A summer, a few Moscowversaries and a brother later

September has probably been the busiest month of my life.
In this month we have all arrived back in Moscow after various summer activities, we've got new jobs, moved into a new apartment, had my brother and his two friends arrive, been broke, been exhausted, met so many new people, laughed til we've cried and generally tried to find some sense of normalcy.

A summary! These always work well when there is waaaay too much information to absorb.

1)   I had the incredible opportunity of going away to a place called Gelenzhick with one of the families I work for. It was another world and, no offence Russia, difficult to believe this place was in Russia.

2)   Maree left the two-thirds of us behind and moved to Italy to a place called Forte di Marme where she worked extremely hard for 8 whole weeks.

3)   Jackie got a new job at an amazing school where the staff have a uniform and a special scarf they wear to occasions.

4)   Many sunny and awesome days were spent wondering the parks of Moscow.

5)   Many sunny and awesome days were also spent watching movies and indulging in junk food in our little flat.

6)   My special friend from my childhood, Erin Pote, came to stay for the weekend on her journey on the Trans-Siberian train. She’s ignited a fire within me which wants to live the life she does. Working and travelling and generally just living life the way I think it was always meant to be lived: being blissfully happy and doing exactly what your inner instincts want you to do, especially because it’s not the conventional thing.

7)   I exchanged my London trip for one back home with the onset of homesickness...

8)   Jackie booked flights home due to changing her visa with her new school.

9)   Maree spent many sunny days on the beach looking after the children and eating yummy Italian ice-cream.

10)               Our friend Freddie moved into our flat due to his apartment being sold.

11)               Jackie and I flew on separate airlines to separate layovers even though we left on the exact same day at the exact same time.

12)               I spent a wonderful week with my parents, catching up and walking on the beautiful beaches of Jeffrey’s Bay.

13)               Jackie was in Cape Town visiting her cousins and sorting her visa.

14)               I then went on to Grahamstown where I could see some old, familiar faces who I’ve missed seeing very much.

15)               After Grahamstown, it was off to my hometown Queenstown which always stays the same and it’s the best that way.

16)               From Queenstown it was back to Jeffrey’s Bay and then off to Cape Town with my folks to see more of my beloved family.

17)               I spent a weekend with my brothers, parents and in laws exploring the Fish Hoek area and kicking ass in 30 Seconds.

18)               I said a bitter-sweet goodbye to my parents and biggest brother and got to spend a few special days with my aunt and uncle.

19)               Arrived back in Moscow with work straight away with Jackie and Maree due back soon.

20)               Watched a few seasons of Breaking Bad with Freddie while eating treats brought back from South Africa.

21)               Jackie arrived back and started at her new job.

22)               Maree arrived back from Italy exhausted, brown and looking great! We were finally reunited.

23)               We looked for a new flat, found it on Thursday and moved in on Saturday.

24)               I started a kindergarten job on Monday.

25)               My other big brother and his two good friends arrived on Tuesday.

There are photos on Facebook to match this whirlwind month to catch everyone up on the happenings in Moscow...but I aim to be a lot more active on my blog since things are starting to feel as normal as they can be with five South Africans living in one apartment in Moscow :)