Republic of Tatarstan

The last few days, the weather hasn’t made me happy because it’s been raining every day, the sky covered with clouds, and the temperature has been low, around 2–5 degrees. Today, when I got up from bed, I noticed the weather from my window. Outside, it was raining and cold, and I even heard the wind blowing against my windows. It was just a typical autumn day, with the trees covered in a golden blanket, and some trees had already lost their leaves. But I didn’t decide to be sad. I got up, dressed, and went to the bathroom to complete my morning routine. After as usual, I ate my breakfast, watched my American show, and then started my work.

I liked this day, even though it was Monday and the first workday of the week. Because it was my salary day! Yeah, the 5th and 20th of each month are my favorite days. And if these days happen to be on a Friday — it’s double the celebration! Friday is also one of my favorite days. So I always wait for these dates with excitement. The second thing that happened was about my freelance client. He texted me something new, and I think the ice finally moved — I might have a small chance to get my money. But I still have some doubts, because it’s already been about four months and I haven’t received anything yet. Even when we started the project, he promised to pay half of it in advance, but I declined that offer.

I slept until 10 AM because I went to bed very late, around 1 AM. Because yesterday I had a busy day, as I mentioned before. When I woke up, I spent another 30 minutes lying in bed and reading Reddit, so it was already 10:30 AM by the time I got up. After finishing my morning routine, lunch was already ready, so I skipped breakfast and started my day with lunch. For lunch, I had something very similar to manty — I couldn’t remember the name and didn’t take a picture. I always try to photograph my unique meals for my blog, but I always forget. It was something rolled, filled with a mixture of meat, potatoes, and onions inside.

My day started early because I was woken up at 6:40 AM, since yesterday we had planned to go to our relatives. They invited us and other relatives to help with their twenty angry geese. Finishing all those geese in one day was not easy because there were quite a lot. Also, those geese were very angry. Once, when I visited my relatives before, those geese tried to catch me and attack me for no reason. Fortunately, they couldn’t catch me, and I managed to escape. Since then, I’ve always kept my distance from them, but today I just watched as one of the geese was boiled and eaten. A few words about what “kaz ömäse” is: It happens in the autumn. It’s a work party, and the main purpose is butchering geese.

Today I woke up at 8:35 AM, and yesterday I fell asleep at 11 PM. Honestly, I didn’t plan to fall asleep — I just wanted to lie down for about 10–15 minutes. I had been working all day and couldn’t lie down even once. After I got up, I wanted to do my routine, but unfortunately, I ended up sleeping until 3 AM. When I woke up the first time, I found my phone next to me, and I was a bit happy because I could have broken it under me or dropped it on the floor. I quickly moved my phone to the table, brushed my teeth, undressed, prepared my bed, and started the second part of my sleep. I don’t even remember how I fell asleep — I just jumped onto my bed, and after about 10 seconds, I was already asleep. Even my Mi Band showed that I slept for 9.4 hours. It’s quite long and also not very healthy. I also want to say that I usually never sleep this early. Normally, I go to bed after 1 AM.

This morning started with clouds, but after lunchtime the sun appeared in the sky. Even though there were still many clouds and the sky was mostly covered, the sun shone brightly enough. On this sunny day, I decided not to stay at home. During my lunch break, I took my car and drove to a nearby village. That village is about twenty kilometers from my home, so it wasn’t a long trip. I managed to drive there and come back within my lunch break. I even had around twenty minutes left, which I used to eat because I was kind of starving. For lunch, I had buckwheat mixed with grilled onions, carrots, and one whole sausage. For dessert, I had half a piece of cake.

This morning was as usual, so there’s nothing interesting to share about it. Instead, I’ll tell you about the weather and my strange dream with the former U.S. president. Let’s start with the weather. Yesterday I wrote about how bad it was and how I planed to leave. But early this morning, when I looked out the window, I saw the sun and a clear sky. It made me really happy because I could go for a walk during my lunch break. The weather stayed nice all day — even though some clouds appeared, there was no rain. The sun didn’t give up; from time to time it shone through the clouds and brought a cheerful mood.

My morning started around 9 AM because I got up a bit late — just 10 minutes before work. During that time, I only had enough time to brush my teeth and quickly wash my face. Then I immediately started preparing my desk and joined the meeting. When I connected, nobody else had joined yet, so I was the first one today, even though I woke up late. This meeting happened without our team lead, who was away on personal business and left another person in charge. That person has been working in our department for a long time, so he was responsible for everything. The meeting lasted only about five minutes, because everyone already knew what they had to do, and nobody had any questions. It was very convenient for me because I could continue my breakfast right after.

In July, a person from my old job texted me and asked, “Can you take one simple website and fix it?” I immediately said, “Yeah, of course! Send me the link and the list of tasks I need to fix.” After I checked everything, I told him how many hours it would take and how much it would cost. He also wanted to pay me part of the money before I started working, but I declined it, and we agreed that he would pay after I finished the work. Now I think I should’ve taken that money he wanted to give me.

My morning was a little rainy, but it didn’t stop me. After breakfast, around 9:30 a.m., I quickly changed my clothes and went for a bike ride. When I left home, I noticed that the ground and asphalt weren’t too dirty. That made me happy, so I started my ride. I couldn’t even imagine what would happen next. When I was going downhill through some trees, I fell off. While going down, I pressed the front brake, and the back of my bike lifted up. I felt it, but it was already too late — I fell. I got a big bruise (about 10×15 cm) on my knee, and now it hurts a little when I walk. I also got some scrapes on my hands and legs, but nothing serious. I tore my shorts and a bit of my sneakers. Fortunately, my bike is fine — nothing broke. Honestly, I’m happier about my bike than about myself.

Even though the day was cloudy, I decided to go for a bike ride because I didn’t want to spend my weekend at home. I didn’t bring my GoPro, though, because I’ve already filmed all the interesting places. Another reason is that the GoPro doesn’t record very well when the weather isn’t good enough. So I rode my bike for more than four hours today. For about thirty minutes, I just read Reddit and relaxed — it was a new experience for me, reading Reddit and practicing English in the fresh air. During my ride, I also met one of my classmates. The last time I saw him was at our graduation event, which was more than ten years ago!

For the past three years, I celebrated my birthday abroad. Every autumn, I used to travel to other countries, so I always celebrated it there. Also, autumn in my country is quite difficult — it’s rainy, cold, and there’s almost no sun. In short, the weather in autumn is very bad, and I never enjoy it. That’s why I started leaving my country and spending some time abroad until December. However, this time I decided to stay here for a while because I had some things to handle related to my visa.