Small Improvements

This weekend we had our first excursion with our Russian Friends.  We went to Peterhoff, which is the outpost that Peter the 1st built on the gulf of Finland so that he could survey both his beloved St. Petersburg and his island fortress of Krondstat.  We were supposed to meet at 10:40 behind the Winter Palace, and the boats (called meteors) that would take us across the gulf to the estate would leave from here.  Latalia and I arrived on time only to find that the Gulf of Finland had been closed (how do you close the Gulf of Finland?) so we would have to wait until it was reopened before our boats could leave.  (I think the closing of the Gulf had something to do with the International Economic Forum that was taking place in St. Petersburg the same day.)  Latalia and I managed to get tickets, but the pier was very hectic and crowded with people who wanted to go to Peterhoff and so our group got separated.  At one point, a very large and intimidating man closed off the entrance to the ticket booths and boats and wouldn't let anyone by until the Gulf was opened again.  The only problem was that half of our group was still on shore, while I was with my Russian friend and a few other girls on the pier.  Thus ensued a long and frustrating wait in which we basically stood around not knowing what to do.  Eventually the Gulf was reopened and we were able to get a place on a boat after the remaining members of our group bought their tickets, but by this time it was already almost noontime.  But the boat ride was picturesque and comfortable and it was very interesting to see St. Petersburg from the water (perhaps as it was meant to be seen).  The journey took only about 30 minutes during which, as is my custom, I kept my nose pressed firmly to the window in order not to miss anything interesting that we might happen to pass.  I can tell you, however, that the Gulf of Finland is not very exciting. 
When we finally reached our destination we once again ran into troubles buying our tickets for entrance into the park.  Most of us had our Russian friends buy our tickets for us since it is highly unlikely that we could convincingly pass as Russians and therefore get the Russian student discount (we have the proper document, called a студентский билет or "student ticket" but it would only take an exchange of a few sentences before the cashier figured out that we were foreigners).  But since it was an absolutely beautiful day weatherwise, Peterhoff was very crowded and the ticket lines were more than a little chaotic.  A woman directly in front of us was having some sort of issue buying her tickets and was becoming very angry (from what we could gather, she wanted to buy a certain number of tickets at a discounted group rate for her tour group, and the cashier was telling her that they only sold group tickets in certain quantities, which she refused to believe).  But, eventually we gained access into the park. 
By this time it was past 1:00, so the first thing we did is find a place to eat.  I had ham pizza.  It sounds a lot more boring and America than it was - it was a very Italian pizza with olives and onions and peppers on it as well as ham.  It was quite good (though not very Russian).  What was Russian was the choice of drinks - you could have Coke, water, beer, wine, coffee with or without alcohol, or tea.  And this was a fairly casual restaurant.  Latalia got a hot dog but couldn't finish it, so I ended up eating that too.  For dessert I bought some ice cream (since everyone had been telling me how much better it was in Russia).  It was of a very different consistency (it was soft serve), much more granular than in America, and it tasted more like icing than ice cream.  I'm not sure that I like it better than American ice cream.  Maybe I need to try different kinds :]
After lunch we spent the afternoon wandering the gardens.  Peterhoff is famous for its fountains - we only saw about a dozen of them, but there are more than 400 in the complex.  Many of them were gilded and generally very opulent - there is really nothing like it in America.  The garden itself is very beautiful and green and altogether pleasant to walk around.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon (pictures do the experience much more justice than mere descriptions).  We took a marshrutka back into the city in the interest of saving money (the boat cost 450 rubles whereas the marshrutka ride was only 50), although since we were doing this as part of the Russian Friend program our expenses were taken out of the budget given to each of us for that program (which amounts to 4000 rubles, or $125 for each of us for the entire summer - the only stipulation is that if we don't use the money, we have to return it :P). 
The program, as an idea, is excellent - but it doesn't often work out as well as it should.  My Russian friend (and from talking to the other members of my group, I know I'm not alone in this) isn't very friendly towards me - in fact, we have hardly spoken at all.  The only progress we've made is that now she speaks to me in Russian instead of English (but now if I don't understand what she says she merely repeats it more slowly or gives up instead of trying to explain, so I'm not really sure if it's a gain at all).  On the boat ride to Peterhoff she listened to her iPod instead of talking with me, and she preferred to hang out with her Russian pals and smoke instead of engaging me in conversation in the park.  It's a little frustrating, but at least I have Tatyana to talk to (our after-dinner conversations are a regular tradition now and seem to stretch longer and longer each night). 
The marshrutka we took back (or should I say, I took back - my Russian friend bought herself a round-trip ticket on the boat) was exceptionally crowded, particularly after our group of 7 or 8 students got on.  There weren't any seats left, so we just stood and hung on the best we could as the vehicle bumped and swerved down the road.  It was certainly an adventure.  The marshrutka dropped us off at a metro station near the outer limit of the city and I took the subway into the city center, where I met Latalia. 
We then went to the biggest bookstore in St. Petersburg, Dom Knigi, both to look around and to see if I could find a Rusian-English Bible.  I was able to make my request understood (in a full sentence, which is a first for me) but I was told that they didn't have any.  I figured if I didn't find one at the biggest bookstore in St. Pete, then I probably wouldn't find one in the city, so I settled for a small Russian Bible instead.  (I now own several English Bibles in different translations, a French New Testament, a Spanish Bible, and a Russian Bible.  Not exactly the most traditional souvenir, but certainly interesting...) The Bible I bought only cost 195 rubles, which is about $6 - not a bad deal.  I'm pretty sure it's a Protestant Bible, although the names of the books all translate to "The Book of the Prophet Isaiah" or "The Gospel of Mark" and the names are strangely transliterated into Cyrillic, so I'm not always sure which book I'm in.  Also, some of the chapters are numbered strangely - one of the psalms around Ps. 9 is missing, so the psalm marked 23 is actually the 24th psalm... but there are still 150 chapters in Psalms, so I'm not entirely sure what's going on there.  I can't read well enough yet to figure it out ;]  Latalia bought a copy as well and wants to go back later to see if they have more so that she can bring them home as souvenirs to her pastor and such. 
After this little excursion, we ended up getting home around 7:00.  Jenya had called me while I was in Peterhoff to ask when I thought I would be getting home, since T.T. was once again at the dacha for the weekend.  However, she came back that evening to cook us dinner, so the dacha must not be too far away.  (Also, Latalia and I don't think either she or Vacily have a car, although we can't confirm that - in which case she would have to take the metro or a bus to the dacha.  We're hoping we'll figure all of these things out by the end of our 8 weeks here.)  Also, since Jenya called me but T.T. came home, I think she asks Jenya to be the one to contact us since she knows English enough to communicate if she has to - although that time I am very proud to say that I carried on the entire conversation in Russian.  I think I am making progress.  ;]  Supper was kotleti and pure, and I don't think it would be wrong to assume that this was because I had pointedly remarked the night before how much I love both of these foods :]  I was getting pretty tired of macaroni... but T.T. is pretty careful what she feeds us, especially after the kasha fiasco.  I still wouldn't mind trying different Russian foods, even if they don't agree with me - it's part of the experience.  Oh well, I guess you can't have it all.
Saturday was also (yet another) holiday in St. Petersburg - the Festival of the Scarlet Sails.  It also happened to be the graduation day for all of the high schoolers throughout the city, and these two events combined to make it quite a rowdy night.  Nonetheless, Latalia and I met with two of our other friends who live on our island in order to watch the purported fireworks from the river (and because I still hadn't fully experienced the White Nights and I wanted to at some point before it actually started getting dark again).  Unfortunately, and perhaps as we should have expected from Russia, we waited for a full hour and didn't see anything (we later found out that the concert was at 11 and the fireworks didn't begin until almost 2am, by which time it was actually dark by an absolute standard) and one of the other girls was getting very nervous about all of the young drunk people around, so we called it a night at around 12:15.  (Strangely enough, the high concentration of alcohol surrounding us didn't seem to bother me - I think I have a very skewed sense of danger :P)  Not to mention, it was beginning to rain, which discomfort more than outweighed my desire to see the fireworks.  However, the night was not completely in vain - at least I got to experience the White Nights.  I can now sleep in peace (and I actually can - I've finally adjusted to sleeping in the perpetual dusk in my room). 

On Sunday Latalia and I went to church, as usual (Phil and Mykola opted out, since they had stayed out to the bitter end of the festivities the night before and didn't feel like waking up at 10am).  Service seemed particularly long this week, and by the time we got out at 1:30 both of us were very hungry.  T.T. had gone back to the dacha the night before, so we were on our own for lunch and decided to go to a McDonalds, of all places (because it was just down the street from the church and we were both very curious about a Russian McDonalds).  It was strange to see "Big Mac" or "Chicken McNuggets" transliterated into Cyrillic XD  We both ordered the Chicken McNuggets (although Latalia got a Happy Meal), which as far as I remember taste about the same as they do in the States.  I got another ice cream (I love McDonald's ice cream cones) which only cost 15 rubles ($.50) and it also tasted just about the same, although perhaps a bit creamier in consistency.  By the time we left McDonalds it was raining pretty heavily outside, so we opted to take the metro back home instead of walking.  That turned out to be a 30-minute journey, whereas we could have walked the distance in 15 minutes, but at least we stayed dry (and we are both feeling much more comfortable with the metro now - a far cry from that first Friday where Latalia walked from the city center in a downpour because she was afraid of the metro :]).  Both of us passed the afternoon in studying. 
At 5:30 we went back into the city center to meet some of the other members of our group, and we went to a restaurant where they sell German perogies.  Not exactly Russian, but really tasty :]  These consist of flaky pastry which is filled with all sorts of fillings, from savory to sweet.  I personally had one with scallions and egg, one with strawberries, and one with tvorets, which is a kind of very sweet cream or cottage cheese particular to Russia.  It's consistency and flavor are remeniscient of cheesecake, and it is quite delicious.  Then we returned home, where T.T. was cooking dinner for us, and we decided not to tell her that we had just come from eating (the perogies hadn't been all that filling, and by this time it was nearly 7:00, so we were reasonably hungry again).  This time supper was a bit more varied: chicken cutlets, mashed potatoes and rice that had various vegetables mixed in.  I hope that our dinners continue to get more interesting like this, and tried to encourage this by enthusiastically affirming how good the (new) rice dish was. 

The most exciting thing that came out of our dinner conversation this night was when I tried to explain to T.T. why I often mixed up dates on her calendar.  All calendars in Europe are set up so that Monday is the first day of the week, whereas (as you know) calendars in America show Sunday as the first day.  When I tried to explain that to T.T. she was amazed.  She wanted to know how it was done in England (I didn't know at the time, but now I've looked it up and all of Europe definitely recognizes Monday as the first day of the week).  Apparently the US is just weird like that - but we still call Saturday and Sunday the "week-end" so I suppose our weeks start on Monday too.  I do have to often do a double-take when looking at T.T.'s calendar, though, just because I'm used to Sunday being the first day.  Oh, the little things :]