Baranovichi

So I don't know if you know this, but you need an invitation letter to get into Belarus.  Thank goodness the internet exists because I have literally no idea how to accomplish most of life without it.  I used to think I was pretty crafty and clever with my Google searches to help weed out all the garbage on the internet and get me the purest information, but now I just do things like type in, "How do I get into Belarus?" or "What the hell is Pinterest?" and all the information I need pops up.  

Anyway, thankfully I was able to use Couchsurfing to find someone in Belarus willing to write me an invitation letter for 10 euro.  Isn't that nice?  So he mailed me the letter, and then I got my visa, and everything was great, but he didn't seem too concerned about how I would get the 10 euro to him.  He lived in Baranovichi and gave me his address but really didn't follow up on me to ensure that I delivered the money to him.  But don't interpret this as me thinking it wasn't important to settle my debts - my online reputation depended on me getting to Baranovichi and handing over the 10 euro note.  So I caught the bus from Nesvizh to Baranovichi, and with some screenshots from Google Maps on my iTouch, I was wandering the backroads of this small town trying to find the correct charming wooden house.  

I found it, thanks to some kindly babushki, but no one was home unfortunately.  So in a sketchy manner I lurked around the yard looking for a safe place to leave the cash.  I managed to tuck it into a window crack and it fell down the other side, then I immediately went and found wifi (this wasn't actually accomplished until much later that evening as wifi is not really a thing in Belarus) to let him know I dropped off the cash.  He emailed me the next day and said, "Oh yes, I'm sorry I forgot to say I'm out of town all week but my wife found the money.  Kthnxbye."  Great times! 

The only other reason I wanted to be in Baranovichi is because of the large ballistic missile they have on display in the city centre.  So cute!  Unfortunately I was told that the missile had been relocated to a park in suburban Minsk, and considering how large Minsk is, and how many ballistic missiles are constantly on display at any given moment in the FSU, I realized this was one white stag that I was comfortable with letting go.