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!