Getting Caught with Your Bridges Up

Wednesday

SO! Apparently when you call people from Russia at 11am EST, NO ONE PICKS UP THEIR PHONES. Seriously people. I’m calling you from Russia, talk to meeeeeeeeeee! :)

I have days where I feel Russian and days when I feel distinctly American. Yesterday I felt like an American. Today I felt like a Russian. I think it usually has something to do with what I’m wearing; like today was a dress and flats and I felt very Russki. Ha, I would! Yesterday we hit up the shopping district to no avail. Today’s plan was slightly more sinister.

We went all the way down to the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and Admiraltsky Ulitsa to the Museum of the History of the Political Police. The museum was free for students (!!!) and was so cool! It was small, but full of very interesting things. There were four rooms working from the establishment of the secret police under the last Tsar Nicolas all the way through the Cheka, GPU, OGPU, NKVD, KGB, and FSB. The exhibits consisted of declassified documents, information about informants and the people who created these agencies, there were a few uniforms on display, and some spying devices. Photography (understandably) is not allowed. It was really cool to look at all the documentation that has come out of investigation of the foundation of the Russian secret police. I definitely recommend it to anyone who comes to St. Petersburg; it’s just a cool couple of hours.

Despite the fact that it was Wednesday, about half of us decided to go out. The guys had been going on about this “diskoteka” called Metro Club, so we decided to check it out since Wednesdays are cover-free (normally 200 rubles) for students. The St. Petersburg State University IDs we got are getting us serious discounts everywhere! (It probably helps that they’re legitimate Russian student IDs too!) After a terrifying encounter with the bouncers in which I was the only one held outside the club for them to scrutinize my ID and ask me questions about “why am I in Russia, do I speak Russian, where am I studying?” I definitely understand enough Russian to know that I was being insulted, but bouncers are bouncers, no matter what country you’re in. Bleh. If that was nerve-wracking, I can’t even imagine what an encounter with the militsia would be like. It was very entertaining to see what a Russian club looked like. Basically there’s lots of techno, lots of smoking, lots of drinking, lots of high heels, and the white-est dance floor I have ever seen in my life. Also, apparently in Russia its super bad to let a girl buy her own beer. Hence, I paid for nothing (despite the fact that half a liter of beer is only 59 rubles=$2.18 and I totally would have paid that). We also had some champagne (big over here) because one of our Russian friends was celebrating passing his exams. Any excuse is a good excuse to party, international style!

There’s a saying in St. Petersburg of “getting caught with your bridges up.” Since the Neva River is unfrozen from May to November, the bridges go up from 1am to 5am everyday to let the ships and barges go through. Also, the metro stops running at 1am. So basically at 12am you need to decide whether to make the mad dash for the metro/bridges or to stay out till 5am. Generally everyone here uses this as an excuse to stay out and party till the bridges go back down. This is what we did on Wednesday. Yes, we did have class at 10am on Thursday. No, it probably wasn’t the best life decision. Yes, it was a fantastic time. The sun starts coming back up around 3am, so the walk home is safe and by 5am it looks and feels like noon. Thus, on Thursday after class, we all voted to go home and sleep instead of doing more sightseeing.

This was a great idea since today (Friday) we had an extra para or class, so we went from 10 to 3 instead of 10-1. Sunday is Dehn Rossii, or Russia Day, which serves as Russia’s current Independence Day so Monday is the public holiday and we don’t have classes! Hence the two classes we’re missing were tacked onto today and Tuesday. It made today a little rough, but it’s the weekend now! My guy friends and one of our Russian friends might come over tonight and cook sayshlyk (!!!!) tonight, but I need to figure out if my hostess is coming home or not. I’m sure she wouldn’t like coming home to a kitchen full of ravenous children cooking shish-kabobs. After that I believe we’re going to a beach party here on the Gulf of Finland, just a block away from where I live. Only we would find a beach bonfire party in Russia!

Otherwise everything else is going great! I’m having a wonderful time here in Russia, albeit tired as I am!

Love and hugs to all!

Xoxo