Under the Knife

WARNING! GRAFIC CONTENT. 

It all started about three weeks ago on a very rainy day.  That particular day started out nice with the sun shining but turned sour as I was heading home from school.  It began pouring, pouring doesn’t quite describe it; a storm had erupted.  I was wearing sandals and was having trouble keeping them on as it down-poured.  I shouldn’t have been surprised when I noticed a blister on the bottom of my foot, but I was surprised by the size of it.  A week went by and the blister only became larger since it was on the bottom of my foot and I do quite a bit of walking here.  After a few days it was literally unbearable to walk on but I didn’t want to stop living life just because I had a blister.  I thought the pain was only due to the fact that it was on the bottom of my foot and not anything more.  On Wednesday I complained that my ankle was hurting and everyone told me that it was probably because I was limping and only walking on one side of my foot.  That made sense so again I sucked up the pain and kept going.  The next day I literally could not take the pain anymore and decided to pop the blister.  It didn’t exactly change anything but I figured it would take a day for it to feel normal.  Wrong.  The next day I woke up in even more pain and could literally not feel my leg.  I called my parents and when my dad asked if there were red lines going up my legs I noticed that there were.  He said that was a sign of an infection and I should go to the doctor.  After stumbling my way to school our program intern Grace took me the international hospital.  Since most things seem to take longer in Russia I expected to be there all day.  However, I didn’t even get to sit down before the nurse took me to see the doctor.  First the doctor asked me some questions, all in Russian, I will now never forget the word for blister or infection.  Then he looked at my foot.  After about a seconds glance he said he would need to perform an operation.  His exact words were (in Russian) “We need to cut the foot”.  So there I am in his office balling my eyes out because I think he is going to cut off my foot.  As the nurse is taking me to the operation room she told me she had it done once and it wasn’t so bad.  I looked at her and noticed she still had both her feet and immediately felt relieved.  Now I wont go into too many details but for the record they do not numb your foot in Russia before they cut into it.  As painful as that was I immediately felt the infection flowing out of my leg.  It was the weirdest feeling but a good one.  Despite this, I cried and the doctor kept asking me why I was crying.  I wanted to say “hmm I don’t know, maybe because someone is cutting my foot open with a knife?”  He kept talking to me to distract me from the pain but I kept having to ask him to repeat what he was saying since listening to someone speak Russian and responding isn’t the easiest to do while you’re crying.  After the surgery I still couldn’t really walk and ended up taking a taxi home.  I got a fever a little later because of the medicine but despite all that I was relived to know I was on the path to recovery.  I never wanted to say I had been to Russian hospital, let alone have surgery in Russia, but today I am thankful that my blood infection is gone and I can enjoy my last days in Russia.  Moral of the story: be attentive to your blisters so that they don’t get infected! 

When the American Girl goes to the Dacha.

First, what is a Dacha? The word “дача” translated into English means “summer house”.  While it is true that Russians often visit their dachas in the summertime, I find the English translation is misleading.  Dachas are generally small houses in the countryside on a small plot of land where Russians grow vegetables, fruits, herbs and sometimes keep small animals. However, my friend Polina has a very unique dacha.  Some might even call it a dacha village since there are a about 5 houses. 

I arrived to the dacha around midnight Friday night but the white nights made it feel like it was only 7 or 8pm.  Once we arrived we set out stuff down in the main house and immediately were told to go to the bonfire.  Friday was summer solstice and in Russia there are quite a few traditions that must be done.  First, jumping over the fire.  While a couple people played the drums everyone took turns jumping over the fire.  I sat this one out since I had no confidence I could actually jump high enough and make it out alive.  Second, girls make верноки which are flower weaths you wear on your head.  After silently making a wish each girl is to place her wreath and a small candle in the river.  Then (still in silence) you watch the wreaths float down the river (or sink). The last wreath that sinks the closest to where they were originally placed is the first girl to get married.  So, if your wreath floats the farthest away you are the last to get married. 

Most dachas also have a banya.  Бани are kind of like saunas but a dry heat.  There are different levels benches are placed at and the higher up you go the hotter it gets.  You stay in the banya for as long as you can take then rinse off with cold water before going back in.  Also, for who knows what reason you hit yourself with dried birch branches.  The banya is loved by most all Russians and is a common practice when celebrating something.  According to the Russians I “banya-ed” well for an American. 

The next started off with blini (similar to crepes) and tea.  It may be over 30 degrees C but you can never have enough tea. The blini were also very good since the ingredients were all very fresh.  After some breakfast we headed out for a swim.  The widest part of the river was a little farther than where we went the night before so we drove instead of walking.  I have no idea how Russians drive their day-to-day cars on these country roads but they did.  Swimming in the river was so refreshing and I probably could have stayed in the water all day (if nothing else to avoid the mosquitoes).  I ended up going swimming twice that day and I think all the Russians were surprised how long I could stay in the water.

After some tanning, resting and pizza eating it was time to go “fishing”.  I don’t know about you but when someone tells me we are going fishing I picture hold a pole and waiting for a fish to bite.  WRONG.  Dacha fishing means guys holding nets held between two poles and everyone else running downstream towards the nets whacking the water with wooden poles.  If this is also a new concept to you, the idea is to scare/wake up the fish and lead them into the nets.  We caught one big fish and the rest they identified as мелочь (the Russian word for coins/change) aka tiny, useless fish.  After hours of fishing and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes I was exhausted. 

Despite my exhaustion the night was just beginning.  Polina’s birthday was Sunday so Saturday was the birthday feast and party.  Earlier in the day we cut up vegetable, potatoes and meat.  Then we cooked all the ingredients on a grill covered in cabbage leaves.  The dinner consisted of about 6 different Russian salads, the meat vegetable combo, wine, and 30 hungry teenagers.  It didn’t take long for all the food to disappear.  After the feast we took turns sweating in the banya.  While we sweated Polina’s mother and babushka cut and set out all the pirogi (Russian pie) they spent all day preparing.  There were two kinds of pie; творог (a special Russian sweet cheese) and berry.  Both were delicious.  At around 3 or 4 in the morning (I have a hard time keeping track of time in the summer nights here) I could no longer stand I was so tired.  All the Russians kept telling me I had to stay awake in order to go swimming but I insisted they at least let me take a quick nap.  Lets just say my nap turned into sleep since I didn’t wake up until about 9 only to find people were still awake from the previous night.  Some of us just need our sleep what can I say. 

Nothing all to exciting happened on Sunday, mostly sleeping and relaxing.  Myself and another girl were the last to leave so we enjoyed teatime with Polina and her family in the evening before taking a walk to the old church.  The abandoned church was one of the most beautiful sights I have seen in Russia.  All the green surrounding the church made the red brick look like wet clay in the light.  I’m afraid my pictures don’t quite do it justice.  Our ride (Polina’s aunt and uncle) picked us up from the church since we were cutting it close to making it back to Piter before the metro closed.  I was sure I wasn’t going to make the metro since it took us around 3 hours to get there on Friday and it was was already 10:30.  Going 120 mph and almost throwing up in the nicest car I have ever been in I made it back before the metro closed (I have no idea how).

My first experience at a dacha was a great one but I must admit I was exhausted! Not to mention I came home with more bug bites than I think anyone has ever seen.  

Polska

I have done a lot of traveling compared to some people but until now I had never traveled completely alone.  It’s a frightening concept traveling alone to a country where you don’t speak the language, don’t know the culture, don’t have a working phone, don’t know the people, but perhaps that is what makes it all the more exciting.  I have always been interested in studying the Holocaust and thus began my trip to Poland. 

At 21:40 I took my seat on an overnight bus to Riga (Latvia).  After arriving a little after 06:30 I waited for my next bus in the bus terminal.  The next bus came and after about four hours I was in Lithuania.  Myself and two guys about my age were left dropped off at a bus stop in the middle of a parking lot and told our next bus would pick us up from there.  Confused by my surroundings I asked where the two other guys were going just to make sure I was at the right place.  Luckily, they were on my same bus but going to Berlin.  Abandoned in this parking lot together we soon became friends.  They were from Estonia and were about to embark on a month long trip around Europe playing street music.  When I asked why they were doing this Mikael said he had just finished his military requirement a week ago and wanted freedom.  Kasper said he didn’t really understand the thrill of traveling and wanted to see if this trip would change his mind.  They played me some Estonian songs and I helped them with the song Hey Jude (since according to them you have to play if you want to make any money).  They were two of the nicest people I have ever met and even gave me the contact information for a girl who lived in Warsaw that I could stay with or contact if I had any trouble.  I also gave them a quarter which was their first "profit" and said they would keep it forever.  My three hours stuck in a parking lot ended up one of the highlights on my trip.

After a long bus ride through the polish countryside I arrived in Warsaw.  The darkness of the night, which I had forgotten about living in Saint Petersburg, scared me a little since I didn’t know the city.  Not only that but all the sky scrappers made me a feel small and disoriented.  I put on my brave face and took out my map and found my hostel.  I couldn’t find the door to the hostel but luckily a woman working at the bar nearby saw I was confused and pointed it out to me.  After checking in I sent a quick message to my mom saying I had arrived and went to sleep.  The next morning I was starving so I found the nearest ATM then bought a traditional polish pastry.  After wandering around a bit I found a park/museum where there were a bunch of old planes from WWI and WWII.  I walked a little further and found the Chopin museum.  Luckily, Tuesdays were free museum days in Warsaw so I got in for free.  The museum was really well done and I would recommend it to anyone who visits Warsaw.  I spend the afternoon in the old town and then proceeded to go to all (or almost all) of the WWII monuments and memorials.  Near old town I went to an outdoor photography exhibit that featured recovered color photographs from the ghettos during the holocaust.  After an exhausting walk (or maybe hike is a better word) I went to a restaurant/café which had pho.  I hadn’t had pho in so long so I was extremely excited.  It was the first time I had ate dinner by myself (without my computer/homework) and was (laugh if you must) a very proud moment.  Proceeding my victory dinner I went and bought my train ticket to Krakow. 

I left for Krakow around 6am (treated myself to Starbucks on the way) on the fast train.  The train ride was so pretty and relaxing (about a 4 hour train ride).  Once in Krakow I took a smaller (2 hour journey) to Oswiecim.  You might be wondering what is in Oswiecim? Oswiecim is the original name of the city that Hitler later changed to Auschwitz.  Maybe an odd dream, but I have always wanted to go to Auschwitz.  After a long journey, there I was standing before the sign “Arbeit macht frei” (“Work will make you free”).  There are two parts to the Auschwitz museum; Auschwitz I, which was the first camp at Auschwitz, and Auschwitz II which was built later when there were too many people to only have Auschwitz I.  I could write pages on my visit to Auschwitz but instead I will focus on three things….

You may have been to the Holocaust museum in Washington D.C. and seen the shoes from all the people imprisoned who died.  There is a similar exhibit in one of the barracks at Auschwitz I that has houses physical property of the prisoners.  One of these “physical evidences” is a huge glass case (about the size of a large classroom) filled with hair the Nazis cut off before tear-gassing them.  When I saw this all I could think was how they (the Nazis) kept what was already dead and killed what was living.  I was disgusted by this thought and the people who committed the crime. 

Also at Auschwitz I is one of the crematoriums.  While this crematorium is smaller than others built later it was still fairly large.  I walked in to find I was the only one in the dark crematorium.  There is a sign when you first enter that says, “You are entering a space where thousands of people were killed” and asks you to be silent in honor of them.  The sign alone made me cringe but my heart dropped when I turned around and saw the burners that disposed of the already dead bodies.  Even being there I couldn’t imagine people standing there thinking they were getting a shower only to die and then have the evidence be burned away.  I would never wish anything so cruel on anyone.

Auschwitz II is mostly made up of barracks and crematoriums.  Auschwitz II mostly housed women and children who were put to work to die.  When people got off the train at Auschwitz II they were divided into two groups; those fit to work and those who were not.  The ones categorized as unable to work were immediately sent on the  “walk of death” where they went straight to the crematorium.  I walked this path and couldn’t imagine walking on the rocks and bad roads in bad or no shoes, hungry and scared.  At the end of the path are the two closest crematoriums.  They are mostly destroyed since the Nazis tried to destroy the evidence at the end of the war but you could still tell they were over twice the size as the one at Auschwitz I.

After touring both camps I decided it was time to head back to Warsaw.  I made it back to Krakow around 7:30pm but the next train I could get back to Warsaw wasn’t until 11:30pm.  There was a mall next to the train station so I spent quite a few hours there utilizing the wifi.  My train going back to Warsaw broke down and I had a moment of panic since my bus back to Warsaw was early in the morning.  At first I freaked out but in the end realized it was out of my control and just had to stay calm.  I finally arrived back to Warsaw around 4am, went to the hostel and showered, checked out and went to wait for my bus at the bus stop so I wouldn’t fall asleep.  I took the same route back to Saint Petersburg as I did going but slept most of the way due to exhaustion.

Travelling by myself to Poland is something I will never forget.  It was different in so many ways than traveling with friends, family or a program.  It was exciting to meet new people but also very frightening not having anyone to lean on.  I felt like there were moments that had I been with someone I would have felt no sense of fear, but by myself felt like a small fish in a big pond.  While what I did and saw in Poland was incredible, it was the moments of fear and accomplishment that I will remember most from this trip.

Приморская- I live fourth farthest building of the 3 "towers" on the left

Peter and Paul Fortress- closest you will find to a beach in the center of Saint Petersburg (yes it does get warm in Russia)

Summer Gardens

Church on Spilled Blood

Фестиваль мороженого- Festival of Ice Cream













Parade on the 310th anniversary of Saint Petersburg

Corner Produce

Выборг- A russian city close to Finland

Sea of Umbrellas in front of St. Isaacs Cathedral

Everyday Life

Now that my finals are over and I enter summer vacation I thought I would dedicate a post to my average day/week here in Russia before I forget what that is.  Also it takes little creativity to talk about my schedule and I after finals I am exhasted.

While it seems no day is ever average here there are some patterns that occur on a daily basis.  I will start with the first day of the Russian week, Monday; Russians (and myself) do not understand why we start the week on Sunday.  Saturday and Sunday are considered the weekEND after all.

MONDAY

Mondays I start class at 11 am.  I usually wake up at 8am in order to take a shower, do my morning exercises (a soviet tradition where they used to announce different exercises like jumping jacks over the radio and all the children would be forced by their parents to get up and do them.), get dressed, eat breakfast and watch either the BBC World News or children’s cartoons.  I say the news or cartoons because the cartoons help me with my Russian and the news helps me stay up to day with both my international security class and the weather since I don’t have Internet in my apartment.  Depending on how much time I have to get to school will determine my mode of transport.  If I have over an hour I will wait for the bus, if I have less than hour I take a Marshrutka.  I believe in an earlier post I said the marshrutkas were intimidating because you have to tell the driver when to stop but now I have become quite the marshrutka expert.  I have two Russian language classes on Mondays; разговор (conversation class) and писмениречь (academic writing class).  At 3pm I tutor Russian students at the university for an hour (although most days no one shows up).  Then, I work at 6:30 teaching English at an engineering plant.  6:30 is like in any other city rush hour so I usually leave the university at around 5:40 and walk to work.  I teach until 8 and then walk home since I live fairly close. 

TUESDAY

Tuesday is the dreaded day of my week.  I have class at 9am which means I need to leave my apartment around 8.  Everyone in my host family hates Tuesdays because we all have to get up at an hour we think is too early (although I’m the last one to leave so maybe I shouldn’t complain too much).  However, Tuesdays are also my longest school days.  I have class from 9am-8pm with only a couple 20-minute breaks in between.  I have my Russian language classes including; Phonetics and Grammar and then two academic classes which are International Security and then Religious Minorities in Russia. By the time I’m finally done with classes on Tuesdays I still have to wait for the bus to come and then endure the long ride home.  As much as I have come to love the public transport system here the ride home on Tuesdays always feels infinitely longer.  On top of that its officially tourist season so there is a lot more traffic and a lot more people on the busses. 

WEDNESDAY

I start my Wednesdays by getting coffee on the island and going over my presentation for class later.  In general, wednesdays are always nice because I have only one Russian language class at 11am and then my favorite academic class in the afternoon.  Not only that but the столовая (cafeteria) usually serves сирники (similar to a pancake…but better) on Wednesdays.  So with that being said, in between my Russian language class and my academic class I go to the столовая in hopes that there are сирники.  Now, my favorite academic class is titled “Architecture, Urban Planning, and Politics of a Soviet City”.  In this class we learn about the building of a Soviet City, which if you know anything about the Soviet Union wasn’t just about building architecture but about building a society.  The class itself I find extremely interesting but the teacher is also so excited about the course that you can’t help but find it fascinating.  On Wednesdays I’m done with classes at 4:20 and usually use the wifi at school until I have to work at 6:30.  After work I usually go home, eat dinner, do homework and go to bed. 

THURSDAY

Thursdays are also nice because it is my last school day of the week (definitely going to miss this).  I have two Russian language classes including reading and grammar.  After grammar I usually stay for our grammar teacher’s consultation (basically office hours but you can also look at old tests during this time).  In the afternoon I try to do something but that varies from week to week.  This could be anything from going to a museum, walking in a park, getting a drink with some friends or if I know I have a lot of work for the next week getting a head start on that. 

FRIDAYS

Since I have no school on Fridays I get to sleep in (however, as it gets lighter and lighter this gets harder). Every Friday has been different especially recently.  The last month or two I have either been traveling (with the program and on my own) or there has been some kind of holiday.  If nothing is going on though, I try to do homework since a lot of my friends still have classes on Fridays.  Then in the evenings I usually do something with my friends. 

SATURDAY & SUNDAY

Every weekend we have an excursion with the program; either on Saturday or Sunday.  The day we don’t I either spend relaxing or I’ll go see a part of the city I haven’t been to yet.  Weekends are never normal hence why I have only written three sentences. 

Now, I have about 2 weeks of summer vacation before I start my summer courses!

The Russian Railroad

This past week Russia has celebrated two major holidays.  The first was the 1^st of May, which is Labor day.  The second, May 9^th, is Victory Day to celebrate Russia’s victory in WWII.  For me, that means no school.  Last Wednesday with the Bard-Smonly program we took the overnight train to Moscow.  Everyone always says that you either love Moscow or Saint Petersburg better, usually the place you went to first.  Personally, I don’t know anymore I love both cities for very different reasons.  However, I was only in Moscow for a couple days so it’s hard to know if I would have gotten tired of it after a while.  Unfortunately, Moscow is the most expensive city in the world.  I didn’t buy more than food there and I still managed to spend a fortune.  I don’t think I will be picking up and moving to Moscow any time soon. 

While in Moscow, I went to some of the touristy places like Red Square, the Kremlin, and Gorky Park.  I also ventured off a little and went to an architectural park, attempted to find Patriarchs pond, and just walked around the city.  One of the highlights of the trip would definitely have been going to see the Circus.  Some of the tricks the animals did seemed a little cruel but the aerobatics were amazing! Here are some of the differences I noticed between Moscow and Saint Petersburg… First, Saint Petersburg is VERY FLAT! I don’t think I really noticed this until I went to Moscow, I definitely feel like I hiked a lot while I was there.  Aside from Moscow being a much bigger city the layout is completely different.  Petersburg is laid out in grid outline while Moscow is a giant circle surrounding the city center, which makes it very easy to get lost.  The people also seem very different in Moscow.  Some people say Moscow is a hustle and bustle kind of city but I didn’t get that vibe, I felt like the people were more relaxed and dressed much more casually. 

Red Square

View from the Architecture Park

Sochi Countdown (Winter Olympics 2014)













Giant Bean-bags in Gorky Park

Just some pictures to show how big everything is....

Kremlin





Next, Saturday night myself and three other girls from the program took an overnight train to Kazan.  Kazan is the capital of the Tatarstan Republic in Russia.  It is a smaller city but is becoming known as a sports city.  What is interesting about Kazan is the clashes of religion.  There is a high Islamic population as well as other religious minorities.  At Smonly I am taking a class titled “Religious Minorities in Russia” so it was really a privilege to come here and see everything we are reading and discussing.  I was having a hard time thinking of a topic for my final paper so coming here has inspired me to focus my paper on Islam in Russia using Kazan as a case study.  What has made school here so interesting is learning about something and then getting to see it with my own eyes, this may sound extremely nerdy but it has been one of the best parts about being in Russia.  The first two days in Kazan were rainy to I went to an Art Museum, a Soviet Lifestyle Museum, Tatar Culture museum, the largest Mosque as well as several other churches.  Once the weather got nicer we explored the park regions in Kazan and soaked up as much of the sun as we could.  After months of extremely cold weather it has been a treat to have some sun.  I just wish my body would adjust a little quicker because the change in weather is making me sick, making it hard to enjoy the weather. 

Mosque

Church











Kazan Mascot




















Early tomorrow morning I will be back in Saint Petersburg and only have two weeks of classes left.  Its crazy how fast the semester has gone.  Many students on the program are traveling after classes end so its weird to think they will only be in Peter for two more weeks.  Luckily, I don’t have to worry about squeezing in finals as well as fitting in all the things I want to do here because I will be staying for the summer!  Now it’s time to get down to it and prepare for my finals!

Baltica!!

Since my absence a lot has happened…between travelling and midterms I didn’t have time to write a blog so Ill try to make this one good.

About two weeks ago I went to Riga.  Riga is the capital of Latvia and one of the major Baltic cities.  Most people I have talked to have never heard of Riga, or if they have don’t express much of an interest in visiting.  However, I found Riga to be one of the best cities I have ever been to.  That is not to say everyone would enjoy it as much as I did since it has a very different culture than other European cities.  I chose to go to Riga after studying it in my Soviet Architecture class.  Had we not talked about Riga in my class I probably wouldn’t have thought to go to Riga and therefore am so glad I chose that class.

While in Riga I went on a tour where I learned a lot about the history of Latvia (which I think is overlooked in history classes).  Latvia was occupied by both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.  The architecture and layout of the city is interesting because you can visually see both of these influences. On the tour we went to the Museum of Barricades, which explains how Latvians fought for their liberation by using concrete barricades to fight and block the Soviet Union.  There was a video of after they gained independence and the removal of the giant statue of Lenin.  Living in Saint Petersburg I am used to seeing massive Lenin statues but I don’t often think about what it must have been like to just wake up one morning and cross a giant statue on your way to work.  Once we left the museum we went to where the statue of Lenin stood and I tried to imagine if it was still there and how different the square would have felt.  One of the main sights in Riga is the Freedom Monument.  They commemorate their freedom by placing flowers at the bottom of the monument because when the Soviet Union was in power they would have been deported to Siberia for doing such a thing.  I was fortunate enough to be passing the monument when a group of young Latvians sang and danced around the monument and then laid flowers.  I asked the tour guide if it was a special day or something and she simply said, “No, they do it because they can”.  On another note the tour ended at a bar where we each received a free shot of the country’s special liquor.  It was a 40% brown goo that tasted disgusting but it was freezing so I gladly welcomed its warming affect as I swallowed it.

Later after a Latvian dinner of kebab and potatoes we went back to our hostel “Fun Friendly Franks Hostel” and enjoyed our complementary beer (great hostel right?).  That night we went on a pub-crawl that the hostel organizes.  The first pub we went to was probably my favorite because there was a live band that played/sung traditional Latvian folk music.  Whether you are a fan of folk music or not you can’t help enjoy the lively atmosphere it creates!  What I loved about Latvia (or at least Riga) was how everyone loved to sing and dance…when I say dance I mean like swing/folk dance.  I can’t say I’m the best swing dancer but I at least I know how to laugh at myself.  Throughout the next couple of days we went to the Museum of Occupation, the Jewish Museum, the Central Market, Alberta Street, and wandered the cobblestone streets of the old city.  I could probably write several pages on Riga but for your sake Ill stop now.

Next.  This past weekend my program made a trip to Novgorod.  Novgorod is the oldest city in Russia.  Basically there are a lot of churches, monasteries and of course the Kremlin.  I can imagine that Novgorod is very pretty in the summer but going in gloomy April wasn’t the most exciting trip I have ever been on.  Not only that, but the atmosphere of Novgorod still feels very soviet in the sense that it’s very quite and you’re never really sure where the people are.  If you were passing Novgorod on a trip I would say stop by and see the Kremlin but otherwise it would not be a place I recommend. 

Lastly, I decided to stay in Saint Petersburg for the summer!! I will be continuing my Russian studies at Smolny University and also be teaching English.  I started teaching English this week to pre-intermediate students twice a week.  So far its been an interesting experience but I can already tell that I gaining some skills from it!