Back home at last

It's pretty amazing to be back home. I can't believe I had four months abroad; it's something that I've only ever dreamed about, and it actually happened to me. I am extraordinarily grateful for all of the help that I've received to make my semester possible -- my family, friends, advisors, the University of Louisville, Diversity Abroad, and the Gilman International Scholarship Program. Without all of these sources of encouragement and scholarship, I couldn't have had the experience of a lifetime. For this, I thank you.

My plans for this summer will be finding a position to use the Russian language in the medical field, thereby continuing to use my nursing knowledge. Come fall, I will speak at a study abroad fair, highlighting key moments of my experiences and passing on any advice that might be helpful to future study abroad students. I hope that you, as my readers, will continue to check back here once in a while for updates and information -- please feel free to email me and ask questions at any time.

Dropping everyone a couple of lines from sunny Barcelona! I’m actually in my last day here, and the next few will be spent in Madrid. Afterwards, we’ll be moving on to Paris.

My last night with everyone in London was odd; I didn’t feel so much devastated as I was lost. It was weird to leave without my group of friends, and even odder to find myself traveling, eating, and sleeping without them around me. I’m extremely happy with my choice of program and study abroad location -- I feel as though I have a lot to take home after this semester; not just in excess luggage!

Obviously my blog is supposed to be all about my semester in Russia, but I figure it can’t hurt to update some more over the next few weeks about my other European travels; additionally, I’ll let everyone know about the study abroad fair that I’ll be attending come autumn.

Barcelona’s been lovely; I’ve missed sunny weather and, most of all, the OCEAN. I felt immediately at home when I saw the waves, white sand, and sailboats in the distance. I’ve got first-degree burns to show for my over-zealous sun-embracing attitude, but I’m still utterly content. Our first few days were spent sight-seeing: Park Guell, several Gaudi architecture pieces, Dali museum, Picasso museum, and the like.

Park Guell; one of the beautiful walkways.

Breakfast at Mercat de la Boqueria.... astounding and delicious food and juice selection.

Sagrada Familia; rising into the heavens.

Sagrada Familia; the interior of Gaudi's masterpiece.

Yesterday was a magnificent day excursion to Montserrat… a small town among awe-inspiring rock formations and mountains. Also… hiker’s paradise! I had a lot of fun climbing up on rocky cliffs and exploring abandoned hermitages (causing  my mom to panic quite a bit).

Mom and I at the top of a trail.

A better idea of what hikers had in store for themselves, and the beauty of Montserrat.

Today was an entire day spent at the beach -- I almost wish that we’d done this everyday, but that would have taken too much time away from seeing important sights in Barcelona. Next time, however, I have to stay near the ocean and swim everyday. The water was cold enough that most people stayed away, but I found it quite relaxing.

I never know when the next time I have internet will be, but hopefully I’ll get to write some more about my experiences to come in Madrid and Paris.

Final(s) Week

The church in Peterhof -- similar to Spilled Blood.

Finals are OVER. наконец! However, this week has been increasingly bittersweet. Staying inside while there was so much to do (and such beautiful weather again) was frustrating, but studying was extremely important as well. I’ll review some of the things that I got to do last weekend and the activities of my last week in SPb.

Last Saturday was a group excursion to Peterhof. This place was gaudy, beautiful, glistening, and underwhelming all at the same time. The grounds were gorgeous and right by the Gulf of Finland -- so there was a fantastic rocky beach to wander along. We got there just in time for the “opening” of the fountains for that day (the actual festival of fountains was on May Day, or the Day of Workers’ Solidarity). Most of the fountains had the typical Tsarskoe Selo-esque gold motif -- I say underwhelming (for the main fountains) because I always expected the fountain to be spectacular… and although it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen, it didn’t feel as special as I thought it would. Still, it was wonderful being in such a lively and scenic town.

We learned a lot about Peter the Great’s antics when creating Peterhof. He enjoyed trick fountains quite a bit, and as a result has traps set about the grounds, designed to make the guests get wet (and to see ladies’ underwear). It must have gotten old, pretending to be surprised year after year for Peter the Great, but I’m sure the children of the nobility enjoyed it. Many of the fountains had superstitions or quirky stories surrounding them:

One of the many gorgeous houses on the grounds.

Large fountain in front of the palace.

I’ve basically been studying the entire week, except for yesterday, which was when I got to finally breath and relax. I’ve been finishing up some last tasks, like going to the Naval Museum, Zoological Museum, Commander's House at Peter and Paul Fortress, going inside St. Isaac's, buying presents for family and friends back home, and....

Conquering the Hermitage. 


Yes, I've been inside and explored every gallery open for visitors. So much for it taking 20 years to get through! Ура! What makes things even more exciting is that as volunteers for the museum, we get to go up a tower to the Archaeology department.

As for other events, the group took a river cruise, and went to a Russian restaurant with folk dancing. It has been bittersweet, and -- quite frankly -- heartbreaking these last few days. I've never been so sad to leave a place; I've finally gotten to know city and made wonderful friends. I don't want to leave at all -- just as finals are over and I can relax, we have to depart. I have had the most wonderful experience of my life here.

I hope that this will just be a short farewell to St. Petersburg, and most importantly, to Russia. In general, studying abroad has been enlightening and exhilarating -- I'm already dreaming about the next time I get to travel and study abroad.

The entire group is leaving tomorrow morning, and then we'll arrive in London once more. At this point, I will join my mother (who is in London as we speak!) to go to Spain and France for about 10 days. Going to see other parts of Europe is exciting, but I still feel like I'm leaving a piece of my heart and soul in Россия.

Reflections and Revelations

My time in St. Petersburg is so limited, but I've had a wonderful semester. Next week we're going to Helsinki, Finland and Tallinn, Estonia, but lately I've been wishing for just some more time in SPb with my amazing friends instead.

I'm going to try to sneak more photos of the ride down the escalators in the metro at some point. Technically, one of my teachers told me that last year, a motion was passed to ensure photography was legal in the metro, but I don't want to risk being fined. However, it's one of the most interesting and odd sights I've seen in SPb, so I'll do my best for you guys! You can probably read an article or two on the metro, or have several conversations with your friends... it's about a 3-5 minute ride down.

You can't even see the end of the tunnel! It's the deepest metro in the world, because of SPb's unstable and swampy soil.

Another fascinating thing about Russia is how the citizens dress. At home, college students are renowned for wearing sweatpants and t-shirts, and most people wear casual clothing for average daily activities. However, here just stepping over the threshold to go to the store for food is a fashionable occasion. Every young woman I see wears flattering boots and outfits -- it's practically the country's uniform.It's refreshing to see such a large portion of the country looking nice and presentable -- especially since all of it is done with a very matter-of-fact air. I enjoy that looking nice doesn't have to be a special affair here. There's no such thing as someone going up to you and saying, "Wow, you look great today! What's the occasion?"

A great part of spring coming along (besides the weather getting warmer) is that the days are becoming noticeably longer. The sun sets at around 9 pm now, so that means more time for wandering around the city! It used to be 6 or 6:30, so this makes a huge difference. It'll get even better, although it really is too bad that I'll miss the peak of White Nights.

As mentioned previously, I've been doing more exploring on foot and wandering around -- without a map! Recently my friends and I have found a neat factory complex called the Red Triangle. It used to be a rubber and shoe factory, but now is fairly abandoned/used for suspicious activities/random stores.

One of the abandoned buildings.

Inside the above building.

I'll post more of my adventures soon, especially when I went to Peter and Paul Fortress and the Siege of Leningrad Memorial. Till next time, good hunting!

Moscow Chronicles, Day 1

It's spring break! I'm finding it unbelievable that the semester is half over. I'm trying to not think too much about the end, and instead savor all the time I have left in St. Petersburg.

However... I'm in Moscow! The entire AIFS group is on a weekend excursion to Moscow, and my spring break plans are to stay here for the rest of the week. I'm extremely happy that I get to explore Moscow more thoroughly than these short 2 days; however, I'm also a bit bummed that almost everyone is going to a warmer climate for break. The weather has actually been pleasant, though, so I can't complain too much.

I came here by train, which was my first experience on an overnight train. The compartments were quite tiny, with four people to each cabin. I got the top bunk, as well as some pretty nasty bruises. Nonetheless, I had a wonderful time, and am enjoying my Moscow experience so far.

The first day the group got a private bus tour, and we got out to explore places like Red Square, Novodevichy Cemetery, and Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.



State Historical Museum

Austin and I in front of Lenin's Mausoleum



Inside ГУМ, or GUM (pronounced 'goom') -- a large mall which functions mostly as a sightseeing attraction. It's quite lavish for a shopping mall. I hope to come back later and just sit, people watch, and drink coffee.





After seeing the Red Square, we walked over to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.



Boris Yeltsin's grave at Novodevichy Cemetery.

Just a picture of the gorgeous snow falling.

Later that night we went to the circus. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it immensely, but I was pleasantly surprised. There were plenty of acts with various animals, but my favorites were with the contortionists and trapeze artists.

I've had a lot of fun so far in Moscow, although I would agree with something that my friend Glenn said, "There's more to see in St. Petersburg, but more to do in Moscow." That might be too hasty of a judgment, but I'll definitely have more of a feel for the city by the end of the week. Adventures from today will be posted soon!

"она сказала!"

Happy International Women's Day! It's not officially Women's Day in the US yet (besides... we don't even celebrate it, sadly). Here, it's a huge affair -- flower distributors heaven. It's not only a celebration of the women in your life, but also an unofficial Valentine's Day. I've seen dozens of men and women with heart-shaped balloons, elaborate bouquets, fancy chocolates, and other small tokens of regard.

On Saturday I had a chance to explore the city quite a bit with Sharon, Austin, Glenn, Renee, and Taylor. First, we headed towards Kazan Cathedral.

Glenn, me, and Renee in front of Kazan Cathedral.

Out of respect, many of the women covered their heads and the men took off their hats. Additionally, no photos are technically allowed -- it's a very holy place. As we walked in, we saw dozens of portraits of patron saints; the locals praying. There are marble columns that stretch up for what must be hundreds of feet, and painted/inlaid flower design ceilings.

The Church of the Savior on Blood was next on our list. I felt acutely that this place was more of a tourist destination than a sacred place for prayer and forgiveness (although it still is). It also isn't as subtly decorated as Kazan Cathedral, as you can see for yourselves:



If you think the outside is impressive... the inside will blow you away.

Voilà! Mosaics cover every surface: walls, ceilings, domes, arches and columns.

Then, on Sunday we had an excursion to the park and palace in Pavlovsk (fifteen minutes away from Pushkin which is where Catherine's Palace is). So far, the Pavlovsk palace is my favorite. It doesn't make much sense, but I'll say it anyways: I found it extremely livable. Sure, all of the rooms were extravagant, but it wasn't over-the-top like the Hermitage or Catherine's Palace.

The palace... that I will own one day.

Scene from Don Quixote

The desk that I will sit at... one day. Plus, take a look at the floor -- it's made ofhundreds of hand carved wood pieces.



Amazing ballroom/dining hall that I got to waltz around in!

After the tour, we had several hours to explore the grounds. It was still масленица, so there were blini stands, shish kebabs, chocolate croissants, cakes, and hot drinks. There were also miniature horse sleigh rides for the kids. That's one of the best parts of the fair/celebration -- the Russian families having a weekend of fun. As Taylor says, "This is the only time of year they are allowed to have fun... all other times, only frowns, no smiles." No...the Russians I've met have been quite friendly, but smiling all the time is definitely not at the top of their agenda. Next time I'll write more of a comparison between our two cultures.

We actually missed the burning of the effigy for масленица, but managed to have a lot of fun nonetheless:

The tower of death -- I climbed up twice.

Austin and I enjoying our triumph -- if wee babes and women in stilettos can do it, so can we!

Victory at the bottom, with Glenn!



масленица!

Hola to everyone! Yes, I know I just said something in Spanish instead of Russian… but that’s the way it’s been around here lately. For some reason everyone falls back upon Spanish when they forget a Russian word. Thus, in class my friend Glenn might say (imagine this in Russian): “My wallet was taken by a …. a…. oh what’s the word for hombre?” Immediately, everyone will yell out, “Man/мужчина!” The teachers are getting exasperated with our haphazard Spanish-English-Russian way of speaking.

I will definitely never let so much time go by between posts. However, it is a testament to how exciting Russia has been so far. I’ve been to three museums thus far: Political Museum, Dostoevsky Museum, and Menshikov Palace (I will write about that next time). The Dostoevsky Museum had mostly modern exhibits about his life inside, so the really interesting part was just standing in the square that he walked on every day. Right outside that museum was the Kuznechny Market (кузнечный рынок); this used to be the best market in SPb, although now it’s very expensive. The fresh dairy department was the best I’ve seen so far… there’s luscious sour cream and tvorog (sort of like ricotta cheese).

Dodgy little army/navy store -- the place where I have to get an army knife.

дом книги (Book House) at night.

New entrance to the Dostoevsky Museum

This is where I purchased pickled cucumbers and green tomatoes. I probably got over-charged for it, which may account for her adding on some extra pickles and garlic.

Fresh honey and beeswax

These past few weeks have been wonderful. I’ve been going  to the gym regularly with my friend, Austin. Besides that, I’ve managed to explore Nevsky Prospekt quite a bit more. That's one of the main streets in SPb; I usually go with a friend or two, and we explore side streets, stores and restaurants. The Galleria was interesting, but it reminded me too much of the malls back home -- nothing terribly special or unique in the stores, everything overpriced, and mostly typical American food.

I enjoy going to the predominantly Russian events here. For instance, this entire week is a holiday: масленица. It’s literally a “Pancake Week”… rather, Blini Week. Part of the big celebration is to eat blini, burn an effigy of Santa Claus' daughter, and generally celebrate the first official days of spring. Tonight I went to a Russian Club gathering where we danced, chatted, learned the history of the holiday, and ate enormous quantities of homemade blini with sour cream and freshly made jam. On Sunday we have an excursion to the park and palace in Pavlovsk, where we'll see them burn effigies and do Russian folk dancing. Oh... and did I mention that we get to eat blini?!

One of the most important things was also last week... we went to a hockey game! When I watch the Winter Olympics, I usually end up seeing the hockey matches the most, so I was naturally anticipating the game. I imagined having a good time, but I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did. It was <<CKA>> (SPb's team) against <<Ак Барс>> (Kazan)... CKA won, thank goodness! It was very tense by the end, as it got down to penalty shots, and everybody was chanting, "Питер! Питер!" (Peter! Peter!) throughout.

We had pretty great seats, front row of the second tier.

Stephanie, Taylor and I... we're excited that CKA is winning. Hurrah!

Last but not least, a huge shout out to Jake -- he’s got a wonderfully descriptive and exciting blog. We’re on the same program and you can compare our experiences, especially since he's been posing more frequently than I have.

I have a four day weekend coming up, which will be spent studying for my midterm and exploring the city. We have plans to go salsa dancing soon, so let the sexy salsa dancing commence!

Weekly Recap: Tsarskoe Selo and Bowling

Здравствуйте! I can't believe it's only been a week; it feels like I've been here for ages. I've been both busy and lazy, so sorry about the delay in posting. I'll try to be more regular with these from now on.

So... I'M IN RUSSIA! AHH. My first (tired and slow) impression of the country was that it was 1) snowy and 2) dirty. Sorry, St. Pete. But now that I've had a chance to explore individual streets and museums, I find I love it here. Everyone says there's a certain amount of culture shock when arriving in a foreign country; so far, no problems... *knock on wood*. My roommates and I made a group culture shock curve -- I tend to dwell in 'crisis' mode all the time, but that's normal for me. The others are way off the chart or skirting around normal. I'll post it up in the pictures tab sometime.

Taylor and Stephanie have also created the Russian Game of Life. There is literally no way to win... failure is the only option.

I went to the Hermitage first, and it was beyond gorgeous. I couldn't take photos on the inside, because you have to pay extra. However, I get in for free anytime I want (go student cards!), and I'll make notes of my favorite paintings to take photos later.

Austin, Glenn and I, all bundled up.

Meanwhile, I went on an excursion to Tsarskoe Selo this weekend, located in the small town of Pushkin. The Catherine Palace was decorated in the same style as the Hermitage (same architect, imagine that...); there was plenty of gold, frescoes, and lavish artifacts. The entire palace is sensory overload: gold leaf covers all statues, wall decorations, and doors; frescoes are on every ceiling; there are hand-painted silk wall coverings; delicately made Italian and Chinese desks and vases; exquisitely carved wooden floors; floor-to-ceiling paintings; all amidst bright splashes of color and glints of sophistication from the mirrors. It truly is Great, just like its previous hostess. Thankfully I could take plenty of pictures for you guys:

The Great Hall. The floors are hand-carved and there is a fresco ceiling.

Gold leaf covers everything.

There are frescoes in all of the rooms. It's intense.

My secret shot of the Amber Room. We're not allowed to take photos in there, but I managed one from the doorway. It's not called 'Amber Room' for nothing: floor-to-ceiling amber mosaics.

An odd occurrence: sunlight in Russia!

On Friday night we were taken bowling, which was great fun. I usually detest bowling because I find it boring, but I had a really great time. The fact that we were served delicious foods and juices didn't hurt in the slightest. After AIFS stopped feeding us, we had a mini panic attack moment when we realized we'd have to start buying food. For the first few days I didn't really eat much, but now I've got the hang of the local grocery stores. Soon I'll set off for the Kuznechny Market -- it's an enormous enclosed market that sells all of my favorite foods: cured meats and колбаса (kolbasa); hundreds of cheeses; fresh produce; fresh meat and fish; pickled tomatoes, garlic, cucumbers, and sauerkraut.

Doesn't look like much, but I don't think I've ever been that happy to see lettuce.

My classes are also wonderful. I've placed into intermediate grammar and reading, and advanced speaking. I'm still pretty slow when it comes to reading and I definitely need to work on my spelling, but my speaking class is wonderful. I absolutey love that we get to talk about a diverse range of topics in an educational way. It feels like a lovely family community where everyone can speak Russian quite well. We'll be dicussing health, politics, economy, education, family and relationships, and the arts. I'm in love with this class.