2-4-07

2-4-07

It is now noon Indiana time on Super Bowl Sunday. This means that it is 8pm here. I have just finished my first meal back at home since returning from Novgorod. Two of the guys on the program had heard the Super Bowl was being shown at some sports bar downtown, but I’m far too exhausted to go and try to hail a gypsy cab at 3 in the morning to get to some shady sports bar at 4 in the morning in order to watch a football game and then as soon as it’s over leave for school. I just can’t do it. Had the guys confirmed that they would actually be going, I might’ve considered it, but it was just as unappealing to them. So instead I’m going to be sleeping. I won’t be able to find out who won until tomorrow at roughly 11:05am. We have a 20-minute break between classes after 11 and the internet room opens at 11 so I’m going to be first in line. Again, I don’t think I really need to mention the weirdness of writing about this before I’m going to be posting it, at which point I will already know what happened, but it still weirds me out.

I have had a full and culturally eventful weekend! On Friday night I went to the opera Evgeny Onegin at the Mussorgsky Theatre with Hillary, Kate, Tappert, Matt, and Hannah. It was entertaining, but 3 1/2 hours is a long time to sit through something when you’re only catching every couple words. Plus the chairs weren’t comfortable. However, I am very glad I went, and feel enriched for having done so. I kind of had a mental plan coming here: At least one ballet, one opera, and one concert. So opera can now be officially checked off the list. Maybe ballet next. When the Mariinsky ticket lady swings by Smolny this week I’ll see what’s coming up. After the opera, Kate, Hannah, Hillary and I went to KOFE HAUS and had a late snack. I then got home at like midnight and packed for Novgorod.

Went to bed at 1, rose at 6. Decided because I was up and ready to go to the place farther away where the CIEE bus was picking people up instead of the place 2 metro stops away. I went two metro stops, changed trains, went two metro stops, and then walked for half an hour. It was nice, though, it got the blood flowing. We departed for Novgorod and everyone tried to sleep on the way there. Once we got there, we checked into our very nice hotel (I now have a matchbook from it) and had lunch.

After lunch, we went on our first excursion, visiting some of the ancient churches of Novgorod. I took lots of pictures, but the churches themselves made little impact with me. Then we visited this church that, legends say, if a girl runs around it three times she’s going to find a good husband. So off we went! On my last trip around, I saw a piece of paper lying in the snow and picked it up. It was like someone’s first draft of a love poem. It said, if I remember correctly, in Russian, “There you sit/I love you more than anything/I want to be with you forever/Strong, strong love” It’s a classic.

We then ventured across the footbridge to the famous kremlin of Novgorod. There we first visited St. Sofia’s cathedral. The outside is currently being restored, but the inside was gorgeous. The iconostasis was gigantic and gilded. Check out some pictures online if you’re interested. Next up was the Russian Millennium Monument, constructed on the 1000th anniversary of Prince Riurik coming to the region to found what would become the Russian state. Of course, the link to Riurik is somewhat dubious, but Russians are eager to prove their history goes as far back as the other great empires of Europe. The monument features reliefs (relieves?) of scenes from Russian history and statues of figures from Russian history, including Prince Vladimir (Converted Kievan Rus to Christianity), Prince Riurik himself, and Dmitri Donskoy (Defeated the Mongols to end Mongol rule of Rus, shown in the statue trampling a Mongol).

After the Millennium Memorial we went back to the hotel and had dinner and relaxed. I was able to get about 8 hours of sleep, which was nice. On Sunday, we first went to the Yuriev Monastery, and then to the Wooden Architecture Museum. It was fun to just wander around in the snow at the Wooden Architecture Museum, as all it is is just reconstructed houses and churches scattered across a plot of land. Then we had an absolutely fantastic lunch at a restaurant called “Detinets,” which is actually inside one of the towers in the wall of the kremlin. After that the long bus ride back, and I was able to snooze for about an hour or two.

So now here I am, on Super Bowl Sunday, exhausted and worn out and with homework to do. Don’t mistake this longing for football as homesickness, it isn’t. I mean, of course it’d be nice to be sitting at home right now munching on cheese log, but I’m in freaking Russia right now, so I’m not going to trade that for anything. No, it’s not really homesickness I’ve been feeling. It’s more just that I’m having this amazing experience and I feel that it, I don’t know, is cheapened somewhat by the fact that I’m spending it with complete strangers (With the exception of Katie, which is nice). I don’t know, I think cheapened is too strong of a word. These people are great and I’m having a great time getting to know them all. But at the same time, it kind of sucks to think about the fact that my friends and family back home are only going to be experiencing this through my words and photos. Hahaha, it’s just not fair to you all. But really, it’s an extra burden to have to explain yourself to all new people, instead of traveling with people who will already know why you like the things you do and why you’re not eating certain things and the like. Of course, I realize that studying abroad is all about getting outside of your comfort zone and taking on extra burdens and coming out at the end as a new and better person. I get that. And it’s not like I feel I need my friends and family from back home in my day-to-day life. I’m coping quite well dealing with new people and places. Rather, it’s when we go to Novgorod, or go to the Ermitage, or on our way to the opera see the Church on Spilled Blood lit up through the snow that I think, “Wow, I’d really rather be seeing this with someone I knew instead of someone I just met.” But of course, by the end of this, these people will not be strangers at all, but good friends, forged through the trials of travel and cabbage. Yadda yadda yadda. Solution: I get rich and bring everyone here on a grand excursion.

All right, I’m going to take my laptop to school tomorrow and go to Kolobok after Literature class in the afternoon, in the hopes that their WiFi will be working. Hope you all are enjoying your Super Bowl Sunday.