2-15-07

2-15-07

Okay, so it’s been 5 days since I wrote my last entry. I’m currently frustrated as hell. I’m boycotting Kolobok (More on that later), so I went back to the Idealnaya Chashka right near my apartment. Of course, again, the internet isn’t working. I’m going to give it some time and finish typing this. I know the first time I was at Kolobok it took like 15 minutes. We’ll see. If not, there’s a Kofe Haus nearby, and some other place Marina described with internet access. Honestly, I’m just worried about my bladder. Because I always feel the need to buy something in addition to WiFi, so I get a bottle of water. This could be a three bottle night if things don’t go my way.

So. Where to begin! I just reread my post from 2-10 that hasn’t been posted yet, and it’s so boring that it’s not much help. It’s been an active past couple of days. I’ll try to tackle it day by day.

Monday was a short day, so after classes a couple of us went to Chainaya Loshka and had some more blini to celebrate Maslenitsa. This week is the Russian holiday Maslenitsa. It’s basically a Mardigras-type celebration, a weeklong Fat Tuesday before Lent. The name of the holiday comes from the word for “butter” and the main idea of this week is to eat as many blini as possible. We’re working on it. Then, at the end of the week, a scarecrow is set on fire. Wacky, I know. After lunch, I bought a DVD because I’m always looking for new and exciting forms of entertainment. But do not fear, this DVD also had educational value! Because, you see, my new copy of Dnevnik Bridget Jones (Bridget Jones’s Diary) can be watched in English, Russian, or Polish, or in any of those with subtitles in any of those languages. So Monday night I watched it simply in Russian, but I’m thinking that next up is English with Russian subtitles and then Russian with English subtitles and then purely Russian. You see? Soon I’ll be learning exciting vocab like “thighs” in Russian.

Tuesday we again ate more blini after school and then went to a museum. That night, I got home and Marina made me a very, very quick dinner because she was going out. I’m pretty sure she went to her son’s house, but I’m not sure. All I know is that I had the apartment to myself for a whole night for the first time. So I bet you can guess what I did! That’s right, I ate cookies and laid on the couch and watched an episode of Animal Cops dubbed in Russian and then the movie Cool Runnings dubbed in Russian. It was actually really nice and relaxing.

Wednesday was a long day, and my last long Wednesday. After this, I will go back to my original schedule of long Mondays and Fridays. My Literature teacher has been in Austria for the past two weeks so her replacement is only available on Wednesdays. I’m looking forward to her return, she’s pretty fantastic in a Ms. Frizzle/Mad Professor type way.

We went to Kolobok after classes. Like usual, we ate a ridiculous amount of food. Of course, the internet didn’t start working until 5 instead of 4, so we ended up staying longer than we meant to. So then we’ve got three laptops open, discussing travel plans for travel week (More on that later), and one of the Kolobok suited guys came up to us and is like, “This is not an internet café. There is an internet café on Nevksy. This is a restaurant.” We said, “We already ate, they came and took our plates.” He doesn’t believe us. We show him a receipt. “This is from an hour ago.” We say, “The internet just started working.” He says, “This is a restaurant.” We say, “We know, we came and ate, we’re all sitting at one table so we don’t waste space.” “This is not an internet café.” Then he disappeared and about 30 seconds later the WiFi turned off.

Conclusion: Even if we had been speaking picture-perfect Russian (Which we weren’t, but anyone listening would’ve understood what we were saying), he just wasn’t listening to us because he’s a pompous jerk on a power trip. So basically, we’re done with Kolobok. We then went to a bookstore with a tiny café with WiFi, but it was really slow. So the hunt continues for reliable WiFi, as Idealnaya Chashka continues to fight with me.

Earlier in the week, Hannah had read in the English language newspaper The St. Petersburg Times about a concert on Wednesday night that sounded amazing. So Hannah, Hillary, Kate, Lael, and I went to this club to see it. The club itself was kind of sketch from the outside and really smoky on the inside, but not bad at all. Now, the band…the band was amazing. It’s this folk/gypsy rock all-girl group called Iva Nova. The St. Petersburg Times said they’re pretty much the best live band in Russia, and I really can’t disagree. The band consisted of: Bass, Guitar, Drums, Vocalist/Tambourine, Lead Vocalist, Accordion, and on many songs, Trombone, Tuba, Tenor Saxophone and Wood Flute/Recorder. Freaking amazing. The accordionist was pretty much the coolest person in the world; she was so into it and making all kinds of facial expressions. And the drummer had bells attached to her kit. And the tuba and the trombone and oh man there was one song when they all took out their own individual cowbells and I about peed my pants. It was so great. I kind of want to get their new album, but I know that it won’t really compare to the live show.

Okay, I’m going to pack this sucker up and try to head down to the Kofe Haus. Let’s see how this goes.

Success! And it’s way cheaper here! Of course, it’s way more crowded, but I’ll deal. Instead of water, I got a “chocolate milkshake” that kind of just tastes like really cold chocolate milk. Whatever, I’m just happy this works. Nevermind the fact that I’m sharing a table with a complete stranger. I’m just happy this is working.

So, yes, travel week. We know where we’re going, and where we’re staying when we’re there. We also know how we’re returning. The only question now is how to get there. I’ll give you a hint: We’re trying to decide between ship or plane. I can tell you where I’m NOT going. I’m not going to any of these places: Sri Lanka, Timbuktu, Copenhagen, South Dakota, or Svalbard (Alas).

Okay, I’m going to post this and fart around on the internet for the rest of my hour online. Woo!