable people. In general, though, I’m not sure whether I really want to live with another landlady, not knowing what she’s going to be like, and having to settle into a new routine – how complicated would it be to explain my packed diary and bizarre mealtimes?

This is where the other option comes in; my friend Vanya has spoken to his parents and invited me to stay with them for the rest of the term, for free. He lives in a two-bedroom apartment with his parents but says he would sleep in the living room and I would have his room. I can’t believe how generous this is of him and his family and would absolutely love to live there, were it not for one thing: the distance. I spoke to the university today, who said it was in a remote area, miles away, and that I should definitely think hard before moving. Up until I’d spoken to the university I was ready to move the next day; it was all arranged.

Then, this afternoon, the repair men came round to look at the window. It turned out it was a two-minute job and didn’t require any payment whatsoever. So, it was now almost certain that I was safe from eviction from this apartment – until next week at least, because Lyudmila didn’t have sufficient grounds to break the contract. I don’t know how she feels about me moving out now (she’d changed my towels today and gave me a good dinner) but she was still barely civil and I don’t think I can stand another month of her. So, the new plan is to meet Julia and Vanya tomorrow afternoon and then go back to Vanya’s place for the night to see how I get on. I then have until Friday to decide where to live for the next three weeks.

Luckily, I’ve got something to break up the next few weeks, in the form of a trip to Moscow next weekend. Beth, Sean, Lily, Karen, Nell and I are going to make the most of being so near the capital and are going on Friday for a last weekend of sightseeing and souvenir shopping. At least I’ve got something to look forward to. Until then, I’ll be struggling with the question of where on earth I’m going to live.