MOSCOW, December 24, 2004 – Christmas eve! Seven years ago last night I landed at Sheremetevo Airport to begin my Russian oddyssey. Thought that would be a good time and a good excuse to call Tioufline. But a young man answered his phone. Said he wasn’t living there now and promised to tell Tioufline I’d called. Curious!
But the way I’m feeling this morning, maybe coming here was a mistake after all!
Night before last Sergei announced that he had lost 7,200 rubles – about $ 240. He had been wearing a pair of Andrei’s jeans and didn’t realize there was a huge hole in the right pocket until he discovered the 7,200 rubles was gone!.
I was very upset, because it was a careless and unnecessary loss, but gave him the $ 240 to replace what fallen out of his pockets.
Yesterday I fixed a new chicken chowder recipe for him. With the holidays here a lot of my students – both EE and my own – aren’t here, so I have had a lot of time. I wanted to see what his favorite recipe/recipes would be.
He had said he would try to come home early since I would be here. At 5, Kreutz, his boss and my friend, called. Sergei hadn’t been in the office all day.
Oh-oh!
He hadn’t come at 6, or 7, or 8. I called Kreutz. No, they still hadn’t seen him.
I was just beginning to tell Sasha, who had just arrived to spend the night, what I assumed had happened when Sergei arrived. “Where have you been?”
“At work!” he said defiantly.
“Then how come Kreutz hasn‘t seen you?
“Kreutz isn’t here.”
“He came today.”
When I called Kreutz to tell him Sergei had arrived, he asked to speak to Sergei. I heard Sergei tell him, “It’s a long story.”
After finishing his converation, Sergei sat down at the table to join me and Sasha in a shot of Martel cognac from Sasha’s brother-in-law that he had been saving for five years for a special occasion.
“Did you give them the money?” I asked Sergei.
“Of course.”
I breathed a sigh of relief – prematurely, unfortunately.
A few minutes later I called Kreutz to ask him if Sergei had given them the money.
“No.”
Since then I’ve been in a blue funk – not only because I’ll have to repay Katz for the money Sergei stole from him and because he blew away the $ 240 I had given him the night before, but because that’s the end of our relationship. I’ll never have a relationship with an addict – of alcohol, drugs, or gambling.
Andrei called from Svetlograd this morning as I was headed toward the metro and my 8:30 class at Moeller Electric at Vodnoi Stadion Station. I told him what had happened and that Sergei had announced he wasn’t going to Stavropol with me. Our conversation ended when I got to the metro. “Is he at home?” Andrei asked.
“Yes.”
“I’ll call him now.”
When I got home from my Moeller Electric class, he was asleep, and still is. He’ll probably sleep most of the day. I won’t kick him out, but I’ll never have sex with him again and I’ll never let him carry another kopek of mine – for any reason. Unfortunately, that means I will have to do all the shopping.
Making my day even more cheerful: I can’t get onto e-mail. It started last night after Slava disconnected my old hard drive and took my old computer. Whether that had anything to do with it or not, I can’t be sure. But I’m at a loss to know what to do. Fortunately Dima and Kostya are coming tonight – the first time in about six weeks – and maybe they’ll have some idea.
Oh, by the way: My printer’s not working either!
On the brighter side, Andrei said his father thinks we can get seven grand for the VW in Stavropol after we get it all fixed up! That would certainly improve my mood, but I’ll believe it when it happens.
The reason Sasha and I were celebrating is that he has been accepted by Stevens Inst. of Technology just outside of NYC and will get a $ 17,000/yr. stipend as a teaching assistant. I’m extremely happy for him, but at the same time I’m a little sad that I’ll be losing my best buddy in Russia. We’ve been through a lot together. He was my steady sex partner until I promised fidelity to the twins, and he has been the truest, most loyal friend I’ve had in Russia – maybe in my whole life. Of course we’ll stay in touch by e-mail, but it’s almost like losing Marco or Wagner.
I will contact Sydny, Scott, and Damion – and Scott Seay – and suggest they get in touch with him. I’ll also suggest that Dennis invite him either to Florida or to WV.
Chapter 2 – Dec. 26 – When Sergei woke up Friday, he was so penitent and sweet and childlike. He wasn’t defiant and angry as I had expected. He seemed accepting of what he’d done and knew there was nobody to blame but himself. He snuggled into my arms and repeated his story: He’d been so angry and so ashamed about losing the $ 240 on Thursday that he’d decided to go out and make it all back so I wouldn’t be out any money. He spent the rest of the day watching his wistful hopes – and my 500 bucks -- ebb away.
“I understand why you did it, but that was a fantasy, honey,” I said comforting him. But I couldn’t take away the reality: He’s lost the job he loved, and I’ve lost $ 500!
“I can never trust you with money again,” I told him. “I can’t even give you money to go shopping!”
“Oh, I can go shopping,” he said somberly, “because I know that’s for food that we need.”
I later reminded him that drunks, gamblers, and drug addicts never have anything – they don’t have apartments, they don’t have cars, they die with nothing but their addiction.
But now he’s his old self and again very excited about seeing all his old friends in Svetopol.
We’ve been even closer since the trauma. We’ve been almost inseparable the last two days. He’s very angry at himself, and at the whole notion of gambling. This morning he burned a box of matches from a casino. He looked up impishly as he did it. “What are you doing that for?” I asked.
“I don’t like casinos,” he grinned.
Yesterday evening after I returned from my diplomatic academy class, we were alone. “This is Christmas, Sweetheart,” I said. “I want to have sex tonight. That will be my gift from you.”
We did. I slept till 10:30 this morning. That too was a gift.
On Friday I went to meet the principal of my school to have a chat about visa support. He was a very nice man – 50s, dignified, friendly, cordial, self-assured, intelligent, and gracious. How lucky the school is to have a person like him as its principal.
Larissa and I reviewed for him my potential dilemma. “I don’t think visa support will be a problem,” he observed. “We’ll contact our partners in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and have the visa and the work permit taken care of if it’s necessary .”
As I left, he gave me the standard teacher gift – a box of chocolates and a bottle of cognac. I was shocked and pleased.
As it turns out, it looks like I won’t need visa support – at least this year. I sent my letters to Tanya and Lena at English Exchange:
...I am writing to ask your help with a problem.
I have two private clients – two private teaching institutions -- whose hours and traveling times are marked in purple on the attached schedule.
Although I have had them since September, I have either not had Language Link classes that conflicted with them or I have been able to adjust my Language Link assignment around them.
However, Tanya has requested that after the holidays I take a student who wants to have classes at 1 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday. If I teach that student at 1 p.m. on Thursday, it will mean I will have to forego entirely my Thursday afternoon class at the school, because the LL class would come right in the middle of the school schedule, and it takes nearly an hour to get there and an hour to return.
That would mean one-third of the time I teach the class each week, which in turn would mean I would have to give up my classes there entirely at a cost to me of nearly $ 1,000 a month. Similarly my Wednesday evening/Saturday afternoon class brings in another roughly $ 500 a month.
I still have many hours – some 26 or 27 academic hours, in fact -- in which I could take additinal Monday-Wednesday classes or Tuesday-Thursday evening classes that would not pose a conflict.
The two part-time teaching positions together provide an extra $ 1500 a month – thus are obviously extremely important to me. Teaching one Thursday afternoon class for Language Link now would cost me $ 1,000 a month! Inasmuch as these private classes do not significantly diminish the number of hours I am available to teach for Language Link, I hope you will find it possible to accommodate my request. I would like not to be forced into a choice I don’t want to make.
I am letting you know now so you will have some time to think about and plan for it.
Thank you for your attention. I look forward to your reply...
Much to my – I can’t exactly say surprise, because I rather thought they would find a way to accommodate me; maybe more disappointment – I received the following e-mail from Lena Litvinova, the class scheduler.
Dear Dane,
As I've found out from Tatiana you won't teach in January at the Central
School. Still, you're on 30 hours contract, so I'll try to give you more
convenient classes as soon as you'll send me the schedule of your private
lessons.
I wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
So they are going to accommodate me! The only problem is that I’ll inevitably lose some of the time which I now have for my other private clients – hence I’ll lose more money. But at least I’m not making any enemies at EE or burning any bridges.
But I’ll not renew my contract at the end of this year.
Private lessons are falling off for the holiday. I made only $ 225 this week! But my school payday – about $ 500 – is tomorrow, and I’ll have another half EE payday sometime soon, with the regular payday again on the 22nd. My pension arrives on the 12th. My final Inst. of Diplomacy payday for this cycle will come about the same time as the 2nd EE payday in Jan. And of course all my private students will resume after the 10th.
So I still have $ 220 in my pocket, will get $ 500 tomorrow, and about $ 45 from private students before Wednesday, giving me about $ 800 to get to the 12th of January with, when I’ll get my next $ 850 pension. Before the end of the month I’ll get another $ 950 from LL and $ 500 from DA. So even if I spent $ 800 in Stavropol, I’d have about $ 3000 by the end of January, with only rent to pay. I can count on private students for current expenses.
So going into Februry I should have $ 2,500. I’ve already bought the car, the computer, and new mobile phone, so I should have no more big expenses coming up.
And if we should sell the VW for $ 7,000, that would put nearly 10 grand in the bank -- nice way to begin the year!
Got a call yesterday morning from Vanya in Nizhny Novgorod! He and Max were at Max’s apartment and were drunk. Vanya sounded his usual sexy self. Asked what my New Year’s plans were. I think he was hoping to come here, but I told him I was going to Stavropol with the twins.
I’m glad he’s at least still speaking to me, though even more glad he’s not still raiding my treasury!
Speaking of which, Yegor “borrowed” another $ 200 to pay for his new Russian passport. He now owes me $ 1,200.
Chapt. #96 – 2076 words
Columns :: A Christmas Gift From Sergei – Nicked for $ 500
MOSCOW, December 24, 2004 –- Comments: Ratings: 
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