Crystal in Russia

Today I Was a Tourist

Today I walked around St. Petersburg with the other tourists and took pictures. I will try to upload some of the good ones. The route I chose actually took me through some of the not-so-touristy places, but I didn't take pictures of them. SPb has two faces--what the tourists see and what the residents see. I watched Piter FM, a chick flick set in the city, and there wasn't a shot of any monument or famous building.

Updates: I think I haven't been eating enough, one because Galina isn't ever home, and two because the dishes she makes are sometimes not good. She fed me really well yesterday, though. I'm going to go to the store on my own and buy some food.

I really didn't see much of Galina until yesterday, when she came home in the evening. We talked (I listened) for a few hours. Today she's working, but I think she'll be home more this week. I talked to my resident director Neil, and he said while it would be hard to find another host family, I could always stay in the dorm. So I'm going to give it another week and then decide whether to move out or not. Sasha seems to be ignoring me.

I went to the ballet with my tutor's mom. She's an engineer and was really nice. We saw Swan Lake, and it was wonderful. However, I was late because of the transportation system. The next day, Saturday, I was late to a concert at the Mariinsky, also because of the transportation system. In conclusion, I hate Russian transportation. Bus #22 is okay because I know where it goes, but I hate the metro, I hate the mashrutki, and I hate wasting an hour just to get home everyday.

Besides getting lost on the transportation (I always knew where I was, I just wasn't sure how to get where I needed to be) nothing much has gone wrong. The concert had a piano concerto by Rachmaninov and I wished my sister could have heard it because it was awesome. It was really hot last week, but now it is raining on and off, so I think the temperatures will go back to what was expected--60s and 70s instead of 80s. The thing about it being hot is that there is no air conditioning. Period.

One of our assignments in Conversation class was to ask for directions in different ways. Most of the people were very helpful and friendly, but one guy just wanted my phone number and one woman told me wrong. I've found that Russians are really nice once you approach them. However, I've gotten a lot of stares. It's not even a big deal anymore. Most of the time I stare right back, unless it's men. I like being different.



Now for some pictures! This is my room at Galina's house. It's the biggest room in the apartment. The bed is a fold-out couch, and sometimes I'm all too aware of that fact.







Sorry I didn't fix it, but this is a sideways view of my apartment building. Dom 27 on Shosse Revolutsi.










This is the view out my window after the flash thunderstorm (which I got caught in).







This is the dacha out in the country.










This is my favorite place--Lenin Square. It's not in the center, and the fountain does a little show with music every now and then. Behind it is a metro and train station.









The Bronze Horseman. A must-see.








And this is St. Petersburg--tourists and traffic.

posted by Crystal @ 2:51 PM