Russian Roulette

I know you are all waiting to hear more about my Russia trip. The problem is that so am I. It turns out the whole project is experiencing some serious hiccups and I still haven't had a definitive answer on when I can go. I first need to get a letter of invitation that I will need to apply for a visa. It's all extremely frustrating because even though I know I will be on this project for some time and eventually it will happen, I still have the small matter of a thesis deadline to deal with. The deadline is completely non-negotiable so as I see the weeks pass by without any news from Russia, I am getting more and more squirmish.

Yesterday the British government announced it is expelling four Russian diplomats from the country to put pressure on the Russians to cooperate in the Litvinenko murder case. The Russians have already announced they don't intend to take this lying down and warn this will have "serious consequences". Taken to the extreme, this could even affect the issuing of visas. I really hope this will not interfer with my trip. At least I will be travelling on a Dutch, rather than a British, passport but I still need to get my visa through the Russian embassy here in London.

As a European citizen you tend to take your passport for granted. Dealing with visas is new to me. The only other country I have ever needed to apply for a visa beforehand for was Australia and that you could just do over the internet. I know plenty of people in my circle of friends who aren't so lucky and have found themselves trapped in the slow churning wheels of bureaucracy simply because they are not EU citizens. That burgundy passport really does help to make life easier. I just hope that it will help me out this time as well. Fingers crossed.