In Da Club

Alexi (John and Mike's host brother) tookus out to a club last night, after an hour of sightseeingwith a floodlight. I don't have too much timeto write, so I will be sure to edit this post when I have the chance, but some highlights are below:

1) We met the runner up for Ms. Russia
2) We danced to 90s rap in the club
3) I am running on exhaust fumes

Too tired to say much more! More details to follow....

Off to Vladimir...


UPDATE FROM JOHN: 5/8/2009, 3:00 pm, Russian time on the bus to Vladmir from Ivanovo

Desvadanya Ivanovo

We’re all now on a bus heading to the city of Vladimir. I must admit I will miss Ivanovo and all the people who have become like a second family to us. In particular I will miss my friend Alexea the son of my host family. Alexea and I are the same age and have very much in common. Over the past two days Alexea showed me the real Ivanovo. After the banya with Sarah, Jen and Robin, Alexea and I decided to go out to one of the local night clubs, Tanaka or as he called it the criminal club. Alexea made me responsible for ordering drinks. I quickly discovered his reasoning. He knew full well that none of the bartenders spoke English. After about 15 minutes of hand waving and pointing with the bartenders, Alexea came over and bailed me out. The club itself was more like a warehouse with a stage and lights. We danced all night with every Kissa (pretty girl) we encountered. It was a hard night to top.

But top it we did. Last night Jen, Sarah and Mike came with us to Rafinad, a “glamour club”. With Alexea’s friend working the door we managed to cut the line and get a table in the lounge.
We had a great table and a healthy flow of vodka, beer and wine. How could things get better? Well we were soon joined by Miss Russia (actually the runner-up, see left) and her friends. There was a bit of language barrier be we managed just fine.

Then on to the dance floor which had a few different elevated stages with dancers. Well it turns out Alexei knew all of the dancers. We were then invited backstage where we got a great picture with the girls. We closed down the club around 4 a.m when the sun started coming up and happily offered ALL of the dancers a ride home. They accepted!