I have been living in russia for the past few months as a gay man, and let me tell you it's not easy.
Since I've been here, my grandma has died; my friend from my californian university died (maybe even killed himself), my grandpa died. My other grandma is about to have her breasts, ovaries, and fallopian tubes removed as she has cancer. They discovered that my family has "the cancer gene" and so I'm probably going to have to check myself when I get back. I haven't been going out as much, and have been generally exhausted.
I've been pretty good at keeping my sexuality secret though but I'm going to have to talk in class about what I look for in my future wife in front of class this monday. Mind you professors largely grade you on how much they like you out here, so aside from risking getting beaten up by the russians, I would also risk my grade.
so that's the direction my week's going. It would be funny if not for these past few mishaps.
and yes I know this is dramatic, but I haven't really been able to talk to anyone about this, so it's nice to post it here