Lagged

After a day in Helsinki plus having slept some on the train I had thought I had a pretty good grip on jet lag……….so I thought! Nothing could be further from the truth….. I arrived at my home away from home in Russia, The Pushkin Hotel feeling pretty good, especially since waiting for me there was my beloved friend, Vanda who decided to stay a full half hour after her shift in order to see me!! It was great to see her smiling beautiful face after what seemed like a couple years, but in reality was only six months! She checked me in in record time and personally escorted me to my room. I felt like such VIP!

Once Vanda left me I went straight to my bed and crashed! I figured I’d just take a small 30-60 so minute nap, but the next thing I knew it that little 30-60 minute nap had stretched into more or less a six-hour nap! I woke up, the sun had already gone down, the hotel kitchen was closed and the only option for dinner was to either brave the cold to find something on the streets or call for room service.  Since I was in no mood to test my thermal ware, I opted instead to order some beef stroganoff. When I called down to the reception I heard no ring on the other end. I tried several other times and nothing. Eventually a girl came upstairs to ask me if I needed anything. Luckily she was able to take my order and after about 30 minutes the front desk beauty showed up with a dish of beef stroganoff in her hands wishing me a “good appetite”. Had she only stuck around to have dinner with me, that would have been a dream come true, but oh well, luckily the beef stroganoff was good!

Having wasted an entire day on jet lag I was determined to make the next day better. So after breakfast I got dressed up in all my thermal wear and layers and headed out the door to Red Square. The wind was brutal and the temps were at least several degrees below freezing making for a tough walk down to see St. Basil’s. I thought getting down to Red Square and seeing St. Basil’s would jump start me, but unfortunately the wow factor, the buzz just wasn’t there, killed by the extreme fatigue from jet lag and the cold!

I returned home and subsequently crashed until middle of the afternoon I got a phone call. On the other end was a very calm voice saying in Russian, “hello, Steve, how are you”? I started going through my mind thinking who this could be. I said ok and eventually they identified themselves. It was Zhenya Altudin, my good friend who plays the accordion and performs at a local theater located not far from the center. He invited me to his performance that night. Luckily I really did not have anything pressing that night, plus I badly needed to get out!

After a little more rest, I pulled myself out of bed to get ready for Zhenya’s performance that night. No way was jet lag gonna deprive me of attending!! Back in Seattle getting ready to go out during winter is pretty easy thing, put on a layer, maybe at most two and you’re ready. In Russia’s winter it’s a bit more complicated and time consuming, making me pressed for time once I’d stuffed myself full of layers. I eventually opted to take a taxi rather than getting out in the cold and then pushing and shoving through the crowds to squeeze into a metro wagon.

Luckily traffic was not too horrible, just average Moscow bad, so I arrived in good time to the theater. Once there I was to go up to the ticket window and say the magic word “Altudin”, my friend's last name, and pay the $5 or so dollars and I’d be in. Sure enough it worked and I was in! The theater was tiny, the size of what you’d expect from a local high school. Although I was a friend of one of the cast members that did not necessarily mean I would get good seats. Each ticket had a number on it and row, but mine was missing that. Eventually I had to settle for a big wooden block seat in the top row in the walkway area. Oh well……not like the other seats were exactly lazy boy leather recliners, so it was no worries. As I sat there on my hard wooden block seat I wished I could just skip the performance all together and go home. But no way in hell was I going to miss the show and let my friend Zhenya down!!!

I really did not know how I would react to the show since I am not one who just loves the arts. I figured I’d tolerate it and then see Zhenya afterwards and go home. But….a funny thing happened on my way to tolerating and going home…….I actually REALLY liked the show! The show’s name was “Times of the Year” and was a show with no words, just four absolutely drop dead gorgeous I’d do anything to just have one of those as a girlfriend/partner singing the words “la la la la” in all types of different tones in all different types of costumes and times of the year. It was a very, very different show, but was very, very well produced and had a very artsy feeling to it. The music was incredible and my friend Zhenya who plays the accordion is not only an exceptionally gifted accordionist, but also a great actor!

The cast taking of "Times of the Year" taking a bow

Eventually after the show was over I got to see Zhenya in the lobby for a short time and congratulate him and the cast on their great performance. Unfortunately Zhenya couldn’t stick around and talk because the cast was having a post-show discussion. I eventually arrived home dead tired, but so happy that I attended the show!