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.