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.

Mind the Gap!

This is the first time that I’ve flown in my entire life. I found it was quite exciting being on the plane, especially the second jet. The first was tiny and cramped, while the second was a massive carrier. My plane was extremely empty - everyone got at least 2-4 seats to themselves. During landing and taxiing, I couldn’t resist playing music from the Harry Potter soundtrack. In fact, after collecting my baggage, I boarded the Hog- --whoops-- Gatwick Express. For the duration of my stay in London, I’ll be at the Regency Hotel. It’s quite lovely, albeit with strange bathrooms (and no, I’m not talking about a bidet).

We’ve found that you get to know your fellow students quite quickly when you’re sharing rooms and intimate details of your life every day. We have an extraordinary amount of freedom to wander the city to our heart’s content, arriving and departing whenever the fancy strikes us. In St. Pete it’ll be more structured, but I think the whole point of studying abroad is lowering boundaries, not putting more up; therefore, I should have plenty of interesting stories to relay. Hopefully none of them involve me getting stuck on the wrong side of the city when the bridges go up! I’m going to be in Russia tomorrow, but for now I’ll give you guys a quick summary of what’s been happening in London:

Day 1
For my first day in London, I managed to completely explore the Tower of London; find King’s Cross station, platforms 9 and 10, but not 9 ¾; traipse through the Kensington gardens; and become completely and utterly lost dozens of times. I was extremely surprised to find Londoners volunteering to help us find the correct street or tube line to take. I never expected such outward kindness and helpfulness when I came here, and I must say that I’m pleasantly surprised.

My favorite moment of the day was when we went out to the local pub. Now, the drinking age is 18 in London, and they don’t exactly card you when you buy a drink. However, I’m not of age, and I have no desire whatsoever to drink - especially in a foreign country. What I like about pubs here is that they’re like hang out spots. You eat, perhaps get something to drink, and sit around and chat for a few hours. It’s laid back and lively all at the same time.

The lovely group of people I shared chips and many laughs with.

Day 2
So this morning we took a 3 hour bus tour to see the main sights of the city. The major stops that we took were at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, and Covent Garden. Our tour guide was the jolliest person I’ve met in London - she was brilliant!

London is quite expensive, so I didn't go to the London Eye today - I’ll save that for my next trip here. I got to go to the Millennium Bridge, which is where the first scene in HPOotP is shot (noticing a theme here?), and then St. Paul’s.

My first “independent” stop was at Westminster Abbey, and that took up a good part of the day. The Abbey’s Lady Chapel was breathtakingly gorgeous. I understand why they don’t allow visitors to take photos, but I truly wish I could have taken some of the ceiling and stained glass. Words just cannot explain the majestic nature of that chapel. I took some photos of the cloisters and gardens, though

One of  the strangest parts of being in London (and Europe in general, really), is walking past famous monuments, palaces, and other sights and it’s ‘just another walk.’ So it’s just like… “Oh hello there, Big Ben... hello Buckingham Palace… Scotland Yard.. I’ll be on my way now.” I think even if I lived all my life in a city like London, I couldn’t ever get tired of seeing such amazing buildings. One of the people I met here just said, “Once we get independently wealthy, I am going to buy the British Museum… and live there.” I heartily support that plan!

After Westminster, my friends and I traveled up to Tottenham Court Road, which is where a lot of computer shops are and cafes. It was pretty close to the British Museum, so that’s where we ended our night. The museum is something that takes weeks to see properly - we only had an hour. I got the Rosetta Stone in, Egyptian mummies and sarcophaguses, Assyrian artwork, and some Roman sculpture.

It was an excellent day, and what made everything better was lively friends and odd occurrences. At one point, we couldn’t find each other at an exit in a building has only one way out. I still don't understand how that happened.

One last thing: we finally found Platform 9 ¾! There’s plenty of construction and remodeling going on at King’s Cross, so they’ve moved it to a white hallway. They placed a sticker of a fake brick wall, and it really does away with any sort of charm that it previously had. I hope that the next time I’m in London, it’s put back properly and I can take a picture that doesn’t look like I’m standing next to an ad for brick designs, and have sawed through a small trolley. All of this, and the fact that it was actually in Platform 8, was sad.

I’m typing this last bit on the plane to St. Petersburg; next time I post, I’ll be telling you about my first days in Russia. More pictures are going to be up in the 'Pictures' tab. Cheers!

The person who will miss me the most.

It's hard to explain why I have to leave for 6 months. For one thing, he can't understand why I don't just stay at UofL for the spring semester. Travel's never been a big deal for him, and I know that while he's so happy about this opportunity for me, this is a bittersweet moment. I've been trying to make things easy by being less frustrated when he says or does something that upsets me. I definitely don't want to leave the country on a bad note! This is the first time I'll be traveling without my family, and it's natural that he feels protective and scared for me.

I'm talking, of course, about Fabrizio - my Bichon Frise. It's difficult to leave an animal that doesn't understand why you're going in the first place.

He doesn't know what is happening yet.

Look at my modeling skills. How can you leave me?

Still? You're still packing? No one - no one - resists this face.

Now he knows...

Best case scenario? Fabi will assume that I'm in my room for these next 5 months.

Cheers, as always. Have a go at making up your own captions for Fabi - there's some potential here for a short comic.

Well I guess you should know...

...that I'm still alive! I'm in the process of getting last-minute things together for my trip, so I won't bore you to death with mundane details. In about a week, I'll be posting from London. Shortly after that, I'll write directly from St. Petersburg.

There are so many amazing opportunities for volunteering while I'm abroad. I can apply for a job at the Hermitage, which could involve archaeological excavations, ushering performances at the theatre (and viewing them for free!), or helping with the art exhibits. As a ballet dancer, pianist, and general arts lover, this sounds positively fantastical. At the same time, however, there is a more career-pertinent position with the Russian Red Cross. I'm hoping that my schedule permits me to do both. I'm already starting to rev up my overachieving gene after a long break...

As for classes, I'm strongly leaning towards a St. Petersburg history/culture course and a Russian healthcare/economics oriented course as my electives. Besides two electives, I'll also take an intensive language class; I'll have to take a placement test for that. I'll let everyone know soon how I place and what my schedule will look like.

I'm going to post once a week at a minimum; additionally, I'll do my best to prepare fun weekly 'spotlights'... they might be certain palaces, monuments, or even food! I'm always on the hunt for interesting places to hang out, and if those places have delicious foods, then I'm hooked. I have a feeling that it won't be a problem to find something great to eat in Russia. ;-)

That's all for now. Cheers, everybody!

The Eternal and the Ephemeral

I'm leaving the country soon, and I've been trying to find the perfect way to phrase my feelings. However, this seemingly simple feat is proving to be much more complex than I anticipated. I'm a roller coaster of various, sometimes fleeting, emotions. At first I was so focused on planning my trip that I wasn't feeling much of anything -- think amateur travel agent. Then, when my countdown got to <24 days... I freaked. Scared, I suppose, about being on my own for the first time.

Now, I'm back in "busy" mode; savoring my last weeks. It's down to less than 13 days - soon I'll be on my way to St. Petersburg, Russia. Amidst my alternating fits of terror and jubilant cries of "Huzzah!" for this trip, I dwell in a surreal state of jittery anticipation.

Why Russia? My heritage is Russian, and I've spoken conversational Russian since I was little. Thus, this trip will allow me to harness my existing abilities to further my goals for my career and community; it's also about personal interest in Russian culture, traditions, and politics. I'll speak in much more detail of classes and my goals in upcoming posts.

As for this blog... I proposed this as part of my project for the Gilman Scholarship. I'll keep unintentional verbosity to a minimum by inserting pictures and videos of the places I visit. Truly, this blog will be a wonderful outlet for me; I can inform my peers of how my study abroad experience is going and keep you updated on certain scholarships/opportunities in the "If You Want To Travel" tab.

Enough words....

This is where I'll be in a week or so!