"When everybody else is gettin' out of bed I'm usually gettin' in it..."

All-nighter last night, Russian style!

A big group of us decided to go to downtown Moscow near Red Square last night. However, our hostel does not allow anyone to enter or re-enter the building after 1am. So...that meant that we had to stay out all night until 6am, when the hostel reopened. Right away, it promised to be an interesting night.

We took the metro to Red Square and got to see it all lit up at night, which in of itself was worth the trip. The club we went to was right on the edge of Red Square and appeared to cater to a tourist-based crowd because most of the menu was in English as well as Russian. The music, too, was mostly American music, circa 1980s and early 90s maybe? And, luckily for me, Russians don't know how to dance any better than Americans so they did not expect any sick dance moves a la Michael Jackson or anything. One of the guys, Valera, was hysterical on the dance floor and I enjoyed letting him steal the spotlight (I know, big of me, right?). We literally danced the night away and then found an all-night coffee shop around 4am or so to wait for the metro to start running again and the hostel to reopen. By that time, not even a cup of real coffee could entice me to stay awake. By the time we made it back to our rooms around 6:30am, I think I fell asleep before Karlie even lay down. I woke up around 1pm this afternoon, completely disrupting the regular sleep pattern I finally established. It was a fun night and definitely something to say I experienced. However, I can't say it's something I'll be in a hurry to do again. Turns out, I'm a big fan of sleep.

On another note, I asked Maksim this morning if the Russians ever watch the Superbowl (I didn't even care that I was living out the American football-loving stereotype). He looked at me and said, "The what?" So...it looks like I will have to root for my team from afar. Hey, what can I say-I'm a devoted fan!

пока!