My. Feet. Hurt. So. Much.

I got up earlier this morning and made it to class with time to spare. We learned a few Russian folk songs then had a lecture (in English) about the political and cultural identity of Saint Petersburg. After class, the girls and I ventured to find this bar we heard of that was a haven for foreign students and had wifi. Unfortunately the place was a total dive when we found it, so we ate lunch elsewhere. The food was good and we had this beer that tasted like cherries. Only the Belgians could make something that good! A bunch of the guys joined us, bringing one of their Russian friends (Sonya), and we all had a beer together. Sonya was telling us about different Russian cultural things and I learned that he’s actually from the Caucasus, Kabardino-Balkaria to be exact. After a while, we decided to go down the Nevsky Prospect again with Sonya leading the way. After we met up with Sonya’s friend, we continued walking around Saint Petersburg. There were lots of police and the Russian version of SWAT everywhere today, more so than usual, and we never found out why. Lots of helicopters too. Strange…

We went to the largest bookstore in Russia, a three story branch of Dom Knigi (House of Books) where I bought a Russian language copy of Crime and Punishment for about 10 USD. After wandering around some more, we decided to go into an all purpose store in Park Kultury to get notebooks and pens for some people who didn’t bring any. After that, we went to the Church of Spilled Blood. It was absolutely stunning! There’s simply nothing in the states like the beauty of the Russian churches. It was insanely expensive to go in without out St. Pete’s student IDs (they get us in for free; we are getting ours tomorrow), so we opted to continue along our merry way. From there, we ventured to the Field of Mars (yes, like the Roman one). For being smack in the middle of a very busy and loud city, the field was very quiet. A big open space of well maintained grass surrounded by beautiful buildings served as our resting place for a while. Russian cities are full of monuments to World War II and the Revolution. In the middle of the Field of Mars, there was a marble circle with Russian inscriptions on the columns and an eternal flame in the middle, all dedicated to the revolutionary sacrifice of the people. 

Church of Split Blood

Field of Mars

After that, we crossed the street in between two mint green buildings and took a bridge across the Neva River to the Petrograd side. I thought I had seen everything in Russia (not really), but apparently people jet-ski on the Neva! Peter and Paul Fortress was just on the other side, so we crossed onto the mini island the fortress sits on and walked around to the Neva side. Another day I’ll pay to go inside, but I’m waiting for my student ID so that I get discounted rates. Apparently today was an unusually hot day for Saint Petersburg, probably 75-80 degrees F. Since it was colder this morning, we were all dying in the heat dressed like we were. Sitting in the shade of Peter and Paul on the bank of the Neva watching the barges and boats go by was awesome. After cooling down, we walked around Peter and Paul more to the Military Artillery Museum which shares the island. The museum itself was closed so we looked at the larger pieces of artillery displayed outside. Sonya is studying to be an engineer and to design and work with artillery weapons, so he was explaining the different pieces to us (in English because there was no way in hell we’d get that in Russian). Next thing I knew, everyone was climbing a WWII/early-Cold War era Soviet tank. Overjoyed at the prospect of climbing a tank and not giving a shit about seeming like a tourist at the time, I found myself on top of a green tank, grinning like a crazy woman. It was really fun and, honestly, for the first time here, I really had a good time. And that tells me I’m adjusting. 

Peter and Paul Fortress

The Green Building

Since it’s the start of White Nights (Byeli Vecheri) here in St. Petersburg, we didn’t realize that it was 8pm and we had yet to eat dinner. The sun reallyyyyy throws you off, whether you’re a native or not. So we walked up to the Petrogradskaya metro station and went to Chashkai i Loshka (Teacup and Spoon, the English makes no sense). Blini were on our minds and our new Russian companions seemed delighted by our enthusiasm for their suggestion of the legendary Russian food. Our spread was various, but I had two meat and potato filled blini with sour cream, one filled with bananas and chocolate, and a small pot of black tea. The blini were out of this world, and I only spent 172 rubles (approx. 6 USD). I think we were talking about going out to a club tomorrow night, and we were plotting locations on the handy maps they gave us yesterday. After dinner, at about 9:30pm, I caught the metro home (blue line to Gostini Dvor, switch to Green to Primorskaya, just like DC!) and now I’m ready to pass out. I’m sweaty, tired, and my feet hurt like hell, but I had such an awesome day! We literally walked from the top of NE St. Petersburg down to the southern part of Nevsky and back up further to the NW top of St. Pete’s. Map that, I’ll be it’s about 4-5 miles of walking. Just seeing the city and all the stunning architecture was worth the pain my feet will be in for the rest of the week! I’m starting to feel more at ease in the city, the metro is a piece of cake now, and I’ve been given the Russian stamp of approval for my manner of dress, so everything is going great!

I love and miss you all, and I should have a phone tomorrow, so be on the lookout for my phone number! In the mean time, shoot me an email or Skype message so I can read them when I get a chance to log on to the web.

Xoxoxo

P.S. I got placed into the middle of three groups for class. Yay!

So Much Russia!

Today was the first day of trekking to the university here in St. Petersburg, and since we all know I couldn’t find my way out of a box if I tried, it’s inevitable that I would get lost. And I did. Momentarily. I walked to Primorskaya Metro station (five blocks from my apartment, not far at all) and waved my pass at the turnstiles then hauled ass down the extremely long escalator (St. Petersburg has the deepest metro in the world because of the Neva River water table) to the arriving train. When I exited at the Mayakovskaya station three stops later, I took too much of a right turn onto the street. Instead of ending up on the east end of Nevsky Prospect (the main drag), I ended up on some godforsaken side street with people yelling at me in Russian to rent their taxi. Um. No. After I realized that my trolleybus couldn’t run on a street without tracks, I turned around and ventured down Nevsky to find my stop and my trolley came about 15 minutes later. All of this combined with a 10 minute chill stop somewhere underground on the metro and the not knowing where to get off the trolley (you try looking for a red brick building in a huge city) put me at Smolny at 10:30, half an hour late. I felt awful, but at least I was able to figure out where I was and didn’t wander aimlessly around St. Pete’s for hours. Which would have been completely possible seeing as how I still don’t have a cell phone (yet). Also, I wasn’t the last one there. Score.

At Smolny, we went over safety basics (How-Not-To-Act-American-101) then took our placement test, which comprised of oral, written, and multiple-choice reading questions. After that we went downstairs to eat. We had a standing lunch (so we could mingle and meet each other) of cheese, ham, bread, fruit, priyatniki (!!!), and some form of Russian strudel thingy. And Sprite. Of course! They wanted us to take the leftovers home with us, unfortunately since we didn’t know it was going to be a standing meal, few of us brought bags. From now on I am bringing a Ziploc with me everywhere. Free food is free food, no matter what country you’re in.

After we finished eating, a few girls and I ventured out into the Smolny-Liteyny neighborhood which pretty much consists of just Smolny Institute, Smolny Cathedral, a super expensive hotel, lots and lots of apartments, and the British Consulate. Good to know that if something ever happens at school, I can go see my British BFFs. Actually I think they’d shoot me if I tried to get into the consulate. It is Russia, after all. I’ve never seen so many police before in my life. They’re EVERYWHERE. The police presence here has two dimensions to it: you feel safe walking around and using the street ATMs because there’s police all around you, but the fact that the Russian police is so notoriously corrupt makes you nervous when they’re chilling on the corner or walking on the street near you. Today I had one following me so closely, I could have elbowed him in the chest. Needless to say, we have adopted the policy of shutting up when we pass the police because, yes, we do speak English when we’re out and about. Communication has to happen somehow, and sometimes you need more than rough Russian to get the point across. Plus it’s nice to speak English every once and a while because you spend all day operating at maximum capacity to process what is said to you in Russian.

We made our way down to Nevsky Prospect, which was beyond crowded. When people cross the street it’s like some sort of mass exodus. Who knows what we were originally looking for because we got caught up in the beautiful architecture and the canals that criss-cross St. Petersburg, and we ended up in a bar. Go figure. The place was much nicer on the inside than it looked on the outside, a surprise to be sure. You can never tell what a Russian restaurant is going to be like. I paid 150 rubles (approx. $5) for 500ml (approx. 17 ounces) of beer. Not bad considering the volume and the niceness of the restaurant. We’ve learned it’s better to spend a bit more on food and drink just for the sake of using the nice bathroom the restaurants provide. Public plumbing is an adventure I would prefer to avoid at all costs. After beer, we split up and wandered down Nevsky some more to find free Wi-Fi, which does exist in Russia contrary to popular belief. A local version of Starbucks, Coffee Haus, has free Wi-Fi and a good atmosphere. Our waitress was patient with us as we needed more time to read the menu and to construct our confusing Russian orders. Two blini (sour cream and Nutella) and a cappuccino later, I was a happy camper, tapping away at my iTouch that I linked into the heaven-sent Wi-Fi. We sat there and talked for about two hours, most likely pissing off the locals due to our use of English. But we were respectful, polite, talked quietly, and left a good tip so they can get over it. And we ordered in Russian, so there. I know that’s not a great attitude, but after the placement test, my brain was shot.

And now I’m back at the apartment (since 8pm). Anna Akimovna and I had tea and some sort of pastry when she came home. I believe she told me that she will be out of town tomorrow, which means I need to figure out how to cook the kasha (kind of like oatmeal, but sweeter and creamier) she left me. Tomorrow I’m leaving for class at 9:00 instead of 9:30 in hopes of getting there on time…which means I should probably get up at 7:30. Hеохота. We’re planning on going to a museum after class, but I want to stop and get a cell phone and St. Petersburg SIM card first.

I’m completely out of sync here because the sun doesn’t set till midnight and it starts to come back up again around 1:30am. Right now it’s 10:00pm and it looks like its 6:00pm. It really screws with your sense of being tired and makes it hard to sleep, but I do my best. Though I have to say, the fact that it’s still light outside when I come back at 9 or 10pm is comforting. I wouldn’t be nearly as at ease walking back alone in the dark, as no one else lives out by me. And it will be like that the whole time I’m here!

Oh well, time for sleep! Пока!

P.S. It looks like I’m going to have to get good at showering without a shower curtain. Thoughts?

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.

Greetings from Saint Petersburg!

Hello one and all from the city on the Neva! After 15 hours of intense sleepless travel, I have finally arrived. I'm still not quite set up yet and all I want to do is sleep, but I guess that's what jetlag does to a person. I'm staying with a lovely woman Anna Akimova on the Gulf of Finland in a typical Soviet apartment building. Go figure. Walking down the street is intimidating and I'm floundering a bit with the language, but I think I'm doing okay for the first day. 

Tomorrow I need to convert money and buy a local cell phone since there's no way in hell that mine will work here. And as I write this, I'm sitting in an internet cafe where Anna left me and I think she's coming back. Hopefully. To tell the truth, Russia is scary right now and I hope I fit in. Though nothing takes the cake quite like the most terrifying little Russian man ever behind bullet proof glass in the airport doing passport control. I was literally shaking. Those Soviet style military police hats are damn intimidating! 

But my visa got me into the country and now I'm here! I can't wait for classes to start and I need to finish unpacking. Last but not least, a big "hello and I love you and I'm alive" to my loving parents who saw me off at 11am yesterday, a HUGE thank you to Meghann for looking up my emergency numbers as I sat in JFK fearing for my Helsinki-St. Petersburg connection because of ash-cloud delays, and to Paula who texted me until the minute I had to turn my phone off to take-off in JFK. And Katherine, we're on the same continent now! Yay!

I love you all and I'll be home in 3 months with stories and pictures!

I love airports <3

Just got through security at RDU and now I'm awaiting the first leg of my 15 flight to St. Petes! I've got my copy of Foreign Affairs and my last cup of Starbucks for the next 3 months and I'm good to go!
I'm going to miss everyone at home but now its adventure time!!!
XOXO

Davai idyom v Rossii!

Tomorrow is the big day. It's finally here. Twelve hours from now I will be on a plane to the motherland! I'm nervous and excited and rambling in gramatically incorrect Russian in my head. I don't have any abroad experience and I'm flying solo. My girl friends tell me it's a piece of cake.

So here's to a safe, fun, and comfortable flight across through Atlantic and Europe! Time to change those dollars into rubles!

To Saint Petersburg!!!

Look ma, I'm legal!

YAY! My passport returned to me today after a few long weeks of separation. The reward for my wait? A wonderful Russian visa page! I'm now legally allowed to live in the Russian Federation from May 15th to August 13th 2011.

Now it's on to unpacking my clothes from my apartment, hanging it all up, deciding what I want to take to Russia, taking it all down, and repacking it all! It's going to be a bitch, but I'm so excited! 

I'm all set to go to Russia. All I have to do now is make the trip from RDU to JFK to Helsinki to St. Peterburg! Давай!