Woke up and had breakfast with the family.
Elya had a couple of exams to take in the afternoon, so I spent the late morning and afternoon with her father and his friend (who spoke some English). Went up to the WWII Memorial Park and Museum on the right bank of the Volga and had a fantastic view of Saratov, Engels and the channel islands. The park was filled with Soviet military memorability, including a strategic nuclear bomber and the landing pod of Yuri Gurgaran (first person in space). In one park corner stood a 'model village' composed of houses native to ~15 different peoples of the FSU, exhibiting pretty distinct design variations. 
We stopped at the Uzbeki house and had green tea and something that looked exactly like empanadas ... hmm.The three of us jumped back in the car and headed towards the market to find me a 9-speed bicycle chain (mine had been stretched somewhat by this point and I didn't want to destroy the entire drive chain!) Sadly, the market contained only single and 6-speed chains, which are of little use to me. We headed across town to another location where my guides knew 3 or 4 sports shops that sold bicycles.
Sadly, they had nothing in the way of components and even less in the way of helpful information. Headed across town again - now on a collective mission - to locate a more specialized bicycle shop. We walked upstairs into a large warehouse filled of bicycles and accessories. I could find pink cycling tights, but, regrettably, did not find a chain because there were only two (2!!!!) in the entire store. On the owner's advice, we headed to a spoots store chain (pun haha!) where we picked up the object. 
We headed home, and had a few vodkas with dinner to celebrate. Headed to bed a little bit early so that we could all get ready for our dacha trip the next day.
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