Quick preview, and observations on my status as a VERY picky eater

I've got three larger themes to talk about when I am not falling asleep at my chair (it's too darn hot!)... femininity, illness, and spirituality. Personally they embody the biggest challenges I've faced over these weeks, and I think I've gained some perspective - or at least the material, and words, to communicate my experience - regarding them.

On a side note, over this trip I've eaten many foods for the first time, including: turkey, fish, eggplant, bell peppers (in their whole form), apple-flavored yogurt (for some reason in the states, we don't really flavor anything with apples), potatoes (in a chopped, stir-fried form - I'd only ever had french fries, and I still have never had a baked potato or mashed potatoes) and pistachio ice cream. (Also, cosmopolitans and vodka, though those aren't exactly food.) At the risk of being completely unoriginal, I must say that the turkey was delicious, and really, it tasted like chicken.

"Final" thoughts?

(No, this is not going to be my last post - I'm just punning on the final exam we have tomorrow.)

Okay, I admit it, I've been lazy about updating, but I've also been so busy I've barely had time to do so. I'll try to cover things in about chronological order.

The Moscow trip was INCREDIBLY hectic - way too hectic, in my opinion. My feet were killing me and I hadn't gotten enough sleep (which - as some of you may know - is a larger issue for me than it is for some, due to a benign, but annoying condition that is similar to narcolepsy). We went to a Moscow club - got past face control, most of us (the trick? more girls than guys in a group. Ours was 3 girls... haha...) I met an Australian fellow there (NO nothing happened, we just talked); he bought me a drink [after I told him that I don't drink... which is sort of the truth?] but my lovely friends reminded me of basic bar safety (didn't see it poured, don't drink it). I say that with absolutely no sarcasm - I was so glad to feel like we were all watching out for each other.

Then (week 4) we had the Museum of Political History, which was kind of boring and mostly just about politics (which kind of bore me, so this makes sense.) Throughout week 2.5-4 the temperatures were above 32 degrees Celsius; this may not seem like much, but let me remind you that a) almost no buildings, and certainly not apartments, in Russia are air-conditioned; and b) temperatures FEEL hotter here for some reason than they do in the USA. Probably something to do with the air quality. As a result of this heat, I quite often felt exhausted and nauseous, and for this reason I didn't go on the tour of the Dostoevsky district of Petersburg (which would have been two hours of walking in the heat).

Last Saturday we had the tour of Holy Places of the city, which I found to be really enjoyable. We saw a bunch of cathedrals and churches, a monastery, a Buddhist temple, and a synagogue. (I know this sounds terrible, but I've been kind of sick of icons** for awhile; therefore, while the cathedrals were beautiful, they were kind of repetitive.) The mosque wouldn't let us in for one reason or another. The Buddhist temple was beautiful and peaceful, as would be expected; the synagogue was absolutely gorgeous - a large sanctuary, very peaceful. We also got to see the separate room for weddings.

The other interesting part of that tour was the (sorry, the term's escaping me now) Church/Temple/Cathedral/Something Christian of Saint Ksenia. The graveyard was gorgeous - not manicured, but more like a park in a forest. There is a small building where the remains of Saint Ksenia are kept (look her up if you want to know who she was; it's actually worth doing, very much).

I went out both nights last weekend, on Friday to the Dacha with a bunch of people and on Saturday around several bars with a largely different group. Hard to say which night was more enjoyable, although I do prefer the outfit I wore on Saturday; more importantly, I learned on Saturday that I am a HUGE lightweight (is that an oxymoron?) Keep in mind that it's totally legal for me to drink in Russia, since I'm 18 (unlike in the USA, which is why I have drunk very little before this point in my life)... I had ONE vodka/juice (probably about 2 oz/2 oz), which I did drink a little fast (since I can't stand the taste of alcohol). I was messed up for about 2 hours after that, nauseous, dizzy, silly, and VERY sleepy. Luckily my comrades reminded me to drink water. I have never been so glad to be able to walk in a straight line.

On Monday we went to the museum of the defense of Leningrad - it was small but surprisingly engaging. I was particularly touched by the descriptions of the famine. One boy wrote in his journal that his mother killed the cat; and the next day they ate fried cat, which was "delicious." There was also a 16 year old girl dying of hunger, who, when asked, wrote out a menu of all the foods she would like to eat. But she ended it with a note that she couldn't even dream of such a thing, because she knew she would never eat again. This nearly made me cry.

Yesterday (Wednesday) we had our last tour - a boat tour of the rivers and canals. It was really sunny out (luckily I applied sunscreen and brought a parasol). We went out on the big Neva for a while, which was kind of difficult for me (since I do tend to get seasick, and it made me nervous, although not nauseous). At least I did take some Dramamine before leaving.

That brings me to today; today was our 3rd (and last) oral exam, nestled between our 6th and last unit-test (yesterday) and our final exam (tomorrow). Culture presentations on Monday (my partner is Rachel, and the topic will most likely be something musical/theater-related - possibly the first performance of the Cherry Orchard?).







**Icons, for those who might not be familiar, are images, usually paintings, created by monks; they are considered to NOT be works of art. The idea is that God (or a Saint or someone else) uses the person as a medium to create the image; the image then becomes a "portal" between the earthly and divine worlds, and therefore icons are very often revered/worshiped. They're a huge part of Russian art culture, and while I appreciate this, I kind of would like to see art with different subjects.

Midnight train to Moscow

So tonight we're meeting at the train station at 11:20 for the midnight train to Moscow. We'll be there Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning (class on Monday starts at 12).

It's way too hot here (and in Moscow)... I've been sweating a lot and feeling kind of dehydrated/faint. I just noticed a blue bead of sweat running down my arm - blue? WTF?

I'm a bit apprehensive about Moscow - our schedule is packed - and we're staying in a hostel.. which will be a new experience for me. Mostly I just hope nothing goes wrong.

Adventures I'd care not to repeat... and some I would

I've been somewhat ill lately (thankfully not of the stomach variety, just a cold run amok with dehydration and overheating) - that, among other things, was behind my decision not to go camping. However, over the weekend I was nevertheless productive - watching Twilight in Russian (hilarious) and visiting the Museum of Theater and Music (amazing - we saw Ulanova's ballet shoes!).

Tonight I went to see Giselle, but I could barely see anything thanks to the crazy lady who was rocking back and forth in front of me. I was feeling faint and my stomach hurt so I left during intermission. However, I got on the bus in the wrong direction, and rode for about 20 minutes before realizing I was in the middle of nowhere and asking the Conductor if we were going to Nevsky (she promptly replied that we weren't and I needed to get out and go in the other direction). On the CORRECT bus there were creepy middle-aged drunk men hitting on me. I felt nauseous and overheated (most likely a function of the bus - in this weather the buses tend to be nauseating and overheated). Got home, took a cold shower (no hot water for 3-5 days starting today) and now I'm going to bed.

Tomorrow is the Hermitage, and Thursday night we leave for Moscow. [Also, tomorrow is the written unit test and Thursday is the oral on Пиковая дама and Дама с собачкой.] I'm kind of apprehensive about Moscow, but ... it'll be an adventure. Hopefully of the good kind.

Homework? What homework?

Okay, so tomorrow we have a test in language, which usually ain't so bad except that this week is prefixed verbs of motion. I have the review sheet down, but there are still so many verbs I don't really know, and I'm afraid Konstantine is going to throw something out of left field. I also have to take the Дама с собачкой vocab quiz since I missed it the other day.

I'm incredibly behind in culture readings - I still have to do Blok, Bely, and whatever is due next Tuesday plus the Mirsky readings. Not too fond of that class. It's hard to find time to do it - if I'm going to be doing homework, 99 times out of 100 I'll put the L5 work at higher priority.

Today during the lunch break a bunch of us went to Евразия, a Japanese restaurant chain. The food was pretty good but it took FOREVER to come.

I'm also unclear on what the homework is, because we're somewhat behind on the schedule. I'll see what I can manage, I suppose. My back is killing me (no good chairs in my apartment, which is pretty much where I have to study.)

Traveler's woes...

So on Monday night I started feeling a bit ill, and to spare you the gory details, over the next 48 hours I had some painful, inconvenient and exhausting symptoms [although I am proud to say that I still have not thrown up since I was 9 years old. It will be 10 years this November...] I'm on Cipro now as well as Pepto Bismol, Tigan (anti-nausea drug) and a bit of Imodium, so that should clear things up.

I didn't go to class today, on the advice of my professor, and I also missed the tour of Pushkin's apartment. I'm kind of (read: a lot) behind in my coursework but I trust that people will be understanding. It's lonely here and all I've been doing is sleeping, to tell you the truth, interspersed with trips to the bathroom. My only company today was Fedya, who really was just using me as his maid-service.

Despite some severe stomach cramps that woke me up from my nap about 4 pm, I was feeling well enough for dinner, which was a delicious healthy meal.

Speaking of which, despite my stomach symptoms (which I attribute to stress, too many cherries plus perhaps ingestion of the local water, followed by maybe antibiotic-associated death of probiotics in the intestine) I'm actually feeling rather enthused about the food I've had here so far... here's what dinner's been for the past 4 days:

Saturday: Chicken soup, black bread, cherries and chocolate wafer cake
Sunday: Nelya wasn't home, so I had yogurt. This is a rare occurrence, and she did try to feed me when she got home [however, it was really damn late.]
Monday: Stir-fried potatoes with dill and mushrooms, green beans, cherries and dessert
Tuesday: Cooked pickles with cheese (surprisingly delicous) and dessert
Wednesday: Stir-fried chicken with mixed vegetables, whole-grain couscous kasha, and steamed broccoli, plus dessert

Man, I had forgotten how good chicken was. Mmmmmm. "Vegetarian" here means that you don't eat red meat or pork - fish and chicken are still game (so to speak ... hehe) - so I've been eating what my хозяйка prepares, which so far has turned out delicious.

Tomorrow I do heartily plan on having bliny at some point, even if I just leave the house early and make a stop at Теремок. Ouch there's my stomach, probably telling me not to think about food, not get ahead of myself :P

I've been getting by thanks to my handy water filter, it's a bottle with a microfilter attached to the sipper so when you suck the water gets pulled through, filtered for cysts, spores and such, and then treated with some iodine compound to kill bacteria before reaching your mouth.

I just woke up for a bit due to a loud traffic accident, so time to go back to bed. Here's hoping I'll be up to speed in the morning, ready to brave St. Pete anew!

What happened over the past 36 hours?

I wrote these in Word 'cause I didn't have internet. Now I do.

Sunday 20/VI/10 1:33 AM

It’s finally dark outside, not for long I’m sure. These white nights are disorienting – I went to bed at 11 and it was still light outside. My host family is absolutely lovely, my host is named Nelya (she didn’t give me her patronymic, and she calls me ты) and her mother, who also lives in this apartment, is named Nina. Apparently she also has a 17-year-old daughter Katrina, but I've not seen her, and I've been told not to expect to (she has a difficult personality, worse than the cat's, says Nelya). Speaking of which, there is a parrot and a cat here (no dog – the dog died two years ago). The parrot's name is Чика, Chika, and the cat's name is Федя, Fedya. They are both great animals; Fedya acts like a dog in a lot of ways; he’s very curious and sniffs everything. Not a bit frightened, and a total sweetheart.

I had a delicious meal when I arrived, and believe me; the old adage about Russians feeding you and feeding you is in full force. I had chicken soup, toasted black bread, apple juice and a piece of a delicious chocolate-wafer cake. Nelya wanted me to eat more, but I just had to say больше не могу… then I took a nap for a few hours, got up and showered. Nelya knocked on my door with a plate of fruit (cherries and strawberries – yum!) and an ice cream stick (Russian ice cream – nothing better.)

I haven’t done my homework for Monday’s class yet; I’m thinking I’ll do it in the window well of my room. It’s a really big room with a high ceiling and gorgeous wallpaper. The weather here is gorgeous – windy and I’d say about 60-70 degrees. I hope it stays this nice!

I’m up at about 1:45 right now because I set my cell phone for an alarm at what it thought was 1 AM, since when I went to bed it was still on US time. During the interim it seems to have realized it’s not in Kansas anymore, so I was strangely woken up in the middle of the night. Ah, well, no big deal. Tomorrow they’re picking me up at 10:40 to go to the uni for orientation – I’m very excited! We’ll also get our SIM cards for our cell phones, I’ll (hopefully) find an ATM, and I’ll buy an Internet antenna and an extension cord. That’s all for now. Спокойные ночи J

Monday 21/VI/10 9:37 AM

I've got an hour until the other Americans come and pick me up to walk to the university for orientation. I slept very well last night, despite the crazy lack of darkness. It's rainy outside today, so I'm bringing my umbrella along. I just had some yogurt for breakfast; apparently (and luckily?) at least today I am to make my own breakfast. I suppose I'll lie down and read for a bit, set an alarm to make sure I get up with time to meet the other Russkies.

---

Well, that last bit turned out not to be true - Nelya did wake up and feed me (and feed me and feed me) some delicious блины with jam. But I got to the uni on time... theoretically, anyway [Tobi and I waited with Constantine at the time we were supposed to, but Sasha got there late 'cause she was up really late due to the holiday that was yesterday.]

We went to the university, had our third orientation, got SIM cards and maps, and went on a short bus tour of the city (about 3 hours). Professor Firtich appears to be of the opinion that one can survive on culture alone - you don't need food, you weak Americans.

Once we got out I went to an ATM (which was easy to find) and then, with Panos, in search of a place to buy an internet modem. I did buy it, but it was expensive, and it was a hellish nightmare to set up an initial payment for the connection. Now my feet are killing me and I just want to eat dinner, read, and go to bed. Oh yeah, and do my homework, that too.