Pancakes for everyone!

Блог 6

         So cultural blunders... Here's one of my new ones... My host mother and I were talking about Russian names because when I went bowling I found it funny that every board had the same list of names: Ivan, Tatiana, Anya, Sasha, Olya, etc. There is very 

The Neva half frozen on our walk.

 little variation to me. On the street and in history it seems that everyone has one of five set names. That can get frustrating since I go by Katya and respond to it when someone says it near me. My host mom responded by saying that America is the same. Everyone's name is Michael or John or Sarah. This got into a conversation about Russian names that I like and I said I've met a few Anastasias, and a lot of people I know love that name because of the animated film. She was quiet for a while, and then, visibly tearing up, explained to me that she could never name her daughter that because of the weight the name carried. She became very upset thinking about the death of the Romanov family that I had to change the subject. I have noticed that only professors and tour guides don't get choked up when speaking about those tragic events, because they have been desensitized. This was an easy mistake to make,  making light of a story from a movie, but to my host mother that is very recent and obviously very difficult to face. I made my host mother cry. I am a bad person… 

St. Isaac's Cathedral from below.

          Anyways, last week Sasha and I (mostly Sasha) discovered an Indian restaurant and walked there from the Island upon which we live. There are officially 42 islands in the city of St. Petersburg. There used to be around 100 but for reasons my Culture teacher told me very quickly in class, there are now 42. So Sasha and I walked around our neighborhood, across the Neva, to the Bronze Horseman, past St. Isaac's Cathedral which is the largest church/cathedral in St. Petersburg (and Russia, I think, but don't quote me), and after a lovely dinner she, Anya and I attempted to go to the Opera. When I say attempted, I mean that the building was beautiful, small and intimate, but the version of La Boehme presented was basically Rent with no microphones and an orchestra that was too loud for the actors. The show was a big disappointment that ended for us when the first act of a classic opera concluded with actors in neon bunny ears (yes, like Easter bunny ears). I can't understand why they would bother doing La Boehme and staging it as an unusual version of Rent, but we think we may have seen a rehearsal which is how the tickets were so cheap.

The Bronze Horseman (got its name from
the poem. Wasn't called that
originally).

          Friday I went and got Russian doughnuts, called pishky which taste like funnel cake but not all sketchy and festival-y. They are amazingly delicious and only 12 rubles each… This is very dangerous for me. After that we had a very dubious adventure at a Georgian restaurant. The problem we encountered was that we didn't know the names of any of the foods so we just went off of what meat was in the description and hoped for the best. The best dish was kind of a chili with lamb and whole pomegranate seeds. Very unusual and amazing. I had a lamb stew that was supposed to be spicy but instead just burned my tongue because it was ridiculously hot. That concluded last week, and just leaves the weekend. Saturday was a night in, but Sunday is an entirely different story.
          Sunday, St. Patrick's day for you, was the big Maslenitsa celebration for us. Surprisingly, St. Patrick's day is not as big here as one might think (yes, sarcasm), but Sunday was the first time I have seen so many Russians smiling at one time. Maslenitsa is the Russian equivalent of Fat Tuesday, just colder and involving a lot of blini, or pancakes. Blini are basically crepes that you put cabbage or jam or anything in, and the point of this holiday is to enjoy as much butter and blini  as you can before Lent. You eat blini because, with the butter, they represent the sun, so it's a way of inviting the sun to come out. Another way to entice spring... The other traditions of the day are also ways to say goodbye to winter and welcome spring. To do that you buy a scarecrow type doll dressed as Mother Winter and stick her in the snow. Then you light her on fire. That's the best part... I wasn't prepared for that on my way to school Friday, and on my walk I saw what looked like a burning cross or effigy. Well, if you're from America and you see something that looks like a burning cross, you start to get pretty worried. The effigy thing was a bit concerning but I was genuinely worried it was a cross. Fortunately it was just Mother Winter, but still it was rough to walk anywhere near that when I had no other way to get to school…
          Sasha and I went to one of the smaller islands, Krestovsky ostrov, which has a very large and seemingly endless park. We wandered for a few hours, got lost for a while, walked across some rivers, watched Russians smile and dance and act silly (of all things for a Russian to be!) which made the very cold day an absolute delight. I bought a bunch of silly souvenirs, including lollipops in the shape of roosters (why?) and some lovely traditional wood items. After that we went to a Ukrainian restaurant and tried their green borsht (not as good as in Ukraine- frankly it was awful). Sasha had the chicken Kiev and I had sautéed potatoes and bacon (kind of) covered in very strong, raw, green onions. Neither were worth repeating, and while the restaurant was adorable, the food did not equal the décor. 

Large doll that will
be lit on fire.

Our Maslenitsa dolls!

On fire in the snow!

       Other than that, I've mostly been dealing with the weather. This is, apparently, an unusually cold spring. My host mother and teachers keep assuring me that it will get warmer, but I don't believe them. I keep seeing photos of buildings in St. Petersburg during the summer with grass and trees, and I am convinced they are photo shopped. All I see is grey and snow with a little wind on top. It takes effort to get out of bed every day, simply because it is a chore to put on as many layers as I predict I'll need through the day, go out into the bitter cold, take an hour to get to school in a crowd of grumpy, miserable, fur covered Russians, only to get yelled at for accidentally bumping into a babushka. One thing that always brightens my day, though, is the sight of the little old, dripping with fur babushkas wearing Uggs. There is nothing funnier than seeing a fashion statement for twenty-somethings in California be used for warmth by little old ladies.

A sign in the park that reads, Beware Squirrels! Russian

squirrels be crazy!

          I am working on remembering the tiny little things that happen every day that make me laugh or things that I find ridiculous, but when it comes time to write things down, I can never remember what they were. One and a half more weeks until my travel week, though! Can't wait to tell you all about it and I promise there will be tons of pictures. Have I told you guys where I'll be going? No? Good- no spoilers! Hope you all are enjoying shorts weather, light jacket weather or sweater weather… My ski socks and many layers of leggings envy you greatly. Send me your warmth and sunlight, and have a good week!