Pickpocketed!

My biggest complaint about the dorms is that they are closed from 1 am to 6 am, meaning that if you go out, you can’t come back during those hours. It’s understandable — and reassuring — that a security guard is posted outside and only students who actually live in the dorms can get in. It’s not understandable that this guard needs to take a 5 hour break at a time when most people are coming back from bars/clubs.

Last night, we went out for real for the first time. At exactly midnight, we flipped a жетон (Metro coin; see right) to decide whether to stay out or not, though this decision had already somewhat been made for us, as the metro closes at 12 and the buses stop at 11. Happily, the жетон судбы told us to stay out and we were able to do so guilt-free. Why mess with fate?

We eventually ended up at Fidel, a bar plus dance floor, and I started dancing with a guy named Dmitri. I'm still a little unclear as to his origins: I'm pretty sure he's Canadian, but he might have been Russian and just trying to trick me. Dmitri and I dance for a while, until I discover that my money is gone.

The discovery of my missing money pisses me off. And I suspect that Dmitri had something to do with it. So, as we're dancing, I start trying to pickpocket him. No such luck — every time I move my hands down by his pockets, he grabs them and moves them up. In my mind, this is further evidence that he is responsible for my missing 500 rubles.

I'm already fairly angry, but it's not until I'm on my way home around 6am that the fury really sets in. I call Dmitri with the intent to yell at him for stealing my money, but Matt takes the phone away from me so I need to find another outlet for my anger. The next best thing turns out to be alternating between yelling and kicking things (and people) all the way back to the dorm.

Next time I'll just leave it in my bra.