When we have class all day, nothing much happens. I was supposed to do laundry second today, but Katia, didn't get up until five minutes before class, and could not get it in the washer in time. So she put it in during a break and I got mine in after lunch during a break and took it out after class.
For some reason, we as a group like doing random things, so after class, we talked with Simeon, and decided to take a trip to his home region for the weekend. It is 300 Km away, or more than three hours in a bus, and at first, I was unsure of going, but it happens a lot here in Moscow with this group, so I think that I am getting used to it. Doing spur of the moment things, that is. My second load of laundry was still in the washer, so I left a laundry bag with Jen who promised to take it out, since she was staying at the hostel for the weekend.
We packed our bags and took the Metro to the bus station. It cost 120 rubles for a one-way trip. Since it was Friday, and right around 6:00 PM when we left, we hit all of the traffic out of the city and it took us more than five hours to get to Vladimir. Now, Simeon said that we were going to his home region, and I know that he lives in a village, so I expected Vladimir to be a small town. Well, Vladimir is bigger than Pittsburgh, over 500,000 people, and I later found out that Simoen does not live in Vladimir, but in one of the villages nearby. But, this is the town that he calls home, and when the bus got to the station, we took a bus to the hotel, and us guys got rooms for the night, while the girls went to Simeon's girlfriend's hostel, where they would be staying for the weekend. He rooms came out to about 200 rubles per person, and they were fairly cozy. Curt, Javier and I got a triple, and Weston and Andrew stayed in the double. The bathroom was the worst part, as it was a toilet and a showerhead. No stall for either, so you could essentially take a shower while…you know.
We met the girls in town somewhere and walked downtown to a club around 1:00 AM. It was called Magma, and I almost fell to the floor in culture shock when we got inside. Not only did we pay 200 rubles to get in, but I have only even seen places like this on TV. It was very Euro, as Katia told me, with a large dance floor, elevated seating and a bar, with mirrors, ventilation pipes all around. The most retro parts were the stages all around the dancefloor with weird costumed people dancing in cages, boxes, and such. And on the mainstage, they had different dance acts throughout the evening. Here's the link to the website…yeah, we were actually there…http://www.magmaclub.ru
We all had a fantastic time, the whole crew minus Jen...plus, Simeon, Leann, Maria, Zoya, and Curt. They played all techno music, and I was even getting tired of that, so we danced the night away until around 5:00 AM. I never expected to have this much fun already, considering that I almost didn't come. But I was definitely glad that I did. We chilled in the lobby for a while and met some interesting characters. There was this guy who was completely hammered who said that he had spent three years in Minneapolis. Needless to say, we messed with his head for a little bit before we took the bus back to the hotel for some much needed rest.
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