I've been missing Russia a lot lately, too. So I started reading a lot of Russian poetry and looking at my old pictures and...it just made the longing worse. :( Russia can just capture your soul, can't it?

That is sooooooooo cool that you were able to give Elisabeth Sladen a letter from the kids at Kitezh. I'm sure that lots of fans give her stuff, but not many fans give her letters from Russian orphans!

I wonder whether you could somehow convince Elisabeth Sladen to use her celebrity to do a sort of fundraiser for the orphanage? No idea how one would go about that...maybe you'd have to contact her agent??? Or perhaps such a thing could never happen. But I think it would be cool if it did happen.

Hang in there and feel better soon. Try to get some rest. For the first few years after I graduated from the university I had to work two jobs (and sometimes three jobs), so I understand what you're going through. This too shall pass. In the meantime, take good care of yourself.