Once again I've lied to you all.

I wonder how many times that has been my subject line.

Plans in Russia change all the time. Get used to it.

While today was technically the first day of classes, my printmaking class that will usually meet on Monday nights is going to start next week. Probably because the professor, Петр Белый (english translation: Peter White), was too busy opening his new gallery and having articles written about him in the magazine, Афиша.

It was a nice surprise getting an extra night of free time. This free time involved Ilana and I trying to have one last desperate lunch picnic, eating fresh bread and sliced sausage in the windy cold on a bench on the pedestrian street. Goddammit, we are going to fit in as many more picnics as possible. We are also planning a great new boardgame called RUSSIA: THE GAME. You'll hear more about it later.

And, of course, there was still that first day of school buzz in the air. I don't know where all these children came from. I thought Russia had a declining population problem. I guess they were all of at grandma's dacha. But today they all returned and there were a billion little kids in plaid shorts and girls with fluffy white bows in their hair and the bookstore was packed with people buying notebooks and pencils. For the first time, Smolny did not have an abandoned-feel with only a couple dozen foreigners lurking on various floors. Suddenly there was life everywhere and lots of people and Russians hanging out in the hallway. Ilana and I ran into two of our tutor-friends from this summer -- Liza and Kristina -- on our way out to lunch. It was kind of funny to see them as the real students they are instead of authority figures who tell us how to say words like "escalator" and such.

Speaking of escalators, I saw something that put me in a good mood this morning. I was running a little late because I am not used to trying to get to school at 9:30am instead of 10, and I was rushing down the left side of the escalator for once, flying past all these people, when something caught my eye and I turned and stopped and looked back. There was a little girl, maybe six or seven, in a pink parka coat and a pink skirt with white tights and a white backpack. Her hair was in two pigtail-braids with fluffy white bows on each one, and she was posing next to her dad on the escalator ride down while her mom took a picture from a few steps below. I love back-to-school picture taking traditions like this -- I even tried to recreate my own typical one this morning in my self portrait (Mom, I even wore my teal backpack for old time's sake even though I don't actually use it to bring my stuff back and forth to school), and I liked seeing this urban Russian variation. It was also just really fucking cute.

So since I had all this extra time tonight, I put up new pictures. Have a field day. We're got digital stuff from this weekend and Peterhoff, new self portraits including my back-to-school shot, and one very special photograph just for Adams.