From Russia, with Love

Последный

Блог 11

          So- I've done quite a bit here in Russia in the four months I've had. I've seen the Russian ballet, made snow angels on the frozen Neva, been stuck on the wrong side of a bridge until 5:30 a.m., been yelled at by little old ladies, met Eddie Izzard in a spice market in Istanbul, and most of all met some amazing and unique people. I am really truly glad I took this chance, even if it was a little late in my college career. It has definitely helped me decide what my next few steps are in the coming ever-so-frightening "real world". I figure that if I can handle myself, not get mugged, hurt, too lost or deported in a place like Russia- I can pretty much handle myself.

Bijan's first day in the square by the Hermitage.

          I am all packed and ready to head to the airport and even now I'm running into problems that can only be answered with, "because it's Russia…" To get to the airport I have to go to the mainland over a bridge. Of course, I need to get there around 4:00 a.m. and guess when the bridge is closed? My host mom doesn't believe me that the bridges go down for only 30 minutes between 2:45 and around 3:15 and then I'm stuck until 5:00, so if I go I have to go before they open the first time. It's like arguing with a brick wall that knows better than you do- but they really don't. Personal experience has me in the right, backed up by the power of the internet and my program coordinators. Of course the bridges open at 1:25, so I'll be at the airport for a while. It's Russia… 

Inside the Church of the Spilled Blood.

          So these last two weeks!!! Lots of goodbyes, lots of cultural stuff, and best of all Bijan. He spent the week here while I had finals and said goodbye to this extremely beautiful city. We did the whole thing- St. Isaac's, the Church of the Spilled Blood, Hermitage, Peterhoff, food, boat tour around the Neva, walks down Nevsky Prospekt, and Dostoyevsky's grave. If I'm any judge, I'd say Bij had a good trip, and I really enjoyed having him here. I am glad to be coming home to end our long distance trend, even if just for a little while.  From what I could tell, he thought the city was beautiful, more European than he expected, full of grumpy Russians, full of too much walking, and too many churches. I couldn't agree more. 

A lot of gold and blue, a lot like the rest of Russia...

          Here are some extremely big generalities that I have decided about Russians (my opinions in no way reflect the views of those around me- this is just my personal perspective). At least in St. Petersburg, the people here are inherently good. They just act like everyone else in the word wishes they could. They are grumpy and frowny on the metro because they had a long day at work, it's cold/hot/raining/smells funny and they are annoyed- so they glare. I always feel the need to pretend to be happy at stores or on the light rail/bus toward other people, lest they see my bad mood. Here- they don't hold back. On the other hand, they always want the best for you. I've had more friendly 

The Bronze Horseman and
St. Isaac's in the back.

people here give me a hand or help me in some way than I could really ever have hoped for. They take a crappy situation, like inches of ice on the ground for six-seven months out of the year, while in the other months the sun doesn't bother to go down, and make it work with them. They do like to remember their suffering, and the city helps them do that, but I think that they genuinely care about other people and are overall good at heart.

          The goodbye ceremony for my program, after finals, was on a boat with pictures and champagne and a certificate of completion, and it was actually charming. I am not one for goodbyes, but it was one last hurrah with some really awesome people. Bijan also got a free boat tour around the Neva so yay! Had to say bye to my best friend, Alexa, though, 

These wonderful girls!
Alexa, Anya, Emma, Jena, Bianka and Lauren!

which was not awesome. She may come out to visit (fingers crossed) so everyone else can experience the crazy that is Sasha! We also went to Peterhoff which was pretty much amazing! The weather wasn't great but it wasn't hot so we counted it as a win. I was mildly disappointed when we figured out that the trick fountains are man operated, but the palace and fountains were breathtaking and we got to take a hydrofoil there. There's not much else to say about the last two weeks. Finals, Bijan, goodbyes, walking, packing, oh my god where did I get so much stuff, etc. I think I gave myself a proper sendoff.

          My conclusion from these four months is: I could not be luckier. I am lucky to have had this opportunity, parents to push me out into the world and help me get there, 

Red Heads last ride.

Bijan's visit, a host mom whose schedule and habits were perfectly compatible with mine, meeting a new and most amazing best friend, and diving into a language that I truly understand in a culture I really just get.  We are surly, sarcastic, and don't always like other people, but at heart these people always mean the absolute best. Sure they are all  very focused on their own destinations and goals, but they'll always help out when you need it. We've had a few nights where we meet new Russian friends and go to a bar with them, and they always make sure we get home safe- no matter how recently we met them. True signs of good people. I will miss Russia, my walk to the metro, my view and my balcony and my favorite bars  and cafes, but I'm pretty happy to be coming back home.

Peterhoff!

What's next you ask?!?!

          Well! That is a fantastic question………… ummmmmmmm…… I'll let you know!

No, but seriously- I have one more class that is four weeks long and then I am DONE with undergrad as long as my study abroad credits transfer properly (everyone send competency vibes to my college advisor- she needs it, seriously!). After that I'm taking a "year off"- you know to explore art and music… No- to find a job and get a foot in the professional door. 

SO MUCH GOLD!

I am applying to graduate school for news-broadcast journalism at CU Boulder and am hoping to start that in August of 2014 (not entirely by choice- apparently they don't accept students in January :-/). I hope to continue my Russian, maybe find a tutor or something, become more active like learning krav maga or something awesome like that, and generally figure out in which direction I  would like my career to be headed other than up. So, goals: JOB in my field, continue Russian, support myself as much as possible and overall don't screw up!

Thanks all for reading this for the last four months! Not only does it save me from telling and retelling all my stories, it also helps me to remember and filter out all my experiences to the most interesting and important! I can also now tell who my real friends are by who actually read it ;-)!!! Just kidding (kinda). Hope you all enjoyed reading it. Who knows, I may start another one to break into the right spheres.

My amazing host mom Larisa Sergeevna <3

See ya'll soon!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. What am I supposed to do with the vodka on my bedside table, now?

Victory Day and Football

Блог 10

          AHHH! Sorry I'm so late- yet again! I swear that for once it was for good reason. I had a grand old time these last two weeks and actually tried to be productive! I'm so very proud of myself. On top of that, SPRING! Rain and beauty and birds and green grass. The rivers have melted, and, as I said last time, the sun is coming up EVEN earlier and going down EVEN later. It's still not down at 11:00 p.m. as I am writing this. School is picking up as we are nearing the end of the semester, and I  turned in a paper for politics, had a test in culture and am preparing for the finals that are to come. I'm so very close to being done. So- here's what I did while I was busy not writing this blog.

The view off Pushkin's back porch...

          Our program took us on a weekend trip during the May holidays to a little town about four hours south of St. Petersburg called Pskov. Every time we do something as a group we meet at a place called Kazansky Sobor which is a very large cathedral in the middle of St. Petersburg. I made it there on time, but of course, I am an idiot and forgot my passport. To be fair, my thinking was- we aren't leaving the country, so why would I bring it? Well hotels won't let us check in without it- that's why. So I ended up having to call a taxi and take it all the way back to my apartment and then to a metro stop on the very edge of town which ended up being annoying, expensive, and was a big time waster. Fortunately for me, four other people forgot theirs as well, so we still would have been stuck waiting if not for me.

Pushkin's grave

          So after a four hour long bus ride full of cranky college students we got to our hotel that really, almost reminded me of being in the mountains at home- just without the mountains. Our hotel was similar to some of the mountain lodges in Colorado except for the lack of pine trees and more birches but it was open and quiet and calm. It was in this sleepy place called Pushkinsky gori which is where one of Pushkin's houses was, and one in which he spent a lot of time in exile. I found out my host mom and her ex husband ran a hotel out there, which is very adorable.The tour was very cool and beautiful because there was a lake and a windmill….. it was lovely. We went on long walks through the forest, sat on our balconies talking, reading, knitting, and generally existing. Despite the terrible planning of our program, this trip was well done. I will say though, that one poorly planned part was that of the banya situation.

Looking like a gypsy woman next
to a monk with Sarah.

          Russian banyas  are public bath houses that are gender separated, and are basically steam rooms and then you beat each other with giant leaves and jump into a pool when it gets too hot. They are naked, of course, and I have yet to partake. I hope to go to one this week. Anyways, the poorly planned portion was the fact that the banya  had an outdoor pool. In full view of all the hotel rooms. So our CIEE students reserved the banya just for us and had time for the guys and time for the girls. I wish I had known that sitting on the back porch would put me in plain view of the men running out of the steam room and into the pool. That was unfortunate and not something you can unsee…

The walls of a fortress from the roof that
we weren't supposed to be on. Oops.

          Anywho… We went to a gorgeous monastery with real authentic monks on Russian Easter, and were invited up to the Holy Hill by a monk. That is a very rare opportunity for anyone, and more than that I even got a picture with the monk. It's kind of a rule that you don't photograph them but he jumped into the picture, so we figured it was ok. We also drank out of this stream that granted different things depending on which part you drank from. One was wealth, another health, etc. Again- it was simply lovely.

The stream that granted luck,
I think.

          This week was very fun because we had another short week and a 4 day weekend, which I am currently enjoying. On Wednesday we went to a real professional Russian football game, for the St. Petersburg team, Zenit. They played the team from Dagestan which was kind of 

The group of students that went to Zenit!
Ian, Billy, Anna, Bianka,
Emily, Kaitlyn, Agne, ME, Chris,
Jessica, Kristi and Jared.

frightening because of the massive numbers of riot police. They had to put riot police and empty seats between the fans of the two teams for safety and they were lining the streets. I think/hope this is because riots are common, but part of me thinks it's due to the racist chants being shouted at the away team... Some crazy person gave the fans fire or flares or something because suddenly the other side of the stadium was on fire, clearly an organized event, but still odd considering how dangerous they obviously think their fans are. Unfortunately we lost the game one to nothing, but the constant singing and cheers and things like that were really fun to try and match.

The away team fans surrounded by riot police.

          Thursday was a big day here. May 9th is Dien Pobiedy or Victory Day, when all of Russia celebrates their victory over Germany. There are military parades, veterans marches, beer everywhere, children waving flags, and lots of other very large, blatant examples of Russian/Soviet strength. Chris and I watched a parade and went to the Russian Museum, which I have already been to, but it was still amazing and beautiful and a great day. After that we went back to my apartment to watch the firework show off my sixth floor balcony. The fireworks were shot off from Peter and Paul Fortress, which I can see from my balcony and Alexa, Chris and I had a pretty nice night with wine and a view and the sun and a breeze. Life is good.

Flares and fire at the Zenit game

          Other than that, I'm being eaten alive by mosquitoes. I keep forgetting that St. Petersburg is a swamp but my 30+ bug bites are attesting to the fact. I have 15 on one arm alone and three on my face…There's one mosquito in my room and we are having an ongoing battle, and he's obviously winning. It'll be great to not look like I have the 

Victory Day fireworks off my balcony. To the right of the
dome in the left is a far away spire. That's the fortress.

chicken pox, but if that's the worst of my problems, I think I'll survive. I'm mostly just preparing for Bijan's arrival to St. Petersburg which will be on May 19th and will make my life that much better! I have a bunch planned for while he's here, but I also have to study for finals. Oh well.  That's all I've got for you today. I'm sure there's more but that'll come in my next blog. The next one will be in about two weeks and will be my final travel blog. I really enjoy writing for you guys so I may keep writing about something else, in a different blog. Well, I'll let you know next time. Lastly, sorry for the bad camera quality. I lost my camera charger, so all these are from my phone. Thanks again, guys! 

If you listen to my links, or even if you don't, this one is by far my favorite. It's heart-breakingly beautiful to me so I hope you think so too. The title is Не Для Меня, Not for Me. It's about soldiers singing about how the coming spring, the beautiful woman, the rivers, gardens, Easter, etc are not for them. For them is the piece of lead, the tears, the white body, etc. It's very beautiful so if you choose to watch any of these, let it be this one. Have a good week, everyone, and Happy Belated Victory Day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=dBjge9MWrZA&feature=endscreen

Thanks Alexa for introducing me to this song.