All packed and ready! I was supposed to pack a present for my host family... but what am I supposed to bring when I don't even know who I am staying with?
A pack of oreos. It's gonna be awkward.

That's all for now! See you in Russia.

written by  The_Red_Life on January 19, 2009 from Richfield, United States
from the travel blog: Exploring the Streets of Saint Pete!
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Upon entering the home equipped with champagne and oreos for a present, I was given a pair of tapochki about half my foot size which I must walk around in at all times. The apartment is cute and quaint, my room full of tapestries and rediculuously decorative wall paper. The real deal is DINNER. As a part of Russian hospitality you are fed until you drop and you are really in trouble if you have an old babyshka who was in Leningrad when it was under seige--thousands of people died of starvation in the seige and as a result attitudes are very sensitive toward food. My first meal was in fact a bowl of borsh with sour cream, a carrot dish with tons of raw garlic, chicken, potatoes,four slices of bread with butter or jam, and a plate with two pastries, as well as some other cookies. The next morning I was served five blini or thin crepe-like pancakes and thought I was done, until my hostmother put out TEN MORE BLINI next to my plate. And yogurt, and a banana. And always tea.

I digress, after using every word I know for "that's too much," I have been served less. A friend of mine has a war babushka who will make her dinner, and she'll go back to her room only to find her hostmother knocking on the door for a second dinner. Ah hah. But uhh the food is good, though generally bland, staple like food. I'm going to miss every herb, salt and pepper, and anything spicy. Russia only knows dill, pickles, and dill. Also more sourcream than one can imagine. As for walking around, everything takes time. Service is always slow, never right, and there are always lines. In Russia, you wait. It took me nearly five days to get my phone working right, after going back to three stores and finally taking my hostmother with me to lay down the law. It's not actually too cold, and every single women under the age of fourty absolutely wears massive heeled, knee high boots. Lots of makeup, the works. I love it. But the people are nice, though frank, and usually willing to deal with my crappy Russian skills.

But for now, I must run. I will write some more later, maybe. Hope all is well back home!

written by  The_Red_Life on February 9, 2009 from Saint Petersburg, Russia
from the travel blog: Exploring the Streets of Saint Pete!
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In Russia, the cold is good because the snow gives good traction. However, the past few days it's been mid 30s and my walk to school is over an ice skating rink... I took a brutal fall the other day walking through the dark Russian morning, as did the poor babyshka walking in front of me. Ach.

In other news, we traveled on a bus to Veliki Novgorod, the second great city of Russia, the first being Kievan Rus. It basically meant traveling three hours through shanties and massive empty fields. The cities tend to be like an oasis here. And the city itself was like no other, some bleak Soviet city that consisted of what seemed few people, horribly shitty roads, and straight blocks of concrete buildings. Randomly scattered throughout Novgorod are these fantastic archaic churches from the 13th century, the insides of which consist of intricate arches and iconic paintings covering every inch of the walls. Odd.

Needless to say we had come upon a wooden town that at the same time had some certain male travelers. Well they came up to Kendall and I, wanting a picture, and suddenly it meant the entire brigade of males wanted to be in the picture. I had asked one of the twenty guys surrounding me where they were from, and they excitedly said Militia from Tver. Oh boy. We were asked for every kind of number, facebook, or icq screenname from a horde of young militia trainees... Never have I been more scared to say no! Ah ha.

We ate that day in some medieval restuarant that fed us Meade--honey wine. I didn't even know the stuff still existed.

At any rate, I really need to get some pictures up.

written by  The_Red_Life on February 9, 2009 from Novgorodovo, Russia
from the travel blog: Exploring the Streets of Saint Pete!
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