(no subject)
I'm going to try and make an actual update on the things that happened in Russia instead of just highlighting a few of them. It's weird to think that I only have about 40 days left here and that there's still so much we have left to do and see. Next weekend, we're going to Finland and Estonia, and we have a bunch of concerts and other events to go to before and after that.
My first Halloween abroad was a lot of fun. I dressed up as Shoshanna from Inglourious Basterds on Saturday and went to Bridgett's apartment party in the city center with two of my roommates and our friend Tony. Friday night, we danced on a giant bar with a bunch of other girls in my program and met some of the French students from the 7th floor (our entire dorm is full of international students, but most of the Americans are on the 3rd floor since we're such a large group.)
Stuff I think is cheap in Russia:
-Vodka. And there is an entire aisle devoted to different varieties of vodka in a lot of the grocery stores.
-Cigarettes. A pack of Marlboro Reds is about $1.50 and Pall Malls are a dollar, wtf. A lot of people here smoke, so I guess it's not surprising, but it's legal in all of the bars and clubs so sometimes I smoke if I'm drinking because I figure it will never be this cheap again.
-Food items (IF they're popular here). While it's easy to find really really cheap bread, vodka, meat, bakery sweets, sour cream (ew), dairy products, potatoes, or any other staple of the Russian diet, if you're craving international food you have to look for stuff and can end up paying a lot for things that you'd take for granted at home. Peanut butter, BBQ sauce, anything spicy; Mexican, Middle Eastern, or Thai food, etc...those aren't really easy to come across near my dorm for cheap. Sushi is really popular here though so it's easy to find sushi places that aren't expensive.
-Public transportation. The metro is awesome here and goes really deep, and if you want to visit somewhere outside of how far the metro will take you, you can take an above-ground metro and get a student discount.
-Gym memberships, souvenirs, cabs (if you take the "gypsy cabs" which are just unlicensed drivers with crappy cars, you can end up paying ~$10 for a >30 minute cab ride at 4 in the morning.)
Stuff that's expensive:
-Apple products :o
-International food that isn't Japanese, Chinese, American fast food, or Italian
-Clothes! Everyone likes really nice name brands here, and they're more expensive than they'd be somewhere else. H&M is one of the few affordable, middle-of-the-line clothing stores.
to be continued! Love and miss you guys.
My first Halloween abroad was a lot of fun. I dressed up as Shoshanna from Inglourious Basterds on Saturday and went to Bridgett's apartment party in the city center with two of my roommates and our friend Tony. Friday night, we danced on a giant bar with a bunch of other girls in my program and met some of the French students from the 7th floor (our entire dorm is full of international students, but most of the Americans are on the 3rd floor since we're such a large group.)
Stuff I think is cheap in Russia:
-Vodka. And there is an entire aisle devoted to different varieties of vodka in a lot of the grocery stores.
-Cigarettes. A pack of Marlboro Reds is about $1.50 and Pall Malls are a dollar, wtf. A lot of people here smoke, so I guess it's not surprising, but it's legal in all of the bars and clubs so sometimes I smoke if I'm drinking because I figure it will never be this cheap again.
-Food items (IF they're popular here). While it's easy to find really really cheap bread, vodka, meat, bakery sweets, sour cream (ew), dairy products, potatoes, or any other staple of the Russian diet, if you're craving international food you have to look for stuff and can end up paying a lot for things that you'd take for granted at home. Peanut butter, BBQ sauce, anything spicy; Mexican, Middle Eastern, or Thai food, etc...those aren't really easy to come across near my dorm for cheap. Sushi is really popular here though so it's easy to find sushi places that aren't expensive.
-Public transportation. The metro is awesome here and goes really deep, and if you want to visit somewhere outside of how far the metro will take you, you can take an above-ground metro and get a student discount.
-Gym memberships, souvenirs, cabs (if you take the "gypsy cabs" which are just unlicensed drivers with crappy cars, you can end up paying ~$10 for a >30 minute cab ride at 4 in the morning.)
Stuff that's expensive:
-Apple products :o
-International food that isn't Japanese, Chinese, American fast food, or Italian
-Clothes! Everyone likes really nice name brands here, and they're more expensive than they'd be somewhere else. H&M is one of the few affordable, middle-of-the-line clothing stores.
to be continued! Love and miss you guys.