Today started classes. It was VERY intense. We did a review of verbal aspect, which I only learned this past semester so it was more like a crash course for me. Oi! After brain drain from 10 to 1, during which most of you reading this weren't even conscious yet, we went to the Smolny cafe to get lunch. They have a daily lunch special of soup, salad, pasta, and meat with chai (tea) for 100 rubles. Which is insanely cheap for the amount of food we got. I think that will probably become a daily thing just based on the location and the value. After lunch, we wrangled David, who's been taking care of us and in some more complicated situations, serving as our translator. He's also the guy we ask if we need to know where something is. He took us down to Nevsky Prospekt to buy cell phones from Beeline. As a result, I FINALLY have a cell phone. Took me long enough! If anyone wants the number, just let me know and we'll try to figure something out since it's an international St. Petersburg Number.
Believe it or not, this took up the better part of three hours and we had a unique experience with Russian consumer bureaucracy. I won't even go into that, it's too much of pain in the ass. After dealing with the insanity of finding cell phones, Kara, Hannah, and I decided to go to a beer tent we had passed earlier on a tend off of Nevsky. It was ridiculously hot again today; too hot for how far north I am. Layers are definitely the name of the game here. Beer and water were bought for about 150 rubles, and we crashed at a table. A local beer that's decent easy to find on tap and relatively cheap (about $3) called Baltika 7 is quickly becoming our favorite. And might I add, for a vodka country, Russian beer is good! Worn out from the sun and all the walking (another 3 miles probably), we sat there for an hour talking and talking. We split up from there, hitting up the Ploshad Bosstokya metro for a way home.
And now I'm sitting in a branch of Coffee Haus by my apartment rapidly writing this before my battery dies because there are no plugs! I hope everyone is doing great in classes, in Europe, or elsewhere! hugs and kisses to all!
Believe it or not, this took up the better part of three hours and we had a unique experience with Russian consumer bureaucracy. I won't even go into that, it's too much of pain in the ass. After dealing with the insanity of finding cell phones, Kara, Hannah, and I decided to go to a beer tent we had passed earlier on a tend off of Nevsky. It was ridiculously hot again today; too hot for how far north I am. Layers are definitely the name of the game here. Beer and water were bought for about 150 rubles, and we crashed at a table. A local beer that's decent easy to find on tap and relatively cheap (about $3) called Baltika 7 is quickly becoming our favorite. And might I add, for a vodka country, Russian beer is good! Worn out from the sun and all the walking (another 3 miles probably), we sat there for an hour talking and talking. We split up from there, hitting up the Ploshad Bosstokya metro for a way home.
And now I'm sitting in a branch of Coffee Haus by my apartment rapidly writing this before my battery dies because there are no plugs! I hope everyone is doing great in classes, in Europe, or elsewhere! hugs and kisses to all!
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