Just back from Москва and what a trip…I think the phrase we came up with to describe it is Москва = Кашмар…not because the trip was awful/ужасний, it was just sooooo unpredictable, uncontrollable, unbelievable…
It has been relentlessly scorching in Russia now for weeks but of course any time I need to go anywhere for any particularly important reason (aka getting to the train station for my trip to Москва) the sky seems to be waiting for me to step outside and then attack me with a good old-fashioned storm…and that is exactly what it did on Thursday night, so I started off my trip with an unintended shower…но я приехала вокзал, сидела на поезде, и проводила наследуещые 8 часов внутре очень мальенкой комнати для 4 человека – although I didn’t mind because Jen, Jean, Alex, and I have reached the point were we are close enough friends that I can tell them to buzz off when I get into one of my OCS moods and no one gets offended, and it is really hard to sleep when 31 students are all crammed within one train car at the start of a four day weekend…so needless to say we were up practically all night…☺
Когда мы приехали Москву, we walked into a train station that looked seriously almost identical to the one we left in Petersburg (evidence of the intense creativity of the Soviet era), boarded a bus with a super fun/entertaining yet knowledgeable tour guide, and set off for breakfast - first good cup of coffee I've had in a while, and even then it was only sub-par…после завтрака, took a city tour of Москва and while it was super cool to see этот город from the inside of a very well air-conditioned bus and through the direction of a local, I did not nearly get to take as many pictures or explore as many sights as I wanted to because we just zoomed right on by…however, I did get to see some highlights: Лебедное Озеро (as in the lake that inspired Tchaikovsky and where he was when he brilliantly dreamt up his epic score), part of the relics of the 1980 Olympics (the ski jump is set on a hill perfectly overlooking all of downtown Москва), at least 4 of the 7 sister buildings (these huge gothic looking structures), старые и новые американскые и англискые посольстви (англиское посольство точше самое старое посольство в Москве) and Красний Площадь конечно – only problem was it was about 33 degrees and I was in sweat pants and a t-shirt sweating up a storm, but it could have been worse Thursday was 39/40 degrees in Moscow…made it back to our hotel which was part of a series of 5 enormous hotels built for the 1980 Olympics as well, and all I can say is that if that complex was the Olympic village for the games that year than I’m not wondering if THAT is the reason America boycotted them…seriously…it wasn’t just the non-existent central air/heating, the lack of room service, the broken sink that wouldn’t shut off, the fact that the hotel ‘ran out of’ maps, or the таракан that a fellow classmate found in her room Saturday morning (thank goodness it wasn’t mine, I might have just marched right on down and staked myself out in Sheremetevo Airport until August 14th right then and there) or the mere fact that they also ran out of space in the baggage hold on Sunday when we checked out and we had to bribe the hotel to just let us put our stuff in an old musty room….ok I’m exaggerating, the hotel wasn’t quite the vortex of doom that I am making it out to be because they did have a fabulous breakfast spread, free ice-cold water on each floor, an oscillating FAN in the room (which is huge since I haven’t stood in front of one of those in weeks), free Wi-Fi downstairs, and the beds weren’t half bad (eons more comfy than the couch at home although ironically not quite as good as the train beds)…but it was no five star hotel…
In any case, after a good 3 hour nap and some serious showering we headed out and explored…no one had any idea where to go what to do or anything (strike 17 against CIEE for not even providing us with maps on this trip but giving us about 80% of the time there free) so miss-lets-do-something-every-second-of-her-life (me) snatched the outdated map from the desk in our hotel room, racked her brain about anything Professor McBride had mentioned worth doing in Moscow, studied the metro map for a good solid ten minutes (and believe me that is not hard to do – third biggest metro in the world, absolute biggest in terms of how many people ride it per day…) and then made an executive decision for us and dragged my friends down to the Arbat…David was complaining to me earlier that no one ever wants to do the stuff he wants to or whatever, but I have found that on a trip like this you just have to just take the initiative if you want anything done and that means getting your bearings about you, picking a destination, and just GOING – people will follow, they always do….
Арбатская Улица is very overpriced but a cool little enclave in the city – a mix of fake Russian culture, American fast-food/pop culture, and universal culture (Russian souvenir shops sandwiched between a Starbucks and McDonalds, across from make-up and expensive clothes stores) but once again just as we step onto the fully uncovered street, the skies start pelting rain the size of bullets at us…good thing it only lasted a few minutes…walked down Cтарая Арбатская Улица, Новая Арбатская Улица, and then back to Красний Площадь…ran into the frat-pack of guys from our group and three of the coordinators along the way…took some awesome night photography on Красний Площадь and then sauntered over to the Большой Театр…it was really hard just being plopped in the middle of Москва with next to no direction (the leaders expected us to have guide books for Moscow, so I say thanks for including that tidbit of info in the original CIEE handbook) but if I learned one thing it is that central Москва is not as colossal as it seems on the map and practically all roads lead back to the Кремль in one way or another…
The other thing about Москва is that the metro closes at 1:00 instead of 12:00 which was an incredible relief from countless weekends I have been home at 11:30 on a Friday night ☹…and it was so nice to have a roommate again, especially since it was Jen, because we were in such close proximity to each other and had a chance to just be girls together – for instance, all of us got back at 1:20 am or so, and then Alex came over to mine and Jen’s room so that……me and Alex (just as a reminder she is my clone from the east coast – literally its like having a conversation with myself when I talk to her and the feeling is mutual) anyways so that we could….dye our hair blonde…at least that was the goal, but we opened the package and couldn’t understand the instructions and none of us had a dictionary…Alex went for it but I’m sure the stuff is on the FDA un-approved list because it was pretty much ammonia, smelled awful, and was burning her scalp like no other so she ended up rinsing it out and I chickened out and that is what we get for buying cheap hair dye in Russia, but it was still hilarious….
Here is the thing with Russia = there is no happy medium….I have gone from unbelievably ecstatic about the country to indescribably loathsome of it within a minute and it happens all the time…this country is just so erratic and I feel like my emotions/attitude/perspective fluctuates along with the unpredictable people/weather/transportation system (I have now been on a broken trolleybus, two broken metro elevators, waited for a bus for over an hour, had the metro stop mid-track on me three times…) so what could start out as a jubilant day can end horrendously or vice versa you never know…and you never know what might trigger it cause it happens so quickly…for instance…
Субота утром мы стали рано, ate breakfast to our hearts content (Russia has also significantly increased my appetite and metabolism because I believe I can now out-eat half the boys on this trip and somehow my shorts are still falling off…) gathered our stuff and Jen, Alex, and I walked over to this super huge souvenir palace – it is literally the largest souvenir market in all of Russia and boy was it ever…it just kept going and they had EVERYTHING there to the point that I almost didn’t know what to buy, there were just so many options…however, once I started it was hard to stop and even though there was probably way more many things I should have bought, Alex and I still left there with a tremendously well-needed shopping high ☺ we got back in just enough time (we were there for several hours and I am not even upset because bartering and maneuvering an outdoor Russian рынок could just be the most Russian experience I have had yet...) мы собирались свои вещи (which Alex and I put into our new handmade purses which we got from a lady named Марина who I made friends with because she told me I spoke really good Russian and was surprised that I was from America and studying herе because apparently I have a pretty good accent, and then asked all about my family and why I had a Russian name and thought it was incredible that I still spoke the language after all these years of being removed from our homeland and then invited me back to Москва and her shop anytime ☺) and we hopped on the bus for a tour of the Кремль…we walked up and there was a whole troop of military men – I was so excited because here was my chance to take a picture with a real live Russian solder (turns out they were paratroopers and apparently these ones were the most elite branch of the military)…they stationed themselves around the entrance to this one building and then an entourage of people came out of the doorway and after making some rounds headed on over to our group…our head coordinator Ирина Борисова (who happens to be the most classiest, composed, and well-connected woman I have ever met at least in this country and who we lovingly call IB amongst ourselves) asked him to speak with us and he did! It turns out it was Владимр Жириновский who next to Путин and Медведев is the next most powerful politician in Russia and yours truly got a picture with him…right next to him…sooooooo cool…..what was just as cool was then when I asked Ирина Борисова if I could snatch a picture with the paratroopers (I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be ruining protocol or anything) she was completely cool with it and even took the photo for me ☺ Jen and I nuzzled our way next to the line of them and while it is not a perfect photo, I still took it! Moving along, we saw all the церкови, башни, часы, итд. of the Кремль and then were led into this музей that I forget the name of (our guide called it the armory) where they house all the official tsarist swag – crowns, dresses, robes, carriages, armor, dishes, the FABREGE eggs and I of course snuck tons of pictures (even though you weren’t supposed to) because it was the most amazing thing ever! It was all legitimate, no copies, and I saw it all – unbelievable…and then right outside the museum there were two police guards watching the exit and one of them made eyes at me…so naturally I snagged this chance as well– no one else had guts enough to do it, so yet again I took the initiative and asked him for a photo and even though he was completely not supposed to at all – he did! so now I have pics with a sailor, a paratrooper, and a police man…I’m on a roll here…After this tour we were free for the evening so my group of friends and I went and got Azerbaijani food which was delicious, and then us girls decided to go back and freshen up before going out for the night…and that is where this extraordinary day went extraordinarily bad…it took us all way longer to get ready, we all were having major wardrobe crises, we went to the metro stop where one of the coordinators recommended, there was nothing over there and we ended up walking around for way longer than necessary, finally made it to the Kremlin and all the restaurants there were closed, saw a sign for a 24 hours McDonalds so decided to get an ice cream there cause we were hungry – but you cant take anything in Russia for face value because they too had closed, the pizza place next door was still open so we got pizza, went back for more pizza and they wouldn’t let us get any because they were closing, (and all for nothing because that pizza ended up making Jen sick the next day), we finally gave up and decided to go home, (irate and flabbergasted as we were at the absence of people in Москва on a Saturday night), saw two dogs in the metro, the sign inside the metro was mixed up so we ended up going the wrong way at first, switched ourselves around, and then had to sprint to get to the right platform because the bell rang for the last train, barely made it on the last train, finally got home- sweaty, tired, irritated, wanting to go home…it was a disaster…
But a brand new day – Sunday once again had its ups and downs as does every day here but was overall a great experience…woke up got our stuff together quickly and then Jen, Alex, and I headed off towards Красний Площадь to see Ленин – waited in line for not even an hour and YES I can now say I have seen a the infamous ninety-year old corpse on Красний Площадь…тоже видела гробы Сталина, Хрусшева, Фрунза, и другые политическые человеки которые я забила...what’s weird is Деда Хапров wasn’t even born when Ленин died and still I actually saw him…an image that will be burned in my mind forever…it was perhaps the coolest 15 seconds ever spent in Russia thus far…not to mention the fact that it was so dark in there that I couldn’t see where I was going at first and almost ran into the security guards twice…its okay they were all so cute and smiling at us three as we walked through ☺ but here is Jen, Alex, and my theory: ‘honestly how many cute young American girls wake up early to see some dead guy at 10 in the morning?’ we were by far the youngest ones there…but no worries it was the best thing we could have done with our free morning in Москва, that is until Jen started feeling ill and we had to high-tail it back to the hotel…got there checked out of our room, loaded her up with лекарство and took our stuff downstairs to the ‘we don’t have room for your bags’ fiasco…finally got that taken care of so we decided to hit up some museums, except Jen at this point was paler than Ленин himself and so the program re-booked her a room and she recuperated all day while Alex and I museum hopped, talked about everything and anything, discovered how UNBELIEVABLY and UNCANNILY similar we are in personality, actions, lifestyle, family, outlook (its creepy), and thoroughly enjoyed perusing through art gallery after art gallery…I got to see everything I wanted and how I wanted because quite honestly it was like sightseeing with myself…we didn’t eat anything all day long, but after seeing the Третяков Музей (4.5 stars), the Пушкин Ексибит (2.5 stars), and the Авант-гард Галлерей (5 stars for sure) we left on what we now call an art-high…funny story too – these museums charge double for foreigners but is free for students, well only if you are a Russian student – you have to pay regular price for being a foreign student…but I almost got into the Пушкин museum for free because of my last name - the lady thought I was a Russian student, until she saw Alex’s Polish last name after, realized we were foreigners , then snatched mine away and made me pay even though I argued with her and in my American mindset explained to her that it was her mistake so I shouldn’t have to pay for it, (“Почему вы дали мне это билет? Вот напысали безплатно...поэтому мне не надо заплатнть – это ваша ощыбка не моя...”) but I should remember this is not America and those standards unfortunately don’t apply here (although I was happy to know that my Russian has improved enough to adeptly argue and yell in this language) in any case as if the day could not get any better, we decided to stop off at a grocery store grab some bread, cheese, fruit, veggies, and something to drink (and some stuff for Jen) and meet Jen upstairs back at the hotel…it was simply lovely eating girly food and recapping our day in a hotel room instead of the lobby where we would have been otherwise….too bad when we boarded the train one of the coordinators came up to us and reprimanded us for going up there when we shouldn’t have…we were just so happy to be having a stellar day in Russia that we didn’t think about it…but she was totally right and me and Alex felt sheepish and so embarrassed…so what should have been a great end to a crazy weekend yet again ended up flipping the tables on us…oh well that’s Russia for you…
Now to compare Москва и Петербург = I can almost say I liked Москва better because it reminded me so much like LA so I felt right at home, it was organic and just so Russian, had this incredible high-paced yet nonchalant aura about it, the people there were more friendly to us, and you could just feel that oldness of the city…on the other hand, we also saw one of our group members almost get robbed, the city is so much more spread out, it is dirtier and more grungy like any typical metropolis, it was hard to find a central place to hang out, I felt like I had to be on guard all the time, and things were definitely more expensive…however, I feel like if I had to pick between the two cities – I would pick Петербург to study in and Москва to live in, not that I want to do either one permanently, but that is my synopsis…I also wish I could have spent a week in Москва because three days was certainly not sufficient…but oh well just one more reason to come back – and technically I will be in 11 days…
Coming back to Петербург was also a huge relief because Москва was certainly not a vacation by any means – Alex and I kept telling ourselves on Sunday no matter how tired or hungry we are we have to keep going because who knows when we’ll be back, were gonna be sitting on a train for 8 hours, and were here so we are going to see as much as possible – and we did…and I can now see why people here kept telling us how much more slow paced Петербург is than Москва – neither is laid back (Encinitas is a laid back city) but I can at least tell the difference now…but I do feel like the two are hard to compare because they are sooooo different in so many ways…Europe vs. Russia, new vs. ancient, planned vs. organic, homogeneous vs. smorgasbord of people, 5 million vs. 15 million…
Otherwise, my trip is slowly but surely winding down and I am sure that before I know it I will be sitting on an Аэрофлот airbus across the Atlantic…and while part of me cannot wait for that moment, the other and maybe slightly larger half of me is downhearted because I think I am going to miss this country more than I think….
Monday, August 2, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
I have less than three weeks left here and I am jamming everything possible into these few days…there are still several museums I want to go to, places I want to see, and so many things I need to buy…so I have been trying to occupy every ounce of my free time…and have been successfully doing so…
My new official station seems to now be the Информациа and Вход at the Эрмитаж, but its okay because I really like this job – it is incredible the kinds of people you meet there…Я там вндела много туристов, студенков, иностраников, и Россейских and have gotten reactions ranging from absolutely delighted that I am studying Russian and working at the Эрмитаж to absolutely disgusted that the museum would even think of stationing a foreigner inside…so needless to say never a dull moment there…and it is the coolest feeling to walk right past the hoards of people waiting in line (the average wait these days is about an hour unless you go at like 2:30 on a Wednesday afternoon then its about 5 minutes…) with my laminated Волонтёр badge (I have an official one now too with my name and picture on it and everything) its pretty cool…
Четверг тоже был мой последний день англиского класса, unbeknownst to me, because the class decided to surprise me and bring all kinds of snacks to class for the grand finale end-of-the-year-party kind of thing – it was so nice и нужний потому что я не обедала тот день J…in any case, we ended up having a really great class that incidentally led me to realize how little I actually do know about English grammar (for instance what is the official rule for using ‘some’ vs. ‘any’ – they asked me and I completely had no idea because ‘when it sounds right’ is not an adequate answer to English language students…) but, I am completely going to miss them and the teacher Ирина…and I think the feeling was mutual because not only did Ирина give me a hug before I left and wish me the best of luck with everything both here and back in the US, but everyone in the class told me if I needed anything to call them, with Виктор the doctor (the neurobiologist to be exact) specifically assuring me if I need anything medical-wise to immediately let him know, to which I responded that I seriously hope not…a Russian prison might be the only thing scarier than a Russian emergency room…
Friday after class I went back to the Исааковскйи Соборь after running some errands in the unbearable heat and sitting in a park for about an hour to cool off – I went inside and while the building itself is remarkable (замечательний), but what is even more notable and the one thing about these cathedrals that never cease to amaze me is that while women are expected to cover their heads and there are certain parts you are not allowed to take pictures of (which I completely understand and respect with wholeheartedness), every single church in this city has at least three souvenir shops inside…”money-lenders in the house of the Lord” anyone?
Saturday we went to Пушкин and Царское Село – and while the day ended quite well it certainly didn’t start off that way…we were meeting two metro stops from my house so naturally I decided to walk because it only takes 30 minutes and I woke up to a nice sunny day…yet 15 minutes before I left the house, the skies opened up with downpour, thunder, AND lightning (дождь лил как по ведра и гроза шумела и молння свергала)…so I had a very wet trek to Московская (two hours later the only signs of there having been a storm was the enormous puddles left behind)…and then because this program is run by Russians, we didn’t end up all meeting until forty-five minutes later than planned and didn’t leave for another thirty minutes after that…punctuality and efficiency are definitely strong inbred American qualities that I seriously miss (the word ‘efficiency’ doesn’t even translate in Russian, which says a lot about the people on so many levels)…but we made it safe to Пушкин (via марщутка) - the area in itself is beautiful, as are all the surrounding palaces in Petersburg – the garden is flawless – peaceful, well-manicured, and perfectly planned with a lake in the center…the palace is impressive – a clone of the Hermitage only blue instead of green, with elaborate rooms, the most famous being the Amber Room Яитарьная Комната (although I thought the dance hall was far more impressive), it was a short and sweet tour and we actually got some free time so I was quite happy…
My only critique (and this goes for all the ex-imperial estates, palaces and parks) is that like all of Petersburg they are just so contrived – it is the idyllic example of man conquering nature and then recreating his own in its place, and while it makes for wonderful aesthetics, I am desperately missing some overgrown ground cover, a fallen tree or nurse log, and just a chance to get off the beaten path and trail blaze…but that might just be me…
Sunday morning woke up nice and early and headed off on a completely unplanned day that ended up quite splendidly…I definitely had an attack of what Alex calls OCS (only child syndrome) because even though some of my friends called me, I made it very clear I wanted to be ALONE that day, and it ended up being the best thing… besides, sometimes exploring the city without having to chitchat to a friend and give away the fact that you are an American can have invaluable results…I began my day interning again at the Эрмитаж and because it was not a very busy day, I ended up sauntering through the halls and finally made it down to the bottom floor where they have all the ancient/archeological/ethnic/cultural exhibits which in my opinion are by far the most interesting…there’s some rock down there called the Onega Stone that was taken from a dig somewhere in Siberia I think that has 60 drawings on it dated from the 2-3 century BC…completely fascinating…
But because Sunday was also, Военно-Морского Флота Росснн (I love that about Russians – they celebrate so many random holidays and fully and actively participate in all of them…I don’t know if that’s a kickback from Soviet times, part of the Russian mentality, or just the practicality of having to cram all the fun and excitement you can into the three short months of the year when the weather permits it…) anyways, I didn’t want to stay indoors too long so I casually made my way out to the street and strolled along the riverbank like practically half of Petersburg and ogled all the battleships, submarines, cruise ships, cargo boats, etc. on display in the water…I had a blast – flags, sailors, ships of all kinds, the salty sea fragrance wafting and mixing with the smells of people, steaming street corn, the sweltering sidewalk, cheap cigarette smoke, and an occasional tailgate barbeque…if I closed my eyes it almost smelt like home a few times J I did duck into the Меншиков Дворець for a while because its free for me and was air-conditioned, but I thoroughly loved all the celebration - I blended in with the crowd easily, saw some local culture, got to almost walk on a few of the boats (until I realized the lines were enormous), and took a picture with a sailor…that’s right, I blatantly asked him for a picture, he said sure, then put his arm around my shoulder and ta-da! I now have a picture with a Russian guy in uniform, which has definitely been my goal for a while…now I just have to work on a милициа…
Life in the apartment is better…I believe we have finally come to a happy medium – she doesn’t ask where I go during the day and I don’t expect more out of her than a meal and clean laundry…I really don’t mind the living conditions here, and goodness knows they are not perfect, but they really don’t bother me at all – living in the баня that is my apartment, eating out of pots and pan lids (although I do occasionally get upgraded to the fancy plate with the roses on it), taking a hand-held shower, wearing hand-dried, crusty t-shirts, and sleeping on a couch have just become part of the daily routine…but man I’m not gonna lie, the comforts of home sound pretty amazing right about now…I think what I miss most is the freedom of living in a place I can fully call my own – I want a grilled cheese sandwich desperately but cant adopt the kitchen as my own, I don’t want to wear slippers when its blazing outside, but don’t want to offend her, and would love to just spend the afternoon at home with some friends over but we are not allowed to… it doesn’t help when my бабушка in her ornery ways insists I don’t eat her food (as I am shoveling potatoes in my mouth), calls me бедная and худая every day that I come home past 7:30, and proceeds to tell me how to eat a chicken drumstick at dinner (amongst other things), but I have come to appreciate the little things in this house – the TV in my room, my balcony, the constant supply of fresh fruits and veggies she buys me, the fact that she lets me eat in my room and gives me free reign over the stove for chi (which yes Russians still consistently drink even though it is 35 degrees outside, it is their cure for EVERYTHING including heat stroke apparently)… she is just old and set in her ways and doesn’t quite understand that a 21 year old girl is an adult who can and does think on her own…so I wait patiently and smile…its all part of the experience…
In terms of classes, they are winding down but I have officially come to find that I absolutely love Фонетика…I may be the only student in Смолний who does, but that’s totally fine, not only do I actually excel in that class (better than native-speaker Dan which totally boosts my ego J) but the teacher and I have also hit it off fabulously… Ольга Сергеевна may be one of the sternest, sharpest, most intimidating people I have ever met, but I absolutely love her …she recommended a book for me after we were talking after class and is going to give me a copy of the accompanying CD for free…I am such a nerd…I am getting excited over Russian sounds and intonation – I don’t know if it gets much worse than that…
Oh I also crossed paths with my friends again on the metro on Friday and Даша waved at me as they went up the escalator… J
Москва is up and coming quickly – I leave on an overnight train on Thursday and am REALLY looking forward to it (although there is a potential it could be the worst experience of my life because the projected forecast for Friday there is a whopping 39 degrees….ouch) but I am dying for a change of pace…
Otherwise the nights are actually getting dark for a good five hours or so but the mosquitoes are still out in force and I seem to wake up with a new set of battle scars every morning… just some thoughts on Russia = I think I know why Russian girls dress like they do – my English teacher insists that the girls here are just trying to follow fashion magazines (they try but always end of looking either frumpy or slutty or both) but my theory is that the girls here only have three months to even have the possibility to dress trashy so they pack it all in at once…in LA at least the girls can spread that out over a good 10 months so its not so overwhelming, so I have cut the girls here some slack (not much but some…) I also now have come to appreciate the Russian lackadaisical attitude – it drives me nuts at times, but at least I can j-walk any time I want, walk through a store without having a salesperson on my tail (although trying to find one when you want to actually buy something is a completely separate story and often ends up with waiting around for five minutes while they finish their smoke outside), and sit around in a park on the grass or with your feet in a fountain which is a totally normal pastime here…I think the sign on the restaurant I was at the other night sums it up perfectly “Open: 10 am till whenever…” …I am still astounded at the amount of English prevalent here and at how the English that most Russians do know (or at least that you hear on the streets) sounds like it comes straight from a rap song… the mere fact that the search engine at the Русская Национальная Библиотека is default set to English speaks volumes…Oh and speaking of which, I finally got up the nerve to ask a librarian and as a result – Wednesday at 1:00 pm I will have 13 books waiting for me at the Русская Национальная Библиотека …wish me luck!
My new official station seems to now be the Информациа and Вход at the Эрмитаж, but its okay because I really like this job – it is incredible the kinds of people you meet there…Я там вндела много туристов, студенков, иностраников, и Россейских and have gotten reactions ranging from absolutely delighted that I am studying Russian and working at the Эрмитаж to absolutely disgusted that the museum would even think of stationing a foreigner inside…so needless to say never a dull moment there…and it is the coolest feeling to walk right past the hoards of people waiting in line (the average wait these days is about an hour unless you go at like 2:30 on a Wednesday afternoon then its about 5 minutes…) with my laminated Волонтёр badge (I have an official one now too with my name and picture on it and everything) its pretty cool…
Четверг тоже был мой последний день англиского класса, unbeknownst to me, because the class decided to surprise me and bring all kinds of snacks to class for the grand finale end-of-the-year-party kind of thing – it was so nice и нужний потому что я не обедала тот день J…in any case, we ended up having a really great class that incidentally led me to realize how little I actually do know about English grammar (for instance what is the official rule for using ‘some’ vs. ‘any’ – they asked me and I completely had no idea because ‘when it sounds right’ is not an adequate answer to English language students…) but, I am completely going to miss them and the teacher Ирина…and I think the feeling was mutual because not only did Ирина give me a hug before I left and wish me the best of luck with everything both here and back in the US, but everyone in the class told me if I needed anything to call them, with Виктор the doctor (the neurobiologist to be exact) specifically assuring me if I need anything medical-wise to immediately let him know, to which I responded that I seriously hope not…a Russian prison might be the only thing scarier than a Russian emergency room…
Friday after class I went back to the Исааковскйи Соборь after running some errands in the unbearable heat and sitting in a park for about an hour to cool off – I went inside and while the building itself is remarkable (замечательний), but what is even more notable and the one thing about these cathedrals that never cease to amaze me is that while women are expected to cover their heads and there are certain parts you are not allowed to take pictures of (which I completely understand and respect with wholeheartedness), every single church in this city has at least three souvenir shops inside…”money-lenders in the house of the Lord” anyone?
Saturday we went to Пушкин and Царское Село – and while the day ended quite well it certainly didn’t start off that way…we were meeting two metro stops from my house so naturally I decided to walk because it only takes 30 minutes and I woke up to a nice sunny day…yet 15 minutes before I left the house, the skies opened up with downpour, thunder, AND lightning (дождь лил как по ведра и гроза шумела и молння свергала)…so I had a very wet trek to Московская (two hours later the only signs of there having been a storm was the enormous puddles left behind)…and then because this program is run by Russians, we didn’t end up all meeting until forty-five minutes later than planned and didn’t leave for another thirty minutes after that…punctuality and efficiency are definitely strong inbred American qualities that I seriously miss (the word ‘efficiency’ doesn’t even translate in Russian, which says a lot about the people on so many levels)…but we made it safe to Пушкин (via марщутка) - the area in itself is beautiful, as are all the surrounding palaces in Petersburg – the garden is flawless – peaceful, well-manicured, and perfectly planned with a lake in the center…the palace is impressive – a clone of the Hermitage only blue instead of green, with elaborate rooms, the most famous being the Amber Room Яитарьная Комната (although I thought the dance hall was far more impressive), it was a short and sweet tour and we actually got some free time so I was quite happy…
My only critique (and this goes for all the ex-imperial estates, palaces and parks) is that like all of Petersburg they are just so contrived – it is the idyllic example of man conquering nature and then recreating his own in its place, and while it makes for wonderful aesthetics, I am desperately missing some overgrown ground cover, a fallen tree or nurse log, and just a chance to get off the beaten path and trail blaze…but that might just be me…
Sunday morning woke up nice and early and headed off on a completely unplanned day that ended up quite splendidly…I definitely had an attack of what Alex calls OCS (only child syndrome) because even though some of my friends called me, I made it very clear I wanted to be ALONE that day, and it ended up being the best thing… besides, sometimes exploring the city without having to chitchat to a friend and give away the fact that you are an American can have invaluable results…I began my day interning again at the Эрмитаж and because it was not a very busy day, I ended up sauntering through the halls and finally made it down to the bottom floor where they have all the ancient/archeological/ethnic/cultural exhibits which in my opinion are by far the most interesting…there’s some rock down there called the Onega Stone that was taken from a dig somewhere in Siberia I think that has 60 drawings on it dated from the 2-3 century BC…completely fascinating…
But because Sunday was also, Военно-Морского Флота Росснн (I love that about Russians – they celebrate so many random holidays and fully and actively participate in all of them…I don’t know if that’s a kickback from Soviet times, part of the Russian mentality, or just the practicality of having to cram all the fun and excitement you can into the three short months of the year when the weather permits it…) anyways, I didn’t want to stay indoors too long so I casually made my way out to the street and strolled along the riverbank like practically half of Petersburg and ogled all the battleships, submarines, cruise ships, cargo boats, etc. on display in the water…I had a blast – flags, sailors, ships of all kinds, the salty sea fragrance wafting and mixing with the smells of people, steaming street corn, the sweltering sidewalk, cheap cigarette smoke, and an occasional tailgate barbeque…if I closed my eyes it almost smelt like home a few times J I did duck into the Меншиков Дворець for a while because its free for me and was air-conditioned, but I thoroughly loved all the celebration - I blended in with the crowd easily, saw some local culture, got to almost walk on a few of the boats (until I realized the lines were enormous), and took a picture with a sailor…that’s right, I blatantly asked him for a picture, he said sure, then put his arm around my shoulder and ta-da! I now have a picture with a Russian guy in uniform, which has definitely been my goal for a while…now I just have to work on a милициа…
Life in the apartment is better…I believe we have finally come to a happy medium – she doesn’t ask where I go during the day and I don’t expect more out of her than a meal and clean laundry…I really don’t mind the living conditions here, and goodness knows they are not perfect, but they really don’t bother me at all – living in the баня that is my apartment, eating out of pots and pan lids (although I do occasionally get upgraded to the fancy plate with the roses on it), taking a hand-held shower, wearing hand-dried, crusty t-shirts, and sleeping on a couch have just become part of the daily routine…but man I’m not gonna lie, the comforts of home sound pretty amazing right about now…I think what I miss most is the freedom of living in a place I can fully call my own – I want a grilled cheese sandwich desperately but cant adopt the kitchen as my own, I don’t want to wear slippers when its blazing outside, but don’t want to offend her, and would love to just spend the afternoon at home with some friends over but we are not allowed to… it doesn’t help when my бабушка in her ornery ways insists I don’t eat her food (as I am shoveling potatoes in my mouth), calls me бедная and худая every day that I come home past 7:30, and proceeds to tell me how to eat a chicken drumstick at dinner (amongst other things), but I have come to appreciate the little things in this house – the TV in my room, my balcony, the constant supply of fresh fruits and veggies she buys me, the fact that she lets me eat in my room and gives me free reign over the stove for chi (which yes Russians still consistently drink even though it is 35 degrees outside, it is their cure for EVERYTHING including heat stroke apparently)… she is just old and set in her ways and doesn’t quite understand that a 21 year old girl is an adult who can and does think on her own…so I wait patiently and smile…its all part of the experience…
In terms of classes, they are winding down but I have officially come to find that I absolutely love Фонетика…I may be the only student in Смолний who does, but that’s totally fine, not only do I actually excel in that class (better than native-speaker Dan which totally boosts my ego J) but the teacher and I have also hit it off fabulously… Ольга Сергеевна may be one of the sternest, sharpest, most intimidating people I have ever met, but I absolutely love her …she recommended a book for me after we were talking after class and is going to give me a copy of the accompanying CD for free…I am such a nerd…I am getting excited over Russian sounds and intonation – I don’t know if it gets much worse than that…
Oh I also crossed paths with my friends again on the metro on Friday and Даша waved at me as they went up the escalator… J
Москва is up and coming quickly – I leave on an overnight train on Thursday and am REALLY looking forward to it (although there is a potential it could be the worst experience of my life because the projected forecast for Friday there is a whopping 39 degrees….ouch) but I am dying for a change of pace…
Otherwise the nights are actually getting dark for a good five hours or so but the mosquitoes are still out in force and I seem to wake up with a new set of battle scars every morning… just some thoughts on Russia = I think I know why Russian girls dress like they do – my English teacher insists that the girls here are just trying to follow fashion magazines (they try but always end of looking either frumpy or slutty or both) but my theory is that the girls here only have three months to even have the possibility to dress trashy so they pack it all in at once…in LA at least the girls can spread that out over a good 10 months so its not so overwhelming, so I have cut the girls here some slack (not much but some…) I also now have come to appreciate the Russian lackadaisical attitude – it drives me nuts at times, but at least I can j-walk any time I want, walk through a store without having a salesperson on my tail (although trying to find one when you want to actually buy something is a completely separate story and often ends up with waiting around for five minutes while they finish their smoke outside), and sit around in a park on the grass or with your feet in a fountain which is a totally normal pastime here…I think the sign on the restaurant I was at the other night sums it up perfectly “Open: 10 am till whenever…” …I am still astounded at the amount of English prevalent here and at how the English that most Russians do know (or at least that you hear on the streets) sounds like it comes straight from a rap song… the mere fact that the search engine at the Русская Национальная Библиотека is default set to English speaks volumes…Oh and speaking of which, I finally got up the nerve to ask a librarian and as a result – Wednesday at 1:00 pm I will have 13 books waiting for me at the Русская Национальная Библиотека …wish me luck!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
I’ve come to the conclusion that anything can happen in Russia…ANYTHING. Last Thursday my friend Brad came to school and just casually tells me “oh yeah by the way I found a dead guy in the park yesterday”…which didn’t generate the most extreme reaction from me as expected, because somehow or another that is not the most absurd concept to me anymore….but apparently Brad and a couple of others were in the park and there was this guy just laying out there (which EVERYBODY had been doing last week, causing me to wonder if anyone actually works in this city) and the theory is he probably had been drinking before hand and then laid out, because this has been a serious problem - even news stations have been reporting on how many hundreds of people across Russia have died from drinking vodka and then laying out in the past two weeks…anyway there were dozens of people laying around him so no one paid him any heed and no one seemed to notice he hadn’t been moving for hours, until someone picked up his arm and it limply fell aside…the police/милиция came took a look at him, threw a tarp over him and left…then the coroners came, looked at him again and walked away, then the coroners AND the милиция came and finally carted his poor body away…mind you my friends had been sitting in the park for an hour by that time and during all this, the multitudes of other sunbathers could not even be bothered….
But on a happier note, I had a great weekend! Well considering this is Russia and nothing ever quite goes as planned it was an almost-great weekend…Thursday happened to be a record-breaking day of 35 degrees, and while Friday was not nearly as hot (30 degrees - haha) the humidity certainly stuck around….so the streets were hot, humid, steamy, smelly, and on top of that дождь шёл…which is why I spent about 45 minutes in the Зенит soccer store Friday afternoon – its the only air-conditioned building on the block…and of course this weather comes just in time for the big night = ЛЕБЕДНОЕ ОЗЕРО!!! SWAN LAKE! В Маринском Театре. I got all dressed up and did my hair (which was basically pointless because my polyester-lined dress instantly stuck to me and my hair was practically an afro by the end of the night…) но всяком случае it was so much fun – got myself to the Marinsky in plenty of time (which was a chore since practically only one bus goes there) only to find out that the Marinsky like every other building in town also does not have air-conditioning…so I was privileged to watch perhaps the most beautiful display of dancing I have ever and probably will ever see in a 95 degree building with 500 disgruntled rich snobby old people fanning themselves (as if that actually made a difference) in their cramped seats…but I did not care, my seat was right next to the stage where I could literally see the expressions (and sweat) on the dancers’ faces…my friend Jen was a ballerina for 16 years so while I know next to nothing about ballet, she updated me on everything and apparently Black Swan is like the hardest dancing part EVER in the history of ballet but this dancer was so incredible that she made it look easy and absolutely flawless…
После балета, Jen, Alex, and I ходили на улицу в каком-то русском ресторане називался Садко (тоже потому что у него air-conditioning) and sat there in blissful coolness until 11:50 until we knew we had to leave to catch the public transportation home all of which stops working at 12:00…we split off to our perspective ways home and I was relieved that I made it just in time because bus 3 was headed right towards me…only problem = it was going the wrong way…uh-oh… I had no idea where the bus stop was on the other side of the street because the остановки in that part of town are far and few between – I started walking one way but then the street turned and I didn’t know which way to go and so went the other way – same problem…so I am just about to call Alex and ask her when I see bus 3 coming right at me in the RIGHT direction – fantastic! Or not… there is no bus stop in sight and so it passes me right on by…but instead of panicking (because I know this is the last bus for the night and my only ticket home) I start sprinting after it – in heels, a form-fitting Calvin Klein dress, purse slung over my shoulder, scarf flying in the wind, fancy-shmancy mineral water bottle in one hand, phone in the other… I make it to the canal, take my shoes off and make a bee line for that bus – but unfortunately for me this bus was actually going fast (which is the first time ANY bus has EVER done that in this city….) so finally gave up, stood on the bridge, and pathetically watched it drive away – pretty much dashing my hopes for a decent rest of the night… fortunately for me I have a weirdly heightened sense of direction in this city and so I looked for some street names (which is easier said than done because Russians only seem to post street signs when they feel like it) found my bearings and then started the long trek home on foot…it wasn’t so bad because everyone from four year olds eating ice cream with their parents to бабушки walking home to roller bladders and bike riders were out and about, only it was such a long way and I looked like a drunk with a bottle in one hand shoes in the other grumbling my way back to Електросила…an hour and 15 minutes later and blisters on my feet to prove it…
Saturday we went to Kronshdandt (где жена Медведева incidentally is from) which is an old naval town and base которые был закрытый и запришеный в советской време (and was the case up until about 12 years ago) but is now known for its пляж – we literally went there for the beach and of course Saturday the weather changed and it was cold….2 weeks straight of 30+ degree weather and Saturday is the one day it was 22 degrees…бывает…but we did get a tour of the city by an ex-naval officer in a bright pink shirt ☺ and got to go swimming in the Gulf of Finland …the water was really shallow, surprisingly warm, the water was full of slimy vegetation, and the floor was clay…so definitely not my ideal beach, but hey it worked…I realize now that I just have to stop comparing my definition of a beach to Russia’s – it always ends badly…
The rest of my weekend involved the зоопарк, a live Spanish/Russian/French folk band called Los Machetes, cleaning my room, and watching Russian sit-coms –not too bad…
Monday I went back to the Russian National Library on my own – got myself a library card and a pass and went into the Книжний Зал and researched – found some stuff I would love to look at only problem is I have no idea how because there are no directions and the librarians scare me to death (imagine the typical grumpy librarian and then add the fact that she only speaks Russian…) besides I already got yelled at there for not signing out properly so I didn’t want to be completely humiliated in one day, but I need to figure this out because I found a bunch of manuscripts about Молокани в катологие… speeches, firsthand accounts, and some text written by a Самарин….
I have also been happily slaving away at the Hermitage as a волонтёр – I went Tuesday and Wednesday and am actually really enjoying it. First because it’s become a completely legitimate internship, second I am being forced to use Russian in a professional setting, and third because the directors of the program have wasted no time in throwing me right into the mix of things…for instance, когда я прнехала во Вторник they needed someone to take over inside the museum so Михаил и Людмила had this great idea to put the new girl (me) who definitely does not speak Russian as her first language who has only been in Russia for a month and who has not even walked through the entire Hermitage yet at the Information Desk… they tossed me the thick of things to see if I would sink or swim and I am proud to say that I not only helped a cluster of very disgruntled British tourists and several indignant Americans, but also some Dutch/Germans, a lady who was either Italian or Spanish, AND a slew of fast-talking Russians…I don’t even think they knew I was foreigner when I helped them (or they did and just pretended not to notice) but I couldn’t believe that I was not only sufficiently giving directions and handing out maps in a place I hardly knew, but furthermore that I was sufficiently doing so in a foreign language…apparently so well that they stationed me there two days in a row…
Otherwise I’ve just been living life here – went for a run in the park Thursday (got tons of extremely confused stares as if I was running around in a wool jacket or something and I’m not even sure why) – discovered a foolproof method for crossing the street (which is definitely a challenge here seeing as NOBODY follows traffic laws) 1. walk out into the street as far as possible with a confident stride 2. without stopping, acknowledge when a car comes 3. give the driver the dirtiest stare possible 4. and then continue on safely to the other side - works every time…oh and as an update on the culinary experience here in Russia, I have not been served liver since the last fiasco, BUT I was given a salad on Sunday for breakfast that consisted of tomatoes, cucumbers, salt, and fresh grated garlic…. I must have smelled amazing that day…but its okay because smelling nice does not seem to be a priority in this country – boy or girl it doesn’t matter NO ONE should be allowed to lift up their arm to grab the handle on the subway these days… :-/
Wednesday afternoon we went to the Pushkin museum – super cool because I understood so much of what the lady was telling us in Russian AND because I saw the actual pistol that killed Pushkin, the library where he worked and died, and the sofa where he took his last breath (его последные слова выло ‘Смерть едёт') - legendary…but that was not even the best part of my day…that would for sure be the moment on the subway home when I sat across from what could have only been a clone copy of myself as a five year old…no joke…there was this mom with two little girls, one five, one probably a year, the one year old was making faces and smiling at me playing peek-a-boo from behind her mom, which is an unprecedented event in a city where a stone-cold glare is the ticket to success, so I started smiling and making faces back at her…then I glanced at her sister and almost caught my breath because it was like staring at a picture of myself from like 1994 only she was moving…it was so bizarre… by this time I’d made eye contact and smiled at both the girls and their mom and was seriously infatuated with how uncharacteristically and openly friendly this family was when my they announced my stop … consequently, we all got off at the same station – and I don’t think it was a coincidence, especially when I had this feeling and just knew that they were good people, I don’t know, there was just something about them, and so I said a little prayer for them that God bless their lives in this city…got to the top of the station, saw this trio coming behind me so I held the door for them (because handling two kids on the metro in St. Petersburg requires some serious skill so I decided to help her out) when I just blurt out the words “Ваши девочки очень красивые” not even дочки but девочки...in any case it must have worked becuase we ended up talking for like 5 minutes outsdie the станция– Настя (my look-alike) after she saw her mom talking to me immediatley grabbed my arm and introduced herself as if I was some long-lost aquaintance and then introduces her sister Даша who may be the most adorable little girl in this city...meanwhile their mom Таня was asking me all about school and congratulated me on my studies and incidentallly it turns out that she is from Stavropol, her grandparents run the library there...in any case it was lovely talking to them and I can definitly add her to my list of favorite people in this city –I had been feeling the desparate need to get out of the city that day, not necesarrily to go home, but just to get out of a blasted megapolis for a change and meeting them is exactly what i needed to brighten up my day... I know for sure that was not a chance meeting...
Otherwise, unsurprisingly the heat wave has returned…today is supposed to be 35 degrees, yesterday was 32 (I think), 38 in Samara, 37 in Moscow, and 36 somewhere else I forget what the news said…who would have thought the hottest summer I’d ever experience would have been the summer I spent in Russia… ☺
But on a happier note, I had a great weekend! Well considering this is Russia and nothing ever quite goes as planned it was an almost-great weekend…Thursday happened to be a record-breaking day of 35 degrees, and while Friday was not nearly as hot (30 degrees - haha) the humidity certainly stuck around….so the streets were hot, humid, steamy, smelly, and on top of that дождь шёл…which is why I spent about 45 minutes in the Зенит soccer store Friday afternoon – its the only air-conditioned building on the block…and of course this weather comes just in time for the big night = ЛЕБЕДНОЕ ОЗЕРО!!! SWAN LAKE! В Маринском Театре. I got all dressed up and did my hair (which was basically pointless because my polyester-lined dress instantly stuck to me and my hair was practically an afro by the end of the night…) но всяком случае it was so much fun – got myself to the Marinsky in plenty of time (which was a chore since practically only one bus goes there) only to find out that the Marinsky like every other building in town also does not have air-conditioning…so I was privileged to watch perhaps the most beautiful display of dancing I have ever and probably will ever see in a 95 degree building with 500 disgruntled rich snobby old people fanning themselves (as if that actually made a difference) in their cramped seats…but I did not care, my seat was right next to the stage where I could literally see the expressions (and sweat) on the dancers’ faces…my friend Jen was a ballerina for 16 years so while I know next to nothing about ballet, she updated me on everything and apparently Black Swan is like the hardest dancing part EVER in the history of ballet but this dancer was so incredible that she made it look easy and absolutely flawless…
После балета, Jen, Alex, and I ходили на улицу в каком-то русском ресторане називался Садко (тоже потому что у него air-conditioning) and sat there in blissful coolness until 11:50 until we knew we had to leave to catch the public transportation home all of which stops working at 12:00…we split off to our perspective ways home and I was relieved that I made it just in time because bus 3 was headed right towards me…only problem = it was going the wrong way…uh-oh… I had no idea where the bus stop was on the other side of the street because the остановки in that part of town are far and few between – I started walking one way but then the street turned and I didn’t know which way to go and so went the other way – same problem…so I am just about to call Alex and ask her when I see bus 3 coming right at me in the RIGHT direction – fantastic! Or not… there is no bus stop in sight and so it passes me right on by…but instead of panicking (because I know this is the last bus for the night and my only ticket home) I start sprinting after it – in heels, a form-fitting Calvin Klein dress, purse slung over my shoulder, scarf flying in the wind, fancy-shmancy mineral water bottle in one hand, phone in the other… I make it to the canal, take my shoes off and make a bee line for that bus – but unfortunately for me this bus was actually going fast (which is the first time ANY bus has EVER done that in this city….) so finally gave up, stood on the bridge, and pathetically watched it drive away – pretty much dashing my hopes for a decent rest of the night… fortunately for me I have a weirdly heightened sense of direction in this city and so I looked for some street names (which is easier said than done because Russians only seem to post street signs when they feel like it) found my bearings and then started the long trek home on foot…it wasn’t so bad because everyone from four year olds eating ice cream with their parents to бабушки walking home to roller bladders and bike riders were out and about, only it was such a long way and I looked like a drunk with a bottle in one hand shoes in the other grumbling my way back to Електросила…an hour and 15 minutes later and blisters on my feet to prove it…
Saturday we went to Kronshdandt (где жена Медведева incidentally is from) which is an old naval town and base которые был закрытый и запришеный в советской време (and was the case up until about 12 years ago) but is now known for its пляж – we literally went there for the beach and of course Saturday the weather changed and it was cold….2 weeks straight of 30+ degree weather and Saturday is the one day it was 22 degrees…бывает…but we did get a tour of the city by an ex-naval officer in a bright pink shirt ☺ and got to go swimming in the Gulf of Finland …the water was really shallow, surprisingly warm, the water was full of slimy vegetation, and the floor was clay…so definitely not my ideal beach, but hey it worked…I realize now that I just have to stop comparing my definition of a beach to Russia’s – it always ends badly…
The rest of my weekend involved the зоопарк, a live Spanish/Russian/French folk band called Los Machetes, cleaning my room, and watching Russian sit-coms –not too bad…
Monday I went back to the Russian National Library on my own – got myself a library card and a pass and went into the Книжний Зал and researched – found some stuff I would love to look at only problem is I have no idea how because there are no directions and the librarians scare me to death (imagine the typical grumpy librarian and then add the fact that she only speaks Russian…) besides I already got yelled at there for not signing out properly so I didn’t want to be completely humiliated in one day, but I need to figure this out because I found a bunch of manuscripts about Молокани в катологие… speeches, firsthand accounts, and some text written by a Самарин….
I have also been happily slaving away at the Hermitage as a волонтёр – I went Tuesday and Wednesday and am actually really enjoying it. First because it’s become a completely legitimate internship, second I am being forced to use Russian in a professional setting, and third because the directors of the program have wasted no time in throwing me right into the mix of things…for instance, когда я прнехала во Вторник they needed someone to take over inside the museum so Михаил и Людмила had this great idea to put the new girl (me) who definitely does not speak Russian as her first language who has only been in Russia for a month and who has not even walked through the entire Hermitage yet at the Information Desk… they tossed me the thick of things to see if I would sink or swim and I am proud to say that I not only helped a cluster of very disgruntled British tourists and several indignant Americans, but also some Dutch/Germans, a lady who was either Italian or Spanish, AND a slew of fast-talking Russians…I don’t even think they knew I was foreigner when I helped them (or they did and just pretended not to notice) but I couldn’t believe that I was not only sufficiently giving directions and handing out maps in a place I hardly knew, but furthermore that I was sufficiently doing so in a foreign language…apparently so well that they stationed me there two days in a row…
Otherwise I’ve just been living life here – went for a run in the park Thursday (got tons of extremely confused stares as if I was running around in a wool jacket or something and I’m not even sure why) – discovered a foolproof method for crossing the street (which is definitely a challenge here seeing as NOBODY follows traffic laws) 1. walk out into the street as far as possible with a confident stride 2. without stopping, acknowledge when a car comes 3. give the driver the dirtiest stare possible 4. and then continue on safely to the other side - works every time…oh and as an update on the culinary experience here in Russia, I have not been served liver since the last fiasco, BUT I was given a salad on Sunday for breakfast that consisted of tomatoes, cucumbers, salt, and fresh grated garlic…. I must have smelled amazing that day…but its okay because smelling nice does not seem to be a priority in this country – boy or girl it doesn’t matter NO ONE should be allowed to lift up their arm to grab the handle on the subway these days… :-/
Wednesday afternoon we went to the Pushkin museum – super cool because I understood so much of what the lady was telling us in Russian AND because I saw the actual pistol that killed Pushkin, the library where he worked and died, and the sofa where he took his last breath (его последные слова выло ‘Смерть едёт') - legendary…but that was not even the best part of my day…that would for sure be the moment on the subway home when I sat across from what could have only been a clone copy of myself as a five year old…no joke…there was this mom with two little girls, one five, one probably a year, the one year old was making faces and smiling at me playing peek-a-boo from behind her mom, which is an unprecedented event in a city where a stone-cold glare is the ticket to success, so I started smiling and making faces back at her…then I glanced at her sister and almost caught my breath because it was like staring at a picture of myself from like 1994 only she was moving…it was so bizarre… by this time I’d made eye contact and smiled at both the girls and their mom and was seriously infatuated with how uncharacteristically and openly friendly this family was when my they announced my stop … consequently, we all got off at the same station – and I don’t think it was a coincidence, especially when I had this feeling and just knew that they were good people, I don’t know, there was just something about them, and so I said a little prayer for them that God bless their lives in this city…got to the top of the station, saw this trio coming behind me so I held the door for them (because handling two kids on the metro in St. Petersburg requires some serious skill so I decided to help her out) when I just blurt out the words “Ваши девочки очень красивые” not even дочки but девочки...in any case it must have worked becuase we ended up talking for like 5 minutes outsdie the станция– Настя (my look-alike) after she saw her mom talking to me immediatley grabbed my arm and introduced herself as if I was some long-lost aquaintance and then introduces her sister Даша who may be the most adorable little girl in this city...meanwhile their mom Таня was asking me all about school and congratulated me on my studies and incidentallly it turns out that she is from Stavropol, her grandparents run the library there...in any case it was lovely talking to them and I can definitly add her to my list of favorite people in this city –I had been feeling the desparate need to get out of the city that day, not necesarrily to go home, but just to get out of a blasted megapolis for a change and meeting them is exactly what i needed to brighten up my day... I know for sure that was not a chance meeting...
Otherwise, unsurprisingly the heat wave has returned…today is supposed to be 35 degrees, yesterday was 32 (I think), 38 in Samara, 37 in Moscow, and 36 somewhere else I forget what the news said…who would have thought the hottest summer I’d ever experience would have been the summer I spent in Russia… ☺
Thursday, July 15, 2010
So its definitely been a while since I have written, but I have been extremely busy these past few days… time is definitely flying by now…and is now officially running thin because I have signed up to do almost every activity under the sun with this program – I teach English, volunteer/intern at the Hermitage, I have a speaking partner, I go to school, I try to sign up for every excursion, and somewhere in the midst of all this I still manage to see the city and have some free time for myself…
So this past weekend we went to Peterhof, which was definitely one of the most impressive sights of St. Petersburg thus far. Once again the entire tour was in Russian, only this time our tour lady decided to start the tour during the hour bus ride - so I was basically listening to non-stop Russian for approximately 5 hours straight…I wouldn’t mind it as much but this lady had a superhuman talent to talk incessantly – I don’t think she took a breath once…Ill admit, I completely lost focus after the first 30 minutes so for all I know she could have been retelling the entire history of Russia (which telling by the amount she talked, she probably did…) and what made the whole day lightly more awkward, is that the program decided to invite all our host families to come along for the trip….considering mine babushka is not in the best health, I didn’t think she would go, but nope – she was insistent on seeing the new museum. It wasn’t too bad but we didn’t really talk much and she also bought me an ice-cream when I specifically told here I didn’t want one (so I had to suck it up and just eat it) but it was just a really awkward situation… anyway, the fountains are beautiful of course and the gardens gorgeous, but I did not get to appreciate them, it was an unbelievably wonderful day weather-wise outside and unfortunately we had to spend our short 3 hours in Peterhof on a tour and indoors L They promised us free time but since the bus left at 415 and our tour group finished at 425, that wasn’t really an option at that point,…although I did get to stare out at the Gulf of Finland for a good 15 minutes during the tour, which significantly lifted my spirits that day…
So as Russia was perfectly described to me by a local – it is a love-hate relationship with this country. One day life is incredible and nothing could go wrong and the next it seems like this place is a vacuum of misfortune….I literally go through stages where one minute I am ecstatic that I have only 31 more days here of sleeping on a bed with the comfort quality of a canoe, eating heavy butter-laden food, and having to elbow my way onto every transportation system possible – but then 5 minutes later I completely rescind that opinion and think about the libraries, museums, architecture, buildings, shopping, people, language, and everything else I want to do here and wish I had at least another 2 months to do it all in….and that is pretty much the epitome of this country. So its not so surprising that my weekend was kind of a dud since that Saturday morning, it seems like since that lady began her filibuster on the bus, my weekend proportionately got worse: I didn’t get enough time to enjoy Peterhof, my babushka woke me up on the bus only to get us off at the wrong metro stop (and I ended up having to navigate us home…), we got lost on the way to seeing our director’s band play on Saturday night, I couldn’t sleep Saturday night because it was so hot, I did nothing on Sunday because every museum I wanted to go to was closed (except for the Anna Akhmatova museum, which was suuuuper interesting), they did not give me ice in my ICED tea at McDonalds even though I specifically asked for it and specifically went there because I know they have ice, and then I ended up going home early and watching the World Cup….
So despite the fact that I stayed up till 130 watching the game, Spain won and me and practically all my neighbors were cheering along side me (or against me) throughout the whole game…it did significantly tire me out at school, but I am definitely have been having an up-week language wise so its okay…
Monday I took it easy and watched Russian TV all night…Tuesday after class I went to the Museum of Political History which was basically a Russian tribute to anything and everything dealing with Russian political history from Peter the Great’s time to the Medvedev-Putin duo of the present day – I know this sounds completely nerdy, but I thought it was incredibly interesting and thoroughly enjoyed it (well maybe not thoroughly the museum was absolutely NOT air-conditioned…..) afterwards, I went to a restaurant where our program organized so-besedniki which was basically speed dating style conversations with a dozen or so CIEE students and a dozen or so Russian students who we talked to in rotation for about 5-10 minutes… at the end of we wrote down who we enjoyed talking to so that we can meet up and converse on a regular basis from now on…there were definitely some weirdoes there, but also definitely some super cool people, and definitely at least 2 people who put my name down as a potential speaking partner – so cool…well that lasted till 1000 and I didn’t get home till 1100…Wednesday after school I walked in the sweltering heat (it was a record breaking temperature of 34 degrees….and of course our Conversation Professor informed us today that St Petersburg has not been this hot in summer for 40 years – I don’t know whether to blame global warming or just the mere fact that I am here…) anyways I walked to the Hermitage and basically spent the next 8 hours at this grand glorious museum – it is impossible to describe how enormous it is - even stating the fact that every time I have gone there (three times now) I have gotten lost is not really indicative of the colossal nature of this exhibit… I walked around with friends for a few hours (and did not even make a dent in the place) and then sat outside in the shade for an hour just to calm down from the heat and overwhelming amount of stuff in that museum for a bit…then at 600 I met in front of the Hermitage Volunteers office to get my badge and begin official work as a Hermitage Intern J I had no idea what to expect because these were all the directions I was given over the phone, but it turns out there was a big concert/festival in honor of the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille so I helped with that… my job (as was explained to me in Russian) entailed patrolling the premises and making sure people stayed off the lawn…not the most ideal internship, but hey I got to see the concert for free and do all the fun stuff they had in the booths on the sides (painting, Frisbee, pin the donkey on the tail, skateboarding, etc. etc.) I was also the only non-Russian volunteer there and only one that spoke English so it was definitely an interesting experience but I totally still made friends with two girls there - Galina and Dania - who only spoke Russian but both told me that not only do I look Russian but that I speak it pretty well too – which of course meant that I got all flustered and then I think they probably reconsidered that opinion…the best part was that Galina was totally a hippie – she was wearing linen Bermuda shorts, a tank top, and a knit shoulder bag and had dreadlocks (which I know sounds weird but she pulled them off) and we hit it off great – we both snatched some pins and coloring books off the craft table, painted the French flag on our arms with finger paint, and drank tea from the back room – (clearly hard at work)… once again I was home at 1100 but since Dania lives 3 stops from me, she took me and showed me some short cuts home…it was totally cool because what this night showed me was that even thought I was completely on my own in a foreign country, I was completely functional, which is a hugely rewarding feeling….
But like I said life here is moving along quickly and busily and I am worried I wont have much free time…tonight I am going to me English teaching pizza party and kind of looking forward to a change of menu for dinner…Saturday we are going to Kronshtandt and Friday off to the ballet to see Swan Lake….another jammed packed weekend with more predictions of 30 plus degree weather….should be fun….
So this past weekend we went to Peterhof, which was definitely one of the most impressive sights of St. Petersburg thus far. Once again the entire tour was in Russian, only this time our tour lady decided to start the tour during the hour bus ride - so I was basically listening to non-stop Russian for approximately 5 hours straight…I wouldn’t mind it as much but this lady had a superhuman talent to talk incessantly – I don’t think she took a breath once…Ill admit, I completely lost focus after the first 30 minutes so for all I know she could have been retelling the entire history of Russia (which telling by the amount she talked, she probably did…) and what made the whole day lightly more awkward, is that the program decided to invite all our host families to come along for the trip….considering mine babushka is not in the best health, I didn’t think she would go, but nope – she was insistent on seeing the new museum. It wasn’t too bad but we didn’t really talk much and she also bought me an ice-cream when I specifically told here I didn’t want one (so I had to suck it up and just eat it) but it was just a really awkward situation… anyway, the fountains are beautiful of course and the gardens gorgeous, but I did not get to appreciate them, it was an unbelievably wonderful day weather-wise outside and unfortunately we had to spend our short 3 hours in Peterhof on a tour and indoors L They promised us free time but since the bus left at 415 and our tour group finished at 425, that wasn’t really an option at that point,…although I did get to stare out at the Gulf of Finland for a good 15 minutes during the tour, which significantly lifted my spirits that day…
So as Russia was perfectly described to me by a local – it is a love-hate relationship with this country. One day life is incredible and nothing could go wrong and the next it seems like this place is a vacuum of misfortune….I literally go through stages where one minute I am ecstatic that I have only 31 more days here of sleeping on a bed with the comfort quality of a canoe, eating heavy butter-laden food, and having to elbow my way onto every transportation system possible – but then 5 minutes later I completely rescind that opinion and think about the libraries, museums, architecture, buildings, shopping, people, language, and everything else I want to do here and wish I had at least another 2 months to do it all in….and that is pretty much the epitome of this country. So its not so surprising that my weekend was kind of a dud since that Saturday morning, it seems like since that lady began her filibuster on the bus, my weekend proportionately got worse: I didn’t get enough time to enjoy Peterhof, my babushka woke me up on the bus only to get us off at the wrong metro stop (and I ended up having to navigate us home…), we got lost on the way to seeing our director’s band play on Saturday night, I couldn’t sleep Saturday night because it was so hot, I did nothing on Sunday because every museum I wanted to go to was closed (except for the Anna Akhmatova museum, which was suuuuper interesting), they did not give me ice in my ICED tea at McDonalds even though I specifically asked for it and specifically went there because I know they have ice, and then I ended up going home early and watching the World Cup….
So despite the fact that I stayed up till 130 watching the game, Spain won and me and practically all my neighbors were cheering along side me (or against me) throughout the whole game…it did significantly tire me out at school, but I am definitely have been having an up-week language wise so its okay…
Monday I took it easy and watched Russian TV all night…Tuesday after class I went to the Museum of Political History which was basically a Russian tribute to anything and everything dealing with Russian political history from Peter the Great’s time to the Medvedev-Putin duo of the present day – I know this sounds completely nerdy, but I thought it was incredibly interesting and thoroughly enjoyed it (well maybe not thoroughly the museum was absolutely NOT air-conditioned…..) afterwards, I went to a restaurant where our program organized so-besedniki which was basically speed dating style conversations with a dozen or so CIEE students and a dozen or so Russian students who we talked to in rotation for about 5-10 minutes… at the end of we wrote down who we enjoyed talking to so that we can meet up and converse on a regular basis from now on…there were definitely some weirdoes there, but also definitely some super cool people, and definitely at least 2 people who put my name down as a potential speaking partner – so cool…well that lasted till 1000 and I didn’t get home till 1100…Wednesday after school I walked in the sweltering heat (it was a record breaking temperature of 34 degrees….and of course our Conversation Professor informed us today that St Petersburg has not been this hot in summer for 40 years – I don’t know whether to blame global warming or just the mere fact that I am here…) anyways I walked to the Hermitage and basically spent the next 8 hours at this grand glorious museum – it is impossible to describe how enormous it is - even stating the fact that every time I have gone there (three times now) I have gotten lost is not really indicative of the colossal nature of this exhibit… I walked around with friends for a few hours (and did not even make a dent in the place) and then sat outside in the shade for an hour just to calm down from the heat and overwhelming amount of stuff in that museum for a bit…then at 600 I met in front of the Hermitage Volunteers office to get my badge and begin official work as a Hermitage Intern J I had no idea what to expect because these were all the directions I was given over the phone, but it turns out there was a big concert/festival in honor of the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille so I helped with that… my job (as was explained to me in Russian) entailed patrolling the premises and making sure people stayed off the lawn…not the most ideal internship, but hey I got to see the concert for free and do all the fun stuff they had in the booths on the sides (painting, Frisbee, pin the donkey on the tail, skateboarding, etc. etc.) I was also the only non-Russian volunteer there and only one that spoke English so it was definitely an interesting experience but I totally still made friends with two girls there - Galina and Dania - who only spoke Russian but both told me that not only do I look Russian but that I speak it pretty well too – which of course meant that I got all flustered and then I think they probably reconsidered that opinion…the best part was that Galina was totally a hippie – she was wearing linen Bermuda shorts, a tank top, and a knit shoulder bag and had dreadlocks (which I know sounds weird but she pulled them off) and we hit it off great – we both snatched some pins and coloring books off the craft table, painted the French flag on our arms with finger paint, and drank tea from the back room – (clearly hard at work)… once again I was home at 1100 but since Dania lives 3 stops from me, she took me and showed me some short cuts home…it was totally cool because what this night showed me was that even thought I was completely on my own in a foreign country, I was completely functional, which is a hugely rewarding feeling….
But like I said life here is moving along quickly and busily and I am worried I wont have much free time…tonight I am going to me English teaching pizza party and kind of looking forward to a change of menu for dinner…Saturday we are going to Kronshtandt and Friday off to the ballet to see Swan Lake….another jammed packed weekend with more predictions of 30 plus degree weather….should be fun….
So its definitely been a while since I have written, but I have been extremely busy these past few days… time is definitely flying by now…and is now officially running thin because I have signed up to do almost every activity under the sun with this program – I teach English, volunteer/intern at the Hermitage, I have a speaking partner, I go to school, I try to sign up for every excursion, and somewhere in the midst of all this I still manage to see the city and have some free time for myself…
So this past weekend we went to Peterhof, which was definitely one of the most impressive sights of St. Petersburg thus far. Once again the entire tour was in Russian, only this time our tour lady decided to start the tour during the hour bus ride - so I was basically listening to non-stop Russian for approximately 5 hours straight…I wouldn’t mind it as much but this lady had a superhuman talent to talk incessantly – I don’t think she took a breath once…Ill admit, I completely lost focus after the first 30 minutes so for all I know she could have been retelling the entire history of Russia (which telling by the amount she talked, she probably did…) and what made the whole day lightly more awkward, is that the program decided to invite all our host families to come along for the trip….considering mine babushka is not in the best health, I didn’t think she would go, but nope – she was insistent on seeing the new museum. It wasn’t too bad but we didn’t really talk much and she also bought me an ice-cream when I specifically told here I didn’t want one (so I had to suck it up and just eat it) but it was just a really awkward situation… anyway, the fountains are beautiful of course and the gardens gorgeous, but I did not get to appreciate them, it was an unbelievably wonderful day weather-wise outside and unfortunately we had to spend our short 3 hours in Peterhof on a tour and indoors L They promised us free time but since the bus left at 415 and our tour group finished at 425, that wasn’t really an option at that point,…although I did get to stare out at the Gulf of Finland for a good 15 minutes during the tour, which significantly lifted my spirits that day…
So as Russia was perfectly described to me by a local – it is a love-hate relationship with this country. One day life is incredible and nothing could go wrong and the next it seems like this place is a vacuum of misfortune….I literally go through stages where one minute I am ecstatic that I have only 31 more days here of sleeping on a bed with the comfort quality of a canoe, eating heavy butter-laden food, and having to elbow my way onto every transportation system possible – but then 5 minutes later I completely rescind that opinion and think about the libraries, museums, architecture, buildings, shopping, people, language, and everything else I want to do here and wish I had at least another 2 months to do it all in….and that is pretty much the epitome of this country. So its not so surprising that my weekend was kind of a dud since that Saturday morning, it seems like since that lady began her filibuster on the bus, my weekend proportionately got worse: I didn’t get enough time to enjoy Peterhof, my babushka woke me up on the bus only to get us off at the wrong metro stop (and I ended up having to navigate us home…), we got lost on the way to seeing our director’s band play on Saturday night, I couldn’t sleep Saturday night because it was so hot, I did nothing on Sunday because every museum I wanted to go to was closed (except for the Anna Akhmatova museum, which was suuuuper interesting), they did not give me ice in my ICED tea at McDonalds even though I specifically asked for it and specifically went there because I know they have ice, and then I ended up going home early and watching the World Cup….
So despite the fact that I stayed up till 130 watching the game, Spain won and me and practically all my neighbors were cheering along side me (or against me) throughout the whole game…it did significantly tire me out at school, but I am definitely have been having an up-week language wise so its okay…
Monday I took it easy and watched Russian TV all night…Tuesday after class I went to the Museum of Political History which was basically a Russian tribute to anything and everything dealing with Russian political history from Peter the Great’s time to the Medvedev-Putin duo of the present day – I know this sounds completely nerdy, but I thought it was incredibly interesting and thoroughly enjoyed it (well maybe not thoroughly the museum was absolutely NOT air-conditioned…..) afterwards, I went to a restaurant where our program organized so-besedniki which was basically speed dating style conversations with a dozen or so CIEE students and a dozen or so Russian students who we talked to in rotation for about 5-10 minutes… at the end of we wrote down who we enjoyed talking to so that we can meet up and converse on a regular basis from now on…there were definitely some weirdoes there, but also definitely some super cool people, and definitely at least 2 people who put my name down as a potential speaking partner – so cool…well that lasted till 1000 and I didn’t get home till 1100…Wednesday after school I walked in the sweltering heat (it was a record breaking temperature of 34 degrees….and of course our Conversation Professor informed us today that St Petersburg has not been this hot in summer for 40 years – I don’t know whether to blame global warming or just the mere fact that I am here…) anyways I walked to the Hermitage and basically spent the next 8 hours at this grand glorious museum – it is impossible to describe how enormous it is - even stating the fact that every time I have gone there (three times now) I have gotten lost is not really indicative of the colossal nature of this exhibit… I walked around with friends for a few hours (and did not even make a dent in the place) and then sat outside in the shade for an hour just to calm down from the heat and overwhelming amount of stuff in that museum for a bit…then at 600 I met in front of the Hermitage Volunteers office to get my badge and begin official work as a Hermitage Intern J I had no idea what to expect because these were all the directions I was given over the phone, but it turns out there was a big concert/festival in honor of the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille so I helped with that… my job (as was explained to me in Russian) entailed patrolling the premises and making sure people stayed off the lawn…not the most ideal internship, but hey I got to see the concert for free and do all the fun stuff they had in the booths on the sides (painting, Frisbee, pin the donkey on the tail, skateboarding, etc. etc.) I was also the only non-Russian volunteer there and only one that spoke English so it was definitely an interesting experience but I totally still made friends with two girls there - Galina and Dania - who only spoke Russian but both told me that not only do I look Russian but that I speak it pretty well too – which of course meant that I got all flustered and then I think they probably reconsidered that opinion…the best part was that Galina was totally a hippie – she was wearing linen Bermuda shorts, a tank top, and a knit shoulder bag and had dreadlocks (which I know sounds weird but she pulled them off) and we hit it off great – we both snatched some pins and coloring books off the craft table, painted the French flag on our arms with finger paint, and drank tea from the back room – (clearly hard at work)… once again I was home at 1100 but since Dania lives 3 stops from me, she took me and showed me some short cuts home…it was totally cool because what this night showed me was that even thought I was completely on my own in a foreign country, I was completely functional, which is a hugely rewarding feeling….
So this past weekend we went to Peterhof, which was definitely one of the most impressive sights of St. Petersburg thus far. Once again the entire tour was in Russian, only this time our tour lady decided to start the tour during the hour bus ride - so I was basically listening to non-stop Russian for approximately 5 hours straight…I wouldn’t mind it as much but this lady had a superhuman talent to talk incessantly – I don’t think she took a breath once…Ill admit, I completely lost focus after the first 30 minutes so for all I know she could have been retelling the entire history of Russia (which telling by the amount she talked, she probably did…) and what made the whole day lightly more awkward, is that the program decided to invite all our host families to come along for the trip….considering mine babushka is not in the best health, I didn’t think she would go, but nope – she was insistent on seeing the new museum. It wasn’t too bad but we didn’t really talk much and she also bought me an ice-cream when I specifically told here I didn’t want one (so I had to suck it up and just eat it) but it was just a really awkward situation… anyway, the fountains are beautiful of course and the gardens gorgeous, but I did not get to appreciate them, it was an unbelievably wonderful day weather-wise outside and unfortunately we had to spend our short 3 hours in Peterhof on a tour and indoors L They promised us free time but since the bus left at 415 and our tour group finished at 425, that wasn’t really an option at that point,…although I did get to stare out at the Gulf of Finland for a good 15 minutes during the tour, which significantly lifted my spirits that day…
So as Russia was perfectly described to me by a local – it is a love-hate relationship with this country. One day life is incredible and nothing could go wrong and the next it seems like this place is a vacuum of misfortune….I literally go through stages where one minute I am ecstatic that I have only 31 more days here of sleeping on a bed with the comfort quality of a canoe, eating heavy butter-laden food, and having to elbow my way onto every transportation system possible – but then 5 minutes later I completely rescind that opinion and think about the libraries, museums, architecture, buildings, shopping, people, language, and everything else I want to do here and wish I had at least another 2 months to do it all in….and that is pretty much the epitome of this country. So its not so surprising that my weekend was kind of a dud since that Saturday morning, it seems like since that lady began her filibuster on the bus, my weekend proportionately got worse: I didn’t get enough time to enjoy Peterhof, my babushka woke me up on the bus only to get us off at the wrong metro stop (and I ended up having to navigate us home…), we got lost on the way to seeing our director’s band play on Saturday night, I couldn’t sleep Saturday night because it was so hot, I did nothing on Sunday because every museum I wanted to go to was closed (except for the Anna Akhmatova museum, which was suuuuper interesting), they did not give me ice in my ICED tea at McDonalds even though I specifically asked for it and specifically went there because I know they have ice, and then I ended up going home early and watching the World Cup….
So despite the fact that I stayed up till 130 watching the game, Spain won and me and practically all my neighbors were cheering along side me (or against me) throughout the whole game…it did significantly tire me out at school, but I am definitely have been having an up-week language wise so its okay…
Monday I took it easy and watched Russian TV all night…Tuesday after class I went to the Museum of Political History which was basically a Russian tribute to anything and everything dealing with Russian political history from Peter the Great’s time to the Medvedev-Putin duo of the present day – I know this sounds completely nerdy, but I thought it was incredibly interesting and thoroughly enjoyed it (well maybe not thoroughly the museum was absolutely NOT air-conditioned…..) afterwards, I went to a restaurant where our program organized so-besedniki which was basically speed dating style conversations with a dozen or so CIEE students and a dozen or so Russian students who we talked to in rotation for about 5-10 minutes… at the end of we wrote down who we enjoyed talking to so that we can meet up and converse on a regular basis from now on…there were definitely some weirdoes there, but also definitely some super cool people, and definitely at least 2 people who put my name down as a potential speaking partner – so cool…well that lasted till 1000 and I didn’t get home till 1100…Wednesday after school I walked in the sweltering heat (it was a record breaking temperature of 34 degrees….and of course our Conversation Professor informed us today that St Petersburg has not been this hot in summer for 40 years – I don’t know whether to blame global warming or just the mere fact that I am here…) anyways I walked to the Hermitage and basically spent the next 8 hours at this grand glorious museum – it is impossible to describe how enormous it is - even stating the fact that every time I have gone there (three times now) I have gotten lost is not really indicative of the colossal nature of this exhibit… I walked around with friends for a few hours (and did not even make a dent in the place) and then sat outside in the shade for an hour just to calm down from the heat and overwhelming amount of stuff in that museum for a bit…then at 600 I met in front of the Hermitage Volunteers office to get my badge and begin official work as a Hermitage Intern J I had no idea what to expect because these were all the directions I was given over the phone, but it turns out there was a big concert/festival in honor of the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille so I helped with that… my job (as was explained to me in Russian) entailed patrolling the premises and making sure people stayed off the lawn…not the most ideal internship, but hey I got to see the concert for free and do all the fun stuff they had in the booths on the sides (painting, Frisbee, pin the donkey on the tail, skateboarding, etc. etc.) I was also the only non-Russian volunteer there and only one that spoke English so it was definitely an interesting experience but I totally still made friends with two girls there - Galina and Dania - who only spoke Russian but both told me that not only do I look Russian but that I speak it pretty well too – which of course meant that I got all flustered and then I think they probably reconsidered that opinion…the best part was that Galina was totally a hippie – she was wearing linen Bermuda shorts, a tank top, and a knit shoulder bag and had dreadlocks (which I know sounds weird but she pulled them off) and we hit it off great – we both snatched some pins and coloring books off the craft table, painted the French flag on our arms with finger paint, and drank tea from the back room – (clearly hard at work)… once again I was home at 1100 but since Dania lives 3 stops from me, she took me and showed me some short cuts home…it was totally cool because what this night showed me was that even thought I was completely on my own in a foreign country, I was completely functional, which is a hugely rewarding feeling….
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Okay so I have officially been in Russia for 21 days…which is still one day shorter than everyone else on the trip but hey at least I get to say that as a bonus I spent a day in New York…
Anyways so much has happened since last week – I am now teaching English at a private Филологический Институт, I have been to the Россейская Нацноналная Библиотека, I have done so much more sightseeing, I went to the Петропавловский Крепость, and spent a weekend in Новгород (и можно сказать что я больше понравилась Новгород чем Cанкт Петербург?)….
In any case, I sit in on a beginning English language class from 6:30-8:00 whenever they need me as a native speaker representative and to provide conversation to the students…lets just put it this way: I looooooved the first class but now have an enormously newfound respect for all my teachers at Smolny….
I also went to the PeterPaul Fortress on Friday after class with the whole group, and up until that point, it was definitely my favorite part of the trip thus far – we saw the church there where a majority of the Romanov dynasty is buried including Пётр Великий, Александр II и его супруга, И Ннколай II и его семья – there was this whole room dedicated to the last of the imperial family where their remains were transported in the 1990s….все удивительно…then we were able to do the museum tour where we actually walked through and into the prison – I not only saw the clothes prisoners wore and the lists of people who were locked there (it was the ‘whose-who’ of Russian criminals and dissidents for sure – Lenin’s brother, Trotsky, Vera Finger, Gorky etc.) but was also able to walk inside the cells – I actually also got the complete package of Russian prison life = there was a solitary confinement room we were able to walk into but since I didn’t think the entire experience of ‘solitary confinement’ could fully be achieved with half a dozen other people in the room at the same time, I waited till the rush died down, then closed the door behind me and sat in that room in the darkness for a good solid minute by myself. Complete darkness except for the light seeping through the air holes, absolute silence, and impenetrable air….I could hardly last after 30 seconds let alone 30 days…and just think the monasteries where my ancestors were imprisoned were not only much colder, but also much smaller….it is unbelievably humbling to have experienced just a taste of what that must have been like…
Anyway after that groundbreaking feeling я гуляла с другами в крепостe и в городе (or as my friend David here likes to say ‘goo-li-ats’ ☺ )…it was a nice way to end the day before waking up at the crack of dawn to catch the train to Novgorod…
It’s a 3 hour bus ride to Novgorod give or take and since we left at 8:00 everyone on the trip now knows how un-morning of a person I am….so there’s that…but otherwise it was the start to what may have been the most amazing weekends I will have in Russia. So before this trip I had never heard of Novgorod (and yes mom it is Нов-город not Новий Город) and had no idea why it was important....well now I know it is one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe and houses the oldest standing church in Russia – Saint Sophia. The city was on the crossroads of the traderoutes from the Vikings to the Greeks and became a vastly wealthy trading point – there are about 18 dozen churches (im of course exagerating but not by much) in a city of about 800,000 people if that, a legacy from these древные богатые купци. And in 1944 when the Germans bombed the city, 85% of the city was destroyed so only 15% of the original churches from ancient Novgorod are actually still standing (so sad)…not gonna lie, once you’ve seen one of those churches you’ve seen them all (white washed, onion domes, orthodox) but it was so cool to be walking on streets where Russians walked 1000 years ago…I also looooooved Novgorod because there was a beach there (a “beach” but it was a heck of a lot better than the one in Petersburg that butts up to the Крепость because nothing says a day at the beach like a nice stroll past the state prison...) and a beach volleyball tournament going on so I laid out three times in the sweltering heat (Im not kidding who would have thought Russain could be so hot but it is giving LA a run for its money right now...) and was in my bathing suit all weekend – and its a good thing becuase while they did not tell me to bring a skirt or shawl for this weekend excursion and I was forced to go buy a scarf to wear as a skirt in the churches, I was the only one in a bathing suit at lunch time on Sunday and was able to take a dip in the lake behind one of the cathedrals on the outskirts of the city –all those times i wear my bathing suit under my clothes and it FINALLY paid off....
We also went to the museum they have in Novgorod that is a preserved/consructed Russian villiage (the church is from the 1500s most of the houses from the 1800/1900s) but totally totally cool (not literally it was about 30 degrees ugh)...but I walked through a typical Russian villiage – awesome right?...I was also asked by a random Russian lady there who I asked to take my picture which part of Russia my accent was from...so 'wha-la' I guess I am learning a thing or two at school here haha...
Anyways I can go on and on because it was just such a relaxing, fun, friend-bonding time weekend (my roommate Jen is the sweetest girl - such a blessing to have met such normal, good-hearted, decent people on this trip) in such a peaceful, old, less touristy, Russian (and I mean Russian with a capital R) city…it was such a well needed break from the hubbub of Petersburg…but since we returned on 4th of July we all decided to celebrate so I came back to the rush of the city full-force – stayed out till 6:00 am to see the bridges go up and experience a full night of Russian White Nights – strangely enough this doesn’t seem to be an uncommon occurrence – we saw everyone from old babooshki to 4 year old kids on the hardly-dark streets at 4:00 am…weird
In any case the next day we had no school but I went to the National Russian Library right in the heart of the city – 3 years ago no students were allowed there and foreigners would not have even been considered, only Russian graduates (they would have to bring their diplomas with them for entrance) but laws have changed and I can now access the vault of 14 million old texts БЕЗПЛАТНО! Amazing! – they have all kinds of old texts – a Guttenberg bible, the first text printed in Swedish, the Gospel written in not Slavonic but Cyrillic (the ancient form of Slavonic) from 1038-9 one of the oldest of its kind, and countless other books – I know there is a goldmine of info there that is just waiting for me to access it…and all I need is my student ID and my passport – sweet…
In any case, I apologize for all the Russian words throughout – every tour I have thus far been on has been in Russian – completely – because I am in the first class so am expected to always go with the Russian tour guide on these excursions….it is incredible for my vocabulary and language retention, but I do have a tendency to passively listen as my brain starts to get Russian-overload so I know there is all kinds of things I missed during these tours, but fortunately I do remember most of it (my Russian is definitely improving)…but these past few days have been crazy, fun-filled, eye-opening, exhausting, but thoroughly enjoyable …now back to school and time to hit the books…
Anyways so much has happened since last week – I am now teaching English at a private Филологический Институт, I have been to the Россейская Нацноналная Библиотека, I have done so much more sightseeing, I went to the Петропавловский Крепость, and spent a weekend in Новгород (и можно сказать что я больше понравилась Новгород чем Cанкт Петербург?)….
In any case, I sit in on a beginning English language class from 6:30-8:00 whenever they need me as a native speaker representative and to provide conversation to the students…lets just put it this way: I looooooved the first class but now have an enormously newfound respect for all my teachers at Smolny….
I also went to the PeterPaul Fortress on Friday after class with the whole group, and up until that point, it was definitely my favorite part of the trip thus far – we saw the church there where a majority of the Romanov dynasty is buried including Пётр Великий, Александр II и его супруга, И Ннколай II и его семья – there was this whole room dedicated to the last of the imperial family where their remains were transported in the 1990s….все удивительно…then we were able to do the museum tour where we actually walked through and into the prison – I not only saw the clothes prisoners wore and the lists of people who were locked there (it was the ‘whose-who’ of Russian criminals and dissidents for sure – Lenin’s brother, Trotsky, Vera Finger, Gorky etc.) but was also able to walk inside the cells – I actually also got the complete package of Russian prison life = there was a solitary confinement room we were able to walk into but since I didn’t think the entire experience of ‘solitary confinement’ could fully be achieved with half a dozen other people in the room at the same time, I waited till the rush died down, then closed the door behind me and sat in that room in the darkness for a good solid minute by myself. Complete darkness except for the light seeping through the air holes, absolute silence, and impenetrable air….I could hardly last after 30 seconds let alone 30 days…and just think the monasteries where my ancestors were imprisoned were not only much colder, but also much smaller….it is unbelievably humbling to have experienced just a taste of what that must have been like…
Anyway after that groundbreaking feeling я гуляла с другами в крепостe и в городе (or as my friend David here likes to say ‘goo-li-ats’ ☺ )…it was a nice way to end the day before waking up at the crack of dawn to catch the train to Novgorod…
It’s a 3 hour bus ride to Novgorod give or take and since we left at 8:00 everyone on the trip now knows how un-morning of a person I am….so there’s that…but otherwise it was the start to what may have been the most amazing weekends I will have in Russia. So before this trip I had never heard of Novgorod (and yes mom it is Нов-город not Новий Город) and had no idea why it was important....well now I know it is one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe and houses the oldest standing church in Russia – Saint Sophia. The city was on the crossroads of the traderoutes from the Vikings to the Greeks and became a vastly wealthy trading point – there are about 18 dozen churches (im of course exagerating but not by much) in a city of about 800,000 people if that, a legacy from these древные богатые купци. And in 1944 when the Germans bombed the city, 85% of the city was destroyed so only 15% of the original churches from ancient Novgorod are actually still standing (so sad)…not gonna lie, once you’ve seen one of those churches you’ve seen them all (white washed, onion domes, orthodox) but it was so cool to be walking on streets where Russians walked 1000 years ago…I also looooooved Novgorod because there was a beach there (a “beach” but it was a heck of a lot better than the one in Petersburg that butts up to the Крепость because nothing says a day at the beach like a nice stroll past the state prison...) and a beach volleyball tournament going on so I laid out three times in the sweltering heat (Im not kidding who would have thought Russain could be so hot but it is giving LA a run for its money right now...) and was in my bathing suit all weekend – and its a good thing becuase while they did not tell me to bring a skirt or shawl for this weekend excursion and I was forced to go buy a scarf to wear as a skirt in the churches, I was the only one in a bathing suit at lunch time on Sunday and was able to take a dip in the lake behind one of the cathedrals on the outskirts of the city –all those times i wear my bathing suit under my clothes and it FINALLY paid off....
We also went to the museum they have in Novgorod that is a preserved/consructed Russian villiage (the church is from the 1500s most of the houses from the 1800/1900s) but totally totally cool (not literally it was about 30 degrees ugh)...but I walked through a typical Russian villiage – awesome right?...I was also asked by a random Russian lady there who I asked to take my picture which part of Russia my accent was from...so 'wha-la' I guess I am learning a thing or two at school here haha...
Anyways I can go on and on because it was just such a relaxing, fun, friend-bonding time weekend (my roommate Jen is the sweetest girl - such a blessing to have met such normal, good-hearted, decent people on this trip) in such a peaceful, old, less touristy, Russian (and I mean Russian with a capital R) city…it was such a well needed break from the hubbub of Petersburg…but since we returned on 4th of July we all decided to celebrate so I came back to the rush of the city full-force – stayed out till 6:00 am to see the bridges go up and experience a full night of Russian White Nights – strangely enough this doesn’t seem to be an uncommon occurrence – we saw everyone from old babooshki to 4 year old kids on the hardly-dark streets at 4:00 am…weird
In any case the next day we had no school but I went to the National Russian Library right in the heart of the city – 3 years ago no students were allowed there and foreigners would not have even been considered, only Russian graduates (they would have to bring their diplomas with them for entrance) but laws have changed and I can now access the vault of 14 million old texts БЕЗПЛАТНО! Amazing! – they have all kinds of old texts – a Guttenberg bible, the first text printed in Swedish, the Gospel written in not Slavonic but Cyrillic (the ancient form of Slavonic) from 1038-9 one of the oldest of its kind, and countless other books – I know there is a goldmine of info there that is just waiting for me to access it…and all I need is my student ID and my passport – sweet…
In any case, I apologize for all the Russian words throughout – every tour I have thus far been on has been in Russian – completely – because I am in the first class so am expected to always go with the Russian tour guide on these excursions….it is incredible for my vocabulary and language retention, but I do have a tendency to passively listen as my brain starts to get Russian-overload so I know there is all kinds of things I missed during these tours, but fortunately I do remember most of it (my Russian is definitely improving)…but these past few days have been crazy, fun-filled, eye-opening, exhausting, but thoroughly enjoyable …now back to school and time to hit the books…
Monday, June 28, 2010
Going on week two of classes...and so far so good being in class 1 is a bit tough and sometimes hard to keep up with but it's good for me I feel like I am learning so much: we have грамматика, разговор, газета, русская культура, кинокурс, и фонетика. The teachers are all good the фонетика teacher is one tough cookie but my pronounciation is improving because of her...otherwise I have mastered the trick of getting to school on time and how to take notes быстро по русский..,
anyways I had quite some adventures this weekend-my umbrella broke so me and another student went looking to buy one on Friday because wouldn't you know it was pouring Friday morning...but after three hours of searching and a trip up the dome исавского собора we returned home empty handed..,it rains 75 percent of the time here and not a зойнтик in sight...so my babooshka leant me her bright pink umbrella when she found out mine broke so clearly we are communicating much better and I really feel she has warmed up to me tremendously but I also trapsed around the city like a giant pink gumball...as if that didn't attract attention....
But on Saturday we went to павлоск which is the official hunting grounds Paul the first built it was amazing very contrived but amazing it was a mixture of Harry potter narnia and lord of the rings all rolled into one it wad very impressive, there is also a palace on the premises but since it is the very reason that Russia was bankrupt after Paul was assassinated I was a bit sceptical of how impressive it was...,in anycase the gardens as I said are vast and gorgeous but it was raining and freezing there that day...it certainly added to the romantic atmosphere and I truly did feel like I was in a fairy tale but then the Mosquitos kicked in and killed that dream the effects of which I am still feeling today....also I refused to wear jeans one more day in summer so I donned a wool jacket and a pair if shorts which left significantly more surface area for those little pears to feast on me...ugh
Sunday we had a free day to отдыхать и спать и дышать и что небудь but of course for me that means more time to get out and explore the city so I literally walked around for four hours with a friend from the bronze horseman to the Finland station to lenins statue to the "beach" to my house to change into my black dress for the ballet it ended up being way to expensive so we went and saw the new Tom criuise movie instead but still fun...I met margarita who is one of the kids hers host moms friends daughter she told me spoke and read good riusdusn and is going to take me shopping today after school! I'm so excited! Shopping with a Russian so I hopefully won't get ripped off today haha... But funny anecdote I was all dressed up fir the ballet and definitely experienced the vixenness if st Petersburg firsthand...appearantky there are two girls for every boy here so competition is fierce (i don't know why the men her have much to be desired) but anyways I was staring at this girl because she looked like Hannah ghoseff oand she totally grabbed her boyfreinds waist and beltloop and gave me the vixen stare....I mean I'm flattered she thinks i'm competition but I mean come on! He had a mullet! Not at all interested...I just laughed haha
also saw some people rollerblading with fanny packs on the street...I have officially discovered the antithesis of so cal beaches (try cobblestones fortress)...and life at home is improving евгеня Ивановна served me liver last night (my training came out and I almost forced myself to try it until shevtold me if I dint like it I didn't have to eat it so I didn't thank goodness) but other than that life continues safe and sound (although crazily) in Russia....
anyways I had quite some adventures this weekend-my umbrella broke so me and another student went looking to buy one on Friday because wouldn't you know it was pouring Friday morning...but after three hours of searching and a trip up the dome исавского собора we returned home empty handed..,it rains 75 percent of the time here and not a зойнтик in sight...so my babooshka leant me her bright pink umbrella when she found out mine broke so clearly we are communicating much better and I really feel she has warmed up to me tremendously but I also trapsed around the city like a giant pink gumball...as if that didn't attract attention....
But on Saturday we went to павлоск which is the official hunting grounds Paul the first built it was amazing very contrived but amazing it was a mixture of Harry potter narnia and lord of the rings all rolled into one it wad very impressive, there is also a palace on the premises but since it is the very reason that Russia was bankrupt after Paul was assassinated I was a bit sceptical of how impressive it was...,in anycase the gardens as I said are vast and gorgeous but it was raining and freezing there that day...it certainly added to the romantic atmosphere and I truly did feel like I was in a fairy tale but then the Mosquitos kicked in and killed that dream the effects of which I am still feeling today....also I refused to wear jeans one more day in summer so I donned a wool jacket and a pair if shorts which left significantly more surface area for those little pears to feast on me...ugh
Sunday we had a free day to отдыхать и спать и дышать и что небудь but of course for me that means more time to get out and explore the city so I literally walked around for four hours with a friend from the bronze horseman to the Finland station to lenins statue to the "beach" to my house to change into my black dress for the ballet it ended up being way to expensive so we went and saw the new Tom criuise movie instead but still fun...I met margarita who is one of the kids hers host moms friends daughter she told me spoke and read good riusdusn and is going to take me shopping today after school! I'm so excited! Shopping with a Russian so I hopefully won't get ripped off today haha... But funny anecdote I was all dressed up fir the ballet and definitely experienced the vixenness if st Petersburg firsthand...appearantky there are two girls for every boy here so competition is fierce (i don't know why the men her have much to be desired) but anyways I was staring at this girl because she looked like Hannah ghoseff oand she totally grabbed her boyfreinds waist and beltloop and gave me the vixen stare....I mean I'm flattered she thinks i'm competition but I mean come on! He had a mullet! Not at all interested...I just laughed haha
also saw some people rollerblading with fanny packs on the street...I have officially discovered the antithesis of so cal beaches (try cobblestones fortress)...and life at home is improving евгеня Ивановна served me liver last night (my training came out and I almost forced myself to try it until shevtold me if I dint like it I didn't have to eat it so I didn't thank goodness) but other than that life continues safe and sound (although crazily) in Russia....
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