Blogs from Saint Petersburg, Northwest, Russia, Europe - page 62

that is, Menshikov Palace. Also, thanks to all who commented- I am grateful for them. I just didnt know I had to accept them for them to show up, so they should appear pretty soon. :) I loved seeing them. And I've decided to add a new little thing at the bottom of journal entries: Learn a Russian phrase, with a pronunciation key for Katien, lol. Also, I just realised that some of my spellings are off for the Russian names because some Latin letters are common in form with Kirillic letters. A lot of times I use a b for a v because that's what it looks like in Russian! I will try to do better, especially on words like samovar-- in russian, it looks exactly like CAMOBAP, but thats not how it's pronounced, lol! ... read more

in the form of rain, to be exact. Hi all! a few interesting developments :). I'm looking into volunteering to teach English at an orphanage in St. Petersburg. Need to find out where it is (so I can know how to get there) but it'd be nice since one of my sisters was adopted from an Russian orphanage (though not in St. Petersburg). It'd be nice to be able to help; I just wonder how much Russian knowledge is required, lol. :) Also, if the kids are young, the way they speak Russian is a bit different from adults, and adults always diminutise words when speaking to kids (and I remember my sis using odd alternate forms for words- sobaka = dog. in Russian baby talk, it's sabashka. Kot or Koshka is cat; she went chasing ... read more

Hi again, I write today from Saint Petersburg, Russia! Looks like uploading photos in an internet cafe isn't going to happen, atleast not here, but I'll try to add them when I get home. I got in last night and was met at the airport by my housemother. She is very warm and nice. I think she likes me- I hope so anyway. Her daughter showed me the ropes of the metro today. It was packed and I am a bit wary-- dont hold onto your stuff and it'll not be yours anymore. But I think I can handle it. N and J and I got all registered at the institute. We are all studying Russian together; N and I are taking Russian history as well, and J is taking Farsi (would've been cool, but can't ... read more

The cold-war Soviet Scientists appear to have managed to keep one key invention from the Western world. It seems they have invented a material that is incredibly light but incredibly strong. It keeps its strength even at a thickness of only a few millimetres. No doubt it was of much use in strategic weapons systems, but the modern day use seems to be to support the beauties of St Petersburgh as they elegantly perambulate up and down Nesvky prospekt on their three inch high stilettos. Apart from these incredible shoes, the predominant uniform is jeans (made from some kind of new polymer that keeps them incredibly tight), a leather jacket and accessories, including overlarge sunglasses that might have been modelled on Mickey Mouse's ears. This is not the only kind of scenery that it is worth ... read more

September 7 Tuesday Woke up real early today for our 7:45 am flight for St. Petersburg. Good thing we got our suitcases in Lylah’s trunk the night before. Thank yous , hugs and kisses for our perfect hostess, Lylah Moonlight, and Emy and I were off to Russia via Paris. From Paris, it was just another 3 hrs or so before we landed in St. Petersburg. Emy was held up in the airport immigration for a good half hour. By the time they released her and allowed entry to Russian soil, they have managed to tamper her passport presumably to check if her passport photo was not something surreptitiously slipped in!!! Gosh, you find a sea of unsmiling faces comprising your reception committee in this communist country and it’s enough to give you cold feet. Worse, ... read more