Конец

Well, this is it. My semester in Russia has come to an end. It had its ups and downs but all in all it was a great experience and I'm really glad I was able to do it. I'm not totally sad yet because I still feel like I'm going to wake up tomorrow and still be here, even though I know I won't. To conclude:

Things I will miss:

• Although these aren't in a particular order for the most part, I will miss my host family the most.
   
  
  
  
  
• The friends that I have made here
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The beauty of the city
  
  
  
• An endless amount of things to do. Museums, bars, cafes, parks, theaters, etc.
• Knowing that there will be borscht on the menu at virtually every restaurant
  
  
  
• Same for blini
  
  
  
• The convenience of the metro
• Being around people that share my interest in Russian culture in general

Things I have learned/gained from this experience:

• Above all, I have gained a lot of independence.
• My language skills have improved. I'm not sure how drastically, but I'm sure they have.
• I have a better understanding of Russian (and Ukrainian) people, and ~The Russian Soul~
• I ended up memorizing several poems and songs.
• Traveling alone is no longer (completely) terrifying!

Things of mine that Russia destroyed:

• 2 pairs of boots
• A hat
• My phone (okay... the battery just died but, still)

and finally,

Things I am looking forward to about coming home:

• My parents & grandma who have all thankfully been heart attack-free while I was on the other side of the world
• Being able to Skype Jake and then actually see him in person after so long!
• Seeing my wonderful Wooster and Cleveland friends again
• Being on a liberal arts campus
• CVS, Target, pretty much any place where you can buy everything you need at once!
• American hospitals
• Getting a haircut
• Buying new boots that I desperately need
• I can't believe I didn't think of this until i got to the Frankfurt airport and saw a water fountain for the first time in months-- All the free water I want!!! Oh how I've missed this!

Two-ish Weeks in Links and Pictures

My time here is winding down, and I've actually done a lot the past few weeks! To note some of the more substantial things:

• I visited the Hermitage again with some friends.
• We went on a tour of the Baltika Brewery.
• We also went on a tour of Yusopov Palace which was so beautiful! This was also where Rasputin was murdered.
• I went to my first Anticafe and loved it.
• CIEE celebrated Thanksgiving!
• I saw Swan Lake at the Mikhailovsky.
• We had a tour of the Russian Museum.
• I went to a conversation group with Russians that are learning English.

I didn't take photos of some of these things (either they weren't allowed or you had to pay), but here's my attempt to document the past two-ish weeks in pictures. Some of them are stolen from my friend Lauren, and the 3 of the Yusopov Palace are from google haha. Enjoy!

Hermitage

Hermitage

Baltika Brewery

The Neva at night

The Neva at night

Yusopov Palace

Yusopov Palace

Yusopov Palace (The Rasputin manikin was terrifying)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

The Mikhailovsky

Smolniy on a snowy morning

Monica/Monya/Monica Lewinsky/сосиска/баклажан/Mona Lisa

The Russian Museum

Superstitions

I suggest reading this short post along with this song. I also suggest dancing.

 

Russians are all about superstitions, especially the older people. Here's a collection of all the superstitions I know of that I can remember at the moment:

• If you whistle indoors, you will "whistle your money away."
• Women shouldn't sit on the ground, or else their ovaries will freeze.
• If someone sneezes while you say something, that means it's true.
• You shouldn't put your purse on the ground, or else you'll lose money.
• If you leave your apartment and realize you forgot something, you have to look in the mirror before you leave again once you go back for it.
• If you're talking about someone and they walk into the room at that moment, they will live to be 100 years old.
• If you are the first of a group to notice snow falling, you should make a wish.
• If you receive a ticket on the bus/trolley and the first 3 digits have the same sum as the last 3, you should eat it and you will have good luck (note- I've had a few "lucky" tickets, but decided to keep them rather than eating them).
• If you have the hiccups, it means someone is thinking of you.

I know there are plenty more, but these are most of the superstitions I've come across since being here.

Visiting the Homeland

One thing I've come to understand much more now that I'm living in Russia is my family. Growing up, my family wasn't like my friends' families. Our celebrations were a little different, the food was different, the way we talked was different (I called badminton "bad-meen-ton for years before realizing that's the Russian pronunciation).

And because I didn't quite understand why we were so different, I kind of resented it growing up. There were a lot of times when I wished we were more "normal" or did things differently.

In fact, that's part of the reason I took such an interest in Russian at school. Once I began to learn how to read and write in Cyrillic, progressively speak better Russian, and memorize poems and watch classic films that my family loved, I began to see a little more into their world.

Living in Russia myself, I can totally see my parents easily blending in here. Their mannerisms are more similar to that of a local than mine, although my metro face has finally become more innate. But my family isn't from Russia, really. Therefore, as much as I would have loved to visit Prague, Budapest, Berlin, or some other beautiful city for travel week, I figured that this would be the perfect time to visit our homeland: Odessa, Ukraine.

I didn't know much about the city before visiting. I knew about the legendary Potemkin Steps, and that it has supposedly gotten much better since my parents left in 1978.

What I found was that it is a very charming city. It isn't the tidiest city, I guess. There were lots of cracks and rubble in the sidewalks, and graffiti everywhere. But the architecture is beautiful and very similar to that of St. Petersburg. There are more famous monuments and landmarks than I knew of. The beaches were beautiful. The sun was shining and the weather was warmer than in Russia. And the people, although I didn't interact with many, appear to be more laid-back than Pitertsy.

I stayed with my Mom's long-time friend and her husband. It was a nice visit, granted it would have been a little better if I had someone my age to hang out with too. Regardless, Odessa is beautiful and I hope to go back someday.

Outside of the apartment in which my dad grew up

The двор of the apartment that my mom lived in. One of the entrances is now some kind of cell phone store.

Side view of the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theatre

Колоннада у Дворца Воронцова

Kiev and Moscow

Hey everyone! It's been a while! For about two weeks I was in Kiev, Moscow, and Odessa. The first two were with the whole group of us CIEE students, and Odessa was a personal trip, so I'll blog about that separately.

Kiev:

We flew to Kiev in two groups of about 50 students. As usual, we had a bus tour of the city with several stops. Kiev is a lovely city with beautiful architecture, like Petersburg. Unlike St. Pete, however, the weather was nicer, the sun shone more, and the people were more laid-back. It was a nice change of pace.

Ukrainian money is so colorful!

An example of the architecture

Софийский собор (Saint Sofia Cathedral), built in the first half of the 11th century. Some parts were preserved, which I thought was really cool. 

We also went to the Киeво-Печерская лавра, or the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. As part of this tour, we got to walk through the catacombs ourselves. It was a strange experience. As usual, no photographs were allowed. Women had to have their hair covered by scarves (not uncommon), and we were also given long aprons to wrap around our waists if we were wearing pants. The halls of the catacombs were dark and narrow, so we walked single-file holding candle sticks through the catacombs lined with buried saints (some of which had their hands exposed!!!) It was kind of creepy, not to mention claustrophobic and some people were understandably spooked.

Before entering the lavra

 We also went to a museum of the Great Patriotic War (WWII). Unsurprisingly, it left us feeling somber, but the war was an extremely important part of Russian and Ukrainian history, and the museum commemorates this period beautifully.

The photos are what struck me the most. Thousands of them lined the walls; pictures of people who may or may not still be alive, most of which certainly aren't. It occurred to me that there's a chance someone I could be related to may be in one of these pictures and I will never know.

Moscow:

After only two days in Kiev, we took a night train to Moscow. The night train was fun, but left us feeling a little gross the next day. Unfortunately for us, we had a 4 hour bus tour without getting much of a chance to freshen up, so my first day in Moscow was not exactly the most pleasant.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Saint Basil's Cathedral

Impromptu human pyramid in the Red Square

I didn't take a ton of pictures in Moscow partly because I don't really like taking pictures, and partly because they weren't allowed in a lot of places.

Some other things we did there:

• I saw Lenin's mausoleum. Let me describe that process: Firstly, you must check your bags, cameras, and phones, and go through a metal detector. You then walk past the graves of many men that were important in the Soviet Union, including Stalin. You then walk into the mausoleum, which is very dark and at every corner you turn there is a security guard who hushes you and orders you to take your hands out of your pockets. Finally, you end up in a brightly lit room with a big glass case in the center and lights shining on it. You walk around it and stare at Lenin's cold, dead body and contemplate weather it's really him or a Maddame Tussauds wax sculpture. Then you leave.
• We got a tour of the Kremlin. My favorite part was the museum tour because not only do they have all the beautiful faberge eggs and china and art, but the actual carriages and thrones and clothing of the monarchs!
• Some friends and I went into the State Historical Museum, also in the Red Square. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to go through the whole thing.

And there you have it! Obviously, 2 or 3 days isn't enough time to spend anywhere in order to get a full experience, but I can definitely say that I enjoyed Kiev more than Moscow. The Red Square was kind of surreal and I'm glad to have visited it, but Moscow is a huge city and not as cultural or pretty as St. Pete or Kiev. Nevertheless, I'm glad to have visited such historic cities.