"Don't assume you can pay with plastic anywhere around here"

Some things I learned from this week:

• Water is heavy.  In the interest of saving money, I buy several liters of water at a time (which costs about the same as each individual bottle in the convenience stores).  However, the store where I buy this is quite far from my apartment, and on Tuesday when I bought the 8 liters of water, it was raining pretty hard on my walk home.  Let's just say that it wasn't a fun experience (my arms are hating me for being such a spendthrift).  However, I figure since I only have to do it once a week or so, it's worth it.  Plus, bigger muscles never hurt anybody ;] (And I tell myself that the water isn't as heavy as a hay bale, so I should count myself lucky).
• Using foreign ATMs isn't nearly as scary as they tell you.  I finally got to the end of the money that I had brought from the states with me on Tuesday (about $135, so that's pretty good that it lasted me more than 2 weeks) and I decided that the CitiBank that I walk past everyday on my way to school was probably the best bet for an ATM that would be safe, wouldn't eat my debit card (as I had heard so many horror stories about), and would display instructions in English.  As it turns out, I was correct on all three accounts, and the actual withdrawal turned out to be relatively painless.  My checking account is with Bank of America, which charges a $5 fee for every withdrawal from a foriegn ATM.  Pretty steep, but also pretty standard, from what I hear.  Because of this, I had decided beforehand that I would try to make my withdrawals large and infrequent, to save money.  I took out 5000 rubles, which translates to about $160.  I had forewarned Bank of America that I would be traveling, so I didn't have any problems with frozen accounts or anything, thankfully.  The entire transaction ended up costing me almost $170 - the $162 that I withdrew, the $5 BoA fee, and a 1% conversion fee, also charged by BoA (as far as I can tell).  It seems as though the ATM itself didn't charge me anything for using my card, as I had heard it might (I've heard that these fees can run anywhere from $1-5).  So all of the terrifying anecdotes I had heard about not being able to find an ATM, having the ATM swallow your debit card or the machine displaying "broken link" while the money was still debited from the account turned out to be for naught. The banking system works.  All is well. :]
• You have to use cash everywhere in Russia.  I mean Everywhere.  On Wednesday we (myself, Aryeh, Molly, Emily, and Anna) went to purchase our train tickets for our Moscow excursion at the end of the program.  Anna told us that trains in Russia, particularly between the big cities and particularly in the summer, fill up exceedingly quickly and especially if we wanted to get tickets together, we would have to buy them ASAP.  (Molly, Emily, Aryeh and I are going; Anna, our grad student advisor, came along to facilitate things).  Although I had withdrawn money the day before, that was for everyday expenses and so I only had 1500 rubles and my debit card on me.  I thought that, at the train station at least, the technology would be up to credit cards - after all, about the only place you can't use them in America is at a yard sale :]  I should have known better - this is Russia, after all.  Fortunately, there was an ATM in the building.  After the program, the four of us are taking a night train down to Moscow, where we will stay and tour for a few days before returning to St. Petersburg to fly home (when booking tickets it is much more convenient to fly in and out of the same city, although in reality it would be MUCH simpler for me to fly out of Moscow).  On the way down, our train leaves at 10:40pm and travels all night to get us to Moscow at 7:40 am.  We're in what's called a купе (I think we also have the word coupe in English), or a closed compartment for four people (think Harry Potter except the compartments have beds).  Unfortunately, Molly forgot her passport when we went to pick up the tickets, and the tickets have both your name and passport number on them (and the ticket-takers on the train actually check to make sure you are who you say you are) so she couldn't buy them with us; thus we'll have one stranger with us (but I figure it's better than each of us being in a compartment with three strangers).  We could also have gone плат-карт or open-carriage, where the compartments aren't as secure, but since we were going to be sleeping I felt more comfortable with doors that locked.  Those tickets turned out to be 1965 rubles each, or $63 - not bad for traveling from St. Petersburg to Moscow.  Hopefully, we will all be able to leave the greater part of our belongings (i.e. our bigger suitcases) with our host families for the weekend so we only have our carry-on luggage to deal with.  On the way back, things get a bit more complicated, because my flight leaves St. Petersburg at 6am.  Oh, boy.  I'm still not entirely sure how everything is going to work out, but I'm hopeful.  Thus, I will be returning to St. Petersburg during the day on Tuesday - my train leaves Moscow at 4 and arrives in St. Pete by 8:40 (all of the day trains are the new "speed-trains" that can cover the distance in about half the time).  This ticket was significantly more expensive - I paid 2995 rubles ($96) for a third-class плат-карт seat.  But, such is life.  I will also be traveling back alone - Molly is flying from Moscow to Berlin to meet a friend and Aryeh and Emily were much more intelligent about booking their flight home; theirs leave at 6pm, so they can take a night train back up on Tuesday night.  But hopefully by that time I won't be a completely destructive force on my own - hey, it'll even be a bit of an adventure!  That's what I'm here for, right? :]
• Culture is expensive.   Also on Wednesday, Latalia went to see "Swan Lake" at the Mariinsky Theater - the most famous venue in St. Petersburg.  I had really wanted to go, but hadn't purchased tickets in time; but when I expressed this to T.T., she told me that our neighbor works at the Mariinsky and that she would ask him if there was any way for me to get a ticket, regardless.  Communication went awry and nothing ever works as smoothly as it should: what ended up happening was that on Wednesday after returning from purchasing the train tickets, Latalia was about to leave to meet another friend who was also going: they would eat out, then proceed to the theater.  Our neighbor, Sasha, was over at the time: he told me that there was a slight chance that I could buy tickets immediately beforehand at the theater if there had been some that hadn't been picked up yet.  I wouldn't have done it if it hadn't been Swan Lake at the Mariinsky Theater.  But, I agreed to give it a try.  So I was eating supper, thinking that I would then get ready and head over around 6:00, when T.T. told me that I should go with Sasha when he went to the theater and he could help me ask about tickets.  My language skills on the fly still leave much to be desired, so I thought this an excellent idea.  Sasha was leaving at 5:40 and it was by this time already 5:10, so I had to bolt my supper and get ready exceedingly quickly.  Somehow I managed it (boy I'm glad now for having that practice with makeup every day) and T.T. wasn't kidding when she told me that Sasha ran to the theater.  I don't think I ever have or ever will cross St. Petersburg that quickly - we ran to the nearest metro stop, took it one station, and walked briskly (that's an understatement) to the theater.  At some point in all of this hustle and bustle the water bottle which I had placed in my purse opened and soaked my purse with all its contents and one side of my dress before I realized what was going on; but we couldn't stop and I probably wouldn't have been able to explain the problem to Sasha (as far as I know, he speaks zero English), so I took out and closed the water bottle and tried to wring out my purse as best I could while keeping up.  (Good news: there was little permanent damage - my map got soaked but dried fairly well and fortunately all of my really important documents, like my passport, were in an inside pocket that didn't get wet.  My dress dried fairly quickly.)  We arrived at the theater around 6:15 and Sasha began inquiring at the ticket offices whether they had any tickets.  The first one had two: one for 2700 rubles and one for 3400.  I only would have had 1500 rubles in my purse, but I slipped an extra 1000 in at the last minute, just in case: now I was exceedingly glad that I had.  Nonetheless, I wasn't about to pay more than $100 for a ballet ticket (and couldn't have, even if I had wanted to).  Fortunately the second stand had a ticket for 2400 rubles - after a slight hesitation I handed over all of my money, and I was in.  That was a $77 ticket - I think I hear some of you cringing at the figure.  I wasn't very happy either at the sum, but such is the price we pay to be "cultured".  Was it worth it?  Probably.  The theater is GORGEOUS beyond belief (the ticket said no photographs but like most rules in Russia it was barely enforced - probably 60% of the people in the theater were taking pictures, and many even during the performance itself!) and extravagantly decorated, and the stage is enormous.  The dancing was exquisite - so much talent and athleticism was displayed by all!  This was the first ballet I had ever attended, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was dazzled.  The costumes, the scenery, the dancing, the music - it was all perfect.  And my seat, the one I had paid so dearly for, was on the first level above the orchestra, on the extreme left - I was practically sitting on the stage.  I could still see 95% of the performance, surprisingly enough, and we were literally right above the orchestra.  The other occupants of my box were two Russian Orthodox priests, with their long black robes and squared-off beards, and a wealthy middle-aged woman with her 4-year-old daughter.  Naturally, I immediately took to the daughter and soon found out that her name was Anya and that this was her first time at the ballet, although her mother informed me that they had a DVD of the performance at home which they watched frequently.  It didn't take long before they found out that I spoke English first, then (some) Russian, but fortunately the mother spoke (some, equally stumbling and heavily accented) English so we managed to communicate fairly well.  She told me that they had spent a month in LA in January and that Anya had attended kindergarten there, and her teachers had said that she understood well and even spoke a bit of English.  At one point, her mother gave her an apple to snack on and when I asked her (in Russian), "Do you know what that's called in English?" she impishly replied "Apple!"  We became fast friends, and I would like to flatter myself that we were on the same level linguistically, but I think the truth is that she spoke more Russian than I.  There were a couple of points at which she asked me a typically four-year-old question during one of the several intermissions: "Why is that lady still playing down there?" or "Why did the bell just ring?" which unfortunately I didn't have the language to explain to her.  But I was flattered that she asked, and that I at least understood the question (I ended up trying to explain in slow and simple English, hoping that she might understand some - she just looked at me with a childish grin on her face.  I don't know if she was laughing at the silly American and her bumbling Russian, or what, but I know that I certainly enjoyed myself - kids are kids, regardless of nationality.  I miss nursery and babysitting and being able to hang out with them :\)  All in all, it was an adventure - and in the end, that's what I'm here for.  I can only hope that I'm a bit more "cultured" now.  :]]
• Never trust a weather forecast in St. Petersburg.  The weather has been consistently nothing all week: one day will start cold and rainy but be sunny and 75 by 4pm, while the next looks beautiful on the walk to school but we walk home in a torrential downpour.  I really just ought to learn to keep my umbrella with me, but my poor purse is already bursting at the seams with my textbooks, and I have no wish to hasten its inevitable demise (I no longer have any hopes of it outlasting the summer - I just want it to stay intact as long as possible :P).  I really wish that I knew how cold it would be - it rarely breaks 70 and it's already June 25!  I'm mostly happy with the clothing I have brought but if anything, I would have taken another sweater or two.  It's almost always chilly in the apartment in the afternoons.  
• Being a girl is hard work.   Today marks the second day in a row of my wearing heels, and I don't know how people do it every day.  My calves are so sore!  It makes me curious which muscles this walking around on tiptoe all day works, and whether the strength and endurance that I'm inevitably gaining by inflicting this torture on myself will transfer to, for instance, walking in normal shoes, or biking.  Fortunately, the heels that I brought to St. Petersburg are quite comfortable and fit my feet very well - better than most of the other pairs of shoes that I brought.  This is exceedingly important since I'm walking more than 2 miles every day, even if I don't go exploring - so as time goes on, I may end up wearing my heels more and more.  (Besides, most of the clothing I brought is on the dressy side, so I try to avoid wearing my sneakers when possible.)  If I don't watch out, I'm going to return home all "girlified" - to quote a good friend, "all high heels, short skirts, and makeup."  (I actually don't know if anyone has ever said it to me like that, but it looks cool enough to be in quotes, doesn't it? :])  But I can't fool myself - inside, I'm still the same old Erin who wears jeans every day because then I don't have to worry about color coordination.  (And I do have to worry about it - just ask my friends or roommates!! :P)

So those were my major lessons and adventures.  We also visited Peter and Paul's Fortress yesterday, which was the official first structure in St. Petersburg (built by Peter 1 before the city was even founded, in 1703) but it wasn't terribly interesting and the sky was growing ever more menacing, so we left directly after the tour.  We learned about the political prisoners who were kept there (since the fortress was never actually attacked, they had to do something with the structure - apparently no one else was crazy enough to try and capture the "city on a swamp") and saw the place where the flood levels were marked from particularly catastrophic flood years (St. Petersburg is famous for its annual floods, and though they are less severe now that a dam has been built further up the Neva, they used to be particularly nasty and sometimes the waters rose over 8 feet!!)  as well as the real, working Russian Mint which is also located within the fortress walls.  There was a wax museum that looked interesting, but I figured since admission to the fortress is free, we can come back another time.  I'll make sure to tell you about it if we ever do (I've never been to a wax museum and I actually think it would be quite interesting).  Not much to look forward to this weekend, but that just means I'll have more time to think about anything that I might have forgotten about this week - once again, I forgot my note-book :P  I hope that I haven't completely worn you out with my boring routine - maybe the fact that I have people actually reading my blog will inspire me to go out and have some more adventures worth writing about.  But until then, enjoy your own equally exciting existence, and if my blog inspires you to send me a note telling me of your own grand adventures, all the better!!

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 :]

"I shouldn't use that word on the street, should I?"

Some more highlights and entertaining anecdotes from last week (I forgot my notebook on Friday where I keep notes on all of the really good stuff that happens to me, so I missed a few things). 

• Monday was a holiday in St. Petersburg, but we still had classes as normal.  However, the cafeteria was closed because the cooks had the day off, so we went to a nearby restaurant (Чайная ложка or "The Teaspoon") for lunch.  This restaurant is basically identical to Teremok, specializing in блины of all different flavors.  I ordered a chicken, cheese and bacon bleen which was quite delicious and cost only $3.  I love the cheap food here.
• Latalia finally recieved her own set of keys last week, so we have begun to travel between our apartment and the Institute separately.  This is good - it means I can stay after and blog if I want without feeling guilty that I'm making Latalia stay when she has nothing to do. 
• I really started buying things beside lunch for myself last week, and perhaps it's about time.  On Monday I went to the аптека (pharmacy) next door to our apartment and bought powdered laundry detergent so that I could wash my clothes.  Russians almost always wear clothes more than once before washing them, and it is completely normal to wear the same outfit for several days in a row here.  Thus, my laundry schedule is primarily governed by my supply of underwear and socks.  Honestly, had I known that the culture concerning clothing was so much more lax here than in America, I might have brought only half of the clothes that I did - I still have outfits that I haven't worn, and I've been here more than 2 weeks.  I'm personally enjoying not having to feel like I need to wash my clothes as often (and they really don't get dirty very quickly, since all I'm doing is walking around town and sitting in a classroom - no overly strenuous activity) and I fully intend to continue the practice upon my return.  I don't care if people think I'm poor or whatever.  If it isn't dirty, why wash it? :]  I also bought some mouthwash on Tuesday because I still use the tap water to brush my teeth, although I won't drink it.  It occurred to me after a while that any germs that were in the water would be just as easily caught by my rinsing my mouth with the water as by my drinking it (although I've heard that there are heavy metals here in the water, which in order to imbibe I would actually have to drink significant quantities of the water, so I'm okay on that front).  However, at least by my calculations, if I always rinse my mouth with an alcohol-based mouthwash after brushing my teeth, it should nullify the effect of my possibly using dirty water (and it's a lot more convenient and efficient than using filtered water to brush my teeth).  I hope I'm right.  Also on Tuesday, I went to our local grocery store (Пятёрочка) and invested in some snack foods, in case the supper situation doesn't improve.  I found out by doing this that snacking is a distinctly American idea.  I couldn't find any chips or crackers (although I've since been told that I must have been looking in the wrong place) but I bought some bread rings (very similar to unsalted pretzels) and some sweetbread- or cookie-like things that you might eat with tea (of course, anything eaten with tea is quite plentiful in Russia).  Having something to snack on helps me concentrate in the afternoon as well as not be so hungry by suppertime, so I don't bolt my food.  And it's quite economical - I spent around $3 for snacks that will probably last me 2 weeks.  Have I mentioned that I love the cheap food in Russia? :]]
• Tuesday was also the first day that I spent some time out of the apartment after school.  I had gotten a bit ahead on studying because of the weekend, so I got the chance to wander a bit and explore our neighborhood.  So I walked around the park that is located at the end of our street (which also happens to contain the zoo, although I didn't go to the zoo this time).  There were PONY RIDES!  They were actual ponies, otherwise I might have tried to get one.  But it might look a bit funny if my feet touched the ground on either side... :]]  The park is very pretty and filled with walking paths, playgrounds and statues.  It bears more exploring later. 
• I also started doing more pleasure reading last week.  I had brought a few books from home, thinking that I really couldn't study ALL of the time and I would probably get quite tired of Russian at times.  I finished both Mere Christianity and More Than A Carpenter last week (both excellent books, which I highly recommend and am slightly ashamed to admit that I had not previously read them).  I also started The Bridge on the Drina, the book written by the only Serb to ever win a Nobel Prize.  As I told you, Mrs. Stojanovic gave it to me as a parting gift from Serbia and told me to let her know if I read it anytime in the next 10 years.  Well, I'm reading it now and it's actually an excellent piece of literature.  It's historical fiction and contains quite enough action to keep the reader engaged (granted, the history of the Balkan States is anything but boring).  I'm enjoying having time for pleasure reading again, a pastime that is quite foreign to students at Princeton.
• On Wednesday, as Latalia and I were returning home (from our троллeйбус adventure), she was recounting to me how a police car had slowed down and was looking like it would stop in front of her the morning before as she was trying to cross the street in front of our apartment.  She told me that she feared that since she was standing on the curb and not in the street, the policemen might have thought she looked like a prostitute (which I think is highly unlikely.  Latalia is a very meek, modest, petite girl and looks the farthest thing from a prostitute).  Then she caught herself and exclaimed, mortified, "Oh, I shouldn't use that word on the street, should I?  It's the same in Russian!"  There weren't many people around, and we were speaking quietly (as we always do when we are speaking in English in public) so I didn't think it was a big deal.  However, soon after that we overtook a well-dressed, middle-aged man who was walking in the same direction as us; as we drew abreast of him, he turned to us and said in clear, distinct English and with a smile on his face, "How do you do?"  Latalia jumped three feet in the air and scurried forward to the door of our apartment (which we had almost reached).  Laughing silently, I hurried after her and once we were safely on the other side of the imposing wooden door, explained to her between giggles that the most likely explanation for the man's strange behavior was that he was a Russian who had heard us speaking English and wanted to try out his knowledge of the language, much as I might say "Bonjour" to a person I heard speaking French.  But the unexpectedness of the encounter and the conversation leading up to it had caused Latalia to assume the worst, and her naturally timid nature had gotten the best of her.  Her actions, therefore, had not been entirely without cause, and I hope that the public recounting of this anecdote will not too badly embarrass her.  Perhaps I could stand to develop a bit more of her caution ;]
• Though I don't recall why this came up in class, we were discussing on Thursday the different sounds that animals make in Russian.  Some of them are quite comical.  For instance, a Russian dog says "gaf gaf gaf" and a Russian frog says "kva kva kva."  Although, I suppose some of our onomotopoeia is just as arbitrary - why should a frog say "ribbit" instead of "kva" ?  It still made us laugh, though.
• On Friday evening Latalia and I enjoyed a particularly long conversation with Tatyana; however, because of our limited Russian vocabulary, several (comical and hopefully not serious) misunderstandings occurred.  By the end of the conversation, I'm pretty sure that T.T. thought that one of the members of our group is pregnant (we had showed her a picture of the group taken on a windy day and this particular girl's dress was ballooned in an unflattering manner in the picture), that one of my friends is suicidal (I was trying to describe that he was in a bad mood and was just feeling very tired of everything), and that Latalia and I have a huge crush on our professor, Stas (he is a wonderful teacher and a very kind man, so everyone in the group adores him - just not in THAT way :P).  Oh, the things that come with learning a language.  I still often get frustrated when I can't communicate the way that I want to, although T.T. tells me I'm progressing (just not as quickly as I would like).
• The other exciting thing that happened on Friday (and possibly the highlight of my week) was the World Cup Germany vs. Serbia game.  Yes, Jennifer, I'm going to brag on here too.  So, the backstory is that I personally care very little for soccer, or sports in general.  But several months ago my half-German friend Jennifer found out that Serbia and Germany were in the same group, which means that they would play each other in the first round of the world cup.  She also found out the date of the game and as it drew nearer, began leaving taunting messages on my Facebook wall.  I'm not entirely sure (that's a lie, I know) how she associated me with Serbia, but she turned the game into a competition between us.  I acquieced - I love a good bit of competition between friends (especially Jennifer - she's particularly fun to compete with).  So it was a bit of sweet victory when Serbia defeated Germany 1-0 and I was able to watch the entire game (although, since it was commentated in Russian, I understood very little of it).  The only sad part was that I didn't have computer access all weekend, so my gloating had to wait until today.  And how sweet it was... :D XD :]]

So, that's a little more positive version of last week.  Hope you enjoyed it.  Coming soon: this weekend, including a trip to Peterhoff, Czar Peter 1's extravagant complex of gardens, palaces, and 400 fountains!!

"The Random parts of Life"

So, this week was much more exciting than last.  Which probably means that I'm beginning to settle in here, which is undoubtedly a good thing.

• My parents finally got through to me on the phone on Monday, and we talked for about 15 minutes before our call got suddenly cut off.  I still don't know why, but Mom told me that she had to try several times with the same number before actually getting through, so I suppose our connection was just lost.  After all, it was a cell-to-cell connection over a distance of about 8000 miles, so I guess it's not all that surprising.  But it was good to talk to Dad, at least.  They haven't tried again as far as I know.
• The weather was mostly rainy and cool all week, which kind of set the mood, unfortunately.  On Monday evening we had a kind of buckwheat porridge for dinner, and afterwards I felt very sick to my stomach.  But I had some Pepto-Bismol with me, so I took that and it soon put me right again.  However, we were unfortunately also served it the next night.  I (for obvious reasons) refused to eat it, but somehow the reason for my refusal was not properly communicated to my host mother.  I don't know whether she thought that I really didn't like it, or was just being obstinate, or what; but apparently the fact that I wouldn't eat it the second time rather offended her.  She was very cool to us the rest of the evening and on Wednesday morning wouldn't even talk to us, other than to tell us that breakfast was ready (although we have cereal, bread and yogurt every morning, she insists on preparing it for us).  As I could tell that I had deeply offended her, I was rather upset for the rest of the day; this was the day that I also began severely missing my friends - I'm not sure how much this was connected with my host mother's behavior.  Everyone else in the group (or so it at least seemed) hung out after school: exploring the city, attending ballets and operas, watching the World Cup, etc.  Latalia and I don't really live close to any of the other members of our group, and since neither of us have spent very much time in big cities, we are rather timid about venutring out and about by ourselves.  Thus we haven't really done any exploring thus far, and the grueling routine of class 9-2 and studying afterwards until supper, and then again from suppertime until bed, was beginning to tell on me.  It wasn't that I didn't want to do anything else: we live close to the zoo, which is situated in a beautiful park, and I also know that there is a very famous and extensive zoological museum nearby that I am very interested in visiting.  However, I was feeling very left out since none of the other members of the group ever invited me to go along with them, and I felt that the things that I was interested in weren't "high culture" enough for the others to enjoy.  I missed my crazy friends from back home: Jennifer, Carmella, Brooke, Alek & Emily... the people with whom I knew I could have fun no matter what we were doing; the ones who had the proper sense of humor to enjoy things like pickled fetuses or a circus.  :]  To make matters worse, my depressed mood (so I'm convinced) lowered my immunological (is that the word?) defenses, and I woke up Thursday morning with a horrible sore throat.  I still went to class (what else could I do?) but I felt worse and worse throughout the day and I could hardly walk by the time school ended at 2:00. Fortunately, an afternoon of laying low, a good night's sleep and a healthy dose of ibuprofen and tylenol seems to have cured most of my ills: today I'm a bit stuffed up but nothing else.  I'm also happy to report that my mood has lifted exceedingly: I bounded out of bed this morning with an inexplicable smile on my face, ready to face the glorious day (this is the nicest day we've had all week, sunny and clear and in the high 60s); i.e., back to my normal self.  To quote Emily Irvine, "You could cheer up a rock if it was having a bad day, so I'm sure you'll be fine."  I leave it to your judgement whether my infectious personality actually goes that far...
• Also, Latalia and I spoke to Stas about the situation with T.T. and he asked someone from the institute to call and explain why I had refused to eat the porridge the second time, as well as tactfully try to suggest that we should be eating supper closer to 6 than 8 (since lunch at the institute is served at 11, we are both starving by supper every day, which circumstance could very well have contributed to my averse reaction to the porridge).  Now Latalia and I are on much better terms with T.T., and it's a good thing, too: she's the only Russian aside from our teachers who will go to the effort to communicate with us in Russian.  It isn't worth it for Latalia and I to try to converse together in Russian, since we're on the same (extremely basic) level, and I have yet to hang out with my Russian Friend (that comes this weekend).  T.T. always seems interested in hearing how the other members of the group are doing, as well as our other friends (i.e. Nikola, whom she mistakenly called "твой boyfriend" once before I vehemently corrected her, asserting "у меня нет boyfriend-а" (I don't have a boyfriend) - that led to a rather entertaining conversation ;])
• This week was also a week of firsts for Latalia and I.  On Wednesday afternoon we decided to try to visit the Zoological Museum, only to find when we arrived there (on foot - we still basically walk everywhere, regardless of distance) that it was closed (presumably in preparation for the upcoming holiday on Saturday, the Festival of the Scarlet Sails).  Not willing to make the outing a complete waste, I proposed that we take a bus back to our apartment.  After much persuasion, I convinced Latalia that nothing bad would happen to us and we hopped on the first bus that came by (actually a троллейвус or electric bus that runs on the tram lines - I saw these in Belgrade, too, but have never seen the likes of them in America).  However, when it stopped at the metro station closest to our apartment, I proposed that we wait until the next stop, both to see where the bus went and to explore the city a bit more.  What I was unaware of is that buses do not run in circular routes, as I had assumed...  Latalia and I grew more and more nervous as we traveled further and further from our apartment in a not entirely friendly-looking neighborhood that neither of us had seen before, though I tried hard not to let it show.  Soon we were the only passengers on the bus, and when it stopped at a somewhat sketchy roundabout and the контролёр (ticket-checker) indicated that we would have to get off, I began to think that my idea might not have been a very good one.  Not to be discouraged, however, I proposed to Latalia that we begin walking back along the bus route and once again catch the first bus that was traveling to the metro stop near our apartment (all of the buses have a sign in them that lists the principal stops along its route, usually metro stations).  Which we promptly did, and this time we got off at that stop, not waiting to see where the bus would travel next.  And all was well.  However, I might have a bit more difficulty convincing Latalia to be adventurous with me next time, and possibly not without good reason ;]
• I, on the other hand, not to be deterred (or perhaps warned is the better word) by our experience on Wednesday, decided to take a маршрутка (literally means "fixed-route taxi"; it's like a bus but has no fixed stops, instead you tell the driver when you want to get out) home on Thursday, since I had gone in the opposite direction in order to find a store where I could buy a large quantity of filtered water (I'm still really skeptical of the water at our house; I'm not sure what's wrong with it, but I know we're not supposed to drink it straight from the tap) as well as some other snack food.  I found a great grocery store with good prices and an excellent selection but since I was still feeling poorly I had no intentions of walking the 1.25 miles home carrying a 5-liter container of water (which I bought for approximately $1.40 - at least prices for bottled water in Russia are reasonable).  I waited until I saw someone else flag down a маршрутка, then hopped on behind her (after checking that it was traveling in the right direction - the маршрутка also have the principal stops of their route printed on the side of the vehicle).  After figuring out that you literally paid the man driving the маршрутка, I asked him how much, at which he pointed to the sign hanging above his head that clearly read "27 рублей".  Oops.  Anyway, I paid him and then sat down, frantically trying to remember how to ask for a stop.  I hopelessly bungled the phrase but managed to convey that I wanted him to stop when we reached the corner of my street, which he did and I gratefully got off, thinking elatedly "I did it!!  I didn't die!!"  And thus I proved to myself that I'm not a completely self-destructive force when loosed upon a population center.  Perhaps. :D 

So, that was my week.  More emotionally tumultuous than the last, which makes me fervently hope that now I've gotten over most of my homesickness and fear of exploring and can now feel freer to take advantage of the spectacular city in the midst of which I find myself (dang those dangling participles).  I hope this for your sakes, too - I'm sure you'd much rather read vivid descriptions of the splendor of the Hermitage, the palpable history of St. Isaac's Cathedral or Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood, or even the disturbing fascination of Peter the 1st's collection of preserved fetuses and a mummified baby mammoth, rather than my musings and whinings about how I don't feel that I fit in, or I'm too scared to leave my apartment by myself.  But this is probably something everyone has to go through at some point (or at least I hope so and that I'm not just crazy - which is a given ;]), so perhaps my rantings will be able to help some of you someday - I can only hope.  But until then, it's off to more adventures!  Пока!!! :D

"Of course he had lady friends... he had a moustache!"

So, unfortunately, my first weekend in St. Petersburg turned out to be quite boring.  Hopefully it gets better from here.
T.T. was at her dacha (a sort of rustic summer house that most city dwellers in Russia own and frequently visit during the summer) for most of the weekend.  I'm not sure whether this was because it was a national holiday on Saturday (Russia Day, which is actually a relatively new holiday and not very widely celebrated, considering) or whether merely because it was a weekend.  In any case, Latalia and I had the apartment to ourselves for the greater part of the weekend.  We woke up around 9 and made ourselves breakfast, then passed the time studying until 11:30, at which time we went to meet the rest of our group and Stas, our professor, in the city center for a group outing.  We used the metro for the first time and found out that it wasn't so scary after all (although Latalia did have trouble figuring out where to put her token in the turnstile...).  It also wasn't as crowded as I anticipated, but perhaps that is because of the timing - it seems to me that the city doesn't really wake up on the weekends until noontime (I don't know whether that's a St. Petersburg thing, or a Russian cultural thing, or a summer thing, or a city thing in general).
We met the rest of our group on Nevsky Prospect and wandered a bit before going to the Cafe Zinger on the second floor of Dom Knigi (literally house of books), the largest bookstore in St. Petersburg which is located in the old Singer Sewing Machine Company building.  The cafe was quite pricey so I only got a vanilla cream danish with fruit on it that was quite delicious.  Some of the other members of my group ordered hot chocolate, which turned out to literally be chocolate that had been warmed to a drinkable consistency.  I tried some, but it would have been too rich for me to have drunk an entire cup of it :P
Well, I thought the weather in Maine was crazy, but it turns out to be nothing compared to St. Petersburg.  The day was a little gray and menacing when we left the house, but we still weren't prepared for the deluge that suddenly hit us when we were out wandering near the Bronze Horseman.  We took shelter in a nearby Teremok, but not before getting completely soaked (fortunately, most of us had umbrellas with us.  I will personally make sure I don't leave the apartment without one from now on).  Teremok is the Russian idea of a fast-food restaurant, and they sell mostly блины (a kind of greasy pancake that can be filled with all sorts of things, from meat to potatoes to sour cream to fruit) which run from $1 to $3 in price.  I've found that most of the food in Russia is cheaper than in America, presumably because the raw materials are cheaper.
Finally we gained a brief respite from the downpour, which we promptly took advantage of to climb to the collonade of St. Isaac's cathedral, from which height we could survey the entire city.  I took some pretty amazing pictures from there - it was SO windy!!  Then we headed home, exhausted.  Since Saturday was my dad's birthday, I tried to call home (and got through with no problems), but international calling from my Russian cell phone is extremely expensive - it costs about 70x more to call America than to call another cell phone in my network.  Thus, I only dared to say "Hey, it's Erin, call me back please" before hanging up.  Unfortunately, Mom wasn't able to figure out how to do that from the Tracfone (from which it doesn't cost any more than calling me in Princeton) so I waited for the call in vain.  I occupied myself for the rest of the evening studying; not the most entertaining pastime, but extremely necessary with the amount of vocabulary we are expected to absorb per week.  It's a bit overwhelming at times, but the marked improvement I can already notice in my speaking ability is encouraging.

On Sunday I went to Calvary Chapel St. Pete again, this time with Phil (another member of the group who attends PFA).  Though he arrived late to our designated meeting place, by the time we arrived at the church at 11:10 the 11am service had yet to start.  Oh, Calvary Chapel.  It's good to know some things don't change ;]  This week we sang the Victory Chant in Russian - I loved it.  (It sounds very military and yet quite beautiful in Russian :])  After the service I bought the church's worship album and I can't wait to listen to it (hopefully on T.T.'s CD player) because it definitely has some songs on it that I know from back home.  Phil and I also tried introducing ourselves to some of the church members our own age, but soon realized that our limited vocabulary meant that we didn't have very much to talk about.  Or perhaps next time we should find a more talkative interlocutor :P
The weather on Sunday wasn't much better than Saturday - very unpredictable with periods of downpour interspersed with bright sunshine.  Apparently this is normal for St. Petersburg in June, but July and August can get quite hot.  Right now it tends to be cool in our apartment (enough so that I need my fleece or a blanket to be comfortable while studying) but I will probably like it less when it is 90 or 95 degrees outside and hot and stuffy indoors.  So I'll take it now.
On Sunday we had something new for supper for one of the first times.  It was macaroni (which only differed in the shape of the pasta) and котлеты (think ground mystery meat).  It tasted much better than it sounds.
I ended up spending most of Sunday studying - between breakfast and church, all afternoon after church (I came home almost immediately after the service because of the poor weather) and again after supper until bedtime.  When T.T. found out that that was all Latalia and I had done all day, she commented on how boring it must be.  It is, when I think about it, but I seem to have slipped back into Princeton mode where all I can think about is studying.  Maybe if the weather improves I'll be more tempted to explore and actually take advantage of this wonderful city, but only time can tell.  Hopefully I won't have too much homework each day to be able to do that.

I have a new favorite Russian word now: снегоход.  It means snowplow, and the great thing about it is that (just like in English) it is a compound word.  снег means snow, and the verb ходить means to go back and forth (to make many round trips).  Thus, a снегоход is something that makes many round trips in the snow.  I love it when language makes sense (which doesn't happen very often, and especially not in English :P).

On an unrelated note, this time I really will stop blogging every day.  Most of what I'm doing every day here actually isn't very exciting, and if I tried to write about it I would bore myself and you.  From now on, unless we do something special, I'll probably only blog 2-3 times per week, and they (hopefully) won't be as long as my previous posts.  Most of you are probably glad for this, although for my few devoted followers whom I know savor every word (Justin, Luke) I feel a small pang of regret.  However, in the general interest of not becoming completely boring and mundane, I will desist from (for instance) describing my dinner each night.  And now in all of the time in which I could be sitting in front of this computer blogging about all of my trivials, I can be out having more adventures actually worth blogging about.  It's a win-win situation.  :]

"Gm..."

Highlights of last week:

• finding out that Russians write "Gm" when they are thinking (as opposed to "Xm" which would be the closest thing the cyrillic alphabet has to an H)
• Finding hot chocolate powder (какао) at a local department store (as well as our professor, who helped us find the hot chocolate :])
• Actually carrying on a decent conversation with my host mother (Latalia and I were able to explain our rooming situation at Princeton - both of us got the short end of the stick during room draw and won't know our assigned rooms until the end of July - as well as talk about the fact that we are both on excellent scholarships, as are many students at Princeton) that didn't involve making fun of Latalia's appetite
• Discovering that the classes here are much smaller and more personal than lectures at Princeton - I feel like I'm back in one of the small AP courses I took in high school.  I'm a big fan of this.  :]
• Friday marked one week of wearing only skirts and dresses.  I even wore - get ready for this - high heels on Friday.  No joke.  And these weren't platforms, or the little 1/2-inch sandals I wore to prom.  These were legit 3-inch closed-toed monsters.  And I wore them ALL day, and even walked the mile between my apartment and school 4 times in them.  My feet are still sore. :P  (But I managed not to fall down at all, which is definitely an accomplishment for me.  If you know me, you know.)
• Getting caught up on this blog (which was then nullified by my not having access to a computer all weekend)

Other exciting (or otherwise noteworthy) things that happened:

• In our first reading class, we were given a poem that we have to memorize by this Friday's test.  It's by M.U. Lermontov and it's called "И скучно и грустно" (which roughly translates to "Bored and sad").  It's probably the most depressing poem I've ever read, and I took AP English Literature.  Think the book of Ecclesiastes, if you took out every reference to God.  Here's a pretty decent translation of it: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/bored-and-sad/.  Only read it if you won't mind being depressed for a while.
• Also on Wednesday, we met our "Russian Friends".  Through this program, we are each paired with a young Russian around our age who is studying at the Nevsky Institute, and the idea is that we will do things together in order to get a better immersive experience.  Originally the person who had contacted me on Facebook, telling me that they were my Russian Friend, was a 23-year-old male grad student.  I'm sure he was plenty nice, but I didn't exactly look forward to the prospect of traipsing around a major city in a foreign country with some 23-year-old man whom I had just met.  I'm sure my parents wouldn't be too enthused about that either.  Fortunately (I suppose) my Russian Friend was switched (unbeknownst to me, by the way) so when we actually met our partners face-to-face, I was pleasantly surprised to have been paired with a girl closer to my age.  She is 20, in fact, and studies Central European regional studies here at the Nevsky Institute.  (I immediately wondered whether that included Serbia.  I should ask ^.^)  She started speaking to me in English and seemed surprised when I answered her in Russian (I'm not sure why she would think I wouldn't speak any of the language, after all, I am here in Russia?)  We finally agreed that I would speak to her in Russian, and she would answer me in English.  (I would rather she just spoke Russian.  I get enough English from my Princeton friends.)  We all met our Friends at once, so right across the table from me were my friend Mykola and his Friend.  I was laughing at Mykola trying to speak Russian to his Friend, and just generally being myself, when my Friend (her name is Анья) remarked, "I think you're crazy."  Grinning at her, I replied, "Well, it didn't take you long to figure that out."  (This was after we'd been talking for maybe 3 minutes.)  I didn't realize I was that obvious, but perhaps I should have guessed - Masha, Jelena, and Danilo, whom I met in Serbia, all said the same thing. :] :P  Not long after that, Anya asked me "Do you smoke?"  When I replied in the negative, she said "Too bad.  It's good."  (I very much doubt that, but I have heard that smoking is the national sport here in Russia - and I believe it.)  She then inquired, "Do you drink?"  To which I again replied that I did not.  She remarked, "Wow, you're boring."  So apparently I'm both boring and crazy, however that works out :D  It's okay - I have more fun sober than most people do drunk, and I remember it all. ;]
• On that note, we had a bus tour of the city on Friday.  I took all the stereotypical touristy pictures (just to make sure that I got them at some point, although I hope to get better ones later) and learned all sorts of random and relatively useless facts about St. Petersburg and it history.  Near the end of the tour, some of my friends were discussing where they wanted to go out that evening; whether anyone knew of any good bars in their neighborhood yet.  Being me, I said to one of them, "Just be careful tonight, ok?  Take care of yourself."  He knew what I meant - I care about my friends, and I think that alcohol in general is better avoided, and especially in excessive quantities.  One of the other members of the group, overhearing my admonition, took offense and exclaimed, "Really?  Are you serious?"  At which the friend that I had been addressing attempted to explain by saying, "She doesn't drink.  She's an evangelical."  Which erroneous sentiment I quickly clarified.  "No, I don't drink for the benefit of the people around me."  At this Phil, another member of our group, commented, "I'm pretty sure that's a good idea.  Although, you might not be any different drunk."  Thanks, Phil.  :P  Then, the rest of the group tried to figure out exactly what I would be like drunk - whether I would just get really quiet, or even more bubbly and annoying, or whether I would get snappish - personally, I don't really know, and I have no intentions of finding out, either.  
• On Thursday, we stayed especially late after school (I was blogging, Latalia was entertaining herself on the computers).  When we finally got home at 6:30, no one else was there, so we each went to our rooms to study.  T.T.'s husband, Vaseli, came home soon after us but didn't stay for very long, and when he left he locked the door behind him, presumably thinking that there was no one else in the apartment.  At least, that's what T.T. thought when she got home around 7:30.  This I only found out after getting so hungry by 8:00 that I came out of my room to ask if there would be any supper tonight (thinking that perhaps since we hadn't come home until 6:30, we had somehow missed it).  T.T., upon seeing me, exclaimed, "Emilia!  You're home?!"  Since Vaseli had locked the door behind him, and neither I nor Latalia are very loud by nature (okay, clarification, I'm not loud when I'm studying.) she had no indications that we were in the apartment, and she hadn't thought to check.  Needless to say, supper that night tasted particularly delicious.
• At the end of the bus tour on Friday (sorry for skipping around a bit, but I'm really trying to keep this short, if you believe me) Latalia went with Anna, one of the program directors, to get a Russian cell phone.  It turns out that it would be extremely expensive for anyone with a Russian cell phone to call her on her iPhone that she brought with her, as it would technically be an international call.  This was the first time that Latalia and I had been separated since arriving in St. Petersburg, and at this point Latalia still did not have a set of keys to the apartment.  However, she could get into the building and I promised to stay in the apartment to let her in when she got back.  This was at around 6:30.  By 8:30, I was getting pretty worried about her, so I texted Anna to ask if she was still with her.  She replied that she wasn't (which did nothing to allay my fears).  It had become cloudy on Friday afternoon and by 7:00 there was a full downpour outside.  Finally at 9:00 I heard the buzzer to the apartment and opened the door to find a very much soaked and bedraggled Latalia standing on the doorstep.  She had WALKED from across town IN THE RAIN WITHOUT AN UMBRELLA because she was too nervous about taking the metro, never having been outside the US or even in a big city before.  Poor child.  Sounds like something I would do.

Same old, same old...

Wow.  Hard to believe that I've already been in St. Petersburg for a week, yet it didn't take very long to fall into a routine.  Latalia and I get up between 7 and 7:30 in order to have breakfast at 8, which is always the same: cornflakes, orange juice, yogurt, and bread (sometimes with jam, sometimes with cheese) and I always drink a cup of tea, too, because it is still rather chilly in the mornings.  We leave for the Nevsky Institute at 8:30 because classes start at 9 and it's a 20-minute walk to the institute (we could take the metro, but it's only one stop, so it's really not worth the crowds and hassle).  We've also fallen into a schedule with our classes: we have grammar every morning Monday thru Thursday and conversation every afternoon except Wednesdays.  Wednesday afternoons and Friday mornings we have reading class.  Every class is actually two 50-minute periods (which is normal for Russian education.  Each class is called a para because it consists of the two sessions).  We have lunch between morning and afternoon classes, for which we are given an hour.  I like the food in the Nevsky cafeteria, because it's better than even the dining halls at Princeton (which is really, saying something) as well as being convenient and cheap.  If I buy just rice and potatoes, it only costs 32 rubles, which is just about exactly $1.  Lunch for $1?  Not a bad deal, if I do say so myself.  Classes end at 2, and every day this week we've stayed after so that I can catch up on my blog, which has definitely taken more time than I thought it would (although I should have known that I rarely do anything concisely).  However, in the coming weeks we should be able to go right home after class on most days.  When we do stay after, we get home between 5:30 and 6:30, and supper is usually ready around 6:30.  Fortunately, our dinner fare is a bit more varied than breakfast: so far we've had a couple different kinds of soups, the pelmeni (meat-filled dumplings), and macaroni.  Over meals are really the only times when Latalia and I interact with Tatyana Trofimovna, and I can actually see my improvement every day.  At this point, the conversation still centers around Latalia's amazingly tiny appetite and our schedule at school (and T.T. also always asks how our friends are doing, and how they live compared to us, which questions we usually have to answer with Я не знаю "Ya ne znayu" - I don't know) but every day we are learning more vocabulary words, and T.T. is always willing to help us with our grammar and pronunciation.  She's also very good at speaking slowly and clearly and repeating herself whenever she can see that we don't understand.  Both before and after supper Latalia and I busy ourselves with our homework, which takes up an alarming amount of time.  Last night I wasn't able to go to bed until midnight because I was so busy studying, although it usually isn't quite that bad.  But they weren't lying when they told us that this would be an intensive course.  I'm able to sleep better and better every night - I must be getting used to the light.  I also notice a definite difference in the amount of natural light starting at about 10pm; I even have to turn the light on in my room to work comfortably after that time.  It still gets light very early, however, and I'm trying to train myself not to start waking up until my alarm goes off in the morning (to avoid getting myself up only to find that it is only 4:30 or 5 in the morning, which happened the first few days :P). 
At this point Latalia and I haven't done a great deal of exploring; mostly we walk to and from the institute and spend the rest of our free time studying.  However, after we get into a better routine (and we aren't staying after in the computer lab for 4 hours after school) we will probably find that we have more free time and we may start to explore the neighborhood, as T.T. keeps encouraging us to do.  I'm especially interested in visiting the zoo that is just down the street :] but I also plan to go see the many museums and parks that dot St. Petersburg at some point.  Today, in fact, we have a bus tour of the city, so after that I will have much more to tell about the city in general.  But, as I am trying to get myself into the habit of writing fewer and shorter blog entries, I will leave you for now.  I'll try hard to have some good adventures this weekend so that I'll have a lot to tell when I return on Monday ;].  As we say in Russia, До свидания!!!  (Until I see you again!)