more on moscow

i have been back in moscow for over a week, but i have had so much to do that everything just seems like a blur. i have been running around trying to get things done for my research and my job, so much actually that i havent had the time to think about what i am doing. i am just going through the motions of doing it, thoughtlessly.
friday i had coffee with igor and ira. ira has just moved here from lvov. i find that really funny, since when i first met her (we were roomates in serbia in 2003) she had never been to russia and was determined that she would never set foot in the place. yet now she is living in russia and it seems highly likely she will spend the rest of her life here, since she and igor are planning on getting married sometime in august, and igor's future is pretty clearly here.
then yesterday i was over at the chos trying to help them...as they have suddenly decided to immigrate to canada! yet there are so many forms to fill out. the boys are to go to some private school that requires all kinds of special enterance exams, includding the SSAT (secondary school admissions examination). they also have to write all sorts of essays...even though they are 9 and 12 years old! and the school applications must be done nearly a year in advance, hence they should be sent off soon for admission in September 2007. it is all very complicated, even more so than applying for university, it would seem.
exhausted from these efforts, caitlin and i decided on a nice bimbo sunday. we had our normal brunch (i had an omlette, as always, this time we went to Jean Jacques). then we went on our regular sunday shopping tour. i ended up with a belt from furla and some shoes from Tsum....not that i needed anything...but i suppose it is the retail therapy necessary to get me through the week that is approaching...