I got back to Moscow early this morning. That means I spent one night on the train, two nights on a really bad hostel bed (my back hurt awfully Sunday and Monday, and my back never hurts, so I blame the cheap mattress). Tonight I’ll be on a train again then two nights on the floor followed by another train. Knowing that, I was looking forward to two things during my brief time in Moscow:

1. 1.My own bed
   

2. 2.A hot shower
   

Well, today was the day they change the sheets and since the holiday season—when everything in the city stops and people stay in their apartments for a solid week—is almost upon us, Raia (the girl who keeps our hallway clean, changes our sheets, etc.) convinced me to give up my sheets. We don’t get the fresh sheets for quite some time, so that meant no napping for me.

But at least I still had the shower to look forward to. I’d strategically planned my hair-washing so that I wouldn’t need to while in Petersburg and could consequently travel there and back with only a small backpack, but that meant I was more than ready for a long shower. Except that the hot water was off all day, and for most of the day the cold water was off, too. When the cold water did come on, it splattered out rust colored and made unpleasant gasping sounds before going back off.

So, Hannah had better be okay with a very tired, dirty friend coming to stay with her.