The Hermitage is My Favorite

If you ever come to St. Petersburg, here is a recommendation for you: get lost in the Hermitage. It's pretty inevitable that you will get lost anyway - the Russian managers keep everyone on their toes by closing rooms and staircases at whim - but especially if you tend to have a controlling, type-A personality, just get lost. I didn't expect it today: I had a map on which I marked my trekked path with check marks, and I have been inside the Hermitage four or five times already so I figured I was familiar with the basic layout. It's pretty fun to think you're hot stuff in the Hermitage, to feel like you've at least walked past most of the rooms, and to find yourself in an entirely new wing or even building ("wait, they have archaeological artifacts in here??"). Anyway, after some quality wanderings and map consultations I found an exit, notably not the one I anticipated.

What makes the Hermitage stand out from all other art museums in the world is the amazing history packed into the palace itself. The Winter Palace was:
-the permanent residence of the Russian tsars until 1881
-the scene of an assassination attempt on Tsar Alexander II
-a temporary residence of the Romanov family
-the scene of the 1905 Bloody Sunday protest against the monarchy
-the meeting place when the last tsar Nicholas II reluctantly created the first Duma (Russian parliament)
-used in part for a military hospital during WWI
-the meeting place of the Provisional Government after the Russian Revolution
-stormed by the Bolsheviks when they arrested the Provisional Government and took control
-subject to stripping of Imperial symbols under the Soviets
As I walked through, I kept wanting to know what this or that room used to be - often impossible questions because the Palace has changed hands so many times!

Today (literally)

Tsar Nicholas II's opening speech before the Duma (1906)

Malachite Room - Meetings of Provisional Government

Imperial Dining Room - Arrest of Provisonal Government

Don't even get me started on the art collection. Artifacts from Ancient Egypt, European art, Asian art, Byzantine art - today I found the third floor, lol, (shared feelings of accomplishment with about eight other people) and enjoyed a wing of Picasso, Matisse, Gaugain, Rodin, and VanGogh. The only shame is that the history of interiors of the palace tend to overshadow the art for us poor visitors. :)
A wonderful way to spend a cold, snowy day!
Эмили

Thanksgiving - День Благодарения (try remembering that one!)

Happy Thanksgiving, Americans :]

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I didn't dwell on being over here for it too much (considering my other option was studying here in -35 degree January when, as we learned today, people's eyelashes freeze their eyes shut.) But today had the potential to be very sad. I miss my family (love you mom and dad, who I know are reading!), I miss getting out-of-school for three days, staying in North Carolina with my relatives - and I miss my mom's sweet potato dish.

Credit to CIEE, our program here, for sponsoring a Thanksgiving lunch in the hallway of our university! Jarlath somehow cooked up four turkeys, and a lot of kids (the ones with ovens and liberal host moms in their apartments) scrounged up some of the basic dishes. We had macaroni, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casseroles, gravy, pumpkin bread, cookies, and lots and lots of pies (Russians do pies cheaply and well.) Standing towards the back of a line of 72 hungry Americans, 8 teachers, and some odd Russians, we fretted about getting enough food. However, in true Thanksgiving style, there was plenty! And though we don't get three days off of school, one class was canceled for the celebration today!

The big SURPRISE to my day was actually dinner. I noticed I got called in to sit down a lot later, but I did not expect to find such a touching meal! My host mom had laid out three plates of mashed potatoes, chicken breast, pumpkin (which I had never had outside of a pie!), some random cucumbers (Russia), and hot red wine, which I had never had before. We ate together and had a really good conversation (and some laughs after my first try at "I've never had hot red wine" came out as "I never drink hot red wine", which I of course corrected). Mom- they thought your turkey card was adorable so I set it up as a table decoration. I randomly thought to bring home some yellow flowers (in odd number, of course) - they were so appropriate; I am so glad I did! Divine intervention.

Anyway, Thanksgiving is nothing like home but it was still special enough to get through! I miss everyone and am so grateful both for this amazing opportunity to live and study in Russia and for my family and friends who have supported me and await my return. Love you all!!!

Wishing love, blessings, and good turkey,
Эмили

Cinderella, Bongos, and Garry Potter

It is hard to believe I just completed my fifth-to-last week here in Petersburg. I am relieved to feel readjusted to daily life in Russia (that was much faster than the first time!) and, what's more, pleased to have this final month in Petersburg. We certainly took this past week in stride.

Tuesday night: Went to the famed Mariinsky Theater for the first time and am craving a second trip (a week from Tuesday!) I had no idea it was so close to my apartment (see: I Can See Russia From My House) - a simple ten-minute walk in a direction I have never explored before. Peter, Jessica, and I saw Prokofiev's Cinderella ballet. It was excellent and the dancers were amazing, but I prefer Romeo and Juliet. Cinderella was choreographed as a modern ballet, think leather jackets, fire escapes, and a backpack to carry the glass slipper, so that took some adjusting to. Found out afterward my host mom's daughter is friends with the prima ballerina, no way!

Wednesday night: Taught English at a night class for students about my age (or rather, was the token native English speaker for the evening). I enjoyed starting conversations and providing grammar and pronunciation help, and I plan to volunteer there the next four Wednesdays.

Thursday night: LOTS OF SNOW! Which was very exciting for me. Petersburg is beautiful in the snow.
Also enjoyed listening to AFRICAN beat music in a FRENCH cafe in RUSSIA (I know...). It is funny how cultures combine and where you find yourself in different places you visit. Excellent company present made for a wonderful evening.

Friday night: Saw Гарри Поттер (Garry Potter) in a movie theater on Nevsky Prospect. The problem: the only place in Russia you can see Harry Potter in English is in Moscow. Which we found out (naturally) AFTER we bought tickets (at the theater which usually shows English movies with Russian subtitles instead of Russian dubbing). ANYWAY I'm so glad I didn't wait five weeks. It was really awesome to see it and enjoy the effects and plot despite not always being able to follow the fast dialog. Quickly learned some new words (most notably 'wand' is палочка; you can also use the word for baton or chopstick). And some of the translations are pretty hillarious. Sarcasm, for one, translates rather poorly.

There isn't an "h" sound in the Russian language, so Russians generally have a hard time with that letter. My friend Heather gets called "Xiter" and "Xyetr" by most Russians. Anyway, to simplify matters Russia has changed "Harry" to "Garry", Hermione to "Germiona", and Hagrid to "Xagrid". It cracked me up sometimes to hear Emma Watson very seriously turn around and whisper "Garry!". A fun movie in any language!

До скорого,
Эмили

English - What a beautiful language!

...especially when accompanied by delightful Scottish accents! After ten weeks of misunderstanding and plain-old not-understanding; ten weeks of signs, notes, and menus in messy Cyrillic; and ten weeks of being unable to express myself or, even sadder, make puns, we arrived in Edinburgh and all it's English-language glory. We smiled at the Scots and they smiled back. It was a wonderful week that I happily spent catching up with my parents, exploring the city in the rain, and discovering the appropriate social context in which to say "cheers". Edinburgh is beautiful, friendly, quaint. I would go back in a heartbeat.

I have to tell a story about our return travels to St. Petersburg. It was not going to be an easy journey anyway. For starters, the Moscow-Domodedovo airport is a 45 minute train ride from the city, and we opted for the flight to Moscow and train to Petersburg to cut costs. Our total return travel itinerary looked something like this:

6:55am plane + 3hr layover in Heathrow + 12:45pm [5 hr long] plane + 45min Aerorail train to city center + Moscow metro + 3hr wait at train station + 8hr overnight train to Petersburg (leaving at 00:44) + Petersburg metro [+ 2 flights of stairs, for me anyway.]

We were crazy. Anyway, long-story-short, we ended up buying second- or third- class train tickets and didn't really know what we had coming. It was 00:35 (12:35am for non-military-time subscribers) when we boarded the train, exhausted after something like 16 hours of travel. At first it was just confusion. A long open corridor holding, I found out later, 54 bunks, awaited us, and after squeezing down the single-person aisle I found my bed number but no bed. The tiny thing pulled down from the ceiling at a ridiculous height, we had to find sheets and make it up (with people pushing past us in the single-person aisle constantly), and I shared the bunk with my gigantic suitcase. People just kind of looked at each other until the lights dimmed which was awkward, and I made a point to sleep curled around my wallet and passport. Survived.

Now we know why the tickets were so much cheaper.

Anyway, readjusting to Russian life has been more difficult than I anticipated. I waited in line at the post office for 20 minutes today and left because only one person was helped the whole time I stood there. Outside I remembered I had waited at least 35 minutes in previous post office-runs; I guess I have resumed having expectations of Western efficiency. Russia has certainly resumed its mission to impress me with its capability for inefficiency. I'm impressed, Russia. Looking forward to an interesting 5 weeks with you!

Until later, American friends!
-Emily