Odi et amo?

Blast.

I have roommates again.

These are very nice people – a Moroccan boy and his Russian girlfriend – but I have nevertheless been spoiled by the silence of having the entire block to myself (minus my friends the remonters).

We shall see how this situation plays out. I’ve already paid rent through the end of January to save myself a headache with trying to pay at the beginning of the month when it’s New Years (which is like Christmas, American New Years, and Animal House all rolled into one holiday). If I am an unhappy caged little bird, perhaps I will find myself a different apartment for the last few months of my engagement in the Russia.

Perhaps in this play Icarus should play the part of the evil roommate.

But it’s so hard when they invite me over to have tea and cake with them! Gah! You can’t invade where I’ve marked my colonialist territory and then be nice to me! Stop sending mixed signals!