More about my trip. D. and I went to an exhibition of Russian still life paintings. I also went, alone, to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, http://www.arts-museum.ru/?lang=en, which is similar to the Metropolitan Museum in NYC. I used to go there a lot when I was growing up and I wanted to go again because I missed it, especially the sections on Ancient Greece (http://www.arts-museum.ru/museum/bui...ex.php?lang=en) and the most ancient portraits called Fayum, which I love. Alas, the line was too long. So I went to a new exposition which is now part of the museum in an adjacent building, http://www.arts-museum.ru/museum/bui...ex.php?lang=en, to see European and American art of the XIX-XX centuries. Frankly, I did not see any American art. Maybe because I got too tired by the time I reached the Picasso hall and left. That is where I saw the last paintings by Van Gogh. But the most amazing thing was to see the exact same Rodin sculptures in the very first museum hall as we have here at Stanford - Stanford has a Rodin sculpture garden.

When we went to the cemetery, I could not find the grave. I went to the administration building and asked for directions, giving my mother's name. The lady at the administration building could not locate the record by my mother's name so she asked me for the name of the person who was first buried in the grave because that is how the records are kept. I actually remembered that my great-grandmother died in 1954, 16 years before I was born. The lady then found the record and gave me directions. It turned out that I had already been there but did not recognize the grave I was looking for a wooden cross that my aunt must have removed, having made an engraving of a cross on the tombstone instead. I felt bad that I could not find the grave so I recorded all the directions and the names on the adjacent graves for easier orientation, not to be embarrassed next time around.

I also visited Katya. Katya is a gf from the 4th grade or even earlier. Her parents live in a building downtown where my maternal grandparents lived a long time ago, and when my parents went through the first divorce (they then got back together for a few more years), my mom moved in with her parents for a semester, taking me with her, and placed me in the same school with Katya. So we were friends, neighbors, and even classmates.

Katya went to Moscow conservatory as a pianist, but in later years developed a singing talent and is now a jazz singer in a band. Unfortunately, I could not go to any of her concerts on a short notice, but next time I visit, I will coordinate with her, because bff, who knows Katya through me, says that Katya has a splendid voice and each subsequent concert is better than the previous one.

I saw Katya's parents who are in a terrific shape. They were leaving to see a theatre performance, so I just overlapped with them for a few minutes but was glad I did. I met Anna, her 5-y-o daughter, a blonde, blue-eyed girl who looks like Katya's very handsome father and speaks in long adult-like sentences. Anna goes to preschool and to art classes and showed me her creations. Because Katya travels the world over as well as all over Russia including Siberia with her band, Anna lives with her parents, and Katya splits her time between her own apartment and her parents' place. She is divorced from Anna's dad. Her latest beau is... an American naturopath in Bangkok who pleads with her to move to Thailand to live with him!

Many years ago Katya babysat my son a couple of times.

Several years ago Katya obtained my email address from bff and wrote to me, asking about life, my son, and everything. I did not have anything optimistic to reply back with... so I did not reply at all. It was shortly before the separation, and already after my ties with my son were severed. Katya started complaining that I had not responded, but I explained and she understood. She was really warm towards me and I stayed until late. By the way, my sleep schedule was off in Moscow, I was staying up late and sleeping in after it, but it did not trigger an episode. Maybe because overall I had enough sleep.

I was not manic despite being off Geodon. Sure, initially I was on Zyprexa, but even off Zyprexa, I was fine. I even did a high responsibility assignment - I picked up $$$ cash for two people in the Bay Area who did not want to have money wired to them, and transported the largest amount of cash you can travel with internationally without declaring it. Michael, one of those two people, picked me up from the airport so I did not have to pay for the shuttle ride. Originally, I wanted to say "no" to those two requests, but then I figured that the safest way to carry cash is to always have it with me in the fanny pack, and that is what I did, without any trouble.