Moscow

Alright everyone, time for a long-awaited up date! Sorry I haven’t been better about keeping up this blog, but life is crazy!! Ok, well, let me start at the beginning. Almost three weeks ago, my program and I took a trip to Moscow! We took an overnight train from Petersburg that arrived in Moscow at some obscenely early hour (it was 7 a.m. or something like that). Anyway, we spent our first day on the bus, touring around the city. I saw so much!! We drove by the Kremlin/Red Square, we made our way into the communion line (by accident, I might add) at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (which Stalin originally had demolished and served as the world largest swimming pool for awhile), МГУ (Moscow State University – which is a freaking monster, let me tell you), and a bunch of sights. Afterwards, some of my friends and I went to Izmaylovo Market, for the first time, which was fun to see. There weren’t all that many vendors out because it was a Friday, but it was still interesting. We only ended up staying for an hour because we were so cold. Anyway, we stayed in a hotel that was also a casino, which made for an interesting combination. There were a bunch of shops in the bottom of the hotel, which were fun to look at, but way to expensive. The next day consisted of a walking tour of Moscow, which was fun, but super long. We started the day at the Kremlin and walked around it and had the buildings explained to us. While it was interesting to learn about all the different churches and buildings, it was uber cold and windy, which didn’t make for a super fun time standing outside. So we went into one of the churches to check out the interior, and a bunch of Russia school kids from Novosibirsk ranging in age from 10-12 found out that I was American and they thought that was so cool so they started to ask me all sorts of questions in the little English they had learned in school. It was kind of funny to be surrounded by 15 school kids asking you about America. One kid really wanted to know if I had seen the White House and when I told him yes, he just about died because he thought that was the coolest thing in the world. After touring around the churches of the Kremlin, we went inside (thank goodness) to the Armory, which was awesome. They had a really cool collection of dresses that tsarinas like Catherine the Great wore (she was not a small lady) and other cool jewelry. Also, there was this amazing collection of carriages. They were so ornate and had such detail in the decorations. It really blew my mind. They also had some of the crowned jewels and some of the thrones some of the tsars used. It was super cool. I also got to see some original Fabrige eggs, but sadly, they were closed. Nevertheless, they were still beautiful. After our tour ended there, walked to the Red Square, which is just breathtaking. St. Basil’s is just as pretty in real life as it is in pictures. After we finished the tour in the Red Square, and couple of my friends and I went into GUM (a.k.a. my shopping heaven) and got some lunch at a small pizza place they had. GUM is filled of all sorts of amazing stores that I can’t even begin to afford, but it was still fun to window shop. After our lunch, we walked over to the Old Arabat, which is an old street in Moscow that is a must-see if you are there. There were all sorts of artists on the street selling all sorts of souvenirs and there were really pretty buildings and most importantly, a Starbucks. Okay, okay, okay. I know it sounds bad, but really, I miss American coffee and they don’t have one in St. Petersburg so I treated myself to one latte, and it was GLORIOUS. After warming up with a cup of coffee, my friends and I set off again in hopes of finding the Russian White House. By this time, it was dark outside (and it was only 5) and the city looked really cool all lit up. We eventually found the Russian White House, where in 1991 Yeltsin rallied the opposition to confound the 1991 hardline coup and then in 1993 where he sent in tanks to blast out the conservatives rivals who were in there. So now I can say I have seen two White Houses. I think that’s kind of cool. Anyway, as we were walking back to the metro, we stumbled upon the COOLEST playground ever right behind the White House. The child in us couldn’t resist, so we went and played on the awesome playground! Oh it was so much fun. And then we walked back towards the metro so we could head to the Red Square. We stumbled upon one of the most amazing metro stops I have ever seen in my life. People really aren’t kidding when they say that Moscow has one of the most beautiful metro stations in the world. So we arrived at the Red Square, and it was beautiful! Everything was all lit up and looked gorgeous. Of course, we took loads of loads of pictures, but then started to get hungry, so we found some food and ate. Then we took another walk around GUM, mainly because it was so cold outside, and did some more window shopping. After that, we headed back to our hotel and went to sleep for the night. The next day, I went back to Izmaylovo Market, and I’m glad that I did. There were seven times as many vendors there that Sunday then there were on Friday. They also had women pushing carts around with food in them for sale, along with tea, coffee, and something else that I don’t remember. The market was so cool. People had all sorts of things for sale, ranging from nesting dolls, to amber jewelry, to leftovers of pieces of life in Soviet era. We spent a fair amount of time there, just wandering because it was just so cool to look at. Afterwards, we headed towards Novospassky Monastery, which was super pretty. We walked around there for awhile, and then went back to the hotel, got our things, and then got back on a train to St. Petersburg. After our weekend in Moscow, I must say, I like it better there than in Petersburg. The people were nicer, the city was cleaner, and the fashion was WAY better. Too bad there is a HUGE price tag that comes along with living there. I’m going to end this post here, but don’t go away because I still have a lot more to talk about (my week in Poland, the snow/ice/mush covering Petersburg, etc.,).

I'm back from Estonia and totally in love.

Hi all! So I’m back from Estonia with a huge update for you all! Last week, our program took us to Tallinn, Estonia and I have come back completely in love with that country. We woke up really early on Friday morning and took at bus from Petersburg to Tallinn (about 8 hours with the border crossing) and spent three days there. We stayed in a really nice hotel that was built for the Moscow Olympics in the 80s, but everything about it was amazing. They had an awesome buffet breakfast and the one day we had lunch there was so good. Our first day there, we did a walking tour of the old part of the city, which isn’t very big, but is super pretty. Tallinn is an awesome mix of Scandinavia, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe. Our tour was in Russian and it was done by this super hilarious guy who told us really funny stories about the city. We didn’t care that it was grey and rainy because this guy made the tour really awesome. Walking around the old part of the city was amazing. It really does feel like you’re in the middle of a fairy tale. The next day, we took a bus to the farther places out in the city. We saw ruins of a monastery, one of Peter the Great’s palaces (which is tiny in comparison to the ones he had built here) and all sorts of other cool things. We got to walk along the coast, which was super pretty. Then that afternoon, I walked around the Old Town again with my friends and we bought some souvenirs and explored. Apparently, there is a Depeche Mode bar in Tallinn, where all they play is their music and there are drinks named after their songs. It was hilarious. That night, we ate at this medieval themed restaurant. Everything was candle-lit and the food was amazing. I had this amazing piece of salmon with caviar and dark honey beer. That dark honey beer was probably the best beer I have ever had in my life, it was so delicious. The next day, we got up early (so I could buy my Harry Potter in Estonia and some Estonian chocolate) and drove back to Russia. Before we crossed the border, we stopped at a pretty little town right on the border called Narmen. We got back kind of late on Sunday night, so I slept in on Monday. But I am so in love with Estonia. It was such a great city. I really would like to go back. Anyway, now that I am back in Russia, my schedule is full once again. I am going to see Carmen tonight and The Magic Flute on Thursday, and who knows what else will pop up this week.

So it's been awhile since I wrote. Sorry guys!! I have developed a bit of a cough that has been slowly draining my energy, so I haven't really felt like dragging my computer to school. I'm going to the Western doctor tomorrow, which will hopefully help my cough. But enough about that. Since I last updated my blog, I have been working really hard on school work and visited the palace where Rasputin was killed. Don't ask me to give you the name of it though. It's impossible to pronounce and nobody on the program has been able to remember it. Anyway, it was a pretty cool palace. One of the rooms had an Arabian Nights theme to it, which was pretty awesome. And I got to see the room where they tried to poison Rasputin. All and all, it was pretty cool, but my favorite palace so far is still Peterhof. That's about all I got for you guys this time. Sorry to be so boring ;)

It's warm(er) here now!!!

Oh man, I'm so excited! It's actually pretty outside now. The first few weeks that I was here, it was freezing, but now, I actually like walking around outside. The government also turned on the heat in the buildings, so I'm not freezing anymore (although school seems to be colder on the inside than on the outside...I'm not sure how that one works, but whatever). Anyway, I had a relatively calm past week. I had classes like normal, and then on Saturday, our group went to Peterhof, which is supposed to be the Versailles of Russia. Personally, I think that Peterhof is way better. There are a lot of fountains there, which is why we went last weekend because they were getting ready to turn off the fountains for the winter. Anyway, the palace is located right on the Gulf of Finland, which was absolutely beautiful. We got to go into the banya house, which was awesome. There were a lot of saunas and the coolest room by far in the banya house was the fountain room where the guests would go cool down after getting out of the sauna. I have decided that I want a fountain type room in my house. It's going to happen, mark my words. Anyway, I walked around the park and it was so pretty. That night, I went to an ex-pat bar just off Nevsky Prospekt with a few people, which was fun. We drank a beer or two and just hung out. It was nice just to relax after a long day. Then on Sunday, Michaelene, Meg, and I went to the Summer Gardens, which was AMAZING!! There are all these beautiful statues that line the paths there and the trees there are starting to turn, which made for a beautiful scene. I am really happy I made it there because in the winter, they put boxes around the statues to protect them from the ice and snow and I wanted to see everything before it got boxed up. So far, I have to say that the Summer Gardens are my favorite place in Petersburg. And now to switch the topic completely: I think I landed a job teaching English!! I'm really excited because I love teaching languages, so I feel like it is going to be perfect for me. It's once a week for two hours and I have to plan activities for class. I'm really super excited!! Anyway, that's about all that's going on with me. I don't have anything too exciting lined up for the next week. I really want to start hanging out with more Russians, so I think I am going to start working on making that happen. I think that's all for now.

So I'm back from Novgorod...

So I’m back from Novgorod with another update for everyone! Last week I had classes like normal. On Thursday night, we went to a bar downtown to see our resident coordinator play the guitar and sing, which was a lot of fun. The bar was crowded with lots of Russians and filled with smoke and had an awesome atmosphere! It was right off of Nevsky Prospekt, which is like the Broadway of Petersburg. Anyway, that day was the first day I successfully walked around in heels for about 12 hours. It wasn’t too painful, although my feet were still a little angry at me the day after. So then very early on Saturday morning, we went to Novgorod, which is about three hours away from Petersburg on the bus. And we had a double-decker bus, which was totally awesome. However, roads in Russia are not paved very well, so we ended up swaying back and forth a lot. It’s a good thing I don’t have motion sickness… Anyway, Novgorod means “New City” in English, but the city isn’t new at all. The first time it is mentioned in historical records is in the 800s. Talk about old. We saw a lot of old churches and learned a lot about the history of Russia. Novgorod was one of the leading cities in old Rus and finally lost its standing when St. Petersburg was founded. It is known for its Kremlin and St. Sophia Cathedral. The wood carving there is also amazing!!! The old houses have really super intricate carving on the outside that makes them absolutely beautiful. I saw a lot of really pretty icons inside the churches, including Our Savior of Novgorod, which is a really famous icon. Google it. It’s pretty awesome. After our tours were done on Saturday, my friend Meg and I ended up at a café, drinking a beer and chatting in English (Jeff, if you’re reading this, don’t get angry!!!) So as we were chatting along, this guy slid over towards us and asked us if we were American, and we said yes, and he sat there and talked to us for about an hour, asking all sorts of crazy questions about America. He really wanted to know if we had ever seen Bruce Willis or Jennifer Lopez. It was a funny experience and we got to practice our Russian. Then we did some more sight-seeing on Sunday. We went to a really famous monastery and had lunch inside the Kremlin at this traditional Russian restaurant. The food was really good, but it was super rich. Welcome to Russian cuisine. Anyway, I was in a crazy food-coma, so I walked around the touristy souvenir stands and then made my way over to the bus so I could fall asleep. So now I’m back in St. Petersburg. My friend Meg and I went to see Swan Lake on Monday night, and it was AMAZING!! Russian ballet is the way to go. The crowd was mainly full of Americans and Germans, but it was still amazing. The best part was, the tickets were not expensive at all compared to D.C. prices. I will try to put some pictures up for y'all to see soon, but I think my internet er!oing to run up, so I will write more later!

Update # 2

Alright all, here I am with another update. Sorry to keep you all in suspense. After a few days of really intense culture shock, I have a lot to report on. I started classes last week at the Smonly Institute. It’s pretty sweet. I’m at the Saint Petersburg State University Center for Russian Language and Culture. The center is actually at a different institute, but is part of a different university. It’s sort of confusing, but I’m located in a very pretty building/cathedral. Next door to me is where Lenin started preaching the ideas of the revolution. I actually got yelled at by a babushka for walking on the grass outside that building. I tell you, there is history everywhere you turn here. Just about every building on the street has a placard on it telling you what famous Russian lived there and when.
I feel as though I am getting to know the city better. I live about five minutes from the metro, which is pretty sweet. There are a lot of stores near me, which is pretty cool. I’ve also met up with a few Russians, which is pretty cool. They are really nice about me not speaking so well. Overall, I must say, Russians are some of the nicest people around. They are really willing to help you out. Here are some other interesting observations:
- Russians don’t wear flip-flops. At all. Well, that’s a lie. I saw one Russian on the Metro wearing flip-flops and I almost died of shock. I kinda wanted to take a picture, but didn’t pull my camera out for fear of being mugged/yelled at.
- St. Petersburg is a very quiet city for the amount of people that here. The metro can be crammed-packed, and not a single person is talking. If people are having a conversation, it is very quiet. Same goes if you are walking on the street.
- The cars here are about the same size as they are in America. There are no SmartCars or really tiny cars here. I assumed that because Russia is in Europe that the cars would be small like they are in Italy and France, for example, but they aren’t. I saw a Dodge Dakota the other day, parked on the side of the street.
- Women dress up for EVERYTHING. I swear, just about every woman here wears black, four inch stilettos here and a ton of make-up. It’s as if they are getting ready to go out to the clubs all the time. Also, they are all skinny as sticks. Some of them are unhealthily skinny. I kinda want to feed them a blini or two.
- The men here don’t cat-call or anything. It’s kinda nice.
- A pack of cigarettes costs about $2 here. Don’t worry, I haven’t started smoking and I don’t intend to.
- You walk EVERYWHERE here. I seriously underestimated the amount of band aids that I needed to bring. My feet are covered in mad blisters. I will, however, be in awesome shape by the time I get back to the states.
- Petersburg is full of PDA. Personally, I think Paris is worse (ok – I know that sounds kinda snotty, but it’s true). The thing that I think is interesting about it is that it isn’t just young people that show affection for their partner, but also older couples too. Of course, they aren’t as open about it, but I see a lot more older couples here holding hands than I do in America. I think it’s kind of sweet.
- People here drink bottles of beer on the street, on the metro, wherever. That is totally chill here. I’m not surprised, but it catches me off guard every once in awhile.

I can’t think of other things that have caught me off guard thus far. If I find more, I’ll jot them down and post them next time. Anyway, I’m super tired because I walked around a shopping mall here after doing a full day of classes. So I’m going to go to sleep, but expect a long entry next time because we are going to Novgorod this weekend, which I’m super excited about. Google it. It’s pretty cool. ‘Till next time!

First Few Days

Hi all!! After hours of traveling in cramped seats and angry, with old German men who aren’t afraid to elbow you to push you out of their way, and driving six hours to finally get to my host mom’s apartment - I’m here!! This is going to be my first day officially in St. Petersburg. As soon as we got here, they took us to orientation in Repino, a seaside resort town on the Gulf of Finland (which I’ve been to twice – very cool!!) where the nineteenth century painter Ilya Repin was from. It was a lot of fun there. We did all the typical orientation things, such as learning how to deal with the police if they stop you on the street and ask you for your documents. Ok, maybe not so typical, but we did learn a lot of very useful information. There are about 50 kids here in total, and 11 of us are staying for the entire year (because we’re hard core like that). Everyone here seems pretty awesome. Anyway, we spent two nights in Repino learning how to survive in Russia and then they packed us onto buses and away we went to our host families. It took us six hours to get everyone dropped off, and guess who was last? If you guessed me, you’d be right! But I was actually alright with that because I got to see a lot of the city and how/where people live. Towards the end, I must admit, I was very cold and kinda tired and hungry, but other than that, it was pretty cool. After seeing where everyone else is going to be living, I must admit, the apartment I’m staying in kicks the most ass. It’s soooooo sweet. I’m in the downtown of St. Petersburg, on 3-я линия, a few blocks and a bridge from the soccer stadium. As soon as you turn off the main street, I walk through a short ally for cars and enter into a court yard and my building is the second on the right. I live all the way at the top of the five story building where there is no elevator. So not only will I have awesome Russian skills by the end of this program, but also legs of steel! Anyway, the apartment is amazing. The woman I am living with is an older, Russian version of me, except for the fact that she smokes like a chimney. Her name is Marina Markevna, which isn’t a very Russian name, but I think that she is partially British. She has traveled all over the place, and her apartment reflects that. She has trinkets from all over the world lying around. She speaks a little English, which I’m trying to get her to stop doing, and she also speaks French. She actually lived in Paris for two years. When I get settled and my Russian gets stronger, she said that we can practice some French, which is really exciting. She is not your typically Russian babushka. She does, however, live by herself, but she has a full-grown son and a very cute granddaughter. During my first dinner there, her neighbor came up and I got to talk to her too. The group went on a bus tour yesterday of the city, and it was very cool. Last night, a little boy Marina babysits came over the apartment, which was cool and then later two girls about my age came over. I was really tired though, so my Russian speaking skills were not up to par. And today, we walked all over the city and currently, I am sitting at the Sabarro two blocks from my apartment b/c it is the only place with free Wi-Fi. Anyway, my battery is going to die, so I need to wrap this up. Later!!

Check it out - I'm blogging!

So here's my travel blog! I hope to be updating it at least once a week, but I can't make any promises. Be sure to keep checking it throughout the year so you can keep tabs on me.