Seen from one angle, my weekend was incredibly boring and kind of pathetic. It's a good thing I'm used to seeing things from a different angle.
- On Friday night, I decided to finally wash the clothes that I had worn when traveling from America. It sounds disgusting, but it's because both the skirt and shirt are covered in sequins and marked "Hand wash only." I don't usually pay attention to those kinds of things, but I like the sequins. Here's a good side note: when traveling, your choice of clothing should be governed by both the comfort level of the clothes and the convenience of washing them. I failed on the second count. However, I figured it wouldn't be too difficult to hand-wash them; after all, they weren't stained or anything, they just reeked of sweat. So I put some tepid water in the sink and poured in some of the detergent powder that we use over here. Only then did I notice that the tags of both articles said "Hand wash cold" but I figured that wouldn't be a big deal. Once again, I failed. Both the shirt and skirt were made in India - I guess in India they don't know the meaning of "colorfast dye." The colors in both articles ran like nothing I've ever seen before. And the skirt was a bright, turquoise blue. I'm just glad that a) I hand-washed them; and b) I didn't have anything else in the sink with them. It was actually quite humorous - the water in the sink was a brilliant turquoise color. I should have taken a picture. However, I'm happy to announce that neither the skirt nor the shirt appear at all permanently the worse for wear, and they are clean (and fresh-smelling) now. So that was my adventure of Friday.
- All Friday night and continuing through Saturday we were bombarded with thunderstorms and intermittent rain. As a result, Latalia and I stayed home on Saturday and spent the entire day studying. Which seems more boring than it is; I actually don't mind having a lazy study-day every once in a while. There wasn't really any pressure, since it was the weekend; I got a lot accomplished; but I also had a lot of time to read and procrastinate. It almost felt like summer vacation. The most entertaining thing that happened all day was the thunder: when it got really close and boomed overhead, the noise would set off the burglar alarms in our building and the one next door. Occasionally I worried that we might lose power; then I remembered that we're in a big city and not in Maine, and big cities don't usually have those problems. Although when Latalia and I were walking around on Sunday we saw some pretty good-sized trees that had been blown down by the wind and rain, so perhaps it wasn't an entirely superfluous fear.
- On Sunday we went to church, as usual. It always makes me smile to hear the same old familiar worship songs sung in Russian (when they're translated from English, they never make as much sense or sound as good but at least it helps me to learn new words and I can sing more easily because I already know the tune). This week we sang "Your Love is Amazing," "Amazing Love," "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever," and "Your Name is Holy." I videotaped us singing some of the choruses so that I can show the people at Calvary Chapel when I get back to America. I hope they enjoy it as much as I do.
- Both on our way to church and afterwards Latalia and I ran across some kind of road race which was being run in St. Petersburg. After later researching it I discovered that this is the "White Nights Marathon." I found the information for it on some obscure marathon-review site where people can write reviews for the marathons they've run. Most runners complained about the scarcity of refreshment as well as how the citizens of the city don't seem to care that there are people running a marathon around them. I would say from observing the event that their remarks are quite accurate - I hadn't seen any sort of advertising for the race (not that I would have understood it anyway) and saw almost no one along the course cheering the runners. The police would stop traffic on whatever section of road the runners were going along until they had all passed, then life resumed as normal. From what I observed, it didn't seem that the citizens of St. Petersburg were very aware of this marathon, either - many marshrutka drivers and people in cars were honking and seemed confused as to why the traffic wasn't moving. Kudos to the people running the marathon, though - it was a gorgeous day for it but SO WINDY!! We saw lots of old people walk-running and even some in athletic wheelchairs :]
- After church, Latalia and I decided to visit the Hermitage, since the weather had vastly improved and we on no account wanted to stay at home studying for another afternoon. So, we grabbed a quick lunch at MacDonalds (I got a McChicken and a McFlurry - the McFlurries in America are much better even though the ice cream is tastier in Russia) and walked over to Palace Square. We soon discovered that this is where the finish line for the White Nights Marathon is located; it was very crowded and confused. At one point it was so windy that the finish line blew over - I hope no one got hurt :P In any case, Latalia and I quickly figured out where the entrance to the museum was and commenced standing in line. And did we ever stand in line! It was a good 40 minutes between the time we entered the courtyard and when we finally got in to the museum. Fortunately, students (of any nationality) have free admission, so we plan to go back several more times.
- The Hermitage is known as the best collection of Western European art in the world, and I believe it. There was SO MUCH ART there!! I had only been in an art museum once before (and that was the Princeton Art Museum) so I was completely unprepared for the scope, elegance, and opulence found in the one-time Palace of the Czars. Latalia and I looked at Ancient Egyptian artifacts (including a mummy!!!), Ancient Greek and Roman sculpture, and really explored the Italian Art wing (which is unbelievably extensive). We also passed through the wings of Flemish Art, Netherlandish Art, Dutch Art, Spanish Art, Medieval Art and Artifacts, and European Arms and Armor! Which was for me the coolest part that we saw yesterday. It is incredible to think that one could wear a suit of armor such as I saw there and do anything, much less fight!! They had equestrian armor, too - that was cool. We saw a Pablo Picasso exhibition, too, but I was much less impressed. I don't get modern art (I don't think anyone does, really, but I don't even appreciate it as art). Besides, it didn't belong in the midst of such palpable history. Sometimes even more amazing than the art itself were the rooms that it was housed in! It can be seen in every room how the Hermitage used to be the Palace of the Czars - from the exotic wood floors to the extravagantly painted ceilings, many of them overlaid with gold. There were even a couple of actual throne rooms! I couldn't help remarking, a little sardonically, "I've never been in a throne room before." We also walked through an exhibition of how Russian nobleman's houses were typically furnished in the 19th and 20th centuries - the extravagant writing-desks and tea-tables were very impressive. There was even a fully furnished library with a balcony to get to the books on the top of the shelves (that was Latalia's favorite room, and one of mine). My absolute favorite room, however, would probably have to be the corridor that we found on one edge of the building - the ceiling was painted apparently to imitate the Sistine Chapel, with dozens of biblical scenes in the Italian Renaissance tradition. This is my favorite style of art and I had a great time craning my neck and spinning around trying to figure out which biblical story each panel represented (I was able to recognize most of them without much difficulty). Only I wasn't able to stay in that room for too long, because I quickly got dizzy. ;] The most surprising thing I saw at the Hermitage was probably the exhibition of Korean art on loan from some Korean national museum. I definitely didn't expect to see Oriental art prominently displayed in a museum in St. Petersburg, but I also noticed that guided tours were available in Russian, English, German, French, and Korean, so there must be some backstory about the relationship between Russia and Korea. I mean, why Korean and not Chinese? In America, Chinese would be much more likely to be seen as an alternate language than even Japanese and especially Korean. There must be some reason in Russia's history for it.
- As could be expected in such a museum, photography was not allowed; but there was an interesting exception. A ticket can be purchased for 200 rubles (about $6) that gives you the right to take "non-professional photography and video." Since I can gain entrance to the museum for free, I figure that it wouldn't be a bad idea to purchase one of these tickets on one of my visits, so that I can photograph without being subtle about it (or in the very least without my conscience bothering me later ;]) and share some of the splendor that left me open-mouthed for the entire 90 minutes that we wandered the museum. In any case, I will have to return - there are entire wings of the museum that we left unexplored, and we didn't even go up to the third floor or to Peter the Great's Theater which adjoins the Hermitage.
- Finally, at 5pm Latalia and I returned home, footsore and with our minds filled with all that we had seen. We had quite a bit of difficulty getting into the apartment - the humidity in the city is rising and it has caused our wooden door to swell in its frame; I feel like I'm going to break something every time I force it open :\ Tatyana finally returned from the dacha, where she had remained all weekend (for which we were very glad. She left us some sort of Russian microwaveable TV dinners for supper on Saturday night, but they consisted of rubbery cutlets and over-frozen mashed potatoes and were overall not very appetizing.) and cooked us supper - pelmeni again (the meat-filled bite-sized perogies we've had several times now). I really enjoy her cooking, but I wish she'd feed us something besides cutlets and macaroni... I do understand though. Latalia has yet to explain to her exactly why she's so picky (she has a sensitive stomach and new foods can throw her off really easily) so T.T. only dares to cook what she knows Latalia likes. She tried soup and I told her that I don't really like that; Latalia isn't very fond of rice (she's not accustomed to it) and neither of us like tomatoes. She's figured out that I like cucumbers, so I get them just about every night with dinner, but that's the extent of our vegetables, and we never have any sort of fruit. She thinks it's strange when we ask for juice in the morning or any sort of drink with dinner, and we're both too timid to insist (and I feel that I don't know enough Russian to do it politely, and I by no means wish to risk offending her again). Hopefully none of this will lead to a serious deficiency in any vitamins or minerals. I've asked, and Anna said that fruit bought from fruit stands should be okay as long as I wash it; there's one nearby the institute so I think I may start purchasing apples so that I'm not completely devoid of those food groups in my diet. :P
- Mom called again!!!! It was so good to hear from her (this is only the second time we've spoken since I left, not including the brief Skype conversation we had in Belgrade) and it really helped to cheer me up. The only part of my studies that is really getting to me is the vocabulary - there's so much of it that I feel that I can't possibly keep up (and I'm never sure how much I really have to know). Mom said - and she's right - that the best way to learn the vocab is to use it in conversation, but that's a bit difficult when the only Russian I have to talk to is Tatyana. But I refuse to despair - the program isn't even half-over, and already I can carry on conversations in Russian with some ease (and a lot of painful pauses and "umm..." and blurted English words and pantomime, but at least it's something :]). It's a good thing that she was able to get through this time - she actually called me on Friday evening, but I wasn't near my phone so I didn't hear it ring. She tried again on Sunday but caught me literally as I was finally walking into the Hermitage building (after my 40-minute wait during which I would have been more than happy to talk to her in order to pass the time, but such is life ;]) so it was good that we finally found a time when we were both free.
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