The View From Above

It's taken me awhile, but I'm finally getting around to blogging about where I actually live.  I live on the 5th floor of Dormitory #2.  For Fulbrighters, their host institutions will usually set up a temporary place of stay until the person finds an apartment, if he or she so chooses.  Well, in my case, I decided to stay at the dorm. Let me tell you about the pros and cons of living in this dorm because there are a great many.  Let's start with the cons because I generally tend to like saving the best for last.

There are probably more cons for living here in the dorm than pros, but I believe (or at least I want to believe) that the pros outweigh the cons.  So here goes.

CONS:

• My room is on the 5th floor meaning I have to trudge my way up there several times a day, everyday.  This is worst in the morning when I have go down the five flights to get the shower key and back up to take a shower.

The "Toilet"

• There are only 2 toilets on my floor for approximately 25-30 people and one shower, taking turns isn't an option, but a requirement.  Also, having only 2 toilets is bad for another reason.  Some of the students on my floor are more secure with squatty pottys than some of the rest of us.  What this seems to mean is that they refuse to sit down on a toilet and instead proceed to *expletive* all over the seat thereby rendering the toilet unusable for those of us less accustomed (or perhaps just less willing) to go the squatty potty way.  

• It's really hot up here and there's no A/C. 

• Our water just went out, making the toilet/shower/cleaning/cooking thing that much worse (my hallway smells like a port-a-potty since even though there's no running water to flush anything, people love to continue to use the toilets).

• The other students are actually quite loud and though it is a dorm after all, many should at least learn to turn their computers/playlists/etc off repeat so I don't have to hear "Love the Way You Lie" 30 times a day.

• I'm pretty sure I mentioned the spider thing in the bathroom right?

• The dogs outside.  I don't know what provokes them to bark for so long and so often, but something does making it very difficult to sleep.

One of Elista's many homeless animals

• Only being able to do laundry at certain times is also a minus, especially when the water is out and all your clothes smell because you can't take a proper shower.

Alright now let me go onto the pros.

PROS:

• The dorm is free. Meaning I can actually save quite a bit of money.

• I do have a pretty good view of the city and as my window faces almost directly west, I can get some pretty kick-ace views of the sunset as it goes down over the Steppe.

• I have all the necessary items like a bed, desk, chairs, fridge, dresser, etc.  

• The dorm is really close to the center of the city, the university and pretty much any and everything I'll need for my time here in Elista.

• Going up all the stairs several times a day means being able to (hopefully) lose some weight as my eating habits here are far from great.

• While my dorm-mates may be pretty loud, they are pretty cool even though we often can't get much out word wise since all of us speak pretty crappy Russian.

Well Dear Readers, your question for the day: Would you live here?  Yes, no or maybe?

My Own Personal Newman

For those of you who watched, are watching and will continue to watch Seinfeld, then this will seem very familiar to you.

It just so happens that each night, around 2-3 am, a dog starts barking and wakes me up.  I don't know why  it does it every night, let alone at the same time, but it does and this dog doesn't just let out a few гав-гавс, this mother trucker barks for at least an hour or more.  Unfortunately, they lock my dormitory doors at 11 and I am unable to leave without waking up one of the ladies with keys.  This isn't something I'm real keen on since they don't like it and in order to silence this particular dog (because as much as I love dogs, I hate this one and well, you get the idea), I'd have to spend the evening wandering in pitch darkness during the witching hour, no thanks.

What I need is Newman.  I need hire to Newman to dognap this dog, take it out far far into the country and to get it lost in a pack of camels.  Only unlike Newman's first attempt in the city, this one had better work.  This dog keeps me up and nothing drowns him out.  I close my windows? He seems to bark louder (not that closing the windows makes much difference anyhow).  I put in my headphones and the dog barks louder still. It's extremely frustrating and it's killing my sleepy-time.

So Dear Readers, if you happen to know a Newman in Elista or even in Russia at-large, please let me know. Oh Newman where are you....