And I am going off again.

Привет Гродно.

The right way here isn't checking Yandex Maps. You should walk over to the bus station, shout your destination, and let them answer "да" or "нет".

This is the hostel.

I went into a luxurious restaurant "Бакст", and everything costs 40-50 Rubles. I ordered a salad for 18 Rubles. They speak excellent English, but I spoke to them in Russian. I bought a hot-dog outside for 6 Rubles.

I'm really sleepy. Yesterday I slept at 3:30 and got up at 9:20.

We are at the hostel. A black woman was sleeping in the upper bunk. She spoke native Russian and we talked in Russian. She told me she is half-Belarussian and half-African, her mom is Belarussian. She asked me if I am studying here, about China, and how I learned Russian. I said I am traveling.

An old man called Andrei came in. I said, "Привет". He said, "Привет, приятно познакомиться". I said, "Китай", he said "Беларусь". I said "путешествовать", he said "типа так вот". He suddenly offered me some vodka. I said no. And he kept trying to make me drink. Eventually, he gave up. The old man's speech is full of broken and unintelligible words. I asked if he liked any music, he said, "Vladimir Vysotsky."

He asked me to go to coffee with him. We went to магазин Pink a few steps from the hostel. Three young girls walked into the cafe. He asked what I wanted, and I said juice. He appeared disappointed and stared at me intensely for a while, then he paid for me. He smelled of alcohol. Then he started making gestures to the girls, and they moved to another spot, and he said, "Дима, иди. Девочки, не хотите?" I said, "это неправильно." And he made a sign to bang your head on the table. I regret going out with this dirty old man. We went outside and he smoked and kept making gestures toward the girls. He is not even walking straight and he said, "Дима, я старый, но я сильный, а ты слабый", and started to recite Lermontov. Then he told me to go for a walk, and I followed even though I didn't want to. We walked to a temple and he stopped in the middle of nowhere. Then I went back.

A few minutes later he was fast asleep in the room, a piece of stinking, broken, filthy shit. When I was so desperate for connection, I didn't turn away an old alcoholic.

It's 7 pm. I am heading out again.

A group of teenagers were singing songs by Viktor Tsoi. I asked them, "какая твоя любимая песня?" One person said, "Спокойно ночи". I took a photo of them and subscribed to their Telegram channel. If they were performing, I would give some coins, but they were done for the day.

А вот Ленин

I walked around the park.

И вот карусель

Колесо обозрения

And the feeling of loneliness returned quickly. I came back and a different band is singing, "Группа Крови". Then, "Как на войне".

I always carry a backpack wherever I go. People here don't usually carry backpacks with them.

Then the song Седьмой лепесток. Then two songs I didn't know. It was hard to describe the state I am in now. I am lost in the gaze, standing completely still with my backpack. Someone shouted, "Би-2", they said, "после этой песни". Песня "Её глаза".

Then it's Кукушка. I know every line from Kukushka. But tis time it felt so sad. I stood here for at least 30 minutes. Then I walked over and gave 0.5 Rubles. Ok, I am leaving.

It seemed there are only people on the main street, other streets are empty. Another group down the street was singing "кончится лето". Then Kukushka again. I gave 1 Ruble. What a beautiful night, yet a lonely one. Kukushka was so melancholy, it is less like a battle and more like an attempt to get up when you are drowning. Then "Трава у дома". When it came to the line, "А снится нам трава, трава у дома, Зелёная, зелёная трава", the babushkas sitting behind me suddenly started singing along. Then "звезда по имени солнце".

I am going to McDonald's to eat.

23:40. I was at the main street again. Some people are having a good time here. There is loud music, and people are dancing and singing. In short, I left. I was tired.

I saw the mixed race woman from across the street. It's midnight now. Maybe I can come back for the nightlife tomorrow? I returned to the hostel and started blogging. I could hear the sound from the bar outside clearly. I heard the song "Знаешь ли ты".

It's 2 am, and I have been sitting here for a while listening to Tchaikovsky. Then "Bolero".

It is 3 am.

I woke up at noon.

We are going to the museum.

Гродненский государственный историко-археологический музей.

Здесь много интересного из истории Литвы. В основном это военный музей, посвященный истории или тому, как солдаты и оружие эволюционируют с течением времени.

There are many interesting history about Litva. You can see the evolution of military uniforms and weapons in the museum.

There are also some paintings.

Pictures of animals too

And here is the ВОВ, in every city. In other parts of the museum it's English and Belarusian, here it's Russian and Belarusian. I am not interested in ВОВ anymore.

And here is the war in Afghanistan. A woman next to me muttered "20", "22 years - there were the soldiers who died young.

Would we see a part for the Ukrainian war in the future? Probably not in Belarus.

And here is the ancient stuff.

I left! I was here for 40-50 minutes.

I went to the Шаурма ресторан. They told me to wait 15 minutes. So I went to a nearby store to get water. The store was underground and there was a mixed-raced man smoking on the stairs.I asked, "Что это?" He answered, "Магазин". I said, "никого нет". Then I said, "Ты?" He said, "Да". Turned out he is the staff. I bought some water. By the way it's open 24 hours here.

We are going to the park. Лесопарк Лососно. It is very hot.

And there is a huge group of babushkas and some dedushkas dancing and having fun. Every time I see a group of old people, there are far more babushkas than dedushkas here, and some babushkas danced with other babushkas.

Two young women was in the kitchen. I came in with my laptop, and they left. I met a short old man from Litva. He said he served in the army and worked with tanks. A large family was sitting in the kitchen. "Shape of you" is playing in the bars outside. Two children waved bye to me. The Litva man walked over, shook my hand, and left.

The old drunkard was still there.

I went out with my wallet and my phone.

We are drinking tea in a bar. Myata Lounge. 9 Rubles. In the crowded bar I sat on a table for 2. The area outside is filled with people, but there are two empty tables inside. And they gave me a pot of tea.

23:30.

Everyone around me is talking. Everyone is in groups. And I am alone with a whole pot of tea I cannot share with anyone, a tiny island of silence in a sea of a noise.

I took my tea and went outside. There is an empty table, but no seats. There was a seat at another table, but the person said, "нет, нет." There were no places outside and it was very awkward and funny. I went back to the seat inside. Even drinking tea felt sad.

It's a good place to observe the dynamics outside. For example, the empty table I tried to sit on was taken by 3 people, and they stood around the table. Eventually they moved some chairs to the table and sit down.

30 minutes of drinking tea alone. 00:03. On the street people are singing "знаете ли ты".

I was listening to the music. An older man stopped and asked me, "Вы китаец?" The old man called a young woman to meet me. It's Dasha and her uncle, and her parents were there as well. Then we talked for 30 minutes and my Russian really flows at night. Dasha was studying Chinese at university. We exchaged Telegram. I said I was visiting alone. "На сколько дней?" 2. "Один?" "Да." I said I liked the culture and I am from Shanghai. "Больше, чем Минск?" I said, "Как Москва и Московская область вместе." The uncle kept telling Dasha to speak Chinese with me, but she doesn't speak any and doesn't understand. So the uncle did most of the talking. He was like, "Говори по-китайски! Дерево красивое!" "Говори по-китайски! Не бойся!" Then he asked what my parents do and what do I do. They live in Minsk and they are here for a trip. Anyway, I shook hands with Dasha and the father, and I left.

Some time during the conversation the singers left. I left too. I'll rest here on the bench for a while. 01:10.

I went to another bar. Граффити бар. It's a ktv bar. Deafening music was playing, and two people were singing Вахтерам."Я помню: белые обои, чёрная посуда, Нас в хрущёвке двое, кто мы и откуда, откуда". It was too noisy inside so I went outside, and I am drinking a 900 ml pot of tea alone again.

01:40. Then they were singing "Танцы на стёклах". There are only 3 tables occupied now. I went inside.

I went in and spilled my tea a little. A woman at the next table asked me, "Вы танцуете?" I said I am alone. The woman was surprised, and so were the men sitting with her. The music was too loud so we typed on phones to communicate. He acted like I am crazy that I am here alone.

Then I danced with the woman. It was the first time I danced with a woman. She was very drunk. She acted very confused that I am drinking tea. There were also some other people dancing together. I tried to dance, but it didn't work out, so I gave up after a while.

02:17. The woman wrote on my phone, "Почему ты не пригласил меня потанцевать?" She said, "Ты не приглашаешь меня танцевать, я обид слез". The man joked she is a bad woman. The other man is called Ruslan. The woman kept screaming. I went outside for the restroom because I had too much tea. Then Ruslan asked me where I am going? I said Brest, Pinsk. Ruslan said Brest has a Sovetskaya Street too and it's similar to here. Ruslan said the other man was his boyfriend, so they are gay.

02:50. The loud sounds are making my heart race, and it's late, so I should be resting. There are lots of people singing.

Then I accepted the woman's offer to dance and danced a little, like half of a song. She said, "Молодец". She is 25 years old. She said she has a 5-year-old child. I said I am a virgin. And the two men acted like I lost my mind again, "Почему? Почему ты девственник?" Then the woman suddenly said, "Хочешь ложить?" I was very shocked and I said, "Где? Я живу в общежитии." She said at her home. I did not know how to answer that so I said, "Хорошо, но после свадьбы." I asked, "У тебя нет мужа?" "Мужчина ушел." She asked me if she was young? I said yes. All in all it's just insane behavior. The man downloaded Yandex Go for her because she was too drunk, and we left at 03:20.

I kept having to go to the toilet because of the tea. Now I am trying to focus on not getting sick tomorrow. At 3:30 you can still hear laughter and see a lot of young people. At 4, young men and women are everywhere on the streets.

My phone battery was at 5%.

I returned to the hostel kitchen to blog on my laptop, and music was still coming from the bar outside of the hostel. Music by Lolita Milyavskaya, then Моя Мишель "Зима в Сердце", then Instasamka 'За деньги да".

The old man Petr from Litva was still there. He asked if I was working. It was 4 am. I said it's just my hobby. Petr said he was taking the bus to Vilius. He said, "Я не общаюсь с плохими людьми. Но вы хорошие." And we exchanged WhatsApp. He said, "Когда вы будете в Литве, вы можете прийти ко мне, если поедете туда". Then he said, "Литва теперь марионетка США." I said, "Мне нравятся США." He said, "Мне не нравятся США. Я считаю себя советским человеком." I said, "Катюша, Смуглянка, Темна ночь". He recognized them. It was 4:30. I opened YouTube and I turned on Время Эфир 3 ноября 1977. And there were tears in his eyes. I said, "Мосфильм?" He recognized the movies, and he said the music in Mary Poppins is good. "Алла Пугачева?" He doesn't like Pugacheva. He asked, "Вы знаете о Югославии? У меня есть друг в Сербии. Мы можем очень хорошо общаться, как с вами, с вашим русским." I asked, "А как украинского?" He said, "Украинский - это деревенский язык." He said he hadn't watched Litva TV for 8 years and only watches Sputnik, and how in Litva there isn't a soul now. We shook hands and he left. At 5 am the bars closed.