Oh, hey, Lenin

Today we had classes as usual and ate lunch at the stolovaya. After that was all said and done, we headed over to the Smolny Institute next to where we’re studying for a group tour of Lenin’s office and apartment around the time of the revolution and before the Bolshevik government moved the capital to Moscow. The office itself is in a building that now houses the local government and the office of the governor herself. As a result, security is tight and we all had to show our student IDs to even be let on the property. Our guide, a delightful Russian history grad student named Vladimir, took us on a tour of the rooms were Lenin stayed. Since the tour covered rooms on multiple floors, we actually got to see parts of the local governmental offices, although photography was forbidden in the hallway.

I remember reading about how starkly Lenin lived with his wife during the time of the revolution, and may I say how true that is! All of the rooms are sparsely furnished and simple. Many of his personal effects were in the offices behind glass. On one of the desks was an original draft of the soviet constitution from 1913 in Lenin’s actual handwriting. What we saw is kind of hard to describe, so I’ll put some pictures here so you all can see Lenin’s office!

At the end of the tour we went into the White Room where the first soviet congress was held in St. Petersburg and where they still hold special events today. The room is as it looked in 1913 excepting the microphones and newly installed LCD screen in the corner of the room. We were allowed to go up to the speaker’s bar and platform and sit for pictures, which we thought was a total riot and probably had a little too much fun with. If you look in the bottom right of the full-room picture here, you can see our personal militsia escort who followed us around to make sure we didn’t do anything stupid. Actually, I think he liked us; we made him smile a few times and I’m sure that half of us were pretty, young women didn’t hurt. 

democracy at work

After Lenin’s apartment, we called it a day and headed home to get some rest. After all, we need the energy because the sightseeing continues till the day we leave!

Xoxo

P.S. Today marked 60 years since the start of World War II for Russian and beginning of the Leningrad Blockade on June, 22 1941. (For those who don’t know, Leningrad and St. Petersburg are the same city.) There were ceremonies and the like all over the city today. It was very cool to see the veterans with all their medals out on the streets. St. Petersburg is very characterized by its history, and the Blockade has a lot to do with their modern mentality. Everyone here has orange and black stripped ribbons around their houses and on their cars that represent solidarity in the Blockade. Hence, the ribbons were everywhere today. 

"Dead People Day"

Today was rough and entertaining at the same time. I had to get up an hour earlier than usual to go to Smolny and do dialogue homework with a fellow classmate. However, everyone seemed to be on the early wavelength today. Ergo, we got nothing done and instead everyone sat around talking about whatever. After class (one of which was phonetics and makes you want to kill yourself) some of the girls and I decided to go to Smolny Institute, which is right next door past the British Consulate. The institute itself was the original home of the provisional revolutionary government and now it serves as the governor’s residence. As a result, there are police everywhere (what’s new?) but the public gardens in front of the building are beautiful. On either side of the walkway, there are statues of Marx and Engels, our primary reason for going. After taking pictures, sitting in the park, and talking for a while, we followed the Neva south to the east end of Nevsky. 

Our destination was the Alexander Nevsky Lavra Monastery. The word “lavra” is used to indicate a church of the highest order in Russian Orthodoxy. There are only 4 lavras in Russia (one’s actually in Ukraine). Alexander Nevsky Lavra was built in the early 1700s by Peter the Great in honor of the battle Alexander Nevsky fought to stop German and Polish incursions into Russia. The church was awarded the title lavra about 80 years later. Once you enter the monastery grounds it is forbidden to take pictures so I don’t have any pictures for you guys. But below are some pics from the internet so you can see how beautiful the lavra is. In addition, women are advised to wear knee-length skirts and it is mandatory to cover your hair with a scarf (hence today’s skirt ensemble and why I brought a scarf to Russia in the summer). The lavra and the surrounding cemeteries were beautiful. The trees were veryyyy old and everything was peaceful and quiet. There were birds in the trees and a slight breeze, with the sun dappled leaves, it was borderline magical. The cemetery we walked through was the one right outside the lavra, the only free one actually, which I later learned was the Communist Cemetery. Most of the people there died in the years following the revolution, others were listed as party members during the original revolutionary movement, and others were listed as officers/soldiers who died in 1944 during the Siege of Leningrad on the “Leningrad Front”.

After walking around the graves for a while, we headed into the church itself, which is so beautiful and awe-inspiring that what I describe it as simply doesn’t do it justice. Much of the church is gilded, and while it does hold services, people primarily come to see the absolutely beautiful icons that dot the church. The bones of Alexander Nevsky sit on a raised platform surrounded by flowers and gilding in the far right side of the church. People stop, pray, cross themselves, and write prayers to the icons for people they know. There are also mass candle holders everywhere, and people buy small candles to light and leave after they pray. The church smells like the good kind of incense and is very quiet. Out of respect, I crossed myself when I left the cathedral (just for you mom!). The Lavra was so beautiful and I’m glad I got to see it during my lifetime!

It’s amazing to think that all of these beautiful churches and historical buildings made it through the Siege of Leningrad mostly unscathed. There are stories of preservation like how the Soviets painted the gold leaf dome of St. Issac’s with tar so it wouldn’t stand out (though the church still took fire) and how they sank and later brought back up the Battleship Aurora (which fired the first shot of the revolution) so the Germans wouldn’t sink it themselves. This truly is a resilient city and a resilient people. So much has happened in the past 100 years. When you’re here, and you find time to sit and think about it all, it makes you even more grateful to be here. I’m constantly amazed, and as if I didn’t already have a complete respect for a foreign people already, it is now at least ten-fold what it was.

Katherine and Ben: I know you guys are on your way home, be safe and have a good flight. Home is waiting for you guys with American food and comfortable beds! Have a Blue Moon (or two) for me!

Love and hugs to all!

P.S. Saw my first Gazprom commercial today. It was pretty epic. Also read an article about it in a Russian newspaper today. I totally know who the people are and what they were talking about. Yay, VICS research!

Getting to Know Saint Petersburg

Today was my first full day in Saint Petersburg and even after getting twelve much needed hours of sleep, I’m completely exhausted. I love being back in a city and walking everywhere! The only problem here is that people speak so quickly (like I’m one to talk); sometimes I can’t understand them sheerly because of that. I’m finally unpacked, and I’m very glad that I packed for two seasons. Yesterday I wore my light wool coat and today I wore a sweater. It’s not that it’s cold here, but the temperature hasn’t risen above 65 degrees, which is awesome because the last week I was in Raleigh, it was in the high 90s. The weather calls for the 80s on Wednesday here but I’ll believe it when I feel it. I found an internet café near my apartment (29 Ulitsa Korablestroiteley, in case anyone wants to GoogleMap it) and it’s about 3 dollars an hour, so it’s doable for now.

I made the trek across Saint Petersburg (literally from one end to the other for me since I live on the Gulf of Finland) and found Smolny Insitute, where I’ll be taking classes. It is BEAUTIFUL! And apparently it’s near where Lenin and Bolshevik co. planned the Russian Revolution of 1917. Who knew? Classes start tomorrow and I pray I can find my way back the route we took today. St. Petersburg is a bit tiring, mostly because I constantly have to remember not to smile in public. Although, I’d have to say, the Russians are not as staunch as we paint them. I had a run-in with the Russian police today but only because I was lost in the metro station and couldn’t find the exit (which was so deceptive because the doors said “no exit”). I thanked him with a quiet “спасибо,” and he smiled (!!!!) at me. Whattttttt? We all know Russians don’t smile! (Ha, no, I’ve found that they’re actually very nice and warm people.) Also, drinking in public is everywhere! And I’m not talking the plastic-cup-to-go-cup way of New Orleans; I’m talking walking down the street drinking out of a can or bottle, brown bag not included. It lends itself to interesting moments.

Smolny Cathedral

my class building

Along this trek out to Smolny (also the name of the neighborhood), I changed American dollars into Russian rubles and got my hands on a metro/bus/trolley-bus card. I love having one again; it works exactly like a Smart Trip does in D.C.! I’ve also figured out how to plug all my stuff in since Russia uses a voltage output of 220 and the US uses 110. My computer and phone chargers both have converters built in which is very nice; everything else has to go through the converter. I still haven’t bought a phone, mostly because I can’t iterate to someone that I just want one to make calls and maybe receive/send texts. Just the basics, but I think I’ll tackle that on Monday since I have rubles now.

My host, Anna Akimovna, is great. She lives on the 8^th floor of a Soviet style building on the north-west end of Petersburg. Despite my repeated attempts to tell her that I don’t eat much, I have been constantly stuffed. And I’ve probably drunk enough tea to sink a small village. Ah, European culture. Nevertheless, the food is AMAZING and I’ve never seen so much to eat made completely from scratch. Different food has to be bought from different stores: from the fruit and veggies store, from the meat and fish store (with heads and eyeballs!), etc. And I had kasha for breakfast, so good! Tomorrow I have placement testing and orientation at Smolny, and I believe we have lunch afterwards as the abroad group. Starting then, I’m on my own for food other than breakfast.

Since St. Petersburg is essentially in the Arctic Circle, it would make sense that the days here would be long. Last night, the sun set at midnight. It follows that no one goes to sleep early here, and that assumption would be correct.

This is getting hugely long, and I’m sure I’ll have tons to relate after tomorrow too, including my first solo trans-Saint Petersburg venture, so I’m signing off now.

Love and miss you all!

P.S. Putin is on the news. I understand him. Haha, this has entertainment value it’s probably not meant to have. Oops!

P.P.S. Watching Russian news coverage of the capture of Ratko Maldic in Serbia and of the G8 Summit on Россия1 are equally amusing. As is how short Medvedev is. Ha.

P.P.S. North Carolina has pollen, St. Petes has those airborne white fluffy dandelion things. They’re EVERYWHERE.