Finally settled down

After one month living in Russia, I now officially have become comfortable with the city of St. Petersburg. I know my way around pretty well and I finally don't feel out of place.
My classes vary as to what time they begin. Sometimes at 10:00am and sometimes at 11:40am. So I wake up with breakfast either covered and waiting for me or my host mom plating something hot, always supplemented with a hot cup of tea or coffee. Then I get ready for school while squeezing in a skype conversation with loved ones (who are always wondering why I am doing my hair while talking to them.) In St. Petersburg, the weather is bipolar and can switch on you in a minute so I always carry an umbrella, gloves and  jacket. Every morning I walk out, I swear it gets colder and colder. The heaters have finally turned on at the university and in the apartment. I was told that they usually were turned on mid-October but apparently it got cold faster than they expected. Mondays and Wednesdays are my favorite because I get out of class at 1pm. Fridays suck because they are a full day from 10am to 5pm. But hey, it's Friday.

I sometimes wake up with food already waiting for me on the table

The inside has "творог" or cottage cheese

Russian pancakes

One of my lunches: плов (pilaf), котлеты (meatballs), капуста (cabbage), and селедка (herring)

My lovely room

The kitchen (I always eat by the window) 

How the house looks like once you enter through the front door

The living room (I rarely am in here) 

The view from the living room

One of the corners in the living room

Sonya, one of the cats

I have met many people from different walks of life. There are almost 100 American students in the same program as me. I enjoy getting to know different people everyday. After classes I ask if anyone would like to join me at a cafe and grab a cup of coffee or if they would like to go walk somewhere. Most of these students are like me, curious, excited, and have too much free time on their hands. I've already gotten the chance to walk in the Summer Garden, try some pishki, eat at the Pizza Hut (which is fancier and apparently the place to go here), volunteer at the Hermitage, and even watch a Russian band play in British-Pop style.

Going down the really really long escalator to get down the the underground metro

Watching Anton play with his band

Waiting for the metro

Dancing!

Pizza Hut with Влад, Света and Jason

Exploring the south side of St. Petersburg with my friend Ilya. This part of town looks very Soviet.

The south side during the nighttime

The University I go to: St. Petersburg State University of Political Science

The Courtyard

Still the Courtyard

 After I got out of class on Tuesday at 5pm, I jumped the trolleybus and met Vika at Kazansky Sobor. We walked to a "пекарнь" (bakery) to get пирожки (mini pies). Mine had chicken and mushroom inside and I also got a sweet scone thing made out of cottage cheese.  They are super cheap, under 100rubles total (about a dollar or two).  Vika got a пирожок with cabbage filling inside. We walked inside Kazansky Sobor for a bit and watched a prayer service. Afterwards we took on Nevsky street and browsed souvenir shops where we saw a lot of cool things like chess sets with pieces shaped like Russian dolls. We continued on to a bookstore, a bazaar, a fur hat shop where we made fun of really ugly hats. At the end, Vika gave me a real tight hug and we parted ways at Nevsky and Suvorvski. 

 

Getting пирожки at the пекарнь

Казанский Собор

"Kazan Cathedral"

Церковь Спаса на Крови

"The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood"

How a true St. Petersburgan calls things (versus a Moscowich) 

Trying on fur hats

It I tuck my hair in, this hat looks like my hair

On Wednesday, I had only one class and it was my Conversation class. Wednesday's are always half days for everyone and so we get out at 1pm. In class, we discussed the school and university system in the US versus Russia. 

I promised my friend Lauren (who I roomed with when I first came to Russia) a drink on me since it was her birthday yesterday. I suggested a Georgian restaurant that happened to be right by my house which is also walking distance from the University. We walked over there right after we got let out. I ordered хачапури- fried bread with cheese inside (finally! Been wanting to try it here in Russia) and баклажан- or fried and rolled eggplant with a dip in the middle. Lauren ordered a very tender lamb kebob and Vika had some cheese rolls with a corn crust. It was a delicacy! We chatted, laughed, shared stories, tried each others food. It was a merry brunch. 

I was able to easily give directions twice today to Russians without hesitating... which means I now officially I know my way around :) 

Lauren, Vika, and I at the Georgian Restaurant

On Thursday, I joined Vika to go volunteering at the Hermitage. She was given a thick, old Renaissance jewlery book to translate from English to Russian. I absolutely refused to be a part of that but then the lady convinced me by saying that if I can speak Russian, I can translate the book. So Vika and I spent an hour and a half translating a paragraph each and then called it a day. The most difficult part for me was trying to interpret what the writer was actually trying to convey from the old English language.

Vika and I translating the Renaissance jewelry book

On Friday, I got invited to the Opera on Ice show. I had only two hours after class to run to the theater kiosk, see if they have seats open, run home, get the money, buy the ticket, run back home, change, and eat dinner. It was totally last minute and I didn't know exactly where I was going either. But I was determined to not spend my Friday evening at home. I was only 15 minutes late to the opera. However, since I was late, I couldn't bother the grouchy old Russian ladies to get to my seat so I sat on the staircase until intermission. Despite that, the music was lovely and the ice skating breathtaking. There were opera singers singing live along with an orchestra playing while ice skaters danced.They twisted and twirled and flipped and did aerobics one handed. It was super impressive while also moving. After intermission I found my seat but was soon scolded by some angry couple that I supposedly took their seats. I offered to sit on the staircase again but Vika's host mom (who invited me to come) demanded my ticket and showed it to the lady in the fur coat next to the couple as proof that SHE was in fact actually occupying MY seat. I felt very embarrassed and uncomfortable kicking her out but Vika's badass host mom insisted. Despite that incident, what a view I had! I was on the third row from the rink; very close to the arena and the seat was way more comfortable than the hard, cold staircase.
There were a couple of star ice skaters performing that evening who have won the Olympics and stuff. People went crazy and threw bouquets of flowers at them. It was wonderful! The show ended with a Russian song and the skaters dancing in traditional Russian garments. They even brought out inflatable Russian dolls.
Anyway, when the play ended, I bonded pretty quickly with Vika's mom. She started to make plans to take me to a futbol match, a diskoteka, a park, and more. We split at the metro and I walked home. I know they say not to walk home at night but luckily my walk is well lit and on the main streets for the most part. When I get to my neighborhood, it's not too bad either.

Of course, the first thing that my host mother asks me when I get home is if I'm hungry. I politely decline and retire to my bedroom. What a wonderful night.

The stage with the opera singers and the live orchestra

A couple dancing in the fog (I think the song that was playing was the Titanic song "My Heart Will go on" 

Another couple skating

The inflatable Matroshka

The Russian-themed song

So there were two famous people at the Opera on Ice despite my lack of knowledge:

Elena Berezhnaya: Olympic and World Champion

Evgeni Plushenko:  

Winter Olympics silver medalist- 2002

Winter Olympics gold medalist- 2006

Winter Olympics silver medalist- 2010

Three time World Champion- 2001, 2002, 2004

Seven time European Champion- 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012

Four time Grand Prix Final Champion- 1999-2000, 2000-2001, 2002-2003, 2004-2005

Ten time Russian National Champion- 1999-2002, 2004-2006, 2010, 2012-2013

**Note: These pictures were NOT taken by me

So, I didn't know Evgeni was so famous and consequently did not take any pictures of him. I was bummed out afterwards. I just thought people really liked the way he performed and that was the reason they were throwing whole bouquets at him. But apparently he really is that good...

So this was my fourth week in Mother Russia. A month later, and I finally feel a bit more at home!