Sunshine!

At the hotel, Kristina barely got in our way; we worked calmly and slowly. Since yesterday evening, my headache hasn't gone away, and I felt a bit sorry for myself. Thank God, we managed almost without any screw-ups. I really need to catch up on sleep and... catch up on writing. A diary is probably what I was missing. Maybe it was the sunshine giving me strength, or the realization of having the evening off. Tomorrow, Sonya plans to tell Kristina that she won't be working anymore. Honestly, I'm scared. I'm afraid of how this might reflect on me. The hotel needs extra hands right now, and badly. What if Kristina doesn't pay me so that Sonya stays? Or says that until we train another girl, Sonya can't leave? In short, I'm worried here, not so much for Sonya, but that Kristina might think poorly of me. Selfish? Yes, but I still have to work with her.

All the vacationers are Polish or Russian. There seems to be only one room with Americans. For some reason, people think we are Polish too. And they talk to us in Polish. We understand maybe just a few words. And to their indignant looks, I now boldly say: "My grandmother is a half polish, so I know only some words".

Check-outs, service, and CHAIRS! We are already pros, we guess for ourselves what's coming. Good weather, little work – we confidently tackle the chairs and the sprinkler! Good weather, lots of work – just the chairs! Why clean them every other day??! They don't get any dirtier or cleaner.

Finally, we found time to find out everything about the pool. It's 5 minutes from the hotel. Joseph Von Savage Memorial Pool is located at 8800 New Jersey Avenue – Wildwood Crest. On the agenda: can we get a job there (relevant only for Sonya), can we come to swim? (cool for both of us). We walked up and read the sign with the schedule. We understood almost nothing. Through the glass doors, you can see the pool itself: small, under a glass ceiling, 3 or 4 lanes. Well, maybe 15 meters at most. Children and adults are swimming. We went inside and got all the necessary information at the administrator's window. No vacancies. You can swim, the pleasure costs 5 bucks for entry, it seems. You can visit when there are no special classes: weekdays 12:30-2:30 PM, 7:00 to 9:00 PM. Weekends 12 – 4:45.

Well, what can I say? Sonya was happy!!!!!!!! And so what about this job, fewer problems! But Sonya was thrilled about the opportunity to swim! We've been living on the coast for a month now, and there's no opportunity to swim. Strange, right? Yes, it's the ocean, baby! The whole way back we discussed who would wear which swimsuit, who would take goggles... Well, just typical conversations!

It's hot outside, it's a day off, what to do? Such an issue: I want to go to the movies, to a Chinese buffet, and to the beach. You don't know what's better. I've become problematic again, worrying about how to do things better so I won't regret it later. It even became offensive! Life has turned into workdays, some kind of race again... as if it were Moscow! I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't want to! I'm resting from problems here! And with that mood, plus a tasty soup for lunch and tea with lemon, we decided not to buy food and not to cook together anymore. A turbulent stream of thoughts? Yes? Not at all, we love to stir up trouble. We spent the whole day doing just that.

We decided to go drop off our things at the laundromat, and while they were washing, run to the supermarket. There were a lot of things, some say take 2 detergent pods, some say it'll be fine as is. In the end, I listened to myself, and I had to go back for one more when we realized how many things we had. 36 minutes appeared on the display. 36 minutes to buy food, which was destined to be spent only by me, and very, very hastily.

In the end, I spent $25, Anya $32, Sonya $16. The set is roughly the same for everyone: porridge for breakfast, potatoes, vegetables, something for tea, sugar, milk. Well, let's try to live like this!

In supermarkets here, everything is weighed at the checkout, I mean, fruits and vegetables. The cashier, a young man, said "Hi" to me. The next thing I expected to hear was: "how are u?" Or at most, "how are u today?" I even prepared to answer, only to remain standing with my mouth open. "What is this?" the seller asked me, holding a cabbage. The scene: mouth open, clear misunderstanding on my face. Then thoughts stir, eyebrows furrow, and the answer: "I don't know what is this in English." I have paid attention many, many times to what cabbage is called in English on price tags, then looked for it on the receipt (I wanted to describe in the blog how I cooked shchi). "Carriage", "barrige" were spinning around... It's good I didn't answer. So, cabbage, in English... CABBAGE.

Now, I think I'll remember.

I flew to the laundry when the clothes were washed. I started taking them out, spreading them into baskets: mine and the girls'. HOW many things we have! (We also washed the bedding, which got twisted with the clothes in the dryer). I used two dryers: when there are super many clothes, they dry slowly. I threw in 25 cents each, and quickly, quickly home to drop off the groceries. It's only the second time in the laundry, and my hand already feels like it's trained!

I managed to take the groceries home, return, fold the things, and wait for the girls. They were nowhere to be found. Riding with 4 stuffed bags is impossible, I loaded the "bales" and rolled my bike. Terribly inconvenient, but what can you do.

I arrived first anyway. I hung the clothes on all the protruding shelves, bed railings, and doors. By the time the neighbors arrived, all the vacant positions near the fan were taken.

Now, why the girls were delayed. Sonya put her wallet in my bag. It, accordingly, drove away. Leaving the purchases in the store, she ran to the bike to come to me. The bike was locked with Anya's (it was more convenient to park that way). In general, they messed something up, but returned an hour after me.

And we went to the beach! To the ocean! Absolutely light. It's too late to sunbathe (somewhere closer to 7 PM). The beach is almost empty, the wind is cool. Anya and I already thought we wouldn't go into the water. Sonya, as always, was the first to run. Well, why lose out? We ran too. Before America, I had never entered the water at a run. And now I do it quite often. Something clicks in my head, "you're in America, be bolder, take everything from life"... Well, and similar thoughts! Thank you, my nutcracker. With you, I won't regret anything, and there will be something to remember!

The waves are big, the water is cold, but over time it becomes pleasant. I'm no longer afraid to dive, surface, jump – I get pleasure from it. I even tried to swim: it's possible, just very difficult! The girls ran away after about 40 minutes. Anya was cold, Sonya needs to go to work. They pulled me out of the water, and left. How cool it was! The sun is dim, rolling to the horizon, the last rays are warming. Sea, "Ocean" breeze, beauty. I did a decent workout, stretched, rejoiced at my successes! Why don't I rest like this every day?

The evening was spent in the kitchen. Sonya left, and Anya and I started cooking. She had fried potatoes and a salad. I had pilaf and another salad. Great, I love to cook, and I also love to eat separately. A habit, probably.

A long day? Yes, I missed writing, I think if I manage to do this every single day of my American summer, I will be oh-so-proud of myself. And I'll get used to writing. Ahead is the diploma, I hope scientific reports are not far off, and maybe a PhD thesis. Something completely different? Yes, but one thing is clear – you need to be able to write well, and most importantly – to write your own thoughts. A good skill "Ctrl C ► Ctrl V" (I own it to perfection!), but I don't want it to accompany my achievements in life!