Vacation! I love my job, but every once in a while, everyone needs a little break, if just to step back and get some fresh air (and in Russia, where deodorant isn't all that strong of a cultural norm, fresh air is never a bad thing). I didn't think I needed this break, but I was looking forward to this break all last week. We have the weekend and then Monday through Wednesday of next week off.

I am going to spend part of break in the little town of Zaraisk, where some of my Russian friends live. I am leaving Vladimir tomorrow morning on the 7:26 express train to Moscow, meeting up briefly with some other acquaintances in Moscow, and then taking a bus to Zaraisk. A cool thing about Russia is that the public transportation system is actually usable; Zaraisk  is a town of about 20,000 people, and it is connected to Moscow by an express bus that runs every hour, which is pretty impressive considering that it takes three to four hours to travel between the two cities.

I'll be sure to take lots of pictures of my trip!