Day 64

I called the boss, he said, "Rest up, Vanka, you'll be back on Monday." I was happy because my back was killing me after 2 days of that kind of work. Nikita and Parvis went to the beach, but I just felt like lying down. I lay around, sat on the porch, went into town, walked around, and came back. Since the day was monotonous, I'll tell you about our roommates, since I promised and hadn't told you anything yet. Let's start with the apartment owner, Yura, 40 years old. 10 years ago he won a green card and moved here to live and work. He’s a history teacher by education, which is obvious from his 3-hour lectures. I'll try to take a photo of him, but for now, I'll describe him: big dark circles under his eyes, it gets scary sometimes if you see him in the evening without the lights on. He wears interesting glasses without temples; they are on a rubber band, meaning when he doesn't wear them on his nose, he wears them on the side of his head. When I saw that for the first time, I could barely hold back my laughter. Here are a few typical phrases from him: "W-w-w-w-w-what?" He doesn't stutter, it just sounds like that when he says WHAT! "W-w-w-w-w-what did you hear?" "Where?" "Well, in general?" "Can you hear the music?" He realizes I won't talk to him and leaves. You can also hear: "Tomorrow the weather is nice, we should go to the beach, but then again..." "Need to cook borscht, but then again..." "Tomorrow I'll go to work, but then again..." "Need to go get groceries, but then again..." and a bunch of other examples. This is his favorite phrase; he plans something and then "But then again..." and goes to his room to drink. Also, he doesn't know how to listen, he only likes to talk, and he repeats everything several times and gets indignant when we say, "You already told us that." Here is a typical dialogue with him: "I was at the beach today, it's great there and the water is very warm." "I see." "So, you know what's interesting? The water was warm." Silence. "The thing is, it seems like it's not really summer, but the water is warm." Dead silence, Nikita coughed. "I was just there a week ago, it was cold, but this time the water was warm." For fun, I mimic one of his phrases: "So you're saying the water was warm?" "Well, yes, it's very strange, the water was very warm." Nikita went to the room to laugh, I also found it funny, but he doesn't pay attention and continues to lecture about how good it was there. Another favorite phrase: "So you're saying..." You tell him something half an hour ago, he comes out of the room and says, "So you're saying..." You don't even need to answer him, he'll just go back to the room. For example, when I arrived with my laptop, he asked me, "How much did you get it for?" "300 dollars." "I see." He leaves, returns about half an hour later: "So you're saying 300 dollars," and leaves. This can happen several times a day. He has no wife and never had one, no kids either. He served in the construction battalion where he was bullied, and you can tell by him that he's somehow skittish. In general, that's Yura for you. Now the next one, the well-known Tajik Parvis, born in Dushanbe, believes that Tajikistan is currently a pornography of politics. He has political asylum here because he shot at his own people in a local conflict, although that's also unknown. The thing is, he lies constantly and doesn't even notice it himself. And also, in his eyes, you are complete garbage; everything you have, he already had, and 100 times worse or better, depending on the situation. He said he fought in Chechnya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Dushanbe—in short, he named a bunch of places. He said he is personally acquainted with the Pope, says half of Brooklyn knows him, in short, he twists the whole world on his censorship. Here's an example: "We went to the cinema in Manhattan yesterday, the biggest one in New York." "You went to the wrong place, that's all garbage, the biggest one is here in Brooklyn, why didn't you ask me, I would have told you." Here are his favorite phrases: "Lissssten," specifically "Lissssten" or "Why do you speak like that?" "Why do you ask such stupid questions?" "Lissssten brother." "It's like, you know, like..." "How do I explain it to you?" "Excuse me, but..." "I bought these jeans for 10 DOLLARS." "Alright, I'm off to run." And a lot more. For example, a dialogue with him: "I went to an employment agency today, I'll be working soon." "Which one did you go to?" "Well, the one on Kings Highway." "Oh, well, I get it, in short, you gave them that money and will never find a job." "No, they are quite normal, they even scheduled me for interviews." "Lissssten brother, I want to tell you, you got scammed, I know those girls, I slept with all of them." "I don't know, we'll see." "Well, in short, you should have asked me, half of Brooklyn knows me here." I found a job, and then he asked me to get him in there since he was fired from being an electrician. I said it wouldn't work, he got very offended. Here's another: "Damn, need to register WebMoney, there's a lot of hassle with this credit card here." "Lissssten, what do you want?" "How to deposit money into WebMoney here." "What's that?" "Well, a payment system." "Oh, well, that's only through a bank." "And through terminals?" "Lissssten brother, why do you need terminals, go to the bank and deposit it, just open an account first." "Parviz, do you know what WebMoney is?" "Of course, excuse me, but I even have 300 of that money there." "What money?" "Well, 300 of those WebMoney dollars." "I see." Well, if I remember anything else, I'll tell you. Maybe I'll post a video in the future.

Day 65

Nothing happened, slept all day.

Day 66

Came to work, today my task was to patch a wall with concrete and then paint it so it would be even, because when they were moving the safe out of the house, they broke the wall. I mastered this work very quickly: throw concrete from a bucket onto the wall and spread it. I'm calling the Boss about payment, he says he'll bring it today. He arrived, said it would be in the evening, brought me carpet, and Tolyan and I went to lay it in the rooms. Tolyan said he wants to go to our Altai Krai and open a casino. My story about Altai Krai was very long, after which he changed his mind about going. The boss arrived, I asked about the money again, he said it would be at the end of the workday, gave me a task for tomorrow: clear the area for parking. Good, will be done. Tomorrow we are working together with Sashka, which I am very happy about since we found common ground. End of the workday, he is talking to the landlady, says, "Wait, I'll finish with her and give you the money." "Okay." I wait 20 minutes, I see him get into the car and drive away. I call him... in the receiver: "Van, no offense, I'll just check the apartment with her and come to you in 5-7 minutes." Waited an hour, called him: "Van, sorry, but I won't come today, I'll bring it tomorrow morning." Angry, I went home. Arrived, put on headphones so no one would bother me, and then went to sleep. Headphones are an excellent remedy against Yura.

Day 67

Arrived late, I see Sanya is already clearing things, I quickly changed and went to him. The boss arrived, gave me the salary for 1 week. We cleared all the trash with Sanya, we didn't work too fast, just with smoke breaks. Suddenly we go into the house and it smells like weed, we look at Tolyan, he is completely out of it, who knows what he's saying, completely out of his mind. We went out into the yard and suddenly Sanya told me something about Tolik: "In short, Van, he's a drug addict, we have a mutual friend and he told me about him, that's why there's an explanation for all his WHAT? WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? he's a junkie." "Sanya, did you only realize that now? I realized it when he went into the bathroom for an hour and came out high." "I don't care, as long as the boss doesn't see, otherwise it's curtains for Tolyan." "Sanya, that's not our problem, he has his own life." "That's for sure." We talked, laughed, he told me a few funny stories from the construction site that made me burst into laughter. I went to the store, return and he says: "Well, what, 9th Company, you're the last one left." "Roger that, the height has been taken." The end of the workday is approaching and Sanya told me about the boss, says: "Listen, do you remember when he was yelling?" "Well, of course." "Well, he used to be completely different, he didn't yell, didn't even raise his voice, he yells when he's drunk." "Oh, well then that's clear, and does he drink often?" "Yeah, whenever he gets the chance." In general, trouble has come, open the gates, the boss arrived drunk as hell, first he yelled at Tolyan for no reason, Tolyan at him, he went to us even angrier, started yelling at Sanya first, and then at me: "Van, why the hell are you doing nothing, pick up the snowdrops?" "Pick up what?" "Are you deaf or blind?" "Can you explain more clearly what to collect, I don't understand you." "Pick up the censorship." "I don't understand you." Sanya says, "that's trash in army slang." "Oh, well you didn't say to pick it up, we'll go through here with a tractor, and everything will be cleared." He is already screaming hysterically: "Do I have to explain everything to you twice? PICK IT UP!!!!" "Don't you censorship yell at me, censorship, if you don't like how I work, fire me, but you owe me for the week, this isn't the army, I'm your employee, not a punching bag, if you have nerves or stress, then don't yell at me, because I also have nerves from you, and who am I supposed to yell at?" "I don't care about your nerves, you're an employee, I pay you money for work, do what you're told." "I will do it, but can't you explain normally, do you have to yell?" "What are you showing off here, huh? Student censorship?" "Who's showing off? Maybe you?" "In short, I want to come tomorrow and have everything be great here, otherwise, look out for yourself, got it?" "I'm doing what I can, you get money for my work from the clients, can you at least respect me for that?" He turned and left. Sanya came up and says: "Van, don't argue with him, he's drunk, don't you see?" "Sanya, I don't care what he is, am I going to be silent when they yell at me? If I'm silent, it'll be worse for me, why keep it inside? If they yell for no reason, then you yell too, I'm a person like a spring, as much as they press on me, that much returns to them." We finished, changed, and went home. Sanya said on the way: "You know, on one hand, it's right that you answered back, but he'll forget about it tomorrow, I've known him for 5 years, he might even come and apologize to you like he did to many others, but on the other hand, it could have been avoided." "Okay, next time I'll try, I just didn't realize at first that he was drunk, only when I approached him." "Well, in short, he's a normal guy in general, but when you hear or see that he's yelling, it means he's drunk, try not to get in his way." "Okay, alright, see you tomorrow." "Yeah, take care." And I went home.

Day 68

Ugh, what a difficult week. Today I carried tiles to all the rooms where needed, and bags of cement, I was exhausted, but thanks to Sashka's sense of humor, I was in a good mood. I even slept for an hour at lunch, Sashka said if the boss comes, he'll wake me up, because the work is hard enough, need to rest. Worked almost all day outside, the heat is terrible, like in Florida. I got dressed and decided to go sign up for training today, why waste the evenings, especially since there's a famous school here, and highly qualified trainers. In general, to train, gain experience, plus take photos and shoot videos for the trainer. In general, I reached the place where the training is, while going up I heard shouts "KIYA" "HAP" "UAUUU". I went in, saw a group of about 15 people of all ages, half of them looked at me immediately, including the trainer, and continued to practice. A very beautiful hall, everything is there, and even a place for tea, everything is done in an oriental style, they are practicing to the music of Gladiator. A girl approached me and asked (now I will write everything in Russian as it will be interesting to many people who don't know English, although here we spoke only in English): "Are you looking for someone?" "No, I just want to register for a trial month." "Okay, fill this out." "Right now." Another person was signing up with me, a 36-year-old man, we met, his name was Owen. When I filled everything out, the girl started asking me questions: "What a strange name, where are you from?" "Russia." "Oh my God, are you Russian?" "Yes, why are you surprised?" "I've never seen Russians at training." "That means I'll be the first." "How old are you?" "19." "Oh, me too." She brought me a white dobok and a belt, I went and put it on. She asked if I had experience in sports, I told her everything, to which she said: "Oh, you have a lot of experience in martial arts." The classes started. I did my first training in the beginner group, it was led by the same girl who talked to me. There was one blue belt, a man full of arrogance and pathos, like we are garbage here and he is a champion, although when I looked at his flexibility and how his strikes were going, I realized that belts are bought here. After training, this girl approached me and said: "Ivan, you have very good indicators, don't you want to stay for the next training with black belts? It will be led by 5th dan master Kyosanim." "Of course I'll stay." "Only it will be 2 hours, will you endure it?" "Of course." The master entered, everyone bowed, she approached me and asked: "Is this your first time here?" "Yes." "How old are you?" "19." "Where are you from? Very strange accent." "Russia." "I see, you have martial arts experience." "I do." "These classes are only for black belts, you know, and will be 2 hours." "I know, that girl asked me to stay." "Well then stay, it was nice to meet you." "Me too." The warm-up started, I look at the end of the warm-up, half of the Americans are already sweaty and barely breathing. Somersaults and safety rolls started, and here I lost the power of speech. Andryukh, you should have seen this, these black belts don't know how to somersault, they are still being corrected. They started looking at me. When it's my turn to do something, the old man who was meditating in the corner the whole last training started to look, now he started watching the progress of the training. Sparring started, put on helmets, guards, stood opposite each other and said: do as many leg strikes as possible on the opponent. First, the first side starts, the other side blocks and dodges. A black American was hitting me, hit me a couple of times, and that was on the legs, his leg didn't rise above the belt. Then it was my turn, well, since my legs are long, as they say, it started. I poured everything I knew, everything I was taught into him, both in the head and in the body, wherever I could kick. Of course, not hard, the main thing is that there is contact. It was like that for about an hour, well, of course, it changed, they did specific strikes, series, a lot of things. I lost the power of speech when I saw that the trainer asked one of his students to show nerichigi or dolichigi, he racked his brain for a long time until the trainer showed it. Just in shock from these masters. One person was sent to this old man to practice for about 15 minutes, acrobatics or techniques, in general, to sharpen what doesn't work out the most. He approached the trainer and asked me to approach him. The trainer gave the command, I approached, he smiled, greeted me, and asked: "Where are you from?" "From Russia." "Maybe this body is from Russia, but you are something more than this body." "I know." "Well, where are you from?" "I don't know." "We ourselves don't know where we came from, and many of us are looking for the answer to this question. I watched you, have you been practicing for a long time?" "Depending on what, I didn't practice just one thing, I was looking for myself, where I am more comfortable and what is to my liking." "And how do you like what you are doing now?" "Do you like it?" "But I saw that you have shortcomings, you sometimes forget to thank your sparring partner, and you bow little, and why don't you make sounds when striking?" "Habit, I wasn't taught that, our training somehow gets by without it." "Very bad." "Good and strong strikes are not enough, do you understand that?" "Yes." "Discipline and harmony with your comrades and with yourself are also important." "Okay, I will try." "Let's check what you are capable of, I just want you to understand something, attack me however you want, I saw how you hit your sparring partner, hit me the same way." I realized that it's better not to use legs, otherwise he might grab them, after all, you shouldn't underestimate such people. I only made a strike with my hand, I felt that only his hand slid along mine, and in 2 seconds I was on the floor. "Try again." I stepped away and wanted to hit him with my knee from a jump, he grabbed from under the knee, threw me, and I was on the floor again. "Want more?" "Last time." "Well, come on." I walked around him for a long time, looking for a place where I could hit, thinking how I could deceive him. I just swung my leg, he approached from behind me and pressed on a point in my neck, and I was on the floor again. "See, strikes are not everything, the main thing is harmony within yourself, you think too much about the opponent, and you are full of restlessness, this is not needed, you must be completely calm, master yourself, this is the most important answer to the question why many spend so much time on this. Learning to kick and hit is not long, but learning to control yourself takes time. Ivan, you are a good student, I want to invite you to a mass meditation that will be next week, it is only for trainers, but you say that I invited you, I will meet you there." "Okay, I will definitely be there." "Well, that's good, return to training." I went to the trainer, she sent me to a group for techniques, since he has a division: some with sticks, others with swords, third with techniques. Still practicing for 30 minutes. End of the class, they start practicing pumsae, since I didn't learn that, she asked me to do 30 body lifts, then legs and push-ups, 3 sets, maximum 20 seconds of rest. Here they heard the battle cries they wanted. I was already exhausted after work, then another 3 hours of non-stop training, and now such a finish. I changed, in the locker room they asked me if I would come again, to which I answered "of course". As I left the locker room, the trainer approached me and asked: "Ivan, your training is going very well, are you here for a long time?" "Until mid-September." "Very sorry, because we have competitions at the end of September, I thought you would take part." "I would gladly, but I need to go home." "And don't you want to take the belt test?" "I would have taken it too, but I have a lot to learn, pumsae, the names of all the techniques, I don't know this, I'm training without it." "Well, if anything, you can watch how they take it, but I'll go watch, can I take a camera with me?" "Of course." "Thank you for the training, goodbye." And I somehow hobbled home and immediately collapsed to sleep.

Day 69

I woke up, oh, it would be better if I didn't get out of bed, after yesterday, everything hurts and everything aches. I barely hobbled to the kitchen, grabbed some food, and left. Arrived, Sashka said: "Well, what, Vanka, let's legally steal a ladder from the neighbors, need to patch the roof and clean the gutters." We brought it, Sashka crossed me, and I climbed onto the roof. I messed around with it for half a day, also leveled the drains so that water would leave the roof. The boss arrived, he doesn't like anything again, went to yell at everyone in a row. Sashka was concreting the walls and insured me when I was climbing, just because after Afghanistan his body doesn't allow climbing, and half his body is without bones, he was blown up in Chechnya in '99, in short, he was in the next world 3 times, now they won't bring him back. Somehow finished, got home, wanted peace and quiet, but Yura got drunk again and I arrived, and they just fought with Parvis. I thought, just let him bother me, I'll hit him so hard he'll sleep for a week, because an angry and tired person is capable of anything to ensure peace for himself. I plugged in my headphones and hoped he wouldn't bother me. He was telling Nikita mainly about his books and his difficult life, and then Nikita went to the room. I took off my headphones and went to the refrigerator, and he asked: "Well, what, Ivan, will you have vodka?" "Yura, should I hit you? So you calm down or not? I came home tired from work and want peace and quiet, can you provide me with that?" "Okay, I understood you." "I'm very glad, I hope you won't ask me about vodka again for your own health." I went to the room, I sat down and went to sleep.

Day 70

Already a little easier, but the body still hurts. Got to work, saw a huge compressor and 2 huge jackhammers, with which they break asphalt, 70-80 kg, I somehow carried it. Probably they will call a brigade now, will break the pool to pour concrete, and there will be a flat area. When the boss said: "Vank, why are you standing there, take the jackhammer and go," I realized that the brigade is me and Sashka. In general, I will try to describe the essence of the work: the edges of the pool are a meter thick and half a meter high somewhere, and 1 edge is one and a half meters wide, must be broken and plus 30 cm deep to fill with gravel and pour concrete. I will take a photo on Monday of what we did, it was just hell, without rest, only breaks for lunch for 20 minutes, because the boss was at the site all day and yelled all the time. In short, the work is not such that you took it and put it on the ground and break it yourself, you have to hold this thing either on your knee or in the air to break the concrete, in short, there is no support. As Sashka said: "Well, Van, and now the fing mess has come, I hoped this day wouldn't come, but we will leave half-alive today." And at first, I somehow tried to hold it because I just turn it on and it flies out of my hands and starts breaking everything in a row. Then I gathered my strength and took it with all my might and started breaking this concrete. In short, we broke it for 9 hours, from 8 to 6, minus breaks and lunch. There was noise for half of Brooklyn, plus our battle obscene cries when you drag this thing. By 4 o'clock, my hands were already like cotton, holding nothing. At lunch, I couldn't hold a fork normally, my hands were shaking. In short, by the end of the day, lying on this concrete, we started arguing about who would bury whom. I wouldn't wish such work on an enemy. At the break, the Georgians approached me and said: "Van, we feel sorry for you, did this chatterbox say to stay here? Don't stay for anything, go home and study, you don't need such a life, you have a chance for a better one, we didn't have it. If you stay here, he will immediately lower your salary and you'll spin however you want, as an illegal, you'll work for pennies." "Guys, 3 more weeks and I'm leaving." "Right, there were students before you, but they didn't do such crap and didn't exhaust themselves, you will ruin your health, look at me, I already have no back, became hunchbacked, only a belly left." "And you are still young, your whole life is ahead, please don't stay here now." "I won't, I promise." "Oh, well done, you just don't believe this boss-fer, he will hang noodles on your ears like many before you, he just wants cheap labor." After 2 hours, the boss comes, he sees my exhausted look and asks: "Well, what, Vanka, how much longer will you be here?" "I don't know, need to go home." "Going home? Well, look, you'll remember me, there will be no way back, I'm offering you a chance." "Thanks, Sergey, but I think it's you who will remember me when you see that I will do much more than you." "Well, life will show." "Yeah." At 6 o'clock I threw this hammer, changed, and went home. Arrived, sat on the internet, and went to sleep.

Day 71

Lay and slept all day, to hell with going anywhere, my hands are still shaking after the jackhammers.

Day 72

Today Nikita and I decided to go to the museum in the morning, both woke up, got ready, and went. Tickets cost about 30 dollars, but here's the trick: museums have special days where you can pass for a donation, i.e., instead of 30, you can pay 25 cents and pass, but we paid a dollar. I don't know why Americans pay the full amount if you can pay 30 times less. The trip was very funny, it was visible on my face in the photos, we went through all 4 floors, finished in 3 hours, Nikita went to work, but he was sent back. Seems like I gathered strength until tomorrow.

Day 73

Came to work, asked Sanya: "Well, what, how did you spend the weekend?" "Oh, wonderful, on Saturday I lay down, on Sunday I lay down." "What's on the plan today?" "Concrete." "And what's with it?" "Do you see the concrete slabs along the house?" "Well, yes." "Need to break them and pour new ones." "And with what?" "How with what, now the boss will bring a sledgehammer and a crowbar and you will." Serega arrived, gave the tools, I tried to hit, and he has a strike, wow. "Well, see, Vanka, I broke half a slab in 5 minutes, you have to break 12 slabs, i.e., you have 2 hours," and left. I remained with square eyes with a sledgehammer in my hands, Sanya laughs and says: "I'm fing amazed at this character, well, what, the whole country is watching you." In short, I went for it, reached halfway, and Sanya said: "Well, see, Van, you worked on the jackhammer, you'll rest on the concrete." "Yeah, spot on, f." The boss arrived, said: "And now you put boards so the concrete doesn't leak," and I crawled to look for boards. Worked until 6, came home, and here Nikita said this: "Listen, Yura complained about you, said what kind of banker are you, you can't even make your bed properly." "And why doesn't he say that to my face?" "Says he's afraid of you, you said you're an athlete, so he thinks you'll blow his head off, f***." I fell under the table, Nikita said that he will pay him instead of 280 a month, 230 for drinking. In short, there was a scandal for about an hour, Yura, in general, we scared him. He buried himself in the room and didn't come out again.

Day 74

I apologize for not writing for a long time, I wasn't in the mood. We arrived, the boss is not there, he doesn't give a task, doesn't call, means he's drinking again. Means we will improvise, cleared the territory, leveled the pool that I recently broke, removed more concrete to pour new one. In short, we worked until lunch and went home. I, as always, made 20 daily calls to the boss regarding the salary, which were ignored, and I had vague doubts that I was scammed. I didn't sleep very well, thinking about how to get out of this situation.

Day 75

Men are working in Manhattan, and I have a day off. In the morning I got through to the boss, he said that tomorrow the money will be there, something this phrase doesn't please me for the last 2 weeks. I went to town, called the men to see how they were doing, then went to training, they even gave me a t-shirt, red, on the back it says New York Martial Art Center, and on the front Leader. Came home, called the boss for the 15th time, this happened like this: 10 o'clock he doesn't pick up, 10:15 he doesn't pick up, 10:30 he doesn't pick up, 10:45 he picked up, and the first phrase: "Vanya, I understand you, tell me please, are you not f***ing crazy?" "No." "No? Well then see you tomorrow."

Day 76

Today, in theory, we were supposed to pour concrete, the boss arrived at 9 and said: "Vanya, change and go home." O_O Strange, first time I hear this. I asked: "When will the money be?" "Vanya, call me at 3 today and I will pay you." Came home, waited for 3... I call... he doesn't pick up, 16:00 he doesn't pick up, 17:00, well, in short, he never picked up. My feeling that I was screwed intensified.

Day 77

I call him, he said that he is away and his son will give me the money, in short, as always, call at 3 and blah blah blah. I started consulting with the Tajik on this issue, after all, he has lived here for a long time and has encountered such cases more than once. He said that I can sue the agency and the employer. I would like it not to come to that and solve everything peacefully, but he doesn't pick up the phone again. I didn't sleep almost all night because I don't want to lose money, especially for such work.

Day 78

I call again in the morning, he said that today his son will settle with me, deja vu of some kind. Is it Friday again today??? Guess what he said next, 3 attempts, giving up? Call at 3. I realized that calling him is useless, and I went out to the son, having found out the phone number from the men, I ask him: "Did your father pass you..."