(no subject)
Finally, I'm getting around to posting some stuff that's been sitting on my laptop for a while. Enjoy))
The first day in Russia, i don't remember the date already….
Well, things were much better after a night of sleep. Significantly so. We had a three hour orientation this morning which almost put me back to sleep, but overall, I'm adjusting to the time change better than expected. The long flight completely messed up any sense of time i had, so maybe it was easy to reset.
After lunch, we were driven to our families homes... well, homes in anything but the American sense. It almost makes me ashamed of the real estate boom we've had in recent years were every family feels needs to buy a home. Not that it's a bad thing to have your own home, but it certainly makes you think when you see the majority of Russians living in conditions that would overqualify for "ghetto" or "project" in Seattle, shall we say. There are apartment buildings still standing from the 1970s that look like they are ready to collapse right next to the latest greatest in Russian apartments... something that is also striking because in America, the are usually poorer and richer parts to cities, and the buildings are divided up accordingly.
Enough about housing for now. The bus ride to our family was really enjoyable. It was basically our first good look at St. Petersburg since we had been staying in a hotel outside the city. We got to see several of the main churches, plus the Bolshoy Dom (Big Home) of the KGB and a prison in the shape of a cross (trust me, if you end up in prison in Russia, you need religion to survive).
So, our family has a few more people around that I'd expected and something tells me they are all living in one room now that Alyson (the other student living with this family) and I are here. The mom's name is Larisa Genrikhovna, the son's name is Leonid, and his girlfriend's name is Zoya. There was another young man floating around, but I don't know if he lives here or not. Like a huge number (majority?) of Russian families, there doesn't seem to be a dad around. There's a picture of a middle aged man on top of the microwave, so it's probably safe to assume that they aren't divorced or separated, and that leaves the strong likelihood that he's dead. I'm feel bad asking:-(
Our apartment building is right next to a boardwalk along the Gulf of Finland. And can you believe it, all of our windows from the apartment look out over it. I feel so incredibly lucky right now! There's even a beach meters away from the entrance. As for the actual apartment though, it is in a state we would call disrepair, but it's also obvious that they are in the process of making huge renovations. The room I'm in (Leonid's room, as he took the time to point out:-) is completely redone with new flooring, wallpaper, and furniture. Alyson's room is a bit smaller, but it has also been renovated. The bathrooms are a disaster though! Well, speaking in non-Russian standards. All things considered, they are really nice though, especially since they installed a hot water heater to make sure we have hot showers when the city shuts it off for maintenance.
Much to my surprise and delight, it sounds like they are Jewish. They look completely Russian as the son is blond and is a typical Russian krasavchik (cute guy), but there's a hand of hamesh (sp?) on the wall, in addition to other traditional Jewish symbols to ward off the evil eye:-) Honestly, I'd been hoping to live with a Jewish family since their life in Russia is of great interest to me, so I'm delighted to have lucked out like this. Plus, curiosity aside, a lot of Russians aren’t exactly enamored with Jews, so I was worried that a non-Jewish family might not like me and my interest in Judaism.
The keys to the apartment, of which there are five (count 'em) are somewhat prehistoric. As our academic director explained, during the 90s there were a lot of apartments broken into, so people resorted to keys that have so many nooks and crannies, not even G-d could pick the lock. She showed us the key to her apartment and I'm not exaggerating in saying that it was at least 6 inches long. The longest of my keys is only 3.5 inches long, but still!
Right down the street, there's a huge hotel and an "univermag" which amounts to a supermarket. The Soviet era is obviously long gone because they have every product imaginable and then some, especially in the alcohol department. I bought two huge bottles of water, a smaller bottle of water, two juices, some crackers, and cigarettes for roughly $8. Nice huh? Btw, no I have not taken up smoking in the past 48 hours... it's just good to carry them with you because people ask for them. Considering how cheap they are here (~$1.25 for top of the line cigarettes), why not be friendly?
Enough rambling? All said and done, I'm liking it here very much and am already looking forward to coming back to Russia... every year hopefully! That's all for now. Wish me luck on the placement exams tomorrow; it'll be three hours of torture, but at least all of the written questions will be multiple choice
.
7.51 am 27 June 2007
Ok, I know it's been a while. Classes are long and utterly exhausting. It probably wouldn't be so bad, but in the afternoons, after a whole morning of Russian language classes, we have lectures in Russian. Let's just say that by noon everyday, I've already had it up to here with speaking and hearing Russian:-) And G-d help me, but i never thought i'd be saying that! It's wonderful being here, don't get me wrong, but it is incredibly exhausting to be working all day in a language you barely speak.
The placement test turned out better than expected actually and i placed into the top level (of four). Still, it was, without a doubt, the longest, most complicated, most ego-destroying test I've ever taken in Russian or in any subject for that matter)))
Generally speaking, food here is wonderfully inexpensive. The program is only paying for our breakfast and lunch, so we're on our own for dinner. Most of the time we won't be home for dinner, but just in case, I went to the "Univermag" (supermarket) to buy food. I got potatoes, pasta, crackers, olives, mushrooms, lots of juice to cover up the taste of bottled water, and pryaniki (cookies basically like pefferneuse, but with various fruit fillings. And please forgive the butchered spelling, my dictionary doesn’t have any suggestions) Also, Russian juice is also pretty unique. Whereas we tend to sweeten the life and nutritional value out of fruit juice, Russians leave it in peace and I can drink it without worrying about the sugar content.
Speaking of food, the other day, we went to a Georgian restaurant for dinner. Wow, if you've never had Georgian food, please find yourself some. Khatchapuri (bread with cheese stuffed inside) is delicious. Of course, the most exciting part was ordering a glass of Georgian wine with dinner for the equivalent of $4, imagine that! For those of you who don't know, Georgian wine is very well known (at least in Russian circles) as the best wine around. Of course, due to the Russian conflict Georgia, it's theoretically illegal since the Russian government decided that it wasn't "safe" and is bad for one's health. Nonsense. Don’t you hate it when politics gets in the way of eating good food? It was, without a doubt, the best wine I've ever had.
Crazy governments aside, i've already had some good talks with my host mom. She's offered her opinion up on politics even without my asking. For her, it doesn't really matter who is in power, Communists, Yeltsin, Putin, or the next president. For her, no matter what, her concerns are going to be the same: working, feeding her family, etc.
Our teacher wants Putin to stay on and says she wishes he would disobey the constitution since it would be for the good of the country. I have to wonder if she realizes what happens when some benevolent leader is begged to stay on as a dictator? Two of the other teachers (the ones who really stop to think about what is going on in their country, aside from there finally being bread on the table and a president that doesn't drink contstantly) feel like economic and social stability has been achieved at the cost of many valuable things, for example, the freedom to criticize the leader. For example, the political satire show called “kukli” being shut down, and the fact that Putin has completely stopped giving one-on-one interviews, which is rather interesting, shall we say.
28 June 2007.
Got flirted with today)) A Russian guy came up and asked me for directions and would not unglue himself from me for anything! He even asked me if i was married! And even after i explained that i already have a boyfriend at home who's from Russia, he said "Ah, so you've got a candidate!!" and then sugested that i could have another boyfriend here as well! Well, such a thing would never have occurred to me, thank you very much for the suggestion! Sheesh:-)
Also rode the subway for the first time today. Marshrutkas are the sure fire way to get lost, omg. I've had quite enough of that. But I love the subway. It just makes sense, so I suppose Stalin was no idiot. The only downside is that the stops are really far apart, even further apart than the Long Island Railroad stations. To get to the closest metro statiion from the apaprtment is roughly 40 minutes by foot, and then perhaps 15 minutes from the next station to the university by foot. For me, it's easiest to catch one of two buses, but they come rather rarely as i discovered yesterday.
Oo, this pains me to relate, but mullets are EVERYWHERE. On men, on women, thank goodness not so much on children. It's actually kind of painful to see something that should have gone out of style long ago be alive and kicking in a country that is otherwise quite fashionable and well pulled together.
It is true that Russian women dress exceedingly well. Historically, there’s been a huge shortage of men, so women have had to go to rather extreme measures to compete for a mate. Good clothes are seriously expensive here, but the whole culture surrounding clothing is completely different. People repeat shirts, pants, even entire outfits several times a week. It certainly takes a lot of the pressure off when trying to decide what to wear every day.
Ok. That’s all the old stuff for now. I hope I haven’t offended anyone (especially any Russians) with my impressions of Russia or political opinions! A lot of this was written from an American perspective because that’s mostly who is reading this journal, but i can also look at things from a more Russian perspective and come to completely different conclusions. I’m really loving it here in Russia and have already added it to my list of places that feel like “home”.
Talk to you all soon, hopefully, and if you leave a comment, I'll try to respond within a decent timeframe:-)
The first day in Russia, i don't remember the date already….
Well, things were much better after a night of sleep. Significantly so. We had a three hour orientation this morning which almost put me back to sleep, but overall, I'm adjusting to the time change better than expected. The long flight completely messed up any sense of time i had, so maybe it was easy to reset.
After lunch, we were driven to our families homes... well, homes in anything but the American sense. It almost makes me ashamed of the real estate boom we've had in recent years were every family feels needs to buy a home. Not that it's a bad thing to have your own home, but it certainly makes you think when you see the majority of Russians living in conditions that would overqualify for "ghetto" or "project" in Seattle, shall we say. There are apartment buildings still standing from the 1970s that look like they are ready to collapse right next to the latest greatest in Russian apartments... something that is also striking because in America, the are usually poorer and richer parts to cities, and the buildings are divided up accordingly.
Enough about housing for now. The bus ride to our family was really enjoyable. It was basically our first good look at St. Petersburg since we had been staying in a hotel outside the city. We got to see several of the main churches, plus the Bolshoy Dom (Big Home) of the KGB and a prison in the shape of a cross (trust me, if you end up in prison in Russia, you need religion to survive).
So, our family has a few more people around that I'd expected and something tells me they are all living in one room now that Alyson (the other student living with this family) and I are here. The mom's name is Larisa Genrikhovna, the son's name is Leonid, and his girlfriend's name is Zoya. There was another young man floating around, but I don't know if he lives here or not. Like a huge number (majority?) of Russian families, there doesn't seem to be a dad around. There's a picture of a middle aged man on top of the microwave, so it's probably safe to assume that they aren't divorced or separated, and that leaves the strong likelihood that he's dead. I'm feel bad asking:-(
Our apartment building is right next to a boardwalk along the Gulf of Finland. And can you believe it, all of our windows from the apartment look out over it. I feel so incredibly lucky right now! There's even a beach meters away from the entrance. As for the actual apartment though, it is in a state we would call disrepair, but it's also obvious that they are in the process of making huge renovations. The room I'm in (Leonid's room, as he took the time to point out:-) is completely redone with new flooring, wallpaper, and furniture. Alyson's room is a bit smaller, but it has also been renovated. The bathrooms are a disaster though! Well, speaking in non-Russian standards. All things considered, they are really nice though, especially since they installed a hot water heater to make sure we have hot showers when the city shuts it off for maintenance.
Much to my surprise and delight, it sounds like they are Jewish. They look completely Russian as the son is blond and is a typical Russian krasavchik (cute guy), but there's a hand of hamesh (sp?) on the wall, in addition to other traditional Jewish symbols to ward off the evil eye:-) Honestly, I'd been hoping to live with a Jewish family since their life in Russia is of great interest to me, so I'm delighted to have lucked out like this. Plus, curiosity aside, a lot of Russians aren’t exactly enamored with Jews, so I was worried that a non-Jewish family might not like me and my interest in Judaism.
The keys to the apartment, of which there are five (count 'em) are somewhat prehistoric. As our academic director explained, during the 90s there were a lot of apartments broken into, so people resorted to keys that have so many nooks and crannies, not even G-d could pick the lock. She showed us the key to her apartment and I'm not exaggerating in saying that it was at least 6 inches long. The longest of my keys is only 3.5 inches long, but still!
Right down the street, there's a huge hotel and an "univermag" which amounts to a supermarket. The Soviet era is obviously long gone because they have every product imaginable and then some, especially in the alcohol department. I bought two huge bottles of water, a smaller bottle of water, two juices, some crackers, and cigarettes for roughly $8. Nice huh? Btw, no I have not taken up smoking in the past 48 hours... it's just good to carry them with you because people ask for them. Considering how cheap they are here (~$1.25 for top of the line cigarettes), why not be friendly?
Enough rambling? All said and done, I'm liking it here very much and am already looking forward to coming back to Russia... every year hopefully! That's all for now. Wish me luck on the placement exams tomorrow; it'll be three hours of torture, but at least all of the written questions will be multiple choice
.
7.51 am 27 June 2007
Ok, I know it's been a while. Classes are long and utterly exhausting. It probably wouldn't be so bad, but in the afternoons, after a whole morning of Russian language classes, we have lectures in Russian. Let's just say that by noon everyday, I've already had it up to here with speaking and hearing Russian:-) And G-d help me, but i never thought i'd be saying that! It's wonderful being here, don't get me wrong, but it is incredibly exhausting to be working all day in a language you barely speak.
The placement test turned out better than expected actually and i placed into the top level (of four). Still, it was, without a doubt, the longest, most complicated, most ego-destroying test I've ever taken in Russian or in any subject for that matter)))
Generally speaking, food here is wonderfully inexpensive. The program is only paying for our breakfast and lunch, so we're on our own for dinner. Most of the time we won't be home for dinner, but just in case, I went to the "Univermag" (supermarket) to buy food. I got potatoes, pasta, crackers, olives, mushrooms, lots of juice to cover up the taste of bottled water, and pryaniki (cookies basically like pefferneuse, but with various fruit fillings. And please forgive the butchered spelling, my dictionary doesn’t have any suggestions) Also, Russian juice is also pretty unique. Whereas we tend to sweeten the life and nutritional value out of fruit juice, Russians leave it in peace and I can drink it without worrying about the sugar content.
Speaking of food, the other day, we went to a Georgian restaurant for dinner. Wow, if you've never had Georgian food, please find yourself some. Khatchapuri (bread with cheese stuffed inside) is delicious. Of course, the most exciting part was ordering a glass of Georgian wine with dinner for the equivalent of $4, imagine that! For those of you who don't know, Georgian wine is very well known (at least in Russian circles) as the best wine around. Of course, due to the Russian conflict Georgia, it's theoretically illegal since the Russian government decided that it wasn't "safe" and is bad for one's health. Nonsense. Don’t you hate it when politics gets in the way of eating good food? It was, without a doubt, the best wine I've ever had.
Crazy governments aside, i've already had some good talks with my host mom. She's offered her opinion up on politics even without my asking. For her, it doesn't really matter who is in power, Communists, Yeltsin, Putin, or the next president. For her, no matter what, her concerns are going to be the same: working, feeding her family, etc.
Our teacher wants Putin to stay on and says she wishes he would disobey the constitution since it would be for the good of the country. I have to wonder if she realizes what happens when some benevolent leader is begged to stay on as a dictator? Two of the other teachers (the ones who really stop to think about what is going on in their country, aside from there finally being bread on the table and a president that doesn't drink contstantly) feel like economic and social stability has been achieved at the cost of many valuable things, for example, the freedom to criticize the leader. For example, the political satire show called “kukli” being shut down, and the fact that Putin has completely stopped giving one-on-one interviews, which is rather interesting, shall we say.
28 June 2007.
Got flirted with today)) A Russian guy came up and asked me for directions and would not unglue himself from me for anything! He even asked me if i was married! And even after i explained that i already have a boyfriend at home who's from Russia, he said "Ah, so you've got a candidate!!" and then sugested that i could have another boyfriend here as well! Well, such a thing would never have occurred to me, thank you very much for the suggestion! Sheesh:-)
Also rode the subway for the first time today. Marshrutkas are the sure fire way to get lost, omg. I've had quite enough of that. But I love the subway. It just makes sense, so I suppose Stalin was no idiot. The only downside is that the stops are really far apart, even further apart than the Long Island Railroad stations. To get to the closest metro statiion from the apaprtment is roughly 40 minutes by foot, and then perhaps 15 minutes from the next station to the university by foot. For me, it's easiest to catch one of two buses, but they come rather rarely as i discovered yesterday.
Oo, this pains me to relate, but mullets are EVERYWHERE. On men, on women, thank goodness not so much on children. It's actually kind of painful to see something that should have gone out of style long ago be alive and kicking in a country that is otherwise quite fashionable and well pulled together.
It is true that Russian women dress exceedingly well. Historically, there’s been a huge shortage of men, so women have had to go to rather extreme measures to compete for a mate. Good clothes are seriously expensive here, but the whole culture surrounding clothing is completely different. People repeat shirts, pants, even entire outfits several times a week. It certainly takes a lot of the pressure off when trying to decide what to wear every day.
Ok. That’s all the old stuff for now. I hope I haven’t offended anyone (especially any Russians) with my impressions of Russia or political opinions! A lot of this was written from an American perspective because that’s mostly who is reading this journal, but i can also look at things from a more Russian perspective and come to completely different conclusions. I’m really loving it here in Russia and have already added it to my list of places that feel like “home”.
Talk to you all soon, hopefully, and if you leave a comment, I'll try to respond within a decent timeframe:-)