Another Message from Valeri Comstock

My employer, Ms. Grosland, has asked that I once again assume her duties at the keyboard and inform you of her present activities. As many of you are no doubt aware, she has been heavily immersed in preparations for her departure to Russia this coming Saturday. One might think that she has merely been too preoccupied to update her readers with the adventure's progress; however, the sad truth of the matter is that each time Ms. Grosland has attempted to write this post she's gone into a fit of soprano arias lasting no less than fifteen minutes. (It's a nervous habit of hers.) It has been decided - by both Ms. Grosland and her landlady - that this must stop. Thus, you will need to get your information from me.

Ms. Grosland departs early Saturday morning, arriving in St. Petersburg on Sunday evening. The prospect of flying across the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the night, while romantic, is doing nothing to calm my mistress's nerves - as she has never before boarded an airplane. Once she arrives, she will meet with the Native Coordinator and her fellow teachers. Presumably she will be spending the night with her host family, though she knows nothing about them as of this time. By September 1st, she is expected to have begun her teaching career. By September 2nd she is expected to have seriously reconsidered all of this.

However, being a woman of firm constitution and with a stubborn desire for adventure, she will carry on - no doubt, with a song on her lips - until her doubt and fear dissolve once more. She is far too excited to be finally doing something to let a silly thing like fear keep her from doing it.

In fact, this final week has been hectic enough to make her wish she was already gone. It would be enough for her to simply be busy with packing and shopping for supplies. However, she has to find time to do that while getting in her usual forty hours at work and attempting to accept the social calls of nearly all of her acquaintances. (There appears to be a great deal of anxiety among the general populace about Ms. Grosland being gone so long. I, myself, cannot understand this.) The strain of these preparations has affected her mind, I'm afraid.

There, see? She's doing handstands on the veranda again. Please excuse me for a moment.

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Thank you. Sorry for the interruption. In confidence, I'll be glad when she finally leaves. Ms. Grosland is not one for waiting, and the anticipation of this trip is killing the both of us. I look forward to the day she finds an internet cafe in St. Petersburg, so that she might reclaim her blogging duties.

Until then, I remain . . .

Cordially yours,

Valeri Comstock


P.S. Oh, and my mistress wishes me to point out that her prediction from last December - that she would "watch at least 12 of my friends become married people" in 2011 - has come true. She is now up to 13 people on her list, and the summer is not even over yet.