12th December: A Little Variety

After my exercise class on Monday, I had yet another unusual experience. My trainer, who’s always been friendly and ready for a chat, invited me to have champagne with her after class with some other girls from the group to celebrate her birthday. I wasn't really in the mood to sit and drink champagne at 9 o’clock on a Monday, tired and sweaty after a boxercise class, but it soon became clear that this was another occasion where “no” just wasn't an option.

So, slightly bewildered but in no position to refuse, I found myself in her office with a group of girls I’d never spoken to before, drinking champagne and eating chocolate. I think everyone else was similarly taken aback, since everyone started to make their excuses and drift off after around half an hour, but since I could tell this was important to her, I stayed to the last. She then offered to drive me part-way back, an offer I gratefully accepted.

Tuesday was a disappointing day; I felt ill so went straight back to the flat after university, then spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping it off. By the time evening came I was feeling better so went to my exercise class.

Thankfully today provided a bit of variation to what was becoming a monotonous routine. A group of us went on a trip around Yaroslavl, visiting a валенки (valenkii or Russian boot) factory, an enamel workshop and a vodka factory. Seeing how the valenkii were made was a bizarre experience, like taking a step back in time. The factory itself resembled something of the Soviet period, despite the fact that it was founded in the ‘90s. It was small and consisted of several work stations containing huge, clattering machinery powered by long-suffering female workers.

The enamel factory was a step back in time in another sense – a step back to our childhoods. We had no idea what to expect, having simply agreed to the excursion without finding out the exact itinerary. When we arrived, we were shown in to what seemed more like a classroom than a workshop, where sheets of paper were laid out at every place – it seemed we were going to be making things ourselves. After a few minutes a stout middle-aged woman entered the room and told us in a clear, friendly voice that we would be painting our own enamel tiles, which would then be baked in the special oven. We jumped to the task like little kids.

After we’d made our enamels and put them in little wooden frames, it was time to take taxis to the liqueur factory. There, we were given a tour explaining how the drinks were made before being given a tasting opportunity, which consisted of three different liqueurs, accompanied, as per custom, by plates of snacks. By this stage we were all feeling quite happy and decided to go for lunch together at a restaurant by the university, where we stayed for the rest of the afternoon. So, a nice little bit of variety to break up the week.