Today was my last day of actual class (excluding finals) in Russia, and while in America this would normally be an exciting day, today I'm admittedly a little sad. After studying here for 6 months, I've gotten pretty attached to our little, slightly run-down school building. And it's not just the teachers or the classes, but all its little quirks and idiosyncrasies. I'll miss the 20 ruble amaretto cappuccinos from the automatic coffee machine, Masha, the university cat who "really loves men" (according to my teachers), the creepy German who walks past our classroom and stares awkwardly several times per para... Sure, it'd be nice if they'd install some AC, but it's even kind of cute to see the teachers fight over the 2 fans for use in the building. Sigh. Saying goodbye is the greatest woe of a traveler.
Anyhow, now that I've mourned a bit, I'll report a little on this weekend's trip to Pskov! I dragged myself to the metro at 7:30 am so we could board our cozy little bus to Pskov. To be honest, I hadn't actually slept the night before, so the four hour trip went by pretty quickly! When we got to the hotel and had cleaned up a bit, we followed our excursion leader, Olga, around the city for a little while. We went into some really beautiful old churches and saw a super old fortress, on which one student decided would be a good idea to climb (unfortunately he hadn't planned how he was going to get down - not to worry, though, he survived). Then later on we were walking along the river and noticed some men drinking and jumping into the river from the top of a hill. I remember thinking they were nuts until all of a sudden Nathan, our RD, takes off his shirt and dives in after them! It was basically all down hill from there, and I also soon found myself shamelessly stripping down into my underwear to jump into the water, which had been designated as "dangerous for life" by a sign that I had noticed earlier. But boy, did it feel nice. Heat makes you do some crazy things. :)
Later on, we took advantage of the absurdly low priced ice cream and went to a park, where I proceeded to catch up on my ever-increasing sleep deficit. In the evening we went to dinner and observed the craziness going on in the center for Pskov Day. It basically reminded me of our state fairs - there was a concert, rides, cotton candy, face painting, and a bunch of happy, sloppy Pskovian citizens. Best of all, there was a firework show, which we watched from the side of the river and later on from our hotel room windows. The next day we visited an old monastery from the 12th century which had a nice display of old frescos on the inside. At 3 pm we had to say goodbye to Pskov and head back home on the bus, which was a bit less pleasant this time around due to the traffic from all the families coming home from their dachas. But we all made it home in one piece, in spite of a few cases of the grumpy-grumps.
And now it's already Tuesday, and time to take our test to see our summer progress tomorrow. It's gonna be a long one, but at least, I can look forward to a 20 ruble amaretto cappuccino during the break. :)
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Peter gets even hotter???
So last time I blogged, I thought that Peter couldn't get any hotter - but this week I was proven very, very wrong. Just today, I read on BBC that this has been one of the most treacherously hot summers in Russian history - not exaggerating even in the slightest - over 200 Russians have apparently already died this year from drowning. Its suspected that they've all been drinking vodka and then going for a dip to cool off. And it wouldn't even be so bad, if they just had AC here. I lived through Peter's coldest winter and its hottest summer - it's been a year of extremes.
Anyhow, besides dealing with the face melting Russian heat, it's been a splendid week. Last Friday I ended up having an unexpectedly fun-filled night. In the beginning, it seemed that no one was in the mood to do anything, but at 10:15 I finally found one other soldier to meet up and join with me on this Friday night of debauchery. We decided to go to Fidel's, the bar/dancing pit that always saves the night when all our options have run out. For about an hour my friend and I just had beers and talked as we waited for our other friend to join us. Just before she arrived, I got acquainted with a Russian who began talking with me by questioning me about the typical demographics of the bar on Friday nights. After about a sentence of my chaotic russian response, he realized that I was a foreigner and asked where I was from. We then continued to talk for another hour until my friends, along with my friend's Russian tutor & Russian friends, decided to move to another new club down the street. My new Russian friend came along with us and there taught me how to take a vodka shot like a proper Russian (apparently you have to exhale before you imbibe...). After the others had danced to their satisfaction, our group, led by the Russians, migrated over to the 24 hour produkti (oh how i will miss you.) to purchase 2 bottles of champagne, rum, coke and plastic cups for our canal party. We then sat along the canal until morning until one of my friends started feeling a little less than healthy. My Russian friend and I got her home in a cab and everything turned out alright. I ended up returning to my apartment at 5:30, but when I got to my door, I found out that my host parents had accidentally locked me out from the inside (I had left so late the night the before, I don't even think they realized that I had been out). I rang the doorbell at 6 o clock and still noone answered. Thus, I walked to the grocery store, bought a bubliki (kind of similar to a Russian bagel), walked around the park and then returned to my apartment around 6:30. I slept on the windowsill in the stairwell until 7:30 and then rang the doorbell again. This time however, my host mother came to the door, obviously surprised that I had been out. I then slept until 11 or so, then got up and met my friend Grace at Krestovskiy Ostrov, where my tutor had taken me earlier in the week. We rented bikes there and enjoyed the scenery - the bikes were a little expensive, but I'm totally glad that we did it - I had forgotten how nice it felt. The next day a small group of us went back to the Gulf of Finland to tan and swim for the day. And thus passed yet another unforgettable weekend in Peter.
The rest of the week was pretty normal. On Wednesday we had our excursion to the Baltika Brewery, in which we get to attend a taste testing of all their beers at the end of the tour. A small group had planned to go to the banya afterwards, but I decided not to go because I had a presentation due the next day (today) that I hadn't started yet. Instead a small group of us bought beer and Jaguars and drank under a tree in the Field of Mars for an hour or so. Today after class I went and walked around Aleksandrovskiy Sad for a little while before going home and saw three wedding parties all in the same area. After I got home and had talked with my mom on skype, I sat with my host father for probably a good couple of hours just talking about languages, education, and life. He made me salami and cheese roll and I swear the cheese tasted exactly like the string cheese that I used to eat everyday in elementary school - soo good :) I also finally found out that he is an engineer that makes ships and he actually manages about 100 workers. But right now he is on vacation until the end of the month (which I also didn't know. ). Lastly I found out that my littlest host sister is going to come back home soon! Looks like my days of candyland playing shall return once again!
Anyhow, besides dealing with the face melting Russian heat, it's been a splendid week. Last Friday I ended up having an unexpectedly fun-filled night. In the beginning, it seemed that no one was in the mood to do anything, but at 10:15 I finally found one other soldier to meet up and join with me on this Friday night of debauchery. We decided to go to Fidel's, the bar/dancing pit that always saves the night when all our options have run out. For about an hour my friend and I just had beers and talked as we waited for our other friend to join us. Just before she arrived, I got acquainted with a Russian who began talking with me by questioning me about the typical demographics of the bar on Friday nights. After about a sentence of my chaotic russian response, he realized that I was a foreigner and asked where I was from. We then continued to talk for another hour until my friends, along with my friend's Russian tutor & Russian friends, decided to move to another new club down the street. My new Russian friend came along with us and there taught me how to take a vodka shot like a proper Russian (apparently you have to exhale before you imbibe...). After the others had danced to their satisfaction, our group, led by the Russians, migrated over to the 24 hour produkti (oh how i will miss you.) to purchase 2 bottles of champagne, rum, coke and plastic cups for our canal party. We then sat along the canal until morning until one of my friends started feeling a little less than healthy. My Russian friend and I got her home in a cab and everything turned out alright. I ended up returning to my apartment at 5:30, but when I got to my door, I found out that my host parents had accidentally locked me out from the inside (I had left so late the night the before, I don't even think they realized that I had been out). I rang the doorbell at 6 o clock and still noone answered. Thus, I walked to the grocery store, bought a bubliki (kind of similar to a Russian bagel), walked around the park and then returned to my apartment around 6:30. I slept on the windowsill in the stairwell until 7:30 and then rang the doorbell again. This time however, my host mother came to the door, obviously surprised that I had been out. I then slept until 11 or so, then got up and met my friend Grace at Krestovskiy Ostrov, where my tutor had taken me earlier in the week. We rented bikes there and enjoyed the scenery - the bikes were a little expensive, but I'm totally glad that we did it - I had forgotten how nice it felt. The next day a small group of us went back to the Gulf of Finland to tan and swim for the day. And thus passed yet another unforgettable weekend in Peter.
The rest of the week was pretty normal. On Wednesday we had our excursion to the Baltika Brewery, in which we get to attend a taste testing of all their beers at the end of the tour. A small group had planned to go to the banya afterwards, but I decided not to go because I had a presentation due the next day (today) that I hadn't started yet. Instead a small group of us bought beer and Jaguars and drank under a tree in the Field of Mars for an hour or so. Today after class I went and walked around Aleksandrovskiy Sad for a little while before going home and saw three wedding parties all in the same area. After I got home and had talked with my mom on skype, I sat with my host father for probably a good couple of hours just talking about languages, education, and life. He made me salami and cheese roll and I swear the cheese tasted exactly like the string cheese that I used to eat everyday in elementary school - soo good :) I also finally found out that he is an engineer that makes ships and he actually manages about 100 workers. But right now he is on vacation until the end of the month (which I also didn't know. ). Lastly I found out that my littlest host sister is going to come back home soon! Looks like my days of candyland playing shall return once again!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Peter is hot.
Whew! Who knew Petersburg summers could be so hot??? This past week has probably been the hottest week that I've experienced since I've been in Russia. Though I'm pretty sure it's even hotter in America right now, I'm also fairly certain that more places have air conditioning than here. Nevertheless, I appreciate it after having to endure the freezing winter here and have been trying to take advantage of the sunny days we've been gifted with.
Last weekend was pretty busy. On Friday, our moped-riding friend from Amsterdam that we met in Warsaw arrived in St. Pete's so we met up with him and took out with us to the bar, SPB, where we celebrated one of the student's birthdays. It ended up being a pretty late night, but I still managed to get myself up at 9:30 the next morning to go with my host parents to visit my host sisters at their summer camp. The summer camp was amazing! It was maybe in hour or so away by car, so it was far enough away from the city that you could actually breathe comfortably. The camp had a pool, basketball court, playground, movie theater, dorms, cafeteria, and discoteka. My host father said it was pretty expensive to send your children there, but his company got him a discount. It was great to see the girls again - I missed them a lot this month! We took them with us to a river near the camp and grilled shashlik and tanned there for the afternoon. Before we went back home, we watched Alina have a swimming lesson and I took some pictures.
The next day was the fourth of July which our group decided to spend on the Gulf of Finland. We were going to set up base at one of the student's dachas, but he ended up getting bit by a dog (like me! but he wasn't wearing pants, so it was a bit more serious) and had to go get a rabies shot. Nevertheless, we took a train there in the morning anyway. I can't imagine a better way to have spent the fourth in Russia. We just tanned, swam, ate, and drank together all day long and then took the train back in the evening.
On Monday we had our weekly meeting and found out for certain that we are going to the north for our big trip! Apparently we will be taking several forms of transportation including boat, bus, and probably train, but we'll spend less time traveling than we did to Sochi. We are going to solovetskiy islands on the White Sea and petrozavodsk in the region of Karelia. Apparently, summer is one of the only times during the year that is even possible to visit there, so lots of Russians haven't even been there. He also said we'd probably get to do some nature-y things like rafting and rowing there, so I'm really excited!
On Tuesday, we went to a bar that we've been going to the past couple of weeks because it gives out free champagne to girls during certain times on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We think they've begun to notice that we come every week though and thus are a little bugged. Free champagne was supposed to start at 10, however, we had to wait an hour for our free bubbly. Nonetheless, we had a good time and we'll probably still go back - free is free.
Wednesday started out great because we finally got our hot water back and I had my first warm shower in two weeks! I don't think that I realized how lovely it was until I had to do without it. Then we had our excursion to the political history museum to which Grace and I had both already been, but had been looking forward to since we had had such a good experience the first time around. This time, however, we had to endure an hour-long "tour" about censuses (censi??), which took us on an expansive journey around a single tiny room (well, perhaps there were two at most). On top of this, I had made the poor decision to take painkillers that next morning, thinking that they would help numb my sore throat. I later found out that they were only muscle relaxers and while one was sufficient to numb the most powerful of headaches and muscle cramps, they wouldn't do a thing to help my throat. This I found out only after having taken three doses that morning. Needless to say, I had some difficulties listening to an hour-long Russian oration on historical censuses. There was, however, a film crew there making a commercial for the exhibition, so maybe we'll at least come away from the situations as Z-list celebrities. After the census tour(ture), we took a brief quick tour of the ACTUAL museum, which is actually pretty awesome. It just would have been better had we not all been exhausted from the previous hour of censuses.
After that, we went to a really great pelmeni restaurant which offered a wide assortment of different types of pelmeni, including mexican pelmeni! I went with one of the lunch specials because it came with beet salad, which I've grown really accustomed to. In the evening I met up with my tutor, Sasha and Anya at Krestovsky Island where the Russian mini-Disney world is located along with a gorgeous park. They arrived on bikes and traded off letting me ride around the park - I didn't realize how much I missed riding my bike! We first went and sat by a lake for a while, then went to a mini-zoo, which had ostriches and reindeer and rabbits. After that, Sasha and I rode up to see the Gulf of Finland and where a new stadium was going to be built. All in all, it was a great evening! We also made plans to get together this weekend to go to a club together, since I told them that I hadn't been to very many since I'd been here.
As I'm finishing up this entry, we are finally getting some much need rain here = hopefully it'll cool down the city a little bit! :)
Last weekend was pretty busy. On Friday, our moped-riding friend from Amsterdam that we met in Warsaw arrived in St. Pete's so we met up with him and took out with us to the bar, SPB, where we celebrated one of the student's birthdays. It ended up being a pretty late night, but I still managed to get myself up at 9:30 the next morning to go with my host parents to visit my host sisters at their summer camp. The summer camp was amazing! It was maybe in hour or so away by car, so it was far enough away from the city that you could actually breathe comfortably. The camp had a pool, basketball court, playground, movie theater, dorms, cafeteria, and discoteka. My host father said it was pretty expensive to send your children there, but his company got him a discount. It was great to see the girls again - I missed them a lot this month! We took them with us to a river near the camp and grilled shashlik and tanned there for the afternoon. Before we went back home, we watched Alina have a swimming lesson and I took some pictures.
The next day was the fourth of July which our group decided to spend on the Gulf of Finland. We were going to set up base at one of the student's dachas, but he ended up getting bit by a dog (like me! but he wasn't wearing pants, so it was a bit more serious) and had to go get a rabies shot. Nevertheless, we took a train there in the morning anyway. I can't imagine a better way to have spent the fourth in Russia. We just tanned, swam, ate, and drank together all day long and then took the train back in the evening.
On Monday we had our weekly meeting and found out for certain that we are going to the north for our big trip! Apparently we will be taking several forms of transportation including boat, bus, and probably train, but we'll spend less time traveling than we did to Sochi. We are going to solovetskiy islands on the White Sea and petrozavodsk in the region of Karelia. Apparently, summer is one of the only times during the year that is even possible to visit there, so lots of Russians haven't even been there. He also said we'd probably get to do some nature-y things like rafting and rowing there, so I'm really excited!
On Tuesday, we went to a bar that we've been going to the past couple of weeks because it gives out free champagne to girls during certain times on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We think they've begun to notice that we come every week though and thus are a little bugged. Free champagne was supposed to start at 10, however, we had to wait an hour for our free bubbly. Nonetheless, we had a good time and we'll probably still go back - free is free.
Wednesday started out great because we finally got our hot water back and I had my first warm shower in two weeks! I don't think that I realized how lovely it was until I had to do without it. Then we had our excursion to the political history museum to which Grace and I had both already been, but had been looking forward to since we had had such a good experience the first time around. This time, however, we had to endure an hour-long "tour" about censuses (censi??), which took us on an expansive journey around a single tiny room (well, perhaps there were two at most). On top of this, I had made the poor decision to take painkillers that next morning, thinking that they would help numb my sore throat. I later found out that they were only muscle relaxers and while one was sufficient to numb the most powerful of headaches and muscle cramps, they wouldn't do a thing to help my throat. This I found out only after having taken three doses that morning. Needless to say, I had some difficulties listening to an hour-long Russian oration on historical censuses. There was, however, a film crew there making a commercial for the exhibition, so maybe we'll at least come away from the situations as Z-list celebrities. After the census tour(ture), we took a brief quick tour of the ACTUAL museum, which is actually pretty awesome. It just would have been better had we not all been exhausted from the previous hour of censuses.
After that, we went to a really great pelmeni restaurant which offered a wide assortment of different types of pelmeni, including mexican pelmeni! I went with one of the lunch specials because it came with beet salad, which I've grown really accustomed to. In the evening I met up with my tutor, Sasha and Anya at Krestovsky Island where the Russian mini-Disney world is located along with a gorgeous park. They arrived on bikes and traded off letting me ride around the park - I didn't realize how much I missed riding my bike! We first went and sat by a lake for a while, then went to a mini-zoo, which had ostriches and reindeer and rabbits. After that, Sasha and I rode up to see the Gulf of Finland and where a new stadium was going to be built. All in all, it was a great evening! We also made plans to get together this weekend to go to a club together, since I told them that I hadn't been to very many since I'd been here.
As I'm finishing up this entry, we are finally getting some much need rain here = hopefully it'll cool down the city a little bit! :)
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Just another "average" weekend in St. Pete's
It's hard to believe that June is almost over and in a month I'll already be getting ready to go back to America. After 5 months here, it feels strange to imagine being surrounded by English again. Even now, when I skype with my friends and family it can be challenging to locate the English word that I'm searching for since I've gotten so used to incorporating certain word and phrases into my every day vernacular. I imagine I will still be saying "спасибо", "извини!", and "ой!" for a couple of weeks after I get back to the states.
But enough about that. For now I am still in Russia and trying to enjoy it to the maximum in the short time that I have left. This Sunday the sun came back so since I had no plans, I decided to spend the day strolling around the city. In the morning when I went for a run, I was pleasantly surprised to see other runners on the street for once. Turned out there was a marathon going on in the city, which I had actually heard about briefly from a German that we met in Latvia who said would be participating. We had planned to try and meet up, but up to that point, we hadn't heard anything from him, so we assumed he had decided not to come. Later on, however, after I had been walking around for about 5 hours, I was trying to find my way back to Nevskiy Prospekt and, low and behold, there on the bridge in front of me was Hans, the German marathoner! Apparently his facebook had shut down so he couldn't get his message to us in time to arrange a meeting point. Apparently his marathon had gone well though and he had really enjoyed the city. Unfortunately, he and his friend were rushing to catch their bus home back to Tallinn when I met them, and I was on my way to church, so we didn't get to talk for very long. Nonetheless, I was overjoyed to run into them - had to have been судьба!
Earlier in the day on my walk, I stumbled upon a jazz festival, so I stayed and watched for an hour or so. I ran into a bar tender from our favorite German bar there as well - they say St. Petersburg is a big city, but EVERYONE comes together in the center, and I actually run into people that I know all the time. On average, I would say that I usually see at least 2 faces that I recognize every time that I take a walk down Nevskiy. After the festival, I found a beautiful spot next to the Engineer's Castle to sit on a bench and read for a while. After church, I was pretty exhausted, so I headed home, satisfied with my relaxing, yet fulfilling day.
Yesterday we went on an excursion to an orchestra concert in the Mariinskiy Theatre's newish concert hall. We saw a performance of a piece by Franz Liszt and another by a new composer, which had an incredible violin soloist, who apparently was only 25 years old! By the time I got back to my apartment though, it was already 11 and I still had to finish my homework and study for a grammar test. It all got done though and everything worked out fine like always.
Now we have a completely free day tomorrow, since our excursion was early this week, so I think we are going to go to a fortress somewhere (but different for Peter and Paul's). I don't know exactly what we're doing, but I heard there may be a speed boat involved, which never fails to brighten my day.
But enough about that. For now I am still in Russia and trying to enjoy it to the maximum in the short time that I have left. This Sunday the sun came back so since I had no plans, I decided to spend the day strolling around the city. In the morning when I went for a run, I was pleasantly surprised to see other runners on the street for once. Turned out there was a marathon going on in the city, which I had actually heard about briefly from a German that we met in Latvia who said would be participating. We had planned to try and meet up, but up to that point, we hadn't heard anything from him, so we assumed he had decided not to come. Later on, however, after I had been walking around for about 5 hours, I was trying to find my way back to Nevskiy Prospekt and, low and behold, there on the bridge in front of me was Hans, the German marathoner! Apparently his facebook had shut down so he couldn't get his message to us in time to arrange a meeting point. Apparently his marathon had gone well though and he had really enjoyed the city. Unfortunately, he and his friend were rushing to catch their bus home back to Tallinn when I met them, and I was on my way to church, so we didn't get to talk for very long. Nonetheless, I was overjoyed to run into them - had to have been судьба!
Earlier in the day on my walk, I stumbled upon a jazz festival, so I stayed and watched for an hour or so. I ran into a bar tender from our favorite German bar there as well - they say St. Petersburg is a big city, but EVERYONE comes together in the center, and I actually run into people that I know all the time. On average, I would say that I usually see at least 2 faces that I recognize every time that I take a walk down Nevskiy. After the festival, I found a beautiful spot next to the Engineer's Castle to sit on a bench and read for a while. After church, I was pretty exhausted, so I headed home, satisfied with my relaxing, yet fulfilling day.
Yesterday we went on an excursion to an orchestra concert in the Mariinskiy Theatre's newish concert hall. We saw a performance of a piece by Franz Liszt and another by a new composer, which had an incredible violin soloist, who apparently was only 25 years old! By the time I got back to my apartment though, it was already 11 and I still had to finish my homework and study for a grammar test. It all got done though and everything worked out fine like always.
Now we have a completely free day tomorrow, since our excursion was early this week, so I think we are going to go to a fortress somewhere (but different for Peter and Paul's). I don't know exactly what we're doing, but I heard there may be a speed boat involved, which never fails to brighten my day.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Алые Паруса and other news...
So the day after I blogged about my russian doctor's scheme to cleanse my digestive system, I decided that I knew my body better than he did, stashing the pills away and continuing to indulge бутрброд's and veggie quiche. Unfortunately, I then realized that I had used up my stash of ibuprofen and tylenol, so all my sore throat and headache symptoms came back full force on Wednesday, causing me to go home during third para to attempt to find something at the аптека here for my misery. Nothing on the shelves really looked familiar, but I read the labels and eventually decided on 2 medicines that sounded promising. After taking a supernap when I got home, I asked my hostparents if they knew what I should to ease my symptoms. My host father first proposed vodka with honey, then watching tv with him, then finally pulled out a packet of something that he poured in hot water and had me drink. After that, I was starting to feel a little better so I learned how to play the board game нарди with my host father before bedtime. Then miraculously, the next morning my symptoms were gone!
The other exciting thing that took place since I last blogged was Алые Паруса, which is basically a giant celebration for all of the highschool graduates in St. Petersburg. There's a huge concert in Palace Square, a big ship that sails through the canals, and a giant firework show just for the graduates. Somehow, one of ACTR tutors also works for the government and was able to get us all free tickets to the concert, so we got to see all the chaos firsthand. The concert was cool, all of the performers were really famous in Russia, but I still didn't know most of the acts. Cirque du Soleil also performed. I think we left the concert some time after two and then hung out in a bar until the metros opened - at least that was the plan. When we actually got to the metro, they were all still closed and there were crowds of people everywhere. I've never seen the streets here so packed with drunk people, not even on Night of the Museums. I ended up walking home since I live pretty close to the center, but others who lived further just had to wait it out.
Today we had our excursion to Peterhof, which was lovely because we had fabulous weather for once. I'd been there once before at the end of last semester, but this time was cool too because we had an actual tour guide (who was only 17!) and got to go into the grotto, which I hadn't been in the first time I was there. Plus, it's always fun to play in all the trick fountains that are all over the park - it's wild imagining people playing in them in the 19th century though!
Anyhow, now I'm pretty worn out. I think some people were going to meet up to watch the America - Algeria soccer match today, but I just don' t have the energy to go out again tonight. Tomorrow there's a place that gives out free champagne to girls from 6-8 though, so I should be revived and ready by that time :) .
Last piece of interesting news: yesterday my host mom came into my room to chat and told me that we wouldn't have hot water for the next 2 weeks. Apparently, they do this every summer. She was like, "we'll all just going to be dirty together! or go to the banya!" haha. Oh my. Thus, cold showers it is.
The other exciting thing that took place since I last blogged was Алые Паруса, which is basically a giant celebration for all of the highschool graduates in St. Petersburg. There's a huge concert in Palace Square, a big ship that sails through the canals, and a giant firework show just for the graduates. Somehow, one of ACTR tutors also works for the government and was able to get us all free tickets to the concert, so we got to see all the chaos firsthand. The concert was cool, all of the performers were really famous in Russia, but I still didn't know most of the acts. Cirque du Soleil also performed. I think we left the concert some time after two and then hung out in a bar until the metros opened - at least that was the plan. When we actually got to the metro, they were all still closed and there were crowds of people everywhere. I've never seen the streets here so packed with drunk people, not even on Night of the Museums. I ended up walking home since I live pretty close to the center, but others who lived further just had to wait it out.
Today we had our excursion to Peterhof, which was lovely because we had fabulous weather for once. I'd been there once before at the end of last semester, but this time was cool too because we had an actual tour guide (who was only 17!) and got to go into the grotto, which I hadn't been in the first time I was there. Plus, it's always fun to play in all the trick fountains that are all over the park - it's wild imagining people playing in them in the 19th century though!
Anyhow, now I'm pretty worn out. I think some people were going to meet up to watch the America - Algeria soccer match today, but I just don' t have the energy to go out again tonight. Tomorrow there's a place that gives out free champagne to girls from 6-8 though, so I should be revived and ready by that time :) .
Last piece of interesting news: yesterday my host mom came into my room to chat and told me that we wouldn't have hot water for the next 2 weeks. Apparently, they do this every summer. She was like, "we'll all just going to be dirty together! or go to the banya!" haha. Oh my. Thus, cold showers it is.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Birthdays and the Doctor
As promised, I am checking in to report on my Russian 21st birthday adventures. Since my bday fell on a Monday this year, I went to Dacha Sundays (where my tutor djs) so that I could spend my first moments as a 21 year old at a bar, as any true American should. I was unfortunately feeling a little sickly so I just stayed until 12 with a few of my friends and Sasha and then shivered my way home.
There was apparently another holiday besides my birthday in Russia this weekend, день России (Russia Day), so I didn't have class and slept in until around 11. When I brought myself to my breakfast spot, my host mom had already placed a pink flower gift bag next to my breakfast saying, "Jaime! Happy birthday! - Russian family." Inside was a beautiful silver ring with a pink stone, since I had been talking to my host mom about how I liked rings just the other day. Then when my host father came home, he brought me a huge bouquet of beautiful flowers to put in my room.
I had to go to a meeting at school, but before I left I had fried squash and it was one of the most delicious dishes I've had in Russia, and surprisingly simple to prepare! At the meeting, Nathan had everyone sing the Russian birthday song (which is NOT "Happy Birthday to You" fyi), which I took a video of and will try to load up here if I can.
After the meeting, a group of us decided to go get dinner at a place called Zoom Cafe, which is kind of literature themed - there are books and stuffed animals everywhere, and the food is always delicious. But before that we had to stop at the dorm so that some of the people in the group could go to Nathan and Marina's office hours. When we got over to Zoom, there was a half hour wait, so we went across the street to the German bar for a beer while we waited. We didn't end up leaving Zoom until about 10:15 or so and then headed to the American restaurant, The Other Side, where we had said that we would meet up with other students for a drink. It was fun except that when I was saying goodbye to one student I spilled half of my overpriced gin & tonic on the floor. But such is life. I probably shouldn't have been drinking much in any case since I was sick.
Today was our first day of classes, which was interesting since most of them are just going to be made up of Grace and I. All of my teachers today were great today though, two of which I had last semester and the third, I had heard about from other students (she's probably like 23 years old, but seems to have a good handle on what she's doing now). Then after class, I finally gave in and decided to go to the doctor. So he checked everything out and eventually gave me some medicine - but only for my bowels. He didn't seemed to think I needed anything for the sore throat or the temperature, which I thought were the more serious issues. So now I have to take about 4 pills with 2 of my meals every day and avoid dairy products, fats, and vegetables for the next week. Looks like I'll be having a lot of soup and каша for the next week! Oh and no alcohol either, so I'll have to save the major partying for next weekend, I suppose. But I have to go back on Monday after school, so if I don't come back healthier, he'll punish me with more pills and restrictions probably. Ah well, at least I'll have a clean system, I hope.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Summer days...
It's hard to believe that the last time I blogged was to write about our "big trip" to Sochi. So much has happened since then I hardly know where to begin! Let me start by saying that the spring semester in Russia ended successfully for us all - finals were comparably less stressful than back home at Notre Dame and we went out with a bang at our final dinner where my group performed a medley of songs from the Russian movie musical, Stilyagi. Goodbyes were sad as they always are, but immediately following the group's departure back to America, my friend Grace and I set off on our ambitious Eastern Eurotrip - 18 days, 5 countries, and 7 cities! Thus, I will attempt to record a brief summary of the main events that I remember from each city below...
Tallinn, Estonia
Our first stop, which we arrived to by bus, was to the adorable capital of Estonia, Tallinn. It was there that we met up with the other half of our unstoppable group of travelers, Jeff, who studied in Vladimir, and Misha (or Michael), who had studied in Moscow. There, we had our first experience with the world of hostels at Tallinn Backpackers. When I entered the hostel, I immediately felt that I had walked into a frat house, the morning after a massive party - several people laid passed out on the couches while others simply sat around in snuggies goofing off with their laptops. It seemed to be entirely run by Australians, who we seemed to have created their own mini-Australia within Tallinn. I met a ton of really terrific people from all over the world, however, and it was a great first taste of the hostel experience for me. While we mostly just strolled around the old town in Tallinn on the first day, climbing the castle and eating enormous Estonian pancakes, the second day we opted to take a tour of the natural sights around Tallinn. We saw a lot of cool things, such as the largest waterfall in the Baltics (which wasn't very large at all, but pretty nevertheless), a lot of old ruins, and finally, the infamous bog walk, where we were attacked by swarms of mosquitoes, and suffered for several days after. All in all, it was a nice couple of days, and great way to start off the trip.
Riga, Latvia
Our next stop was in the gorgeous, up-and-coming tourist spot in the capital of Latvia, Riga. Interestingly enough, when we arrived there, we found that there was set to be a marathon held there on Sunday, which brought runners from all over to the city. Two of which, we had the pleasure of meeting in our hostel and hanging out with for most of our time in Riga. One was a character from England, who had decided to run the half-marathon on Sunday. He was probably one of the most insane people I've ever met - his preparation for the race the night before consisted of drinking about 10 beers and snorting magnesium. And the funny thing is he actually did fairly well in the race, even including his stop on the final leg for a beer and a cigarette. The other runner that we met was a guy from Germany, who had been living in Tallinn for an internship and was studying to become beer brewer! He basically encompassed every stereotype that you can have for a German, but in a good way! He apparently travelled around all the time to do marathons in different parts of the world and he's going to come to run one in St. Petersburg this summer! While he was supposed to take a bus back to Tallinn on Sunday night, we convinced him to stay for one more night, so that we could take him out to party with us in the city. I am eternally grateful for him for saving me from some drunk Belgians in the final bar that we went to.
Vilnius, Lithuania
The people in our hostel weren't quite as interesting as the last (minus perhaps one of the workers from america who was in vilnius to set up a jewish library), but I still had a really wonderful time exploring the city. The Old Town was cool because you had to enter through an arch and walk downhill through the streets. My group of travelers tend to consider Vilnius one of their least favorites, but I thought we actually saw some of our coolest sights there. We found a museum of energy there with lots of interactive exhibitions, the museum of genocide, and a totally bizarre room in the university of Vilnius whose walls were covered in these kind of creepy fresco illustrations. They also had monument to Frank Zappa, which I couldn't get over.
Warsaw, Poland
We took a night bus to Warsaw and found ourselves at this large, white, pillared government building, which apparently was our hostel. When we walked in, we were surprised to find that the door man didn't speak a word of English (or Russian for that matter), but at least he was nice and we managed to communicate the main things that we needed to him. It kind of felt like we were the only guests there the entire time we were staying, so it was a little odd. When we got to exploring the city, we were pleasantly surprised to find that Warsaw was actually pretty, despite the descriptions in our guidebook. The first night, Jeff, Grace, and I walked around for about 3 hours just trying to find an internet cafe and supermarket, which wouldn't have been so hard if we had been able to speak Polish. We all had some special Polish ice cream (it's super tall and it has a soft-serve, but with a hardened exterior) on the way to keep our spirits up. We eventually did find a grocery store, however, and bought some celebratory Polish vodka for our troubles. We saw some pretty cool stuff around the city, most memorably the Warsaw Uprising museum and the church where you could see Chopin's heart. The second night in Warsaw we had to switch hostels since we had apparently only booked one night, but it worked out for the best, because the new hostel was probably one of the coolest ones that we stayed at. It had its own bar, common room, and kitchen! When we were making dinner in the kitchen we met a guy from Amsterdam who had decided to travel around Europe by moped, but was stuck in Warsaw because his moped had broken down and he had to get it fixed. It turns out that he's going to be in Petersburg as well in the beginning of July, so we will have another visitor to take around the town. We talked with him for a while and ended up inviting him to go out with us that night. We had a very elegant vodka tea party and then went clubbing until the wee hours in the morning, despite the fact that our bus to Krakow left at 7 the next morning. Somehow we all managed to get up, however, and our adventures in Poland continued...
Krakow, Poland
When we first got to Krakow, we were all still feeling a bit under the weather, so we were a pretty unhappy when our cab driver dropped us off at the wrong hostel. We called our original hostel to find out how to get there and the girl who worked there ended up coming to meet us personally on the street to lead us to the hostel! We ended up getting to know her and the rest of the staff really well, making meals together and going out with them several times in Krakow. We also met a pair of French Canadian twins from Montreal, who were planning on going hiking in the mountains after leaving Krakow. The hostel was small, but very home-y, we all felt like we were a family there :). The city of Krakow, in general, was gorgeous. I had been there once before in 2008, but had really only explored the churches there. My favorite event that we stumbled upon when we were there was a citywide pillow fight in the main square - it was absolutely nuts - there were feathers everywhere! We also took a day trip to Auschwitz, where it appropriately rained on us for most of the time we were walking around. It was pretty jarring, but definitely a worthwhile experience. The crazy thing was when we were leaving Birkenau, we ran into none other than moped guy from Amsterdam! And the first thing he said, "Aw yeah, I thought I might see you guys here." His moped had been fixed and he was apparently just taking a pit stop there. Small world though. We also had to say goodbye to Jeff in Krakow, but we ended his trip with a bang, by partying all night with the Poles working at our hostel and eventually staying awake with Jeff until 6 in the morning when he had to leave to catch his train.
Lviv, Ukraine
Then came the bus to Ukraine where we had a pleasant 4-hour wait at the border at from around 3 to 7 in the morning. But we managed to take a nice long nap at our hostel when we arrived, so all was well. It was totally surreal being back in Lviv, in which I already had so many memories from 2008. We met up with my friend from ESS, Oksana, and my friend, from Notre Dame who had come to Lviv to teach English. Apparently, they both share an apartment together now! It was wonderful to see them again - it makes the world feel a lot smaller. They took us around a bit to a huge cemetery and a jewish café, where apparently, if you want to, you may haggle to get a lower price, haha. Unfortunately, the next couple of days it rained a lot, and Misha and I started coming down with a bit of a cold. Nonetheless we still managed to have a good time, seeing a museum of an old, restored pharmacy and going to an underground Ukrainian restaurant, in which entrance is only allowed for people who say, "Slava Ukrainye!" (Glory to Ukraine!) When you enter they immediately give you a free shot of vodka and welcome you into a kitschy room of Ukrainian folk singers and drunk Ukrainians. For some reason, at the end of the night, the power went off though, so we ducked out after that happened. I also randomly ran into about 5 of my favorite students from ESS just on the main streets - they were so surprised, it was so precious! I want to go back again :)
Kiev, Ukraine
Our final destination was to Ukraine's main city, Kiev. We took a night train there and, for the first time, experienced what it was like to travel in a kupet! Kupets are 4 to a room with 4 beds, and you can actually close the doors, so it's nice. I think the beds were much more comfortable as well. We also had some awesome kupet mates - one was a kindly grandfather and the other was a young businessman. We spoke Russian with them and even had an interesting debate about the attractiveness of various Eastern European men! The only slight discomfort was that the young businessman watched Star Wars on his laptop all night and fell asleep before he turned off the DVD menu - I had my headphones in, but the light of the computer still kept me up for a while. When we got to Kiev, we were happy to find that the weather there was much better than it had been in Lviv. Super warm and not a cloud in the sky :) The young guy that worked in the hostel was another one of my favorite characters that we met along the way. When we first got to the hostel, I asked if they had a bathroom and chuckled, and said, "Noo, sorry we don't." That's how I knew he would be cool. He gave us a lot of cool suggestions for things to do including where to eat (Puzata Hata, our old friend from Lviv), where to sight see (panorama boat cruise on the river) and where to party (Independence square, where he actually drove us on Sunday when he was heading in the same direction himself). During our days in Kiev, we went to the underground crypt at a huge old monastery (which apparently used to be where the monks lived), took a trippy tour of the Bulgakov house museum, did some shopping in the markets on our way to see the giant Andrievsky Church and stumbled upon a Ukrainian talent show in the main square. On our last night in Kiev, we went to a karaoke bar where I respectively sang "Can't Fight the Moonlight" twice and then lost my voice. Luckily, the next morning hostel guy, who had already been through a 6-year medical program, brought me some kind of potion that he said would make me feel a lot better. Then Grace and I had to gear up to take a train to Moscow (so that we wouldn't pass through Belarus, where you need a visa) and say goodbye to Misha, who was going back to America from Kiev.
Grace and I then spent a night in Moscow at the cutest hostel called the Chocolate Hostel, where they served up freshly brewed hot chocolate with breakfast every morning. The weird thing was the other guests at the hostel were basically all in their 50s and 60s, except for the Russians, who seemed to be living there, and a cool Australian girl from Melbourne, who will hopefully be visiting us when she comes to Petersburg for the White Nights. While in Moscow, we tried again to go and see Lenin's body, but once again the exhibition was closed for the upcoming holiday (Russia Day, June 12). We did go to one history museum though and met up with Grace's old tutor from Wisconsin, who had been doing flagship in Moscow. We spent one evening playing a Russian card game, Durak, with the other Russians in the hostel, which was really fun, and great language practice! I had played the game a lot with my host sisters, but they could never explain the rules as well as they did at the hostel.
And now I'm all back settled in Petersburg for the summer! My host sisters are away at summer camp, but my host father said that he would take me to go visit them for a weekend at some point if I wished. We also met with the new kiddies for the first time last night and they all seem pretty cool - there are 3 other ND kids! One of which I actually sang with in Russian ensemble. I definitely feel like I'm a part of the cool kids club now though. As soon as we got to the dorm to meet up with everyone, we met up with Nathan and Marina in their office and Marina started pouring us celebratory coffee&cognac. Then after we went to dinner we had a mini-dance party together up in the office and we found out that our big trip at the end of the summer is going to be 10 days in the north north parts of Russia! Sounded pretty exciting :) Now I've unfortunately come down with something and I've been taking pills all night and day to try and keep my fever down. I didn't go to help with orientation today so that I could rest up, but now I feel a bit stronger, so I will try to meet up with them all sometime tonight.
Stay tuned for my Russian 21st Bday adventures!
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