In Which the Author is FINISHED!

25.12.2008

This is actually the first Christmas I've spent with my family. Aaaand I don't really like it.

I mean, I suppose all in all the day wasn't that bad. Perhaps a bit of a waste, but not all bad. There are a few things that really bothered me, but I feel tremendously petty complaining about them.

I woke up at 11:30am (which is far, far too late, but I can never get to sleep, anymore, because of the completely screwed up daylight/lackthereof schedule). Well, I couldn't eat breakfast because Dima was working on something in the kitchen, with the door closed, so I felt tremendously awkward going in and getting in the middle of his business. He didn't even finish that until about 1, so I was sitting in here bitterly complaining to myself for an hour and a half. Which is kind of dumb because if I woke up at a decent hour I probably would've eaten breakfast no problem.

When I did eventually get to go into the kitchen, Tatyana left me a gift with a note! That was a nice surprise. The gift was a little candle with Santa in it ... Perhaps a tad tacky, but it's the thought that counts.

I eventually just went to Smolny and wasted a few hours trying to do a little research for my paper and inevitably getting nothing done. Maneka and I went out after that ... Actually, for about five hours. We went to her apartment for about an hour and just talked and tried to figure out what to do, since it was such an awkward hour as most things were closing, it wasn't quite dinner time yet, and there wasn't anywhere to walk (plus it's -5 centigrade). We eventually went to Cheburechnaya (a chebureki restaurant. Chebureki are fried... dough ... things filled with meat). That was dissatisfying. Actually, I liked the atmosphere of the place, because it was sort of a trashy cheap cafeteria type place so there were groups of middle-aged blue collar Russians sitting around chatting and drinking after work. ... I suppose I don't paint the best picture, but there's that.

We weren't sated, so we went to Chainaya Lozhka after that and ate some bliny and talked for hours. I noticed that the guy who took our orders had the nametag of "Vladimir," and the cashier who took our money had the nametag of "Vlad." I thought this was somewhat strange.

Then I just came home and talked on the phone with my parents for a bit.

I really wanted to take a shower, but unfortunately am unable as Tatyana has clothes hanging up and drying in the shower... So... Yeah. That's actually what is making me feel like crap, because I feel gross and kind of ... down, and I'd like to take a nice relaxing shower. HOWEVER. Many others have much less than I do right now, so I AM BLESSED. With a room. And a meal. And opportunities that others do not have. SO I should not complain. BUT, I am human, and understandably will complain no matter how heavenly my situation might be compared to others.

In other news it is actually very cold in my room, and this might be what is contributing to my lack of sleep. Tomorrow, I plan on going to the Russian Museum with Maneka, and then writing my paper. I'm not terribly worried about my paper, now, since I have a target of THREE! WHOLE! PAGES! because I am an underachiever right now, and Vika said she would proofread it and help me on Monday. My main concern is the oral presentation. Apparently, when most Russians present their papers, they just read the paper directly, and that's that. But from what I've heard they expect more out of the American students, so, I don't know ... We'll see. I also realised that I have no idea how to cite a paper Russian-like? To be perfectly honest, though, I never even submitted a works cited page for my presentation on Ukraine (which, in America, would amount to PLAGIARISM and get me EXPELLED), and I didn't cite a ton of things in my final paper. So it's probably not that big of a deal.

WELL, MERRY CHRISTMAS. С РОЖДЕСТВОМ!
26.12.2008

Woke up and took a shower this morning... Then took a nap.. Read a little bit... Then Maneka called me and we headed off to the Russian Museum. Mostly just went for the 20th Century exhibits, since that's really the only part we didn't get to thoroughly see when we went the first time. I spent massive amounts of money in the gift shops for ... gifts ... for people. Actually, I'm pretty much finished with gift shopping as a whole. I still need to buy my dad a thing or two, but other than that, I'm FREEE. Well, I'm not going to really buy much more of anything until I start packing and have an idea of how much room I have. Then, I'm going to go on a massive shopping spree to fill my suitcases. Which might be stupid, BUT HEY, I won't be back for god knows how long.

After the museum we headed over to Shtolle for pirog and tea. That was pleasant. The metro on the way back, however, was quite unpleasant. And the discovery that my heater is not working in my room was also quite unpleasant.

Basically, need to do paper writing, then that's that. Yura invited me to a new years' gathering of his, but Tatyana is saying I should stay in... But she also says that it's up to me ... I'd really like to go to Yura's gathering, because that would be a neat experience. I suppose it would be, here, too, but I feel like I'd feel a little more excluded and awkward, here. So... I don't know. I'm going to call Yura tomorrow and see what he thinks, and what the plans exactly are. We'll see...

27.12.2008

So it's only 5, and I'm bored out of my mind. I kind of want to go out, but that's probably not the best idea. I'm a good ways through my paper, and it's going fast ... Of course, it SHOULD be going 'fast' since my goal is only three pages. Yeah, tiny tiny paper, but not when you're writing in RUSSIAN. In TWO DAYS. And it's an academic paper, clearly, which makes it that much more difficult. At the same time I'm not too terribly worried about it, since Vika agreed to look over it on Monday, with me, so it should be cleaned up then. As of now, it's terrible, of course, but nothing can be done about that.

I called Yura, today, but he didn't answer. Perhaps I'll just end up staying here for New Years.

Speaking of which, I've been seeing people selling light-up horns on the street, here, which confused me. I was thinking that was more of a ... you know ... Halloween thing as opposed to a Christmas thing. But whatever. I just thought it might be due to some strange Pagan tradition or some such. But, Tatyana's younger sister came over with a couple pairs and Tatyana called me in, saying «Look at what we got!» and they were wearing the light-up horns... I was like «Yeah, that's great ... !» not sure what to say, then she said it's the Year of the Bull. SO. Now it makes sense. Kind of. I'm not sure by WHAT calendar it is the Year of the Bull.. Since clearly it isn't the lunar new year ... But whatever. Then she put them on Mysha and she ran around the house.

Alright, so, I just watched the MTV European Music Awards (or at least some of them), and my first WTF is: Why the fuck was that completely dominated by American music acts? Is Europe THAT devoid of any half-decent popular music? Jesus Christ. My second WTF: Katy Perry's voice is SO fucking processed it's kind of sick. I mean, her songs are catchy, I will say, as horrid as the lyrics and even worse the messages are. But her singing LIVE? THAT, friends, is UNBEARABLE. Good lord. Third WTF: I actually like some of Dima Bilan's music, BUT FOR GOD'S SAKES END IT WITH 'BELIEVE.' Actually, most of his songs in English are fairly terrible, but that one just takes the cake. The first time I heard him was in EuroVision, with that song, and I automatically hated him until I came here and heard some of his Russian music. Which isn't half-bad for popsa.

28.12.2008
So last night was basically awful. I couldn't get to sleep until after 4am. At 4am, I heard Tatyana rummaging around and telling Dima to get up because someone was coming. Shortly afterward, his cell phone started to ring and he answered it, then someone opened the door. There were a new pair of shoes at the doorway, today, but I haven't seen anyone in the apartment other than Dima and Tatyana, so either this mysterious person has been sleeping for god knows how long, or the shoes aren't even theirs. Who knows.

Then, I woke up and was BLINDED by some strange light coming through the window. After a moment of confusion, I opened the curtains fully and realised... IT WAS THE SUN! I was so excited. But then I got pissed off because I realised I had to stay in and write my paper, and by the time I finished the sun would probably set. THEN, I turned on the TV and saw that, despite the sun, it was -5 degrees, soo.... I thought it better that I admire the sunrays from inside.

While writing my paper, Mysha decided to jump on the bed and stand on my keyboard, which fucked something up, and I couldn't type my paper up because the keyboard was half broken. After a while of fiddling around I got it to work, though. I threw Mysha off the bed, but she kept coming back and trying to jump up, so I ended up having to chase her out of the room.

THEN. After writing my paper, I realised .... I am finished. This semester is finished. What. The fuck? It's bizarre --- I don't know what to do with myself. I feel like I should be working on SOMETHING, I should be worrying about SOMETHING. Then again, in truth, I'm not really entirely finished. I still have to present my paper tomorrow, which I sorely don't want to do, especially since the last half of it is total shit since I seriously just did not want to write it at that point. Three and a half pages!! Tiny, tiny, I know. Still. It's something.

I called Yura, and uhm... He said he works on the 31st, and that I could go to his house with Sasha and decorate a tree in the morning ... ? Maybe I didn't understand correctly. Sounds mildly strange to me. But he said he's going to call me at 11. I think I'm going to go ahead and spend New Years with them and not here, because to be perfectly honest I don't particularly want to sit around reading the Bible with a family of Russians on New Years. I probably wouldn't understand anything anyway, since I'm not up on my Orthodox Bible vocabulary.

Went to Shtolle with Maneka again, ate pie, then went to Pizza Hut for dinner. ... Again. We need to stop eating there. What the hell? Anyway, we had the same waitress, which was mildly awkward.

... AAAH I GO TO LITHUANIA AND LATVIA THIS WEEK.

Actually, I just realised, that this might be my last entry before I leave Russia. I don't know when I'm going to next have access to the internet. Maybe I'll drop in at MCDONALD'S before I leave to utilise their services. Or something. Or I'll just wait and upload the rest of my journal when I return home.

BY THE WAY. I spoke with my parents today, and my father got my mother a PS3 for Christmas. What in the name of God?

In Which Things are Bought

24.12.2008

Wow, it's Christmas eve. Someone actually pointed this out to me and it didn't quite hit me until later. AND MY PARENTS HAVEN'T CALLED ME. Oh well, they'll probably call me tomorrow.

Today was somewhat interesting. I guess. I had to go to Bobrinskij to turn in my paper. Which I did. And then he had each of us go in one at a time and explain to him what our papers were about. Then he told us our grades. Well, he said, 'barring any unforeseen surprises' in the papers. Aaand he said I will probably get an A. Which is nice, since I worked hard in that class all semester. And I loved it. I learned a lot, personally, as well as academically, I suppose. Before I came here, I really didn't have a firm idea about the affairs and relations between Russia and the US. Now I feel like I really know what I'm talking about, and I'm passionate about it. That's always good.

After that I went to Smolny to do research for my Human Rights paper. I got a lot more than I expected that I would. I'm going to shoot for three pages with this paper. Yeah, it's tiny, but it's in Russian. And it actually kind of worries me, because Olga only wrote five pages for her Russia/USA paper, and her English is excellent. I mean, she plans on going to the Central European University in a couple years, so for god's sakes... I don't know. She probably had a lot other stuff going on, though, while I really have nothing to worry about for the next ... Well, until I have to pack up to go home, really. What makes me worried is that I actually have no one to look over my paper before I turn it in, so grammatical mistakes are going to be atrocious. Andrei Vladimirovich is really patient, though, and seems to like me, so, that's good.

Speaking of that particular professor, we're getting together before the oral exam on Monday. I told him I wanted to discuss the state of human rights in relation to gays in Russia today, and he said we could get together for coffee on Monday and discuss. I don't like coffee, but that's beside the point. So I'm really looking forward to that. I hope I understand whatever he happens to say sufficiently. It took a bit of courage for me to even ask him, but I figure since he's a HUMAN RIGHTS professor in Russia's ONLY liberal arts college, he can't be THAT reactionary for god's sakes.

After I finished up at Smolny, I decided to go out and do gift buying because I didn't feel like going straight home and moping around. Clearly I can't say exactly what I bought, BUT ....

IRISHKA AND SARAH - DO NOT READ THIS PART IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW HOW YOUR GIFTS WERE ACQUIRED. I can retell the story to you when I give you said gifts.



So, I went to Indigo, which is the queer-themed store on Nevsky (Amusing note: they have a sign right next to the metro that says "Индиго: Необычный магазин для особенных людей" -- Indigo: Unusual store for specific people). I just kind of looked around at what they had, and wasn''t really sure what to buy. Well, I go up to the front, where the two cashiers were, and asked them what I should buy "for two lesbian friends in America, one of whom can read Russian because she's Ukrainian." While I'm asking my question, they both start grinning, either because they were excited that some foreigner was shopping around in their little store, or because my Russian is terrible and I'm a stupid American. This adorable guy (WHO, by the way, I wish had shown up in my life THREE MONTHS EARLIER) immediately leads me through the store to the lesbian bookshelf and starts giving me book after book after book, talking about each of the authors and saying which city they're from, and so forth. He was completely at a loss as to what to give a non-Russian reading lesbian, however, so, oh well about that. I shopped around a little bit more and came across a book called "69 Russian Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transsexuals" (in Russian, of course) and immediately grabbed that. They tried to pawn off some tremendously expensive gay-themed jewelery to me, and I was like, "uhm, I'll look around a little bit first." Then, when I was making my purchases (which came to 799 rubles), I handed her a 1000, and she gave me too much change. I think she thought I was trying to cheat them when I tried to explain that the change wasn't correct, then I showed her the check and what she had given me and she was tremendously grateful for my honesty. So, that was a very pleasant shopping experience. Actually, probably one of the most pleasant I've had, here.



IRISHKA AND SARAH. You may read now.

In terms of gifts, I only have to buy both mom and dad one more thing each, and then.. Aislyn's ring, a couple small things for a few people, aaaand something else. I'm kind of worried as to suitcase limit, though. I'm not sure if I'll have enough room. I SHOULD ... But who knows. I'm going to wait until I'm packed to make my last shopping trips.

After that, I went to the dorms to say goodbye to people, since half the program is leaving tonight.

Oh, and a button fell off my jacket, today. I think I'm going to go sew that on, now...

In Which A Song Is Stuck in the Head

23.12.2008

Я назову планету именем твоим! Ты любовь моя, ты любовь мояяяя!!

Song. Stuck in head. For eternity. YARGH.

So I also have a toothache that is bothering me, and I'm chewing gum to satisfy that. Perhaps that's an awful method to treat a toothache, but I care not. I went to Pizza Hut (ПИЦЦА ХАТ!!) for the THIRD TIME, today. Maybe I should try to eat ethnic cuisine while I am abroad? .... Nah.

I woke up at HALF PAST NOON today, which is NOT what I had in mind. Indeed, it is 7pm and I still haven't started on my paper. Well, I mean, I have a little over five pages written so perhaps it is not fair to say that I "haven't started" on it. But I haven't started on FINISHING it. I think it's going to end up being one of those things where I'll go to write the last big chunk, and it'll get out of control and I'll end up writing 20 pages because I didn't get to finish saying what I wanted to say in the 10 page minimum. I think that's happened the last two major papers I've had to write. Which I suppose isn't necessarily bad, but it doesn't leave much time for else.

Can I admit something? Every time I read something about cooperation between the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) it instills a *little* terror in me. Because I really think that cooperation is going to spell the death of American hegemony in world politics some time in the not-too-distant future. Especially if the US doesn't get its shit together. And I'm not going to say that the US will get its shit together under Obama, because I have to say that I have a hard time believing that he's going to get half of what he says he's going to do, done. Simply because ... well ... I don't think he CAN. And who knows what the GLOBAL! FINANCIAL! CRISIS! will do. If it's as bad or perhaps worse than what some economists are projecting, then I'm sure it'll be somehow blamed on 'democratic politics' and it'll just start the whole terrible process all over again. But then again, maybe I shouldn't worry about any of this, since the chances of the world becoming completely inhabitable within the next 20 years are more likely than anything else.

After that cheery forecast... Hm. I guess I don't have much else to say other than what I have already said. I'm kind of tired.. hm .... Maneka and I printed out bus tickets and made hotel reservations, so everything in terms of Latvia and Lithuania should be dandyriffic.

In Which I am Too lazy and don't want to title

22.12.2008

Today wasn't quite as productive as I wanted it to be, but it started well. I woke up, and after breakfast I was feeling in a “productive” mood so I immediately got my laptop out to write a bit before running off to Bobrinskij to do computing things and preparation for the seminar tonight. Cranked out a page and a half in no time at all, then went out.

Took a few pictures of the Neva this afternoon, and I'm hoping they turned out well. I also realised that the HOMOSEXUAL ART EXHIBITION in Bobrinskij is also loaded onto the internet, so I'll provide a link to that sometime soon. (maybe with this entry?!)

I fell once on 8th line today, on my way to the palace, and then almost fell five more times after the bridge. I realised why I stopped wearing my combat boots in the ice – THEY HAVE NO TREAD. Later in the evening, when coming back, I fell at the EXACT same place on 8th line, even though I was being careful aand thinking to myself, “I fell here earlier today... I need to watch my STEEEEP -fall-” Mildly humiliating.

By the time I got to Bobrinskij I actually felt like crap and had a light head. I think these mid-day dizzy spells and feeling-like-shit-ness are all due to me not eating lunch. WHAT A REVELATION. I don't really ever have the time, though. Nor is it ever convenient to try and run off to lunch somewhere, since Bobrinskij has nothing but vending machines. I did as much 'preparing' as I could have, which wasn't very much. Then I contemplated asking Andrei Vladimirovich if I could skip out on the final paper since I am the ONLY STUDENT WHO DID ANY WORK IN THE ENTIRE CLASS THE ENTIRE SEMESTER, NO EXAGGERATION, NO JOKE. NOT TO MENTION THE ONLY STUDENT WHO WAS NEVER LATE AND AT EVERY CLASS. AND WAS THERE SINCE THE BEGINNING (Since Anya joined three weeks in and Anzor joined NINE weeks into the class). Absolutely ridiculous. But then apparently he said we're MEETING NEXT WEEK to turn in our papers and PRESENT THEM ORALLY. Oh my GOD what an AWFUL set of circumstances that is. But I'll survive. I JUST HAPPEN TO KNOW WHAT I'LL BE DOING THIS weekend. The bad thing is is that I'll be writing a raw paper and won't be able to have anyone look over it before I turn it in. No good at all. We'll see what happens.

So, today, no one really seemed to know anything about the Vologda and Novgorod regions (our assignment was of course to research these two regions and write a little on the 'economic openness' and such), except for me, since I had prepared junk on them, so he forced me to explain everything. Again. Which was awful. I don't know how I can say ANYTHING. Argh. Whatever. Done.

After that went to the end of semester dinner. That was good because Maneka and I just kind of sat in the corner and made fun of everyone. I was perhaps a bit more loud about it than I usually am, and apparently E.B. (YES, I KNOW YOU SOMETIMES MIGHT READ THIS) and Matt were saying that I am INSECURE. I don't really know where that one came from.

And now here I am, home, tired, full of food ... Oh well shit, I planned on writing aa bit on my paper, and I was wondering why the hell I am so tired. It's 12:30am. I was going to nap then write a couple pages. WELP. That's not going to happen. Guess I'll have to cram the last five pages in tomorrow. No big deal, though. ALMOST FINISHED!!

In Which the Opera is Attended, Again

18.12.2008

Today I realised that I have never so much as LOOKED at the Bronze Horseman. Which is quite sad, since it is one of the most famous statues in all of Petersburg.

Well, that's a lie. I have glanced at it, before. But I didn't know it was the Bronze Horseman. I saw it, and all I could think was "Ew, that is a hideous statue" and just walked on. Today, I received a farewell postcard from the program managers that featured the Bronze Horseman on the front, and I was like, "OMG, THAT'S the Bronze horseman?" Yeah, alright, call me uncultured. I don't care.

I had my final two exams, today -- SMI and Phonetics (EVERY TIME I GO TO SPELL THAT FUCKING WORD I START WRITING 'FONETIKS' BECAUSE OF HOW IT IS SPELLED IN RUSSIAN. AAAAAH!!). Both had oral portions, and both teachers said that I did well, so, I suppose I did well. I got an A on the mid-terms for those classes, plus did well in them, so I shouldn't have anything to worry about. The thing is, I was completely out of it all day and certainly didn't do my best.

After that we had our final 'awards' lunch. Not sure why it was called an 'awards' lunch. We were all given ... a posterbook. From the same collection I've been buying from. So, uh, now I have .... 62 Soviet posters.... Know what that means? DON'T HAVE TO BUY GIFTS ANYMORE!! WHOOO. Well, either I could WALLPAPER my room with Soviet posters, or I could give out a bunch of them as gifts. YOU ALL KNOW WHAT YOOOU'RE GETTING! Bahaha.

I have to say, I'll really miss Lyudmila Petrovna and Olga Valentinovna. Best personalities ever, and they were almost always late to class. Well, Olga Valentinovna was, anyway.

So, Tatyana gave me black bread with crushed garlic smeared atop for dinner, tonight. Yum. One thing I've also noticed, here: French fries are considered to be a legitimate side to a meal. Hmm.

Tomorrow, Maneka and I are going out to buy train and bus tickets to Lithuania and back. Then we're going to book hotel rooms. This is actually pretty exciting since it's the first time I get to take a vacation like this. I am displeased that I never made it to Finland, though -- I wish I went towards the beginning of the semester when I had less to do. But I figured after the 25th I would be free. LITTLE DID I KNOW. Little did I know... Anyway, if anyone is BORED out of their MINDS and has some freetime, find strange and interesting things to do in Vilnius and Riga. Because Maneka and I are just kind of going to ... drop ourselves off in the cities and walk around trying to find things to do. Of course, we can't speak Lithuanian or Latvian so we're hoping knowing English and Russian will be enough to get us by.

And, from now to the 10th, my posts will probably be very sporadic. And long. Since the days will accumulate. After next week I don't really have ANY access to the internet, unless I go to the cafe, which requires me to lug my laptop around, and pay, neither of which I'm particularly willing to do. There will be a MASSIVE photo update, though, when I return home, as I plan on taking photos around Petersburg and of course in Lithuania and Latvia. SO, LOOK FORWARD TO THAT, KIDDIES.

For now, however, I am going to write a massive paper.

19.12.2008

Today, Maneka and I went to buy train tickets, which was successful. Then, we wanted to buy bus tickets ASAP, so at least our transportation is guaranteed for the trip. So we stopped into McDonalds, which, by the way, seems to be where ALL Russian youth congregate, as the place was FILLED with young college aged-high school types. Except for some poor smiling man in the corner, seeming to live vicariously through everyone around him ... Or scoping out the young dainties. I couldn't tell which. Maneka suggested, “Maybe he just loved гамбургеры(gamburgery!!).” Unfortunately, some sort of failure occurred on the internet (surprise surprise) so we got no bus tickets.

After that we went to the Nord shopping centre, and after searching forever and a day I bought a jacket. So now I look like a basic Russian sleazy-jackass. I mean, I like the jacket. And it looks good on me. But, uhm, at the same time, it doesn't exactly fit my 'style.' That is to say, it's a goose down puff polyester jacket with a large fur collar.

Then I came home and wasted the entire day by not even glancing at anything having to do with my paper, instead watching bad shows and movies all evening and night. But tomorrow I definitely plan on spending most all of the day writing the paper. In the evening, I'll be going to “La Traviata” at the St. Petersburg Opera. So. There's that. My CULTURAL REQUIREMENT for the week.

Aaaand so I just watched a horrifying tragic romance film, Московский Жигило (Muscovite Giggolo). And by horrifying I mean it involved blood and beatings and those sorts of things. It was actually a really good movie, however.

21.12.2008

Yesterday basically wasted the entire day sitting around and feeling like shit. Wrote a little over a page of my paper so now I'm at ... almost two pages. I'm going to try to get at least up to five, today. I'm not that worried about actually writing it, anymore, I'm just worried about it turning into a pile of crap. Well, it already is that, since basically I just ranted on for two pages about the pointlessness of NATO, and I'm about to rant for another couple pages on the pointlessness of ties to Georgia and the West's total misconception of the whole affair. Oh, I think I threw a paragraph about the hopeless political situation in Ukraine, too. Maybe I should expand on that one. But then again I already ranted on for 50 minutes on that very topic, in class, so maybe I shouldn't.

Oh, and I seem to have sidestepped illness for the third time since being here. This past Friday I woke up with a mild sore throat that persisted through most of the day, so I drank a lot of water and tea, and ate some lemon and honey (plus took a nice strong dose of vitamin C, but that usually just prevents sickness before it happens as opposed to actually 'curing' you) and the sore throat was completely gone by yesterday. Which was a relief, because I just sorely did not want to be ill in my last weeks here.

So, I went to La Traviata at the St. Petersburg Opera last night. Vika told me to go, a long time ago, because she said it was cheap, good quality, and a good break from the Mariinskij and Mikhailovsky. She also said it was beautiful. So I took my camera.

AND OH MY GOD IT WAS FUCKING GORGEOUS. Very very small, and surprisingly few people were there. Basically I can't even describe it, but the place is a restored palace (small palace) with its own private theatre. Easily THE most beautiful theatre I've ever seen. Even beats the Mariinskij. I took photos, but they don't do it justice. Especially since the lighting was really soft, so a lot of the photos turned out too blurry, and I used flash for a couple, which made everything look like shit. EXCEPT, ONE OF THE PHOTOS I TOOK WOULD BE ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL, IF THERE WASN'T A GIGANTIC LIGHTING FIXTURE IN THE WAY. ARGH. Oh, and the room right before the theatre itself was decorated like a... cave. Yes. Apparently this was fashionable in the 19th century or something. It was kind of ugly. But I took photos anyway because it was really weird.

As for the opera itself, I realised after I bought the tickets that the opera was probably translated from the Italian into Russian, which would have ruined the entire point of me going to see a non-Russian play, but for some reason they translate them all, here (I thank GOD they don't do that in America, usually). HOWEVER, it turned out that they DIDN'T translate it, so it was in Italian, and that was good. But, then, I walked in ... aand ... based on the way the stage was set up, it was a contemporary take on the opera. Which made me really apprehensive. But they actually did a really good job of it, and it was still absolutely beautiful regardless. AND, they had classical masquerade ball costumes on during the second act, so that was good. The only thing that annoyed me was that in the second scene it was like ... tropical. So Alfretto (is that his name...?) had a ... hawaiian shirt on? And there was an umbrella. And at one point they were singing to a gigantic plush crab. But I looked past that since the singers were fantastic, and they came down into the audience a few times which was unsual, since I never see them do that in operas. But I guess since the theatre was so tiny, they did it.

Oh, and another strange thing was that Alfretto (or is it Alfredo? Wait, no, that's a pasta sauce...) was wearing this absolutely hideous outfit during the ball scene, when everyone else was in matching gold and black costumes. I don't know what it was, but it looked like a football under-jersey with a big “1” on the back, black slacks, and sneakers? Violetta was wearing a classy cocktail dress, which was different but at least acceptable, but what the hell? It makes me think that something technical happened, like he couldn't get dressed in time or someone forgot his costume. I don't know, but it was terrible.

Basically, that's that. I don't plan on doing much of anything, tonight. Just going to write my paper, today, and see if I can hit the 5 page mark. Oh, and it's snowing. Not that that's news.

In Which I am in a rush and can't do a name for this entry

17.12.2008

So I'm sitting here not doing my work when I should, which is unsurprising. But, the fact is, like last night and the night before and the WEEK before, I couldn't get to sleep, so I shouldn't even try to get to sleep at a decent hour, tonight. I have plenty enough to do that I don't need to waste time lying in bed staring at ... blackness.

Speaking of which, I think I just realised that I don't remember the last time I saw sunlight. I mean, sure, there's "daylight" here... for a couple hours... every now and then. But it can hardly be called daylight. More like ... GREYLIGHT! Oh look at me make ... puns? That's not a pun. A RHYMING JOKE! That's beside the point. THE POINT IS. There is no light. And it is depressing. I'm kind of glad I'm not so far north that there are WEEKS without light.

Professor Vertkin gave us our paper topic, today. "Russia and the US - The Future." Yep. Broad. I'm going to at least form an outline, tonight. The good thing is that, after a little begging, he reduced the paper size from 10 pages 1.5 spaced to 10 pages double spaced. So, uhm, yeah. And he said it's not a research paper (clearly), so ... it's ... What we think. I guess I do a good enough job of rattling on, here, that I shouldn't worry about length, but I'm not sure I can write 10 pages of what I think is going to happen in US-Russian relations in the future. Maybe, "Right now they're as bad as they've been since the Cold War. They will improve with the coming presidency. Human civilisation is wiped out in the next few years anyway because of environmental abuse, so what's the point?" I saved over 20 pages of news articles from the BBC, Euronews, Time Magazine and Kommersant before leaving Bobrinskij, so maybe that'll shake up some ideas for LENGTH.

Augh. I feel really sluggish, today. Or perhaps, as I told Tatyana, I HAVE A LOT OF OATMEAL IN MY HEAD. I have to say, that is actually one one of the most useful phrases Annalisa Iosefovna taught us.

Tomorrow I have two exams, then the awards ... lunch ... for the RSL program. So, woohoo for that. RSL ending before everything else has made me tremendously lazy, though, and I feel like I don't have to/shouldn't do my work for my Human Rights course.

Alright, some jackass in the building put their TV/radio right next to their heater, so that's all I can hear coming through the pipes, and it's driving me up the wall. I think I preferred the screaming baby.

I feel like I had more to add... OH, RIGHT. IT'S FUCKING COLD. The temperature has been decreasing by one degree centigrade every day for the past five days. So right now it's at about -6. WHICH IS FUCKING COLD. However, I have to say, going by Celcius makes things seem all the colder, because I think -6 is something like the low 20's in Fahrenheit? Which, to me, doesn't seem THAT cold. I mean, cold, yes, but not FACE-RIPPING cold like it feels here. Of course, this all depends on the wind chill factor, and walking across that bridge is QUITE WINDY. QUITE WINDY INDEED. I made the mistake of NOT wearing my hat, today, because I feel like a fool wandering around with a big fur hat here since no one under the age of 50 seems to wear them, but at this point I CARE NOT about being perceived as a fool. I'd rather my ears not fall off.

In addition, it snows all the time, now. Which I guess makes sense, since it rained all the time, before, and now it's too cold to rain ... so ... it snows. Or something. Right, I am procrastinating, now. Time to work.

In Which the Banya is Visited

16.12.2008

Today was interesting .... Had my test for Conversation, and that didn't go too well. I think I got the same grade as I did last time, which was disappointing.

Other than that I sat around most all day and did nothing, as I had to wait until 4:15 to go to the BANYA. Which was an ... interesting experience. Basically, the set up is like this:

-Take a short shower, basically just rinsing the self off.
-Enter a sauna, which can range anywhere from 80-100-something Celcius. Ours was at a little over 80 most of the time.
-While in the sauna, beat self with a bundle of leaves and sticks... Or have someone else do it for you.
-Exit sauna, immediately dump a bucket of ice cold water on self (by means of pulling a string connected to said bucket, which hangs from above)
-Jump into a pool of cold water.
-Repeat process three times, then take a break, and start all over again.

Right, so, to me, that sounds like a fantastic way to get ill. But that's just me. Usually you do this in a public bath house, with all sorts of naked old men wandering around. We had a private complex, though, so it was just me plus the other guys in the program. Which was awkward for a short while, but then was fine. Even when we ... beat eachother ... with bundles of leaves. This sounds really strange, but oh well.

Originally I wanted to go with Russian guys, but Yura had no desire, claiming only peasants went to the banya, so, there you have it.

It's supposed to be relaxing, but my head just kind of hurts right now. Maybe if I can sleep, tonight, it was worth it, though.

That's really all... Two more RSL exams, then two more papers, and I'm finished. except, one of the papers... so, Vertkin is giving us a week to write a paper, like he did for the mid-term. This time, however, the paper is to be SIXTEEN pages. Well, ten pages 1.5 spaced, which is effectively 15-16 double spaced. I ... don't think I can physically manage that. Last time, I spent two days researching, four days analyzing said research and coming up with an effective outline, then ONE day writing the paper. By the end of writing, I was nearly DEAD, and the paper wasn't even the full length. He said he's giving us a broader topic this time, too, which makes it harder (especially since the last topic was pretty damned broad -- "what, in your opinion, was the turning point of the Cold War?")

One thing I thought about, today, however, upon receiving a letter from dear Sarah ... So. I think Anndal's returned from France, and Jen should be back from the UK. Sarah is leaving Italy tomorrow. Kate's Shangai program is over and she's returning to America I think next week. I ... Am still in Russia. And I'm still here for a little less than a MONTH. And while that may be soon, it sure doesn't FEEL soon... And at the same time it almost seems like I was never here? I don't know. It's difficult to explain I suppose. Returning to America seems terrifying and exciting all at the same time. But maybe I'm just thinking like that because I'm listening to dramatic Russian romance music, which INTENSIFIES THE EMOTIONS like a good wine. Or something. I don't know. I've lost my mind. Я СХОЖУ С УМА. That means, I AM WALKING DOWN FROM MY MIND. Anyway. I'm not sure where I was going with that. To sum, I suppose, all my friends have nearly finished their international excursions, and for some reason that makes me feel alone. Despite the fact that I've had little contact with any of them the entire semester

Alright, well, I'm finished for tonight.