4-25-07
A worker came today to begin repairing the damage that the burst pipes caused back in March. She’ll return again tomorrow to finish the job, so right now the apartment just smells a lot like a building under construction. It’s weird and not really comforting. The apartment itself doesn’t really have a smell of its own that makes a huge impression. It’s not like our apartment in Moldova that reeked of the gigantic barrels of cabbage in brine on the balcony. Instead, it’s just a subtle combination of whatever Marina made for dinner, orange, tea, and sometimes a hint of car exhaust from the street. So now my nose is reeling from the introduction of this new smell.
Yesterday I went to Papa John’s after classes with Brandon, Ryan, Nohemi, and Hannah. The crowd would’ve probably been larger but the area studies program had an excursion. We pigged out on pizzas and cheese sticks and lingered over our empty plates for a while. Eventually we paid the bill and split up. Last week, Hannah got a package slip. Cadence showed it to her, it had been in the “Unclaimed” box, even though it clearly had her name on it. The package the slip referred to was sent in January, and may have gotten here in a (relatively) timely fashion, but we have no idea how long the slip was in that box.
So she wanted to go to the post office. Specifically, the post office where her package would be, which was south of Smolny. Ryan knew how to get there, and Ryan and I are both interested in buying cardboard boxes to ship stuff home. I’ve accumulated things since I’ve gotten here, so I’d like to make some space in my suitcase, both size- and weight-wise. I figure shipping home things like my bulky winter coat, the boots I bought while here, and the books that I’m not leaving here should do the trick. Problem is, it’s not like there’s Mailboxes Etc. or Kinko’s here. Nathan told us that you can buy shipping boxes at the post office.
So we walked there from Papa John’s and it was a walk through a more industrial area that was interesting but made my eyes burn from the pollution. Eventually we got there, and Hannah got her package—books her father sent her so she wouldn’t run out of things to read back in January. A little late now, but it’s all good, Ryan and I both went ahead and borrowed ones from her as we walked home. The woman at the post office indicated that they had no boxes. This would seem to imply that at others there ARE boxes, but that remains to be seen. At the very least, we can always go to a grocery store or something and try to get one free from them.
Today was a short day, and then Hannah, Mattison, and I went to the Subway close to school. My original plan for today was to go to the UFO Museum, but Mattison really wants to go and he had to go try to sort out his tickets home at the SAS office and couldn’t come. So instead Hannah and I went to Gostiny Dvor to finish up our souvenir shopping. Lo and behold, everyone but one person is completely taken care of. That one person knows who she is and she’s well aware it’s not because she’s a person void of personality, such that nothing makes me think of her. Instead, I’m just being too picky. I’m a member of the “I’ll know the right present when I see it” school of thought. It’s worked for everyone else. So I have faith. Maybe tomorrow’ll be the day, who knows?
That said--it’s really comforting to not have to worry about that anymore. Now any stupid purchases I make will be for me and me alone. Actually, I only see one stupid purchase on my horizon, and it’s not even that stupid—I really want a Zenit scarf. I wanted to go to their match on May 6th, but it’s really looking like that’s the day that Mattison, Hannah, and I are going to go to Peterhoff. However, when I buy the scarf, I will not be a poser—I’ve watched many of their matches on TV. So there.
We got our final exam schedule today, and it’s lame. I guess I’m just used to the American-style finals week, when you don’t have classes, just the finals scattered on the days of the week. Nope, we’re still going to classes and then having our finals during the time that the class meets for the last time. Yeah, I know, it’s lame. Whatever, I’m very much taking it all in stride. Including the fact that on Saturday, the 5th, we have classes, and our Civilization papers are due this day. Because both May 1st and May 9th are state holidays, all of Russia works on the Saturday in between them to make up for the missed work. And you know, when in Rome…
So I’ve got the topic for my Civilization paper figured out, I’m not stressing about it. As for the rest of the finals themselves, I guess I’m not really too stressed. That’ll probably change, but I really don’t mind. It’s weird that right now back at IU it’s Dead Week, and tomorrow’s finals week, and then everyone’s going home. I’m just one week behind. While I’m looking forward to the rest that Pskov will provide, I’m well aware that when I return, it’ll be time to buckle down and make the final push. It’s not really a push to leave, more just a push to make sure every loose end is tied and all the hatches are battened down and whatnot. I know I’ll be wistful when it’s time to actually leave, but I’d much rather be dealing with that emotion than with the panic of knowing that I’ve left loose ends. I’m just like that, I guess.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Pictures from inside the Church on Spilt Blood
I went there yesterday, but was too lazy to post about it. This weekend is Pskov, so I'll be incommunicado for a while, back Monday night, will post about it Tuesday.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Faces to Names
In order: Hillary and Becky, Kate and Rachel Eve, Lael and Hannah, and Mattison and Marissa.
4-22-07
4-22-07
I woke up this morning to the sound of rain on my window. It’s the first time that’s happened while I’ve been here. It’s rained, of course, just usually when I’m outside somewhere, walking. It was quite pleasant, actually, and I just lay in bed and listened to it for a while. Had it not been a plan-less Sunday, it probably would have been a rude awakening. Instead I was able to linger over my morning porridge and take my time getting dressed, such that when I set out to actually greet the day, the rain had stopped.
It was still pretty crappy out, of course. The rain had muddied things up and it wasn’t too warm, either. So it wasn’t exactly the kind of day where I’d just say, “Screw it, I don’t want to go inside! I’ll just walk around!” So I went to the Russian Museum and spent a couple of hours wandering around there. It’s far more easily navigable than the Ermitage, so I actually feel like I saw everything. It’s now checked off of my have-to-do list, which means that I only have one more thing remaining—Peterhof, which’ll have to wait til a sunny day when the fountains in the cascade are running.
That means there are four more things on the “I’d Really Like To Do” list and two more on the “Really Should Do” list. On the latter, however, I’ve already bought tickets to a ballet at the Mariinskiy in the first week of May with a couple of other people. We’d also really like to go to a football match, and there’s one remaining before we go home, so depending on the price, I’ll try to cross that off, as well. As for the “I’d Really Like To Do” list, two of them are the insides of cathedrals, one is wandering the nearby Botanical Gardens, and the last is finding that damned Nose Statue. Considering there’s three weeks left, I think there’s no excusing me not getting all of those done.
After the Russian Museum, I went to Subway, where I ran into Hannah and her parents, randomly. We chatted for a bit, then I met up with Mattison, who had texted me while I was in the Russian Museum. He and I headed down to Apraksin Dvor, the chaotic and bustling and sometimes scary outdoor market. We didn’t really see anything to buy for anyone back home, but we wandered around there for quite a while, marveling at the weirdness of the place.
After that, we walked up to Gostiny Dvor, the large, classy indoor shopping center. We didn’t really expect to find anything, because the majority of things in Gostiny Dvor are ridiculously expensive. However, we both were successful in finding gifts that were way cheaper than we thought they’d be. In fact, for what I bought, I’m willing the prices were as much as (if not cheaper than) the prices at the actual souvenir market behind the Church on Spilt Blood. So yay! Not all gifts are taken care of, but for all but one I at least know what the gift will be. That last one is giving me some trouble, but it’ll click eventually.
After dinner, I joined Marina in watching Circus with the Stars! Basically, take the concept of “Dancing with the Stars,” except instead of just dancing, put the B-List stars in a circus. I was entertained tonight by watching Russian celebrities I’ve never heard of walk tightropes, do acrobatics, juggle, and make chimpanzees do the can-can. I’m not kidding. Probably the second-most strange part for me was watching some smarmy well-tanned Russian run around with chimpanzees in pants as they rode bicycles and danced. Marina thought it was hilarious and laughed harder than I’ve ever seen her laugh. But that was only the second-weirdest. Honors for the weirdest go to the clown/juggling routine that was loosely based on the idea of a US/USSR basketball match. The Russian playing the American player was, of course, in blackface, wearing an afro wig, and the name on the back of his jersey was “White.” Where am I living???
It’s 9:30 and it’s still light outside. It’s a phenomenal difference from the beginning of the semester. I’m willing to admit, only somewhat ashamedly, that there were nights (Yes, plural) that I got into my pajamas before the clock struck nine. It was my circadian rhythms, I tell you! When it’s pitch black at 5, and I was wiped from walking around the city, my body just went crazy. I don’t think that in the year before I got here that I went to bed before 10. It’s not uncommon here, I’m sad to say. I know it makes me sound like a loser, but I’m just going to blame it on what this country did to my circadian rhythms.
Because of the lengthening days, it feels weird to come home when it’s still light outside. However, I know if I wait til it gets dark, dinner (Potatoes potatoes potatoes potatoes) will be later, and that invariably gives me an upset stomach the next day. So even though it feels strange to say goodbye to friends when it looks like midday outside, we’re all slowly adjusting.
On Friday morning, we leave for Pskov. We get back Monday night. I honestly don’t know what to expect, like I did with Novgorod. I’m pretty sure that the scene in the excellent Eisenstein film “Alexander Nevsky” where they toss the children into the fire took place in Pskov. I suppose that’s a question to ask the guide. Then we don’t have class on Tuesday, because it’s May Day. I’m trying to maybe arrange some kind of picnic out on Yelagin Island if the weather’s good. I’m sure the rest of the city will have similar plans, but our days are waning, and if the weather’s good, it could be a really fun time. I’ll test the waters tomorrow, see what people think.
I woke up this morning to the sound of rain on my window. It’s the first time that’s happened while I’ve been here. It’s rained, of course, just usually when I’m outside somewhere, walking. It was quite pleasant, actually, and I just lay in bed and listened to it for a while. Had it not been a plan-less Sunday, it probably would have been a rude awakening. Instead I was able to linger over my morning porridge and take my time getting dressed, such that when I set out to actually greet the day, the rain had stopped.
It was still pretty crappy out, of course. The rain had muddied things up and it wasn’t too warm, either. So it wasn’t exactly the kind of day where I’d just say, “Screw it, I don’t want to go inside! I’ll just walk around!” So I went to the Russian Museum and spent a couple of hours wandering around there. It’s far more easily navigable than the Ermitage, so I actually feel like I saw everything. It’s now checked off of my have-to-do list, which means that I only have one more thing remaining—Peterhof, which’ll have to wait til a sunny day when the fountains in the cascade are running.
That means there are four more things on the “I’d Really Like To Do” list and two more on the “Really Should Do” list. On the latter, however, I’ve already bought tickets to a ballet at the Mariinskiy in the first week of May with a couple of other people. We’d also really like to go to a football match, and there’s one remaining before we go home, so depending on the price, I’ll try to cross that off, as well. As for the “I’d Really Like To Do” list, two of them are the insides of cathedrals, one is wandering the nearby Botanical Gardens, and the last is finding that damned Nose Statue. Considering there’s three weeks left, I think there’s no excusing me not getting all of those done.
After the Russian Museum, I went to Subway, where I ran into Hannah and her parents, randomly. We chatted for a bit, then I met up with Mattison, who had texted me while I was in the Russian Museum. He and I headed down to Apraksin Dvor, the chaotic and bustling and sometimes scary outdoor market. We didn’t really see anything to buy for anyone back home, but we wandered around there for quite a while, marveling at the weirdness of the place.
After that, we walked up to Gostiny Dvor, the large, classy indoor shopping center. We didn’t really expect to find anything, because the majority of things in Gostiny Dvor are ridiculously expensive. However, we both were successful in finding gifts that were way cheaper than we thought they’d be. In fact, for what I bought, I’m willing the prices were as much as (if not cheaper than) the prices at the actual souvenir market behind the Church on Spilt Blood. So yay! Not all gifts are taken care of, but for all but one I at least know what the gift will be. That last one is giving me some trouble, but it’ll click eventually.
After dinner, I joined Marina in watching Circus with the Stars! Basically, take the concept of “Dancing with the Stars,” except instead of just dancing, put the B-List stars in a circus. I was entertained tonight by watching Russian celebrities I’ve never heard of walk tightropes, do acrobatics, juggle, and make chimpanzees do the can-can. I’m not kidding. Probably the second-most strange part for me was watching some smarmy well-tanned Russian run around with chimpanzees in pants as they rode bicycles and danced. Marina thought it was hilarious and laughed harder than I’ve ever seen her laugh. But that was only the second-weirdest. Honors for the weirdest go to the clown/juggling routine that was loosely based on the idea of a US/USSR basketball match. The Russian playing the American player was, of course, in blackface, wearing an afro wig, and the name on the back of his jersey was “White.” Where am I living???
It’s 9:30 and it’s still light outside. It’s a phenomenal difference from the beginning of the semester. I’m willing to admit, only somewhat ashamedly, that there were nights (Yes, plural) that I got into my pajamas before the clock struck nine. It was my circadian rhythms, I tell you! When it’s pitch black at 5, and I was wiped from walking around the city, my body just went crazy. I don’t think that in the year before I got here that I went to bed before 10. It’s not uncommon here, I’m sad to say. I know it makes me sound like a loser, but I’m just going to blame it on what this country did to my circadian rhythms.
Because of the lengthening days, it feels weird to come home when it’s still light outside. However, I know if I wait til it gets dark, dinner (Potatoes potatoes potatoes potatoes) will be later, and that invariably gives me an upset stomach the next day. So even though it feels strange to say goodbye to friends when it looks like midday outside, we’re all slowly adjusting.
On Friday morning, we leave for Pskov. We get back Monday night. I honestly don’t know what to expect, like I did with Novgorod. I’m pretty sure that the scene in the excellent Eisenstein film “Alexander Nevsky” where they toss the children into the fire took place in Pskov. I suppose that’s a question to ask the guide. Then we don’t have class on Tuesday, because it’s May Day. I’m trying to maybe arrange some kind of picnic out on Yelagin Island if the weather’s good. I’m sure the rest of the city will have similar plans, but our days are waning, and if the weather’s good, it could be a really fun time. I’ll test the waters tomorrow, see what people think.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
4-21-07
4-21-07
As I’m now past the halfway point of April, I just have one question to ask--What the hell happened to March? No, really. I mean, a week and a half of it was spent outside the city, so there’s a reason that it went so fast. But really. I know things happened in March that weren’t in Moscow or in travel week, it seems like it was compressed or something. I don’t know. Moving on.
The reason that this is the first post I’ve written in a while is because nothing much of note happened this week. Monday I stayed after school and used the WiFi to post my last post, then just went home. Tuesday, a bunch of us went to Subway. After that we could’ve gone to a museum, but we know it was the last day of nice weather for a while, so we just took a book of crossword puzzles to Art Square and worked on those by the statue of Pushkin and chased pigeons around.
Wednesday, I wandered over to Cafe Max after school to get online because I didn’t bring my laptop to school. On a whim as I was heading back home, I stopped in the DVD store Titanic (Its main rival is named Iceberg). I didn’t have a whole lot of hope of finding Last of the Mohicans, but I figured it was worth a shot. I found a lot of copies of Last Action Hero, and then BAM! Last of the Mohicans. Got it, watched it, cried for the last 20 minutes of it. It is now making the rounds because, unfortunately, the sound is very quiet such that it’s only really possible to watch it on a laptop with headphones, so we can’t have one big watching party. That’s okay, though. Mission accomplished.
Thursday, Kate, Hillary, Becky, and I hit up the new Teremok on Nevsky for a late lunch. Earlier in the day, Katie gave me an invitation to a concert that the orchestra she’s in (The St. Petersburg State University Orchestra) was putting on. It was invitation only, you see. So after Teremok, I ran home, dropped off my bag, and then went back into the center for the concert. The concert is part of a festival honoring St. Petersburg’s outstanding citizens. Thursday night they honored the president of St. Petersburg State University, hence the reason the university orchestra was playing. So there I was, in my brown waffle shirt and jeans, hanging out with the high fallutin’ crowd of St. Petersburg society. The concert was really great, and I got to see Katie’s crazy conductor in action.
Last night we went back to Lider, the gigantic bar with all the pool tables. It’s a great place to hang out. Hillary and Lael joined us last night, so I was giving them the grand tour when we discovered something that I hadn’t seen the first time we were there--they have LASER TAG! Yes! Yeah, we’re totally going to do that. We’re also going to see if we can just make it some kind of CIEE event. Or at the very least, suggest it for future CIEE groups.
Today, in an hour and a half, some of us are joining Hannah and her parents (They’ve been in town this week) at Teremok for lunch. I think after that I’m going to go to Quo Vadis to post this and maybe some pictures as well. Tonight, I’m going to see Three Sisters again. CIEE’s paying the majority of the ticket price, so there are a bunch of students going as well. Plus, Marina’s going. The other night she was like, “You’re going? I’m going as well. We can have dinner here and then go together.” It’s a date! No idea what tomorrow holds, but I really think it’s going to depend on the weather. Crappy days are perfect museum days, and on nice days I just want to wander around.
There’s really not much time left, it’s kind of crazy. This might be the fastest a semester has ever gone in my life. I should point out, that since there’s so little time left, from this point on, you really shouldn’t send me anything, because odds are it won’t get here while I’m still here. That means you, Emily and Maggie. Everyone here is jealous of your postcards, just so you know.
As I’m now past the halfway point of April, I just have one question to ask--What the hell happened to March? No, really. I mean, a week and a half of it was spent outside the city, so there’s a reason that it went so fast. But really. I know things happened in March that weren’t in Moscow or in travel week, it seems like it was compressed or something. I don’t know. Moving on.
The reason that this is the first post I’ve written in a while is because nothing much of note happened this week. Monday I stayed after school and used the WiFi to post my last post, then just went home. Tuesday, a bunch of us went to Subway. After that we could’ve gone to a museum, but we know it was the last day of nice weather for a while, so we just took a book of crossword puzzles to Art Square and worked on those by the statue of Pushkin and chased pigeons around.
Wednesday, I wandered over to Cafe Max after school to get online because I didn’t bring my laptop to school. On a whim as I was heading back home, I stopped in the DVD store Titanic (Its main rival is named Iceberg). I didn’t have a whole lot of hope of finding Last of the Mohicans, but I figured it was worth a shot. I found a lot of copies of Last Action Hero, and then BAM! Last of the Mohicans. Got it, watched it, cried for the last 20 minutes of it. It is now making the rounds because, unfortunately, the sound is very quiet such that it’s only really possible to watch it on a laptop with headphones, so we can’t have one big watching party. That’s okay, though. Mission accomplished.
Thursday, Kate, Hillary, Becky, and I hit up the new Teremok on Nevsky for a late lunch. Earlier in the day, Katie gave me an invitation to a concert that the orchestra she’s in (The St. Petersburg State University Orchestra) was putting on. It was invitation only, you see. So after Teremok, I ran home, dropped off my bag, and then went back into the center for the concert. The concert is part of a festival honoring St. Petersburg’s outstanding citizens. Thursday night they honored the president of St. Petersburg State University, hence the reason the university orchestra was playing. So there I was, in my brown waffle shirt and jeans, hanging out with the high fallutin’ crowd of St. Petersburg society. The concert was really great, and I got to see Katie’s crazy conductor in action.
Last night we went back to Lider, the gigantic bar with all the pool tables. It’s a great place to hang out. Hillary and Lael joined us last night, so I was giving them the grand tour when we discovered something that I hadn’t seen the first time we were there--they have LASER TAG! Yes! Yeah, we’re totally going to do that. We’re also going to see if we can just make it some kind of CIEE event. Or at the very least, suggest it for future CIEE groups.
Today, in an hour and a half, some of us are joining Hannah and her parents (They’ve been in town this week) at Teremok for lunch. I think after that I’m going to go to Quo Vadis to post this and maybe some pictures as well. Tonight, I’m going to see Three Sisters again. CIEE’s paying the majority of the ticket price, so there are a bunch of students going as well. Plus, Marina’s going. The other night she was like, “You’re going? I’m going as well. We can have dinner here and then go together.” It’s a date! No idea what tomorrow holds, but I really think it’s going to depend on the weather. Crappy days are perfect museum days, and on nice days I just want to wander around.
There’s really not much time left, it’s kind of crazy. This might be the fastest a semester has ever gone in my life. I should point out, that since there’s so little time left, from this point on, you really shouldn’t send me anything, because odds are it won’t get here while I’m still here. That means you, Emily and Maggie. Everyone here is jealous of your postcards, just so you know.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
4-15-07
4-15-07
Less than a month. That’s all that’s left. The other day I had a revelation—the countdown feature on my clock hasn’t gone totally wonky. It’s counting down the HOURS til midnight, May 13th. Okay, I’m weird about counting days and stuff, but honestly, this is too much. Hours? I don’t want to think about hours! It’s weird enough saying “month” in the singular and not the plural. Although I suppose I can’t even say “month” anymore because there’s less than that.
Friday night a couple of us went to this place attached to that oasis of American consumerism—the mall Grand Canyon. It was about the size of a gymnasium, with a bar on every wall, a bowling alley off to one side, and roughly 100 pool tables in the center. I haven’t seen a single pool table in this city, so this was a little overwhelming. There was also a small arcade, a small casino, air hockey tables (Alas, no foosball), “4D World,” and a small shooting range. Regrettably, I was not playing my usual fantastic game of pool. Luckily, I’m taking a billiards class next fall.
Anyway, it was just fun to hang out and play pool. This city desperately lacks places to just hang out for a little bit. We’re planning on making a return trip, but the weekends are rapidly disappearing.
Interestingly, Friday night I think I had the Russian equivalent of a Turducken. Two medallions of some kind of meat—pork, I think—stuffed with some other kind of meat. I originally thought it was ham. Though, I suppose, were it ham, it would not be the equivalent of a Turducken, it would be the equivalent of…a pig. But I’m pretty sure it wasn’t ham, it was just chopped up hot dog. Yum.
On Saturday, I walked all the way down to the Cruiser Aurora and walked around on that a bit, taking pictures. A good chunk of the pictures are of other people taking pictures. One, because I enjoy taking pictures of people taking pictures in general. And two, Russians pose so seriously so often that it’s just great to observe. From there, I walked along the Neva a bit, crossing Troitsky Most, and walking to the Subway by the Ermitage for lunch. From there, I wandered down Nevsky, enjoying the fantastically bright and warm weather. I ended up watching the Zenit-Dinamo match with a bunch of rowdy Russians, and luckily Zenit won 3-0.
Saturday night, a couple of us went out to our friend Nohemi’s apartment (She lives with roommates, not a host family), and she cooked us some absolutely fantastic Mexican food. Again, it was nice to just hang out with these people and eat cookies and play a game that was the equivalent of the Jeopardy category “Rhyme Time.” That might sound lame, but it was fun.
Today, I met up with Rachel Eve and Kate and the three of us went out to the town of Tsarskoe Selo and visited the park there and Catherine’s Palace, location of the world-famous Amber Room. This, of course, is the one room where pictures weren’t allowed. The palace itself was magnificent and…palace-y. All this grandeur does begin to wear on you, I have to say. But the weather was so nice, it was fun to just wander the park and eat ice cream.
So I’ve done a lot of walking this weekend, and I’m absolutely wiped. I’m not sure what the week ahead holds, but maybe I’ll buy a ticket to the next Zenit match, the only one remaining before I leave…in roughly 669 hours. Eek! I need to figure out how to stop that.
Less than a month. That’s all that’s left. The other day I had a revelation—the countdown feature on my clock hasn’t gone totally wonky. It’s counting down the HOURS til midnight, May 13th. Okay, I’m weird about counting days and stuff, but honestly, this is too much. Hours? I don’t want to think about hours! It’s weird enough saying “month” in the singular and not the plural. Although I suppose I can’t even say “month” anymore because there’s less than that.
Friday night a couple of us went to this place attached to that oasis of American consumerism—the mall Grand Canyon. It was about the size of a gymnasium, with a bar on every wall, a bowling alley off to one side, and roughly 100 pool tables in the center. I haven’t seen a single pool table in this city, so this was a little overwhelming. There was also a small arcade, a small casino, air hockey tables (Alas, no foosball), “4D World,” and a small shooting range. Regrettably, I was not playing my usual fantastic game of pool. Luckily, I’m taking a billiards class next fall.
Anyway, it was just fun to hang out and play pool. This city desperately lacks places to just hang out for a little bit. We’re planning on making a return trip, but the weekends are rapidly disappearing.
Interestingly, Friday night I think I had the Russian equivalent of a Turducken. Two medallions of some kind of meat—pork, I think—stuffed with some other kind of meat. I originally thought it was ham. Though, I suppose, were it ham, it would not be the equivalent of a Turducken, it would be the equivalent of…a pig. But I’m pretty sure it wasn’t ham, it was just chopped up hot dog. Yum.
On Saturday, I walked all the way down to the Cruiser Aurora and walked around on that a bit, taking pictures. A good chunk of the pictures are of other people taking pictures. One, because I enjoy taking pictures of people taking pictures in general. And two, Russians pose so seriously so often that it’s just great to observe. From there, I walked along the Neva a bit, crossing Troitsky Most, and walking to the Subway by the Ermitage for lunch. From there, I wandered down Nevsky, enjoying the fantastically bright and warm weather. I ended up watching the Zenit-Dinamo match with a bunch of rowdy Russians, and luckily Zenit won 3-0.
Saturday night, a couple of us went out to our friend Nohemi’s apartment (She lives with roommates, not a host family), and she cooked us some absolutely fantastic Mexican food. Again, it was nice to just hang out with these people and eat cookies and play a game that was the equivalent of the Jeopardy category “Rhyme Time.” That might sound lame, but it was fun.
Today, I met up with Rachel Eve and Kate and the three of us went out to the town of Tsarskoe Selo and visited the park there and Catherine’s Palace, location of the world-famous Amber Room. This, of course, is the one room where pictures weren’t allowed. The palace itself was magnificent and…palace-y. All this grandeur does begin to wear on you, I have to say. But the weather was so nice, it was fun to just wander the park and eat ice cream.
So I’ve done a lot of walking this weekend, and I’m absolutely wiped. I’m not sure what the week ahead holds, but maybe I’ll buy a ticket to the next Zenit match, the only one remaining before I leave…in roughly 669 hours. Eek! I need to figure out how to stop that.
Friday, April 13, 2007
4-12-07
4-12-07
Happy Cosmonaut Day! 46 years ago today, Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. I haven’t seen any parades or anything, but there are plenty of posters up around town about it and commercials on TV.
Yesterday we had an Office mini-marathon in the English Sanctuary. It was the kind of thing that starts out as, “Let’s watch an episode!” And then, “We have time for one more, you think?” Then, “Oh heck, there’s plenty of time to watch another one…or two.” I still have two more episodes that my viewing companions have not seen, plus there’s a new episode tonight that I’ll download at some point this weekend, so we’ll finish up the marathon sometime next week.
After that I had a late lunch (4:30) and came home and hung out a bit until Marina got home and had an appropriately late dinner. I’m thinking that Marina’s come into some kind of fortune. A potato fortune. There are a bunch of potatoes lying on a newspaper on the floor in front of the stove, and there are two large jars full of potatoes that recently appeared on the windowsill. I made a rough count that put the number of potatoes at 50+. That’s a lot of potatoes to just suddenly appear one day. I’ve, you know, never had anything against potatoes. But goodness gracious, I’ve been eating a lot of them recently. Last night my meal was a potato with vegetables. It was filling, for sure. Those potatoes just sit in my stomach like concrete. But it does get a little tiring. Note to self: Potato moratorium for the first week I’m home.
Today was a short day, and Mattison, Hannah, and I hoped to accomplish something, as the weather was sunny. It was kind of chilly and really windy, though, so we got absolutely nothing accomplished. We just hunted through three of the DVD stores near Cherneshevskaya looking for Last of the Mohicans. Yeah, I bet that was the last movie you expected us to have a craving to watch. But there are like 6 of us just jonesing for it. We’ve contented ourselves with enthusiastically humming the score up until this point, but it’s really getting to the point that we all want to see it. Probably more than I’ve ever wanted to ever see that movie in my life. This country is doing weird things to my brain. Side note: Last of the Mohicans was the first R-rated movie I ever saw.
My butt hurts. Right now, Tavrichesky Gardens, the park we cut through on the way to the Metro from school, is closed. There’s a fence around the entire park, and all of the gates are locked. It’s much, much faster to cut through the park, so we did what any sane person would do. We climbed over the fences. These are not little white picket fences, oh no. They’re taller than I am, made of metal, with pointy tops. At some point during this process, I pulled a muscle in my gluteus maximus. At least I didn’t almost impale myself like Hannah did, and I didn’t shove my hand into the pointy top like Kate and Mattison. I should point out that we’re not the only people that do this, there were plenty of people in the park, but they all used the same method to get in as us. Or there’s a small gap in the fence on one side that you could crawl through, but it’s muddy.
Not really sure what the weekend holds. On Sunday, I’m planning on going to Tsarskoe Selo with Kate and Rachel Eve to see Catherine’s Palace. After that, I just have Peterhoff in terms of palaces. I’m kind of getting palaced out. We only have 4 weekends left in the city, because we’re in Pskov the last weekend in April. And that 4th weekend, I leave on the Sunday of that weekend, so it’s not like I can be out bopping around all weekend. I’ll have to, you know, pack and stuff.
So weird. I’m not used to having such paradoxical ideas existing in my mind: Wanting to go home and not wanting to leave. Usually at the end of the semester at IU, I’ll be apprehensive about leaving the people, but I’m usually ready to get the heck out of Bloomington. Same with the end of the summer and Portland. But here, I’m weird about leaving the people, but also the place. I feel like I’ve finally got this city figured out. Ah well, just means I’ll have to come back, and bring people with me.
Anyway, as for the rest of the weekend, there’s no telling what we’ll end up doing. Museum of Bread? It’s always a possibility! UFO Museum? A likelihood! Staying inside all weekend? Surely you jest! The weather this weekend is supposed to be amazing! Maybe Saturday night we’ll have a picnic on Yelagin Island! …I think I used more exclamation points in that paragraph than in the last month of posts. That’s definitely a sign to turn the computer off and get some sleep.
Happy Cosmonaut Day! 46 years ago today, Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. I haven’t seen any parades or anything, but there are plenty of posters up around town about it and commercials on TV.
Yesterday we had an Office mini-marathon in the English Sanctuary. It was the kind of thing that starts out as, “Let’s watch an episode!” And then, “We have time for one more, you think?” Then, “Oh heck, there’s plenty of time to watch another one…or two.” I still have two more episodes that my viewing companions have not seen, plus there’s a new episode tonight that I’ll download at some point this weekend, so we’ll finish up the marathon sometime next week.
After that I had a late lunch (4:30) and came home and hung out a bit until Marina got home and had an appropriately late dinner. I’m thinking that Marina’s come into some kind of fortune. A potato fortune. There are a bunch of potatoes lying on a newspaper on the floor in front of the stove, and there are two large jars full of potatoes that recently appeared on the windowsill. I made a rough count that put the number of potatoes at 50+. That’s a lot of potatoes to just suddenly appear one day. I’ve, you know, never had anything against potatoes. But goodness gracious, I’ve been eating a lot of them recently. Last night my meal was a potato with vegetables. It was filling, for sure. Those potatoes just sit in my stomach like concrete. But it does get a little tiring. Note to self: Potato moratorium for the first week I’m home.
Today was a short day, and Mattison, Hannah, and I hoped to accomplish something, as the weather was sunny. It was kind of chilly and really windy, though, so we got absolutely nothing accomplished. We just hunted through three of the DVD stores near Cherneshevskaya looking for Last of the Mohicans. Yeah, I bet that was the last movie you expected us to have a craving to watch. But there are like 6 of us just jonesing for it. We’ve contented ourselves with enthusiastically humming the score up until this point, but it’s really getting to the point that we all want to see it. Probably more than I’ve ever wanted to ever see that movie in my life. This country is doing weird things to my brain. Side note: Last of the Mohicans was the first R-rated movie I ever saw.
My butt hurts. Right now, Tavrichesky Gardens, the park we cut through on the way to the Metro from school, is closed. There’s a fence around the entire park, and all of the gates are locked. It’s much, much faster to cut through the park, so we did what any sane person would do. We climbed over the fences. These are not little white picket fences, oh no. They’re taller than I am, made of metal, with pointy tops. At some point during this process, I pulled a muscle in my gluteus maximus. At least I didn’t almost impale myself like Hannah did, and I didn’t shove my hand into the pointy top like Kate and Mattison. I should point out that we’re not the only people that do this, there were plenty of people in the park, but they all used the same method to get in as us. Or there’s a small gap in the fence on one side that you could crawl through, but it’s muddy.
Not really sure what the weekend holds. On Sunday, I’m planning on going to Tsarskoe Selo with Kate and Rachel Eve to see Catherine’s Palace. After that, I just have Peterhoff in terms of palaces. I’m kind of getting palaced out. We only have 4 weekends left in the city, because we’re in Pskov the last weekend in April. And that 4th weekend, I leave on the Sunday of that weekend, so it’s not like I can be out bopping around all weekend. I’ll have to, you know, pack and stuff.
So weird. I’m not used to having such paradoxical ideas existing in my mind: Wanting to go home and not wanting to leave. Usually at the end of the semester at IU, I’ll be apprehensive about leaving the people, but I’m usually ready to get the heck out of Bloomington. Same with the end of the summer and Portland. But here, I’m weird about leaving the people, but also the place. I feel like I’ve finally got this city figured out. Ah well, just means I’ll have to come back, and bring people with me.
Anyway, as for the rest of the weekend, there’s no telling what we’ll end up doing. Museum of Bread? It’s always a possibility! UFO Museum? A likelihood! Staying inside all weekend? Surely you jest! The weather this weekend is supposed to be amazing! Maybe Saturday night we’ll have a picnic on Yelagin Island! …I think I used more exclamation points in that paragraph than in the last month of posts. That’s definitely a sign to turn the computer off and get some sleep.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
4-10-07
4-10-07
Nothing groundbreaking to share in this entry. Monday passed like a regular Monday. Today after classes, Mattison, Hannah, Kate, and I went to Subway for Tuna Day and then, as per the norm, ended up just sitting in there talking long after our meals were finished. I think the security guard there hates us.
Then Kate split off, and Mattison, Hannah, and I wandered off in search of a statue. There are many statues in this city, but I’m looking for a nose. Not just any nose, but THE Nose. From the Gogol short story “The Nose.” If you haven’t read it, really, you should. It’s absurd and awesome. Essentially, a man wakes up one day without his nose, and then sees it wandering around the city and he tries to convince it to come back, but it’s not having any of it.
Anyway, two of our professors have confirmed the existence of a statue of the Nose somewhere in the city, although they said different areas. One named a specific street, and the other said “Somewhere near the Mariinsky.” Luckily, the named street wasn’t far from the Mariinsky. For some reason I was convinced that I could just find it by wandering around, and Mattison and Hannah were foolish enough to join me.
We didn’t find it, but we had a good time just wandering around. We ended up just sitting in front of the Rimsky-Korsakov statue by the Mariinsky and playing Pictionary by drawing in the dirt. It was a tough game, too. It’s hard to draw things like “Strip Mining,” “Man of War,” “Wonder of the World,” and “Jean-Claude Van Damme.” Plus, we’re drawing in dirt, which proved to not be the best medium. No one gave up, though. Even though we had some really way off guesses. I tend to guess by just saying everything that comes to mind, even if I know that’s not what the person is drawing.
Since we were sitting in the sun so long, I think I might have gotten a little color on my face! Miracle of miracles! I’m sure I’ll wake up tomorrow morning and it’ll prove to just have been windburn or something. Or irritation from the clouds of dust blowing into our faces. It’s nice to be outside, though.
My quality of life has drastically improved since Monday. How, you ask? Have people learned the concept of personal space? Has the bar disappeared from the middle of my bed? Has our shower started putting out hot water at all times of the day, not just before 7 and after 11? Nope, none of those. I downloaded all of the episodes of The Office that I had missed up to this point. I spent last night binging on them. I didn’t want Marina to think I’m absolutely insane, so I tried to keep most of my laughs silent, which made them quite painful, but I was almost crying a couple of times. I’m going to watch a couple of them with Hannah and Mattison tomorrow in the English lounge because we have a short day and no one else does.
So while I haven’t exactly been, you know, rafting down the Neva or helping restore the murals in the Church on Spilt Blood, I have been keeping busy and enjoying myself.
Nothing groundbreaking to share in this entry. Monday passed like a regular Monday. Today after classes, Mattison, Hannah, Kate, and I went to Subway for Tuna Day and then, as per the norm, ended up just sitting in there talking long after our meals were finished. I think the security guard there hates us.
Then Kate split off, and Mattison, Hannah, and I wandered off in search of a statue. There are many statues in this city, but I’m looking for a nose. Not just any nose, but THE Nose. From the Gogol short story “The Nose.” If you haven’t read it, really, you should. It’s absurd and awesome. Essentially, a man wakes up one day without his nose, and then sees it wandering around the city and he tries to convince it to come back, but it’s not having any of it.
Anyway, two of our professors have confirmed the existence of a statue of the Nose somewhere in the city, although they said different areas. One named a specific street, and the other said “Somewhere near the Mariinsky.” Luckily, the named street wasn’t far from the Mariinsky. For some reason I was convinced that I could just find it by wandering around, and Mattison and Hannah were foolish enough to join me.
We didn’t find it, but we had a good time just wandering around. We ended up just sitting in front of the Rimsky-Korsakov statue by the Mariinsky and playing Pictionary by drawing in the dirt. It was a tough game, too. It’s hard to draw things like “Strip Mining,” “Man of War,” “Wonder of the World,” and “Jean-Claude Van Damme.” Plus, we’re drawing in dirt, which proved to not be the best medium. No one gave up, though. Even though we had some really way off guesses. I tend to guess by just saying everything that comes to mind, even if I know that’s not what the person is drawing.
Since we were sitting in the sun so long, I think I might have gotten a little color on my face! Miracle of miracles! I’m sure I’ll wake up tomorrow morning and it’ll prove to just have been windburn or something. Or irritation from the clouds of dust blowing into our faces. It’s nice to be outside, though.
My quality of life has drastically improved since Monday. How, you ask? Have people learned the concept of personal space? Has the bar disappeared from the middle of my bed? Has our shower started putting out hot water at all times of the day, not just before 7 and after 11? Nope, none of those. I downloaded all of the episodes of The Office that I had missed up to this point. I spent last night binging on them. I didn’t want Marina to think I’m absolutely insane, so I tried to keep most of my laughs silent, which made them quite painful, but I was almost crying a couple of times. I’m going to watch a couple of them with Hannah and Mattison tomorrow in the English lounge because we have a short day and no one else does.
So while I haven’t exactly been, you know, rafting down the Neva or helping restore the murals in the Church on Spilt Blood, I have been keeping busy and enjoying myself.
Monday, April 9, 2007
4-9-07
4-8-07
So last night I ate dinner and then met up with Hillary and her host sister at about 11 to go to St. Vladimir’s Cathedral, about a 20 minute walk from my apartment. I’d seen the church before in daylight, but it was lit quite gloriously last night. There was a constant procession of people coming and going into and out of the church. We made our way in, with our heads covered with scarves. The cathedral’s interior was grandiose, lots of icons and gold leafing and the like. The service would be nearly unrecognizable to someone expecting a traditional Protestant or Catholic sitting-standing-kneeling service. There are no pews, people just seem to mill about, moving between icons and lighting candles, listening to a priest near the front, or engaged in hushed conversations in corners.
Hillary’s host sister explained to us everything that was going on, and we watched the priest come and bless a table full of kulich, the traditional Russian Easter sweet bread/cake. He said a few words and splashed some holy water on them. As Hillary’s sister said, “They are holy now, I guess. I don’t really understand why, but now they’re holy.”
We stayed there for about an hour before leaving. On the way home, it started to snow. Not a blizzard or anything, just little stinging pellets. Enough to form snaking streams of it in the headlights of cars and to make the streetlamps twinkle a bit. I watched a bit of the service from the Kremlin with Marina and ate some kulich and then went to bed. Kulich is delicious, I must say. It’s sweet bread with raisins and nuts in it, and frosting or powdered sugar on top.
Surprise surprise, I also had kulich for breakfast. That, along with eggs that Marina had dyed. Yay, Easter! We had both slept in a ton, so it was quite a late breakfast. I then set off for Yelagin Island. It’s an island in the city that doesn’t allow cars and is essentially one gigantic park. The day started out rather sunny, but cold. Yeah, I’ve brought the hat with earflaps out of retirement, and it’s enjoying its comeback.
The park itself was very nice, expansive with lakes and trails to wander and get lost, along with the large Yelagin Palace. However, it will be nicer once things are actually green, not a depressing shade of brown. I think a return visit may be in order closer to the time we leave. As is the Russian tradition, large speakers pump music into nearly all areas of the park. I was treated to such Russian classics as “My Way,” “How Deep is Your Love,” “The Way We Were,” and “Chiquita.”
However, when I was near the palace, I heard a band start playing. A military band had set up in front of the palace’s kitchen building and was playing classic songs that I couldn’t name for the life of me. But the old men and women that had gathered were lapping it up, dancing around like kids. There were far more women than men, so the babushkas were dancing with each other, dancing and twirling and dipping each other and it was adorable. I watched them for a while, and then continued wandering.
I made a circuit of the island, seeing a crew team out on the Neva and some unhappy looking swans. I also saw the farthest north Buddhist temple in the world, but didn’t cross the bridge to get a closer look. Maybe next time. About this time, it started snowing, blowing right in my face. The wind coming in off of the Gulf of Finland was killer, but I was determined to make the entire circuit. I’m not really sure why. I remember thinking, “Why am I doing this? Just to do it, I suppose.”
As I neared the end of my circumnavigation, I stumbled onto some weird kind of petting zoo…filled only with birds. It smelled about as bad as one would expect a bird-only petting zoo in Russia to smell. Perhaps a little skunkier than I would’ve predicted. Anyway, there was an angry looking eagle in a cage, three stoic owls, and a small pen full of geese and ducks who apparently weren’t going to fly away. There was also a pen labeled “Pig,” but it was empty. I was disappointed.
By that time I was freezing, and came back here for an early dinner. Then I walked down Kamenoostrovsky Prospekt to meet up with some classmates, because a handful of us were attending a play together. The play was called “Smeshnoi,” and is based off of the Dostoevsky short story “Son Smeshnovo Cheloveka,” which translates as “Dream of a Funny Man.” The man’s not funny in the goofy sense; he’s just funny in that he’s committed to being a good person in a world of evil. Anyway, it was a one-man, one-act play.
We met the woman who sold us our tickets at the Lenfilm Headquarters (“My dears, you are almost in Hollywood!” Almost.), and she led us up to an apartment set up in the style of a typical late 19th-century St. Petersburg apartment. We sat in chairs that lined the walls of one room, lit by a single candle. A woman came in, tidied things up, and then took the candle and shut us in, totally in the dark. Then the large trunk against one wall opened, and out popped our man. It was a strangely interactive play. Also very dreamlike. I can totally imagine myself saying to someone, “I had this weird dream last night, I was seeing this play, but we were like in the same room, and he was, like, talking to us. But it was a play, he wasn’t just talking to us.”
The single candle he had created some exciting shadow effects, and it was awesome when he would just look you in the eye. At the end of the play, he went around the room, touching each of our hands and telling us to treat each other as we would treat ourselves. I won’t describe the plot; I’ll leave it up to you to read the short story. Right.
Then I came back here and called home to wish my mom a Happy Birthday. I don’t know what the week ahead holds, but we only have 5 weeks left. Phil asked me the other day if I was ready to come home. Ah, the question that everyone back home asks and everyone here avoids. Of course I’d like to see my friends and family and Shadow and sleep in a bed that doesn’t have a bar down the middle and take a shower whenever I want, etc. etc. But leaving here has such a weird sense of finality to it that’s kind of terrifying. I’m going to have to reconcile with that feeling before I know it. Oh well. That’s 5 weeks away.
Hope you all had a good Easter!
So last night I ate dinner and then met up with Hillary and her host sister at about 11 to go to St. Vladimir’s Cathedral, about a 20 minute walk from my apartment. I’d seen the church before in daylight, but it was lit quite gloriously last night. There was a constant procession of people coming and going into and out of the church. We made our way in, with our heads covered with scarves. The cathedral’s interior was grandiose, lots of icons and gold leafing and the like. The service would be nearly unrecognizable to someone expecting a traditional Protestant or Catholic sitting-standing-kneeling service. There are no pews, people just seem to mill about, moving between icons and lighting candles, listening to a priest near the front, or engaged in hushed conversations in corners.
Hillary’s host sister explained to us everything that was going on, and we watched the priest come and bless a table full of kulich, the traditional Russian Easter sweet bread/cake. He said a few words and splashed some holy water on them. As Hillary’s sister said, “They are holy now, I guess. I don’t really understand why, but now they’re holy.”
We stayed there for about an hour before leaving. On the way home, it started to snow. Not a blizzard or anything, just little stinging pellets. Enough to form snaking streams of it in the headlights of cars and to make the streetlamps twinkle a bit. I watched a bit of the service from the Kremlin with Marina and ate some kulich and then went to bed. Kulich is delicious, I must say. It’s sweet bread with raisins and nuts in it, and frosting or powdered sugar on top.
Surprise surprise, I also had kulich for breakfast. That, along with eggs that Marina had dyed. Yay, Easter! We had both slept in a ton, so it was quite a late breakfast. I then set off for Yelagin Island. It’s an island in the city that doesn’t allow cars and is essentially one gigantic park. The day started out rather sunny, but cold. Yeah, I’ve brought the hat with earflaps out of retirement, and it’s enjoying its comeback.
The park itself was very nice, expansive with lakes and trails to wander and get lost, along with the large Yelagin Palace. However, it will be nicer once things are actually green, not a depressing shade of brown. I think a return visit may be in order closer to the time we leave. As is the Russian tradition, large speakers pump music into nearly all areas of the park. I was treated to such Russian classics as “My Way,” “How Deep is Your Love,” “The Way We Were,” and “Chiquita.”
However, when I was near the palace, I heard a band start playing. A military band had set up in front of the palace’s kitchen building and was playing classic songs that I couldn’t name for the life of me. But the old men and women that had gathered were lapping it up, dancing around like kids. There were far more women than men, so the babushkas were dancing with each other, dancing and twirling and dipping each other and it was adorable. I watched them for a while, and then continued wandering.
I made a circuit of the island, seeing a crew team out on the Neva and some unhappy looking swans. I also saw the farthest north Buddhist temple in the world, but didn’t cross the bridge to get a closer look. Maybe next time. About this time, it started snowing, blowing right in my face. The wind coming in off of the Gulf of Finland was killer, but I was determined to make the entire circuit. I’m not really sure why. I remember thinking, “Why am I doing this? Just to do it, I suppose.”
As I neared the end of my circumnavigation, I stumbled onto some weird kind of petting zoo…filled only with birds. It smelled about as bad as one would expect a bird-only petting zoo in Russia to smell. Perhaps a little skunkier than I would’ve predicted. Anyway, there was an angry looking eagle in a cage, three stoic owls, and a small pen full of geese and ducks who apparently weren’t going to fly away. There was also a pen labeled “Pig,” but it was empty. I was disappointed.
By that time I was freezing, and came back here for an early dinner. Then I walked down Kamenoostrovsky Prospekt to meet up with some classmates, because a handful of us were attending a play together. The play was called “Smeshnoi,” and is based off of the Dostoevsky short story “Son Smeshnovo Cheloveka,” which translates as “Dream of a Funny Man.” The man’s not funny in the goofy sense; he’s just funny in that he’s committed to being a good person in a world of evil. Anyway, it was a one-man, one-act play.
We met the woman who sold us our tickets at the Lenfilm Headquarters (“My dears, you are almost in Hollywood!” Almost.), and she led us up to an apartment set up in the style of a typical late 19th-century St. Petersburg apartment. We sat in chairs that lined the walls of one room, lit by a single candle. A woman came in, tidied things up, and then took the candle and shut us in, totally in the dark. Then the large trunk against one wall opened, and out popped our man. It was a strangely interactive play. Also very dreamlike. I can totally imagine myself saying to someone, “I had this weird dream last night, I was seeing this play, but we were like in the same room, and he was, like, talking to us. But it was a play, he wasn’t just talking to us.”
The single candle he had created some exciting shadow effects, and it was awesome when he would just look you in the eye. At the end of the play, he went around the room, touching each of our hands and telling us to treat each other as we would treat ourselves. I won’t describe the plot; I’ll leave it up to you to read the short story. Right.
Then I came back here and called home to wish my mom a Happy Birthday. I don’t know what the week ahead holds, but we only have 5 weeks left. Phil asked me the other day if I was ready to come home. Ah, the question that everyone back home asks and everyone here avoids. Of course I’d like to see my friends and family and Shadow and sleep in a bed that doesn’t have a bar down the middle and take a shower whenever I want, etc. etc. But leaving here has such a weird sense of finality to it that’s kind of terrifying. I’m going to have to reconcile with that feeling before I know it. Oh well. That’s 5 weeks away.
Hope you all had a good Easter!
Saturday, April 7, 2007
4-7-07
4-7-07
Today Hannah, Becky, Hillary and I went to a flea market way south of town. Lots of crazy and weird stuff to be found, as you can imagine. I’m still on the hunt for Maggie’s present. I think the problem is that I have far too clear of an idea of what I want to get her in my mind, and it’s handicapping everything else. Although she and I agreed (We just spoke on the phone) that had I gotten her one of the old Soviet gasmasks I saw that it would’ve been a little weird. I did get one more gift out of the way, though.
After that we met up with Mattison on Nevsky and then randomly ran into Brandon and Nohemi walking down Nevsky as well. It’s crazy that in a city of millions of people, we manage to run into people we know rather often. I suppose on Nevsky it’s not that weird, as it is THE place to be.
Anyway, then we went to Mama Roma for a tasty Italian lunch/dinner. Linner? They have 1/2 price pizzas from 4-6, so it worked out rather well. Right now, I’m just chilling in the apartment. Marina’s been gone since 3, and will be gone until late because tomorrow’s Easter (more on that later), so she left me some salad in the fridge, and some bread and an orange on the table. I’m going to go into the city to Quo Vadis to post some entries and surf the web a bit, then I’ll come back here and have a late dinner.
Then at 10:45 I’m meeting Hillary by her house, and she and I are going to go to an Orthodox Easter service. They begin at 11 o’clock and last til about 3, with socializing afterwards lasting til 5. We don’t plan on staying for the whole thing, just checking out the experience. I mean, this could be an once-in-a-lifetime type thing, so why not? It’d be cool to go to one of the big churches in the city center, but the bridges have started operating and that would leave us stranded on the mainland. Instead, we’re staying on the island, going to a church that’s within walking distance from both of us. Should be an experience.
Okay, Sally, put some socks on, and let’s get going.
Today Hannah, Becky, Hillary and I went to a flea market way south of town. Lots of crazy and weird stuff to be found, as you can imagine. I’m still on the hunt for Maggie’s present. I think the problem is that I have far too clear of an idea of what I want to get her in my mind, and it’s handicapping everything else. Although she and I agreed (We just spoke on the phone) that had I gotten her one of the old Soviet gasmasks I saw that it would’ve been a little weird. I did get one more gift out of the way, though.
After that we met up with Mattison on Nevsky and then randomly ran into Brandon and Nohemi walking down Nevsky as well. It’s crazy that in a city of millions of people, we manage to run into people we know rather often. I suppose on Nevsky it’s not that weird, as it is THE place to be.
Anyway, then we went to Mama Roma for a tasty Italian lunch/dinner. Linner? They have 1/2 price pizzas from 4-6, so it worked out rather well. Right now, I’m just chilling in the apartment. Marina’s been gone since 3, and will be gone until late because tomorrow’s Easter (more on that later), so she left me some salad in the fridge, and some bread and an orange on the table. I’m going to go into the city to Quo Vadis to post some entries and surf the web a bit, then I’ll come back here and have a late dinner.
Then at 10:45 I’m meeting Hillary by her house, and she and I are going to go to an Orthodox Easter service. They begin at 11 o’clock and last til about 3, with socializing afterwards lasting til 5. We don’t plan on staying for the whole thing, just checking out the experience. I mean, this could be an once-in-a-lifetime type thing, so why not? It’d be cool to go to one of the big churches in the city center, but the bridges have started operating and that would leave us stranded on the mainland. Instead, we’re staying on the island, going to a church that’s within walking distance from both of us. Should be an experience.
Okay, Sally, put some socks on, and let’s get going.
4-4-07
4-4-07
I don’t know why I’ve felt the compulsion to write a blog entry every day for the past few days; it’s not as though they’ve been particularly busy. Right now, Marina’s out somewhere til 11 o’clock, so I’m sitting in her big comfy chair with my laptop in my lap, flipping between the World Curling Championships on EuroSport and the big Zenit-Spartak match. Zenit’s the soccer team from St. Petersburg, Spartak is one of the two big teams from Moscow. They also played on Saturday, and Spartak won 3-1, so Zenit’s looking for revenge. Right before halftime, though, Spartak scored on a penalty kick. Apparently scuffles broke out after the last match. I’ll keep the windows open for a while and see if I hear any yelling from the match. The stadiums are on the other side of the island, but it’s really not that far. Maybe a 20 minute walk straight down Bolshoi Prospekt.
Before I found curling, I watched the end of an old episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos dubbed over in Russian. It was probably from about 1989, Bob Saget’s hair was quite wavy at the time. I would’ve found it hilarious at the time, but now all the videos seem inane. It’s even weirder when the strange, old voiceovers that Bob Saget did to “add to the humor” are dubbed over. Is this funny to Russians? I suppose the humor of a guy getting hit in the crotch bridges nations.
I went to the Ermitage today and made it to the third floor, though not without complications. I was looking on the map in my guidebook, and I knew that there should be a staircase directly to my left in a certain place. Had I stepped one more step forward, I would’ve seen the large, tourist-friendly staircase in the next room. Instead, I see this dark staircase to my left, and I see a guy in a t-shirt in jeans come up the stairs and enter the room I’m in. So I assume these are the stairs, and in my head I’m thinking, “Man, the Ermitage has some majorly crappy stairs, these are dark and dank.” Then one of the old women who sit in every room pops her head in and says (Not angrily), “Where are you going? These aren’t the tourist stairs!”
I pop back out into the room, and see the guy I had seen was actually a worker, as he’s standing in the hall holding a piece of scaffolding. I say to the woman, “Oh, I thought he was a tourist!” She finds this hilarious and goes into the other room to laughingly relate the story to one of her colleagues. Needless to say, I took different stairs back down from the third floor.
Then I was up in a room full of Picassos and my phone rings, it’s Hannah, I try to quietly answer to tell her I can’t talk. The old woman guard in this room comes up and actually wags her finger in my face. Hannah understood why I suddenly hung up. I plan on making one more visit to the Ermitage. Hannah, Marisa, and I really want to see the treasures room, where they keep lots of golden treasures given to Russia through the ages.
It snowed today for most of the day. It didn’t stick, it just made every moment outside this morning uncomfortable, and then everything while walking home muddy and unpleasant. When I was walking to the Ermitage, it’s like the Alexander Column split the sky in two: On one side—low, dark, snow clouds, and on the other—bright blue, cloudless sky. Although I suppose two days of crappy weather after two weeks of sun and warmth isn’t really much to complain about.
Oh, it looked like Zenit scored, but the ref said he was offsides. Tensions are running high on the field. The Zenit fans are actually pretty cool to see around the city, because they’re all decked out in blue, with crazy spiked hats, scarves, and flags. On Saturday, before that match, there was a big group of them coming up the escalator at the Metro, and they had a big flag out that was waving as they slowly made their way upward.
The match has about half an hour to go, barring overtime, so I’m going to wrap up this absolutely and completely pointless blog entry and devote all of my attention to the match. Or I’ll watch cartoons.
I don’t know why I’ve felt the compulsion to write a blog entry every day for the past few days; it’s not as though they’ve been particularly busy. Right now, Marina’s out somewhere til 11 o’clock, so I’m sitting in her big comfy chair with my laptop in my lap, flipping between the World Curling Championships on EuroSport and the big Zenit-Spartak match. Zenit’s the soccer team from St. Petersburg, Spartak is one of the two big teams from Moscow. They also played on Saturday, and Spartak won 3-1, so Zenit’s looking for revenge. Right before halftime, though, Spartak scored on a penalty kick. Apparently scuffles broke out after the last match. I’ll keep the windows open for a while and see if I hear any yelling from the match. The stadiums are on the other side of the island, but it’s really not that far. Maybe a 20 minute walk straight down Bolshoi Prospekt.
Before I found curling, I watched the end of an old episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos dubbed over in Russian. It was probably from about 1989, Bob Saget’s hair was quite wavy at the time. I would’ve found it hilarious at the time, but now all the videos seem inane. It’s even weirder when the strange, old voiceovers that Bob Saget did to “add to the humor” are dubbed over. Is this funny to Russians? I suppose the humor of a guy getting hit in the crotch bridges nations.
I went to the Ermitage today and made it to the third floor, though not without complications. I was looking on the map in my guidebook, and I knew that there should be a staircase directly to my left in a certain place. Had I stepped one more step forward, I would’ve seen the large, tourist-friendly staircase in the next room. Instead, I see this dark staircase to my left, and I see a guy in a t-shirt in jeans come up the stairs and enter the room I’m in. So I assume these are the stairs, and in my head I’m thinking, “Man, the Ermitage has some majorly crappy stairs, these are dark and dank.” Then one of the old women who sit in every room pops her head in and says (Not angrily), “Where are you going? These aren’t the tourist stairs!”
I pop back out into the room, and see the guy I had seen was actually a worker, as he’s standing in the hall holding a piece of scaffolding. I say to the woman, “Oh, I thought he was a tourist!” She finds this hilarious and goes into the other room to laughingly relate the story to one of her colleagues. Needless to say, I took different stairs back down from the third floor.
Then I was up in a room full of Picassos and my phone rings, it’s Hannah, I try to quietly answer to tell her I can’t talk. The old woman guard in this room comes up and actually wags her finger in my face. Hannah understood why I suddenly hung up. I plan on making one more visit to the Ermitage. Hannah, Marisa, and I really want to see the treasures room, where they keep lots of golden treasures given to Russia through the ages.
It snowed today for most of the day. It didn’t stick, it just made every moment outside this morning uncomfortable, and then everything while walking home muddy and unpleasant. When I was walking to the Ermitage, it’s like the Alexander Column split the sky in two: On one side—low, dark, snow clouds, and on the other—bright blue, cloudless sky. Although I suppose two days of crappy weather after two weeks of sun and warmth isn’t really much to complain about.
Oh, it looked like Zenit scored, but the ref said he was offsides. Tensions are running high on the field. The Zenit fans are actually pretty cool to see around the city, because they’re all decked out in blue, with crazy spiked hats, scarves, and flags. On Saturday, before that match, there was a big group of them coming up the escalator at the Metro, and they had a big flag out that was waving as they slowly made their way upward.
The match has about half an hour to go, barring overtime, so I’m going to wrap up this absolutely and completely pointless blog entry and devote all of my attention to the match. Or I’ll watch cartoons.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
4-3-07
4-3-07
I have many reasons to be a happy little camper today. I’ll get to those in a second. First, I’ll go into why, despite these reasons, I’ve still got a little cloud over my head. To begin with, it was raining all day. Rainy days and Mondays and all that. It’s the first real rain we’ve had, the first time I’ve had to really use my umbrella. I didn’t realize what a hazard umbrellas were going to be. It would appear that to the average Russian pedestrian, the umbrella is not merely a tool to keep oneself dry, oh no—it is a tool with which to whack people into doing your bidding on the sidewalk. Or so it would seem. Sometimes back at IU on rainy days, when everyone has their umbrellas out, large groups of people will collide on the sidewalk, going every which way. When this happens, sometimes one of my favorite unconscious on-campus phenomena will take place: We’ll all tilt our umbrellas at such an angle as to avoid everyone else’s umbrellas, and for one second, it’s like we’re all under the same shelter, even though we’re all moving and going different directions.
To hope for something similar here would be foolish. My mama didn’t raise no fool. However, I didn’t expect other people to bang into my umbrella with theirs with quite the force that they managed to. I don’t understand, how does hitting my umbrella and sending droplets of water flying onto you benefit you at all? Whatever. Luckily, I’m taller than average so I can lift my umbrella above most others’ with relative ease. This is especially nice because the vast majority of babushkas are built like tanks, wide and low to the ground, the better to ram into you. This creates an unfortunate side effect. Though I may be able to lift my umbrella above someone else’s, there’s nothing to stop them from slamming theirs into my neck, consciously or unconsciously. Wasn’t that Russian spy that was assassinated in London killed by a pellet shot out of an umbrella? That umbrella was closed, I expect, but it would appear that I should watch out. In the blink of an eye, an umbrella could become lethal.
The other reason I’m gloomy tonight is because I managed to lose 500 rubles, roughly the equivalent of $20. And yes, I’m 99% sure that I simply lost it, it wasn’t pick pocketed. I always wrap the cash in my pocket around my gigantic set of keys: no one’s moving the money without moving those massive puppies. So who, you ask was handling the keys? Me, in the rain, struggling with the umbrella and desperate to get inside my building and out of the rain, fumbling in my pocket. Yeah, it sucks. Perhaps this is some sort of karmic balance after I won that 40 Euro on the ship to Stockholm.
But really, I’m not letting it get me down that much. Thinking of those Euro gave me an idea, I’ve still got 30 Euro left, I think I’m going to change it over tomorrow. I’m not going to be visiting another Euro-using country while I’m here, and it seems silly to hold on to it to change it into Pounds for my one night in London. That’ll be nice. Now that I’m composing this post and thinking of the reasons to counteract the rain and the lost 500 rubles, I’m feeling better.
I was out like a light last night but at 3:30 I was woken by the people who live next-door having an argument in the hallway. I would seem as though they had “taken it outside,” but it was stupid because if I could hear it, then whoever else was in the apartment with them could hear it as well. It was one of the two apartments that share the third floor with us. They both appear to be owned by fairly well off families. The doors to both are new and have little video cameras so that the people inside can see who’s at the door. One of them has a yappy little dog, too. I’ve only seen two people going in or out of either of them, but I know the sound of their doorbells, and they have frequent guests. I vaguely remember last night, while half-asleep, making up some elaborate story about who they were, but that’s all gone now. Unfortunately, after they stopped arguing, it felt like I didn’t sleep at all between then and when my alarm went off, even though I know I did. I hate that feeling.
I’ve been having really vivid dreams lately. I became an aunt in one dream (No, the dream never said whose it was) and had to carry the baby around for the rest of the dream, which included learning to fly a plane. In another, I was desperate to get a bunch of math homework done before school. Man, I’m glad I never have to worry about that again. Last night, I was canoeing somewhere. Maybe it’s the cabbage? At home, I usually have crazy dreams after I eat spicy food. I’m certain that’s not the case here, because I haven’t had a spice stronger than dill (Although I suppose that’s actually an herb) since Taco Bar in Stockholm. Perhaps it’s the cabbage? I think I’ll just blame it on the cabbage.
So, reasons to be happy! The CIEE wireless is marvelous, especially coming right now, right before I have to register for classes. It also allowed me to final download some software updates for my computer and catch up on some podcasts.
Also, my comments yesterday about Marina’s cooking continue to hold true. I’m really hoping this is a sign of things to come. Tonight’s chicken noodle soup (Noodles have also appeared in my soups after spring break) had dill in it. Not a huge deal, because dill’s pretty ubiquitous in Russian cuisine, but a change nonetheless, and a positive one. Also, my hot dog and noodles (Alas, not the same as cut up hot dog in macaroni and cheese) were accompanied by a cold cucumber and cabbage salad. Although more cabbage isn’t really a reason to celebrate.
Reason three: Tomorrow is Italian BMT day at Subway! My mom said Subway should be paying me for the endorsements I’m giving it, but really it’s a nice place to go. It’s right by the Ermitage, too, so I’m thinking tomorrow I’m going to try to talk Hannah and Marisa into joining me for some BMTs and then head over to the Ermitage (It’s free, why not?) and finally find the stairs to the third floor, to the 20th century collection. That sounds silly, but there’s only one stairway and I have no idea where it is, so I’m going to need my guidebook. I’m pretty sure I’ve wandered around the entire second floor and I haven’t seen it, and the maps at the Ermitage don’t help much, so it’ll be some kind of quest.
And lastly, reason 4. I got mail today. A large, fat, heavy, padded envelope from Maggie. With four bars of super dark chocolate. Oh yes, I was the envy of the program. I shared one of the smaller bars, but I plan on hoarding the rest, stretching it out to make it last the whole time. This would be a good time for a letter:
Dear Russia,
You’re forgiven. Let’s have these April Showers bring some May Flowers, all right?
Much love,
Sally
I have many reasons to be a happy little camper today. I’ll get to those in a second. First, I’ll go into why, despite these reasons, I’ve still got a little cloud over my head. To begin with, it was raining all day. Rainy days and Mondays and all that. It’s the first real rain we’ve had, the first time I’ve had to really use my umbrella. I didn’t realize what a hazard umbrellas were going to be. It would appear that to the average Russian pedestrian, the umbrella is not merely a tool to keep oneself dry, oh no—it is a tool with which to whack people into doing your bidding on the sidewalk. Or so it would seem. Sometimes back at IU on rainy days, when everyone has their umbrellas out, large groups of people will collide on the sidewalk, going every which way. When this happens, sometimes one of my favorite unconscious on-campus phenomena will take place: We’ll all tilt our umbrellas at such an angle as to avoid everyone else’s umbrellas, and for one second, it’s like we’re all under the same shelter, even though we’re all moving and going different directions.
To hope for something similar here would be foolish. My mama didn’t raise no fool. However, I didn’t expect other people to bang into my umbrella with theirs with quite the force that they managed to. I don’t understand, how does hitting my umbrella and sending droplets of water flying onto you benefit you at all? Whatever. Luckily, I’m taller than average so I can lift my umbrella above most others’ with relative ease. This is especially nice because the vast majority of babushkas are built like tanks, wide and low to the ground, the better to ram into you. This creates an unfortunate side effect. Though I may be able to lift my umbrella above someone else’s, there’s nothing to stop them from slamming theirs into my neck, consciously or unconsciously. Wasn’t that Russian spy that was assassinated in London killed by a pellet shot out of an umbrella? That umbrella was closed, I expect, but it would appear that I should watch out. In the blink of an eye, an umbrella could become lethal.
The other reason I’m gloomy tonight is because I managed to lose 500 rubles, roughly the equivalent of $20. And yes, I’m 99% sure that I simply lost it, it wasn’t pick pocketed. I always wrap the cash in my pocket around my gigantic set of keys: no one’s moving the money without moving those massive puppies. So who, you ask was handling the keys? Me, in the rain, struggling with the umbrella and desperate to get inside my building and out of the rain, fumbling in my pocket. Yeah, it sucks. Perhaps this is some sort of karmic balance after I won that 40 Euro on the ship to Stockholm.
But really, I’m not letting it get me down that much. Thinking of those Euro gave me an idea, I’ve still got 30 Euro left, I think I’m going to change it over tomorrow. I’m not going to be visiting another Euro-using country while I’m here, and it seems silly to hold on to it to change it into Pounds for my one night in London. That’ll be nice. Now that I’m composing this post and thinking of the reasons to counteract the rain and the lost 500 rubles, I’m feeling better.
I was out like a light last night but at 3:30 I was woken by the people who live next-door having an argument in the hallway. I would seem as though they had “taken it outside,” but it was stupid because if I could hear it, then whoever else was in the apartment with them could hear it as well. It was one of the two apartments that share the third floor with us. They both appear to be owned by fairly well off families. The doors to both are new and have little video cameras so that the people inside can see who’s at the door. One of them has a yappy little dog, too. I’ve only seen two people going in or out of either of them, but I know the sound of their doorbells, and they have frequent guests. I vaguely remember last night, while half-asleep, making up some elaborate story about who they were, but that’s all gone now. Unfortunately, after they stopped arguing, it felt like I didn’t sleep at all between then and when my alarm went off, even though I know I did. I hate that feeling.
I’ve been having really vivid dreams lately. I became an aunt in one dream (No, the dream never said whose it was) and had to carry the baby around for the rest of the dream, which included learning to fly a plane. In another, I was desperate to get a bunch of math homework done before school. Man, I’m glad I never have to worry about that again. Last night, I was canoeing somewhere. Maybe it’s the cabbage? At home, I usually have crazy dreams after I eat spicy food. I’m certain that’s not the case here, because I haven’t had a spice stronger than dill (Although I suppose that’s actually an herb) since Taco Bar in Stockholm. Perhaps it’s the cabbage? I think I’ll just blame it on the cabbage.
So, reasons to be happy! The CIEE wireless is marvelous, especially coming right now, right before I have to register for classes. It also allowed me to final download some software updates for my computer and catch up on some podcasts.
Also, my comments yesterday about Marina’s cooking continue to hold true. I’m really hoping this is a sign of things to come. Tonight’s chicken noodle soup (Noodles have also appeared in my soups after spring break) had dill in it. Not a huge deal, because dill’s pretty ubiquitous in Russian cuisine, but a change nonetheless, and a positive one. Also, my hot dog and noodles (Alas, not the same as cut up hot dog in macaroni and cheese) were accompanied by a cold cucumber and cabbage salad. Although more cabbage isn’t really a reason to celebrate.
Reason three: Tomorrow is Italian BMT day at Subway! My mom said Subway should be paying me for the endorsements I’m giving it, but really it’s a nice place to go. It’s right by the Ermitage, too, so I’m thinking tomorrow I’m going to try to talk Hannah and Marisa into joining me for some BMTs and then head over to the Ermitage (It’s free, why not?) and finally find the stairs to the third floor, to the 20th century collection. That sounds silly, but there’s only one stairway and I have no idea where it is, so I’m going to need my guidebook. I’m pretty sure I’ve wandered around the entire second floor and I haven’t seen it, and the maps at the Ermitage don’t help much, so it’ll be some kind of quest.
And lastly, reason 4. I got mail today. A large, fat, heavy, padded envelope from Maggie. With four bars of super dark chocolate. Oh yes, I was the envy of the program. I shared one of the smaller bars, but I plan on hoarding the rest, stretching it out to make it last the whole time. This would be a good time for a letter:
Dear Russia,
You’re forgiven. Let’s have these April Showers bring some May Flowers, all right?
Much love,
Sally
4-2-07
4-2-07
Holy buckets, it’s April already. Tempus fugit. My alarm clock has a countdown feature. Originally it was counting down to travel week, but once I got back I set it to countdown til we leave. Not because I’m particularly anxious for that date to get here or anything, more just because I’m weird about knowing the amount of time I have left, because it drives me to do things. Unfortunately, something’s gone wonky with the countdown, because my clock is now trying to tell me that I’m leaving in 963 days. Something about that doesn’t seem right. Whoa, scary though—I have NO IDEA where I’m going to be in 963 days. 2.64 years. I suppose it’s entirely possible that I could be here, then. Oh well. 963 days and counting it is.
It would appear that we have achieved a final solution to the long-standing question of WiFi. The answer was placed in our laps, as the CIEE office set up a wireless router in the English Sanctuary (The room with the bookshelf where we’re allowed to speak English), and you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be there, tomorrow afternoon, uploading this entry. It’s weird. It’s comforting to finally have a simple, free solution to posting regularly. But at the same time, the quest to find some new spot with WiFi has been a driving force of a lot of city exploration for us. Not that we won’t continue to explore the city. It’s more like we’ll just use the English Sanctuary to do what we need to do—upload pictures, send emails, etc. and then suddenly we’ll have more time freed up to go wander around.
The weather’s been great wandering around weather. Unfortunately, this week it’s cooling down and supposed to stay in the 30s and 40s most of this week, quite a contrast to last week when we got into the 60s. Just imagine, less than a month ago I was still wearing long underwear every day. In fact, tomorrow will be the one-month anniversary of the first day I went long underwear-less. See, anniversaries, countdowns, these kinds of things occupy too much space in my brain.
This would be a great opportunity to say something like, “Speaking of things that occupy too much space in my brain…” but I really can’t think of anything else other than the obvious: trivia. Don’t think that my time here has diminished my trivia-absorbing abilities one bit. In fact, be forewarned, I’m storing up aimless bits to bring out at random times. For example, did you know that the St. Petersburg Metro is the deepest subway in the world? Now you do!
The NCAA Championship is tonight. In about 8 hours, I think. I did so horribly in my bracket pools this year. I’ll take the opportunity to go ahead and blame that on the fact that I’m, you know, on the other side of the planet. Of course it had nothing to do with the fact that I usually plan my brackets based on irrational biases usually involving the mascots of universities.
Maybe it’s because it’s spring and there are more ingredients available, but Marina’s cooking’s really getting better. I honestly could never eat borscht again and be happy. But really, dishes have—gasp—spice and flavor. Today my usual ground meat patties w/ rice were accompanied by salad of cucumbers and hardboiled eggs. Here’s hoping that this change isn’t just something in the air that’ll fade.
Speaking of things in the air, the dust is going to drive me insane. I’ve been dealing with the exhaust all winter, but now the dust the snow covered is up and all inside my nostrils and lungs and it’s disgusting. Kate remarked that she just wants to give the whole city a power washing. But soon, I hope, things’ll be greener and there’ll be hints of leaves and the aura of spring will make me forget how much it burns when I breathe when I walk home from the Metro.
Holy buckets, it’s April already. Tempus fugit. My alarm clock has a countdown feature. Originally it was counting down to travel week, but once I got back I set it to countdown til we leave. Not because I’m particularly anxious for that date to get here or anything, more just because I’m weird about knowing the amount of time I have left, because it drives me to do things. Unfortunately, something’s gone wonky with the countdown, because my clock is now trying to tell me that I’m leaving in 963 days. Something about that doesn’t seem right. Whoa, scary though—I have NO IDEA where I’m going to be in 963 days. 2.64 years. I suppose it’s entirely possible that I could be here, then. Oh well. 963 days and counting it is.
It would appear that we have achieved a final solution to the long-standing question of WiFi. The answer was placed in our laps, as the CIEE office set up a wireless router in the English Sanctuary (The room with the bookshelf where we’re allowed to speak English), and you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be there, tomorrow afternoon, uploading this entry. It’s weird. It’s comforting to finally have a simple, free solution to posting regularly. But at the same time, the quest to find some new spot with WiFi has been a driving force of a lot of city exploration for us. Not that we won’t continue to explore the city. It’s more like we’ll just use the English Sanctuary to do what we need to do—upload pictures, send emails, etc. and then suddenly we’ll have more time freed up to go wander around.
The weather’s been great wandering around weather. Unfortunately, this week it’s cooling down and supposed to stay in the 30s and 40s most of this week, quite a contrast to last week when we got into the 60s. Just imagine, less than a month ago I was still wearing long underwear every day. In fact, tomorrow will be the one-month anniversary of the first day I went long underwear-less. See, anniversaries, countdowns, these kinds of things occupy too much space in my brain.
This would be a great opportunity to say something like, “Speaking of things that occupy too much space in my brain…” but I really can’t think of anything else other than the obvious: trivia. Don’t think that my time here has diminished my trivia-absorbing abilities one bit. In fact, be forewarned, I’m storing up aimless bits to bring out at random times. For example, did you know that the St. Petersburg Metro is the deepest subway in the world? Now you do!
The NCAA Championship is tonight. In about 8 hours, I think. I did so horribly in my bracket pools this year. I’ll take the opportunity to go ahead and blame that on the fact that I’m, you know, on the other side of the planet. Of course it had nothing to do with the fact that I usually plan my brackets based on irrational biases usually involving the mascots of universities.
Maybe it’s because it’s spring and there are more ingredients available, but Marina’s cooking’s really getting better. I honestly could never eat borscht again and be happy. But really, dishes have—gasp—spice and flavor. Today my usual ground meat patties w/ rice were accompanied by salad of cucumbers and hardboiled eggs. Here’s hoping that this change isn’t just something in the air that’ll fade.
Speaking of things in the air, the dust is going to drive me insane. I’ve been dealing with the exhaust all winter, but now the dust the snow covered is up and all inside my nostrils and lungs and it’s disgusting. Kate remarked that she just wants to give the whole city a power washing. But soon, I hope, things’ll be greener and there’ll be hints of leaves and the aura of spring will make me forget how much it burns when I breathe when I walk home from the Metro.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)