Home Stays, Smoke, and Fur

Not all that much to report, or at least nothing exciting. I am still fighting off a cold this weekend so we didn't do very much adventuring. However, we have made some inquires at the school and may be moving into a homestay at some point in the next week or so. We had been told initially, by the coordinators in Canada, that finding a placement for both of us in the same home would be nearly impossible and so had pretty much abandoned the idea. Lately though, many other Canadian students have been moving in with Russian families so we thought we should at least ask what our chances of finding a place were. We spoke with the coordinator, who asked us a few simple questions and then told us that it shouldn't be a problem to find us a family to live with, and that we should meet with her sometime this week once she had some time to find us a possible placement. Since then however, my mom actually reminded me that with my allergy to smoke it may not be so easy afterall. I had completely forgotten at the time to mention it to our coordinator, but now that I think of it, given how prevelant smoking is in Russia, it may be very difficult to find a household wanting to host students that just happens to miraculously be smoke free. Keep your fingers crossed for us that the people our coordinator finds are not smokers, or short of that, that they refrain from smoking indoors. It might be a long shot, but I can hope.

Also worth mentioning, while out wandering for a little while on Sunday Ross and I spotted a group of protestors. It was the first time we had seen any form of political demonstration here (although apparently they are common) and I was even more surprised to find out that it was an anti-fur protest. Who would have thought that in Russia, where everyone we pass on the street is wearing a fur hat, a fur lined hood, or fur coat, I would see my first "Fur Is Murder" banner. The people were carrying small stuffed animal seals (they must have been protesting the seal hunt in particular), and some people were dressed in white full-body suits which later they splashed with red paint. I think it is quite ironic, that given the activism of people in Victoria, and the many animal rights supporters in Canada as a whole, that it took me coming all the way here to see this. I was approached once at school, wearing a hooded-sweater that was ligned in the hood with faux fur, by an animal rights supporter who asked me "Do you know how many rabbits had to die for your sweater?" to which I responded "None, its 100% polyester." But I hadn't seen an organized protest group before. Sadly, I don't think their message will be heard hear anytime soon. Fur is everywhere in Russia!