2 July 2009

The last day was a busy one. Natasha had told me yesterday that she wanted to see me to say goodbye today, so I invited her to go with me to the Museum of the Blockade. I had wanted to see it since my first day in St. Petersburg (it’s not too far from the airport), so I got up early and met her at the metro. She said it was poor planning, seeing such a depressing monument and museum on my last day in the city when I’m saying goodbye to all my friends. Maybe she was right, but I have wanted to see it for a long time. It was very well presented, and I wasn’t disappointed.

After the museum, we took the metro to the stop near my university because she was meeting with her “Frenchman” for her next language lesson, and I had to go pick up my corrected certificate. As the secretaries were on their lunch-break and she still had time before her meeting, we stopped in a Теремок for блины and квас, as I was told was mandatory for my last day in Russia. Mine were delicious, but I think Natasha got food poisoning.

When I went into the university, my certificate still hadn’t been signed. I told the secretary that I didn’t have time to come back, and she told me to go to the main building myself for the signature and stamp. I walked over there, and when I went to the secretary for the main dean, she looked annoyed to see me (I suppose because it was the third time my paperwork came across her desk). I told her I absolutely needed it signed today because I was leaving tomorrow, and she said “Ok. Go sit in the hallway.” I didn’t really understand why, but I did. I sat down facing the office, and I saw her get up from her desk, walk to the other side of the room until she was no longer visible from the hallway, and then continued out to me and handed me a signed paper. I glanced inside and saw there was an empty desk just out of view. What an honorable system. As far as I know, the dean magically appeared in the office and signed my certificate, and she just moves really fast. When I went to the next room for the stamp, the woman didn’t even ask me questions, she just took a look at the signature and pulled out a box of stamps.

After the university, I met up with Roma and his girlfriend Alla. I told him I wanted to see him before he left, and he invited me to go to the movies with them. I told him I’m completely out of rubles, and he offered to buy me a ticket. We saw Ice Age 3 in 3D. It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t great. It was a cross somewhere between Shrek and The Land Before Time.

After the movie, I spoke to Kristina, who I unfortunately didn’t have a chance to meet with before I left. I arranged for her to meet with Natasha after I leave. It was great conversational practice for me so I’m sure it will be helpful for Kristina, and I know Natasha wants to find another American. I then went home for dinner, and then went down to the Park of Victory for one last time to walk around. I had a chance to speak with Sveta, and she told me that her phone has a pedometer, and that yesterday when we met up and walked around the city we walked over seventeen kilometers (about ten and a half miles).

I spoke to Vova, and he told me that while he’s not sure if he’ll be around tomorrow unfortunately (also Roma’s car is going in for service and Max is working), Vanya can take me to the airport. I spoke to Vanya, and he’s picking me up tomorrow and taking me over. Hopefully Vova will come along, but he won’t know in advance. It will be a nice cycle- Vova was the first person I saw when I arrived, and provided he can make it, he will be the last person I see.

1 July 2009

For some reason or another my modem has stopped working, and when I went to the store where I bought it they assured me it was fine. I only have two more days, so I’m not going to bother arguing. If it starts working again, great…otherwise I’ll post whatever blogs I have left when I get home Friday.

This has pretty much been a full week of goodbyes. I had a short meeting with Natasha the day before yesterday, and yesterday I met with my friend Sveta. They both gave me birthday presents. Natasha gave me a glass mug with St. Isaac’s Cathedral on it (my favorite building in St. Petersburg), and Sveta gave me an apron made in Хохлома style, according to her so I have something appropriate to wear when I cook Russian soups.

They weren’t the only ones offering me birthday presents, however; while I was waiting for Sveta at the metro, a woman came up to me and asked me if I needed to relax. I thought I misunderstood, and she repeated herself. I told her no, and she walked over to some other guy across the square, and the two walked away holding hands with her leading the way. Either she was just a very friendly Petersburgian concerned that I was working too hard, or it was my first encounter with a prostitute.

Sveta took me on what I think was a very good farewell tour of the city. We passed all the major landmarks in center city- St. Isaac’s, The Kazan Cathedral, The Bronze Horseman, the parliament building, the courthouse, several of the historical bridges, the English Embankment, past the Church ‘Savior on Spilled Blood’, all the way down Nevskii, and through Mars’ Field. It was a nice ‘goodbye’ to the city.

Last night I was supposed to meet up with Vova, but he had to cancel…so we rescheduled to tonight…and he had to cancel again…so we are meeting hopefully sometime tomorrow. He is supposed to be calling me later tonight to figure something out. I spoke to Roma, and he invited me out with his girlfriend tomorrow evening. I really want a chance to say goodbye to both of them, so I hope it works out. Vova was the first person I saw when I got to Russia, and Roma was the first friend I made here (technically I met Vova before I left), so I think its fitting that they’ll be among the last people I see before I leave. I was actually hoping to be able to get a ride from Roma to the airport on Friday, but he said his car is going in for service. When Vova calls later I am going to ask him, and if he can’t, I will try Max. If Max has to work…then I’ll take Kristina up on her offer to help me, and we’ll take public transportation.

I went to the university yesterday to pick up my certificate of completion for my studies. They gave me a formal certificate along with a supplemental description showing my grades and course-load, one copy in Russian and one in English. The copy in English was covered in spelling and grammatical mistakes, and as it’s my only real formal acknowledgement of my studies aside from my TORFL certificate, I asked the secretary if there was any way to fix it. She didn’t believe me that there were mistakes, and when the first one I pointed out was “Jule” (July) she told me I was wrong and pulled out a calendar. I told her I know my own native language, and when she found the correct spelling in her calendar she apologized and asked me to show her the rest of the mistakes. I took out a pen and more or less rewrote the entire document. When I finished, she went to go tell Kovalenko (the deputy dean) about it, and he came out to see me. In English/Russian (as he always speaks with students, regardless of where they are from) he congratulated me on being so vigilant and correcting their mistakes, and shook my hand. I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic. He said I had to come back the next day so the head dean could sign it. When I came back today, I took one look at the paper and saw at the top my name was written “David Schvartz”. Fortunately, there was a different secretary there… and she told me to come back tomorrow for the corrected paperwork.

As Vova cancelled on me, I had nothing to do this evening (I have plans later, but I had a lot of time in-between) so I decided to pack. Originally I planned on waiting until tomorrow night, but as Brittany told me- if I get it done in advance I can spend more time with my friends before I leave.

I’m surprised at how little I have. I expected the pack-job to be a lot more difficult, but after an hour I have everything packed except my clothes for the next two days and whatever I’m carrying onboard in my backpack. I packed all my clothing and souvenirs in my black trunk-bag, and I packed my shoes and books in my duffle. Even the big trunk bag only weighs about twenty kilograms, which is perfect as I am allowed two twenty-three kilogram bags (around fifty pounds each). I’m a little worried about my more fragile things, because I realize that while my trunk bag has a lot of advantages over a suitcase, it offers no protection at all. For that reason, I put a minimum of three layers of protection around anything that could even possibly break. I think I used every single article of clothing as packing material. When I get home it’s going to be like a scavenger hunt finding souvenirs hidden inside all my clothes.

There were still some things I wanted to see before I left, but three more than the others. There is a museum of the democratic history of Russia down the street, and when I finally went there yesterday, the guard told me you don’t just buy tickets…but you have to call inside and register and wait for permission. I didn’t want to spend all day there, so I just left. There is also a museum on the blockade down near the airport, and maybe I will go tomorrow morning. The last museum is a giant ship in the river that Vova and Vanya showed me one of my first nights in the city, and Vova and I are hopefully going there tomorrow to see the inside.

---a few hours later

I went to the store and they were able to fix my internet. More importantly, when I checked my email after getting home I had my results from the exam in Kyiv. I passed the first part of the exam!