It’s been a week since my arrival to Minsk. The very first
day, I opened a window and three flies managed to get in. I thought the average
life span of aa housefly was 2-3 days; whenever one bothers me, I think, “In
four days, max, you’ll never annoy anyone again.”
But Minsk must have superflies. On about day, one flew too
close to the sun in going too far down in the plastic trash bag. I snapped it
shut and smothered the pest. A second one died a similar fate, but not on
purpose. I meant to smack it down, which I did, but it didn’t die instantly. It
buzzed a bit and then I stepped on it and thought I killed it, so I picked it
up with a piece of paper to toss it in the trash. As I did so, it rebounded
like Adonis Creed, but I zipped him in the plastic bag and never heard those
wings buzz again.
But holy smokes, it’s now Day Nine and I’ve still got one
flying around. I’m torn between being impressed and utterly annoyed with The
Last Super Fly. I don’t own a flyswatter, or I don’t think I own a flyswatter.
I might, but as I’ve only received one of my three shipments, I don’t have one
with me.
They’re hard things to track down, flyswatters are. I’ve
gone through this before, when I tried to buy one in another country, though I
don’t remember which one. Honestly, when was the last time you bought a flyswatter?
Where did you get it from? And in which part of the store? Stick me in a
Publix, Target or Walmart, and I’m fairly certain all would carry at least one
kind, but where would it be? Pest control? Plastics? Outdoor-ish stuff? It’s a
little scavenger hunt.
Then add the wrinkle of another language. It’s not something
that translates easily. For one thing, is it one word or two? And would this be
a literal translation? Today, I tried to order some office supplies and, having
virtually no Russian to speak of, relied on Google Translate, but I came up
empty in some searches. “Desk organizer,”
“bulletin board” and “whiteboard eraser” didn’t pan out, so I’d really have no
hope for “flyswatter.”
So now I’m waiting on nature to take its course and have
Super Fly die of old age. If not, I’m going to have to go to a store and do it
the old-fashioned way, with old fashioned body language and a buzzing noise.
Besides the fly, which is really only a minor inconvenience
because my apartment is so big I don’t see him often, things are just fine.
Work is a bit overwhelming because I don’t know where to start; there are a lot
of big projects and it’s a matter of prioritizing.
I’m now walking to work, which is enjoyable if cold and/or
wet and getting colder and/or wetter. Luckily, one of my shipments arrived, and
it was the one that had both my warm stuff – hats, gloves and some scarves – and
my raincoat.
Over the weekend, I walked a ton and explored the area. It
was much chillier over the weekend than it’s been this week, but I took off in
all directions and poked around. The city seems to be nice and compact, very
walkable. There is a metro system, though, and I’ll have to get one of those
cards.
I hadn’t realized last weekend was going to be a three-day
one, and I realized yesterday that this weekend is, too. I’m a little bummed
because usually I like to do road trips but it’s just too early in the game for
me to get out. I hope to do a little
more than just walk – there are lots of museums and such – but all in all it’s
been a nice, slow way to start a new assignment.
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