And again on the road

= Day 10 =

In the morning I left the guesthouse of Lyosha and Natasha, where I had been staying for three days. I'd like to say a few kind words about my roommate – Alexey. We're roughly the same age, he's been living in this house for three weeks now, and he looks a lot like an old friend of mine, also named Lyokha – both in appearance and character, practically a dead ringer. A kind of greeting from the past. His appearance in my life reminded me of my youth, filled with a mass of vivid experiences. Those were times of sport, struggle and overcoming, as well as male friendship, honor, and mutual support. We practiced freestyle wrestling together and were roughly equal in strength. He was an open, straightforward guy with a distinctly Russian

character. I saw the same thing in my now-former neighbor, who also did freestyle wrestling in his day… I took the train to Krasnodar. Upon arrival, I decided to look at an apartment for the future, while I had the chance. I got in touch with Svetlana – a developer's assistant who was selling her apartment in the Prikubansky district. It was located 10 km from the station, and by 7:00 PM I was already at her place. Svetlana turned out to be a sweet, simple, and friendly young woman, and we spent a pleasant time over a cup of coffee until her husband arrived, who for some reason wasn't very happy to see me. After inspecting the apartment, we decided to take a short walk with her dog – a large, noble animal with thick fur. What breed is that, I wonder? After we said goodbye, Svetlana offered me a place to sleep in her second apartment, which she was also selling, and which was located in the neighboring building right here in the same courtyard. It was empty and had a rough finish, but it was perfectly fine for getting a good night's sleep. That's certainly better than looking for a place to crash at such a late hour, and in unfamiliar territory to boot, as I had done with such zeal several times before…