2 April 2009

Just got home. This has been a busy few days. Tonight Brittany and I met with Sasha and Max for dinner. It was a really nice time. On the way, Brittany and I picked up a bottle of vodka and a box of truffles. They had pastries with potatoes, mushrooms, and chicken and Sasha made blini, which she served with caramel they had bought in Finland. They said that they are considering going to Belarus in the next few months, and perhaps I can go with them. That would be great, because while I have been saying for a while that I would like to go to Minsk…I really don’t know anything about the city, nor do I know anyone or anything there. It would be good to have friends with me. Also, I don’t really know much about American/Belorussian relations, and I think it would be much better to be there with Russians.
When Brittany and I went to the hermitage Monday, we found that they are closed Mondays, so we instead decided to tour some of the local churches. We went to St. Isaac’s Cathedral as well as the Church on Spilled Blood. After the church on spilled blood, we hopped on the metro to go to the Church of St. Sampson…but after getting all the way there we found the building covered in plastic, closed for renovations.
Tuesday was a busy day. I had a lot of administrative work to do with the university, which meant unfortunately Brittany had to tag along and sit while I filled out paperwork. First we went to the administrative office for the dorms, because I still had yet to pay my rent for the upcoming month. The cashier has apparently been sick, and it seems that there is only one and when she is not available no business can take place. Well, it turned out she was still sick, so the woman told me to go to the main administrative building. So Brittany and I had a quick lunch at the café next to the dorm, and then hopped on a bus back to the university. We found the building, and when we went in there was a girl sitting waiting. She told me the office was locked, and we sat down. She heard us speaking English, and joined in our conversation. She was Norwegian, and kept complaining to us about the inefficiency of Russian bureaucracy. The room we were sitting in had a cashier, and as we sat listening to the girl complain I thought about how every Scandinavian I’ve met at the university has been incredibly timid, and I got up and walked over to the cashier and asked if I could pay my rent through her. She said if I had the forms already from the dorm, why not. I did, and I paid. I think if I had just listened to the Norwegian girl, we would have been sitting there a long time. No wonder she’s having problems.
After paying my rent, I had to go take care of my visa renewal. We went to the visa office, and I filled out the application for my new multi-entry visa (twice, of course because they have a way of finding mistakes on everyone’s paperwork). When I turned everything in, the woman told me that she couldn’t accept my documents, because when I photocopied them I combined multiple documents (e.g. passport, migration card and visa registration). So, we had to run to the next building where I made new photocopies of every one of my documents on a separate sheet of paper in duplicates. When I came back and waited in line again, she approved everything (and half the documents she only needed to see, didn’t even have to collect) and told me I could pick up my passport in a week. She said the visa itself wouldn’t arrive until the end of May, however. I told her I needed it in a few weeks because I had plans to travel abroad, and she said I could present my case downstairs Thursday and request an expedited visa (the woman in the office at the building where I study said all I had to do in order to receive an expedited visa was make the request and pay an additional fee…).
After we finished with the university, it was too late to go to any museums, so Brittany and I went souvenir shopping. We went to the market next to the Church on Spilled Blood (the booths across from St. Isaac’s aren’t there…perhaps they are only open during the summer). Beforehand, I told Brittany to only speak English away from the booths (and let me do the talking in Russian with any merchants), and that we would walk by each booth first where she could decide what she liked, and we would come back to haggle and buy later. She found something she liked at one of the booths, and we came up with a number of what it should be worth (it was marked 950 rubles, and our aim was 600-650). I know I can’t speak like a native yet, but I think I spend enough time with other foreigners that I was able to present an accent that didn’t sound just American, but rather I tried to put in different sounds I hear from other students in the university, thereby making it difficult for the woman to place me. We went back and forth looking at different items, and finally when she came to the one we had already decided on, Brittany would lean into my ear and whisper to me, and I would speak to the woman. She kept repeating things to me and Brittany, and every now and then would repeat her explanations and say words here and there in other languages. When she tried to start speaking to Brittany in English (speaking English more or less guarantees higher prices), I interrupted her in Russian and said “She doesn’t understand anything you’re saying to her,” to which she responded “oh what language does she speak? We can do this in English, Russian, Chinese…” and thinking quickly I said “She’s from Hungary.” I learned last week that Hungarian is one of if not the hardest language in Europe to learn. The woman said she didn’t know any Hungarian, so she would let me speak with her. I told her to give us a minute, and we whispered back and forth. Finally I told the woman that Brittany had agreed, and I talked her down to 630 rubles. I even got her to take some plastic and cushion Brittany’s souvenir inside a box.
After that we decided we would come back to buy anything else, but I wanted to have some fun. When I was in the city two years ago, I made a game out of arguing with merchants just to practice my Russian, and I was in the mood for it. We went to two more booths, and I’m not sure which I enjoyed more. At the first, I found a metal flask with “Stainless Steel 5oz” printed on the bottom. Now, aside from the English print, I know that the United States is the only country in the world that uses ounces, so right from the start I know that he’s not selling me Russian-made products. For fun, I asked him what the text meant. He said that stainless steel meant that it’s easily cared for and durable, and then went on to tell me that 5oz refers to the make of the metal. He said that similar to how gold purity is measured in karats, steel purity is measured in ounces, and that five ounces meant that it was a very strong material, and even asked me to test the durability by squeezing different spots. I told him it looked like it was great quality, but that I would have to come back tomorrow to purchase it.
I still wanted one more, so we walked around and happened upon a booth selling nesting dolls that had one with Barack Obama, spelled “O’Bama” as if he were an Irishman. I asked the woman what was inside, and she said “American presidents, of course,” and proceeded to open the dolls to show me each one. In this order, the dolls went Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Lyndon Johnson, and JFK. I asked her why these presidents, and her answer was that “these are the most famous presidents in American history.” I laughed and asked her if she was sure about that, and asked her if she knew anything about Jimmy Carter. She told me that while I might not be familiar with American history, Carter is considered one of the most famous and loved presidents in the country’s history. I didn’t know what to do with that, so I asked her about Lyndon Johnson. She said that back in the USSR, Johnson was the first view of America for many soviets, and that he could be considered the most well known and well liked American president by the Russian people. That’s news to me, considering that we were on opposite sides of the Vietnam War during his presidency. I asked her what happened to the rest of the presidents, such as Nixon, Reagan, and the Bushes. Her response was “do you want the Bushes? Let me find you another one that has them.” I told her I didn’t really need them, and she said that nesting dolls aren’t made by a machine; someone has to sit down and paint them by hand, so the artist must have had his reasons for choosing these presidents. I certainly hope so…
Later that night we met Sasha and Max for dinner. The restaurant Sasha chose is aimed at foreigners looking to experience Russian food (a perfect choice I suppose). I can add a new food to the strange things I’ve eaten here: Beef Jell-O. They boil bones for about eight hours until they have a jelly like consistency, and then add spices and meat and let it cool. Unlike the sweet dessert we have in the United States, this has a very salty, fatty taste and while I understand it is a delicacy prepared for holidays…I think once was enough for me. Brittany wouldn’t try it.
Yesterday Brittany and I finally made it to the hermitage. We spent several hours there, and then decided to head to the Smolny Cathedral. It was nice out and we had heavy traffic on the bus, so we decided to walk about a large part of the way, once we were able to get off the bus. It took us almost two hours to get there. When we finally got to the church, there was a sign on the front door that said that they were on a break, and another that said that the church was closed on Wednesdays. I didn’t think churches took days off…
That night Brittany wanted to try the Russian view of American food, so we went to McDonalds. I think that the food tastes better here than in the US. I’m sure they use the same recipes, but it doesn’t taste quite as greasy or salty. Also, they have a much shorter menu, with nothing larger than a “royale” (quarter pounder). Following dinner, we had a craving for something sweet so we went to a Кофе Хаус (the Petersburg version of Starbucks) and bought a slice of chocolate truffle cake. It was really, really good.
Today Brittany and I had plans to go to Yusopov’s Palace and the section of the Russian Museum focused on the Tsars on Nevskii, but it didn’t quite work out. When I looked at the map, I saw Yusopov’s palace, and without thinking twice we set off. Because it was a nice day, we walked almost the entire way. When we finally got there, we saw dozens of students walking around with notebooks. Next to the door was a sign stating that it was a University for the study of Economics, Social Studies, and a few other fields. The guard inside asked us our business, and when I asked him about the museum he took my map and showed us that there were two locations marked “Yusopov’s Palace,” and that we wanted the other one. Well, we have very little time if we were going to make it there and then back to the university to plead for my expedited visa. We made it there surprisingly quickly, but it was already 3pm (the visa office is only open 3-5) and the museum was only open until five. So, we decided to just go all the way back to the university. We were both upset that we weren’t able to see anything today, but at least we were able to walk around the city on the first sunny day all week.
At the university, I was instructed to write a formal statement requesting expedition of my visa. I think it isn’t just a separate option where you pay more and they speed things up, but rather everyone goes through the same process, and you can make a formal request to have your paperwork expedited. I wrote a letter saying that I had already made arrangements with a student group to travel to Poland at the end of April, and that as a temporary student in the country it would be impossible for me to expand my study of Slavic culture if I had to wait until May 29th to receive a multi-entry visa. I added a few more reasons why I needed the visa (I had to write two letters; the woman inside the office told me that my first wasn’t strong enough) and submitted it. She said I can call on Monday, and they will let me know whether or not my request has been approved. From her response to my letter, it seems like I have a pretty good shot at getting the visa. I hope so, because I would really like to go to Poland- it seems to be a great opportunity that likely won’t present itself again.
Following more business in the university, Brittany and I returned to Nevskii, where she bought some more things to bring back to the United States, and we hopped on a subway to go meet Sasha and Max.
Tomorrow we are either going to Pushkin to tour the Palace/museum located there or going to local museums, depending on how the timing looks like it will work out. We bought tickets to the Mikhailovskii Theatre for tomorrow night to see the ballet of Romeo and Juliet, so if it looks like we won’t be able to get back in time we are going to just stay in the city…