Добрый день!
I have decided to make a blog as to better communicate my experiences this semester in St. Petersburg. I have only been here one week and there is already so much to talk about. If I were to include everything then this post would take way too long to read so I will just go over the highlights. If there is something specific you want me to post about send me a message and I will do my best.
I will start with the GOOD. The best thing about going to russia when you are studying russian is that it's not like most european countries where when someone doesn't understand you they just start talking to you in english. In fact my host family does not speak a word of english. While before I came to russia this was a frightening fact it has turned out to be the best thing I could have asked for. My vocabulary, grammar and just overall confidence in speaking russian has developed so much in just a week. Next, transportation here is incredible! There are metros (subways), busses, martrushkas (a cross between a bus and a taxi) and you can walk pretty much anywhere. So far I mostly take the metro and walk the rest of the way to where I need to go. Once I get my russian down a little bit more I want to try to take a martrushka. A martrushka is a van that goes on a certain route but you have to hail down similar to a cab. The tricky part about taking a martrushka is getting off. You have to yell at the driver to stop when you want to get off and then push you way to the front. As someone still learning russian this is an intimidating concept. On a different note, St. Petersburg is a beautiful city and you feel more cultured just being in it. Everything from the buildings, the language and the way people dress just seems like a piece of art. On top of that there are so many museums, cathedrals and other historical monuments that makes the entire city feel like an interactive historical museum. Also, people are always reading here. To get down to the metro you have to go down a HUGE escalator (I capitalize this in hopes that it will portray how long this escalator actually is) and many people use this time to read, I have also began reading on the metro and find that it actually is a great use of this time. Aside from that, everything that russians do has some kind of meaning or cultural aspect. For example, if you forget something you have to stare at yourself in the mirror to avoid having bad luck during the day. Or you give someone garlic to keep the demons away. Additionally, when you drink you are supposed to make 3 toasts; generally to your health, to your family's health and to your future, and of course you drink vodka. I will end the good part of this blog by saying the food is actually really good, maybe some things are a little weird like tongue or mayonnaise on salad but for the most part I haven't had anything that I didn't like.
Now on to the BAD. While cafes are a great source for warmth and wifi they are not for coffee. You CANNOT find a normal cup of coffee. Everything is some kind of latte or latte with a different name. Coffee is also very expensive which is why most people probably drink tea (all the time). Money is also a very frustrating aspect of russian living. No one has change so if you don't have the right amount they wont sell it to you. You find yourself having to pay with someone else in order to use a larger bill but even that doesn't always work. Hopefully I'll start to find places that can give me change. The last thing that comes to mind when I think of bad things is that no one drinks water here, probably because you can only drink bottled water and that gets expensive, but since Im walking around so much I am constantly thirsty.
You might be wondering what could possibly be UGLY in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I will tell you. The roads are a mess, I honestly don't think they have heard of a snow plow or salt for that matter. I have probably fell more times than I can count.
Пока
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