One Month In

I am back to being a student. And it is such a good feeling! I have begun Russian classes that are conveniently held in the international dorm right next to me. Little did I know there would be so many different nationalities among my fellow students (from America, Britain, France, Estonia, Belgium, China, Germany, etc) studying in Voronezh. I have been placed with a group of Brits and have ten hours of Russian a week including conversation, grammar, “Russian verbs”, and translation. A lot of it should be review for me, but I am appreciative of the chance to relearn the material as my Russian unfortunately got pretty rusty over the summer. (Laura Givens, I know you’re reading this- I am relieved you are not here to witness my struggles conjugating obscure verbs of motion like herding cattle in many directions!).

I went on an excursion with the other international students to Divnogore, a town about 3 hours from Voronezh. Divnogore (Дивногорье) is a combination of two Russian words – “divno” meaning marvelously or wonderfully and “gora” meaning mountain. As the name suggests there is an abundance of mountains and caves there.  What makes them “divno” is the fact that they are created from natural limestone/chalk.This is the main limestone “mountain” - it is actually a 17^th century chalk cave church. 

Although the church itself was very bare (I don’t think it is open very often), we walked through the tunnels surrounding the church with candles to view the rest of the cave. There were even two levels- on the second floor was a small chapel room and a room for eating meals. 

Here I am enjoying the view with the other Americans in our international group. 

I also completed a week full of Voronezh cultural experiences, including three concerts with new Russian friends. Yes, you read that correctly. I have Russian friends now. They are few, but they exist! Forcing myself to be extroverted is paying off. The first concert we attended was a famous Russian singer popular among most middle-aged Russians named Alexander Rosembaum. I went with a Russian who received a Fulbright grant to Texas a few years ago! I wasn’t a huge fan of the music, but the concert was in Voronezh’s opera and ballet theater which was cool to see.
(Edit: I forgot to mention the flower-giving that occurred during this concert. In between every song, and I mean every song, a man or woman would walk up onto the stage with a bouquet of flowers to give to Rosembaum. At first I found this extremely distracting as every time he would bow or begin a new song, someone else was coming up to hand him flowers. His stack of flowers on the stage was huge! But then I decided that I liked the tradition- you are able to meet your favorite artists and give them a token of your affection! I wish this was a tradition at the Zooey Deschanel concert I went to this summer....) 
 The second was a Philharmonic concert I attended with a girl on my hall. It was some sort of Russia tour of contemporary symphonic music, and we somehow got seats next to the composers of the pieces! I have never before seen a balalaika used in symphony concerts, so I can cross that off the list of things to do before I die. The last was an electronic music concert by Moscow/British DJs. I went to this concert with some of the other English teachers and their husbands. Their husbands were very eager to show me that they had whiskey from Tennessee. And Cuban rum (they have all been to Cuba and make sure to tell the American all about it). When drinking, Russians make toasts about every five minutes, and, as the night progressed, they came up with many creative ones incorporating my name : “to Merrri- Merry Christmas!”, “To Merrrri- Merry times!”. One of the Russians also made me an omelet and was really excited to show me that she was using mayonnaise in it (???). Which reminded me that most Russians 1. Think Americans love mayo and use it on everything, and 2. Actually use so much more mayo in one week than I have used in my life.

Besides these events, I have been continuing to adjust to dorm life. Every night there is a 11pm curfew even though the RA ladies sit at the desk all night regardless. I didn’t anticipate it being a huge problem but many events in Voronezh don’t begin until 10pm. As one of the Americans doing his graduate work in Russia stated, “I am 35 and balding but I have a curfew!”. I have also discovered that apparently one can “bribe” the RA ladies in the other dorm with flowers and/ or chocolates in exchange for  the key to the one washing machine in the basement. So then the other international students went to the head of our building and received “official stamps” on “official papers” stating that we are allowed to use the washing machines, but our RAs ,alas, were unmoved. So now I'm left to puzzle out exactly how one washes jeans by hand....   But I digress.

Lastly, I have experienced a wave of homesickness for the first time. I guess it is right on time- I have been here for about a month. Last week was especially hard for me as my dad had a heart scare and was briefly hospitalized. I have never felt so far from home. Yet, thanks to modern technology, I was reminded how easy it for now for me to contact family when needed. I have heard from my parents that they have received an incredible amount of support during these last few weeks. So, thank you everyone at home!

Wait. When did I become a teacher?

My first week of classes has gone well. I have given the same presentation about America and my hometown about nine times at this point and will give it a few more times next week. On Friday, I was awakened in the morning by a phone call from a teacher at the international relations faculty located in a different district of the city and was asked to come in to discuss my schedule and drink tea. I hurriedly threw on some clothes and met the students who were sent from the faculty to guide me to that unfamiliar territory that is the “Northern District” of the city. They were excited to have an official reason to skip class. When I arrived, my contact, Anastasia, exclaimed “Oh good, you’re just in time to teach!”. Before I knew it I was in front of twenty 1^st year English students gazing at me eagerly. Thankfully, since I had practiced my introductory lesson a million times already with my other students I was able to recreate a fun introductory class on the spot, without all of my supplies (lesson learned: always be prepared with materials even when there is no apparent sign of needing them. Rookie first-year teacher mistake). Every forty-five minutes I was whisked away by my contact to another class of shy, big-eyed students. After four such classes, I finally sat down with my contact, and she explained that, just as at the applied sciences faculty, the students have English for a three hour period every couple days. I will be a “guest lecturer” for 45 minutes with as many classes as they can fit into my schedule. Basically, my students are at varying levels of English…and interest in English...or in me. Some classes bombard me with question after question, and some just stare at me as if I were an alien....and an alien they have no desire to communicate with who insists on asking them questions about themselves in an attempt to break the ice and get to know them better . And they are ALL named Sergei or Sasha. One class of 16 has 4 Sergeis. I guess that makes life easier. I have a 25% chance of being right when I guess their names!

In other news, dorm life has significantly improved. I have purchased matches so I can now use the stove. One of the other students helped me make pasta (I did not exaggerate when I wrote I do not know how to cook anything). Ira stops by every day or so with her five year old son, Sasha, to give me random things she knows I need. An iron. Prettier curtains. Shoe polish (Russians compulsively clean their boots. They always look so nice). A tub to hand-wash my clothes in. Fresh fruit from her dacha. A space heater. She’s a saint. Sasha knows a little English and constantly whispers questions in Ira’s ear asking how to say things in English and then proudly states his newly learned English words to me with a wide grin. He calls me Mary Poppins. I foresee a great friendship in the future.

I tried using the space heater one especially cold night and accidentally blew a fuse and my whole section of the dorm lost power. Oops. I braced myself for what I knew would be a failed attempt at explaining/apologizing for what happened. The lady RAs at the front desk listened to my broken Russian with listlessness and proceeded to ever so slowly and apathetically state that there was nothing they could do. All of a sudden three guys came down to report that they also lost power even though they had nothing plugged in. The women then proceeded to roll their eyes, call the electrician, and give the boys a loud, stern lecture about their “selfish use of television…electric tea kettles…refrigerators…” as I surreptitiously shrunk away from the scene. The ladies knew perfectly well it was my fault. I swear one of them winked at me. I forgot that even if they seem disinterested/ utterly annoyed at my ever-failing attempts at communication and apology, they really do appreciate it in their own way- even though they will never admit it. Thankfully, the heat has since turned on, but I now keep my windows open because it’s way too warm in my room. Russia is a land of extremes. We have since lost power a couple more times, but I shrug it off now, knowing at least it's not my fault.

At one highlight of my week, I was in contact with some fellow Americans! O. Nikolai Olhovksy wrote me an email saying that the Kursk Root Icon would be arriving at the Voronezh airport for a quick moleben on Wednesday.  The world keeps getting smaller and smaller. I took a taxi to the airport and waited for the delegation to arrive. At first, there were only about fifty people waiting, but all of a sudden flocks of Russian babushki came out of the woodwork. There must have been literally hundreds of them. I argued with some of the Russian police as I attempted to shove my way to the front to look for O. Nikolai.  After straining to find him, I finally did and he brought me into a special room in the airport and introduced me to some of the clergy of Voronezh. I was able to venerate the icon when it was returned to the room. It was difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that I had just seen and venerated this icon a few weeks ago in Jordanville and here hundreds (thousands? I’m bad at crowd estimates…) of people stood outside for hours to simply catch a glimpse of it. It was comforting to see familiar faces and converse in English with native speakers for a bit. My original taxi driver, Sergei, made me take his number and offered to pick me up when I was done. In between, he had apparently told all of his close ones about his interaction with an American and had a list of follow -up questions to ask on our drive home.

 

On Saturday, some of my second year students organized a sort of excursion for me to see the city and an excuse to practice their English with me. They took me on an eight hour (!) walking tour, showing me some of their favorite sites while teaching me useful slang and asking questions about stereotypes and American psychology...and McDonalds. They took me by the riverbank and were eager for me to test out my BB gun skills.

We then explored the main part of the city. Here we find the obligatory “Lenin square” of the city. 

Some of them were eager to debut their home-recorded music, recite poems to me, or explain the complicated mathematical concept they learned that day. Russian college students have classes on Saturdays- the concept of a “weekend off” is foreign to them. Reason #230423 I appreciate my college education more since arriving here. I left with a better grasp of the geography of the city, an appreciation for the curiosity and intellect of Russian teenagers, and a strong desire to go home and collapse. I sometimes feel as though I have to think through everything I say before I answer any of their questions. They analyze my answers and ask multiple follow -up questions. I also have been fighting the urge to use articles incorrectly and say “some peoples”. I’m forgetting English (The English? Just kidding. I swear I remember articles).  Saturday is Russian wedding photoshoot day, and we saw probably eleven or twelve weddings. How many brides can you spot?

Today is my day to hide in a cozy café, plan a lesson for the week, and decompress. I am eating this delicious salad called “salat olivye”. 

It was also featured recently in this list I came across of typical Russian foods. It is one of the few things I was fed by my host mom in St. Petersburg besides hotdogs and therefore I now have an instinctual desire to constantly order it for fear that the alternative will be stale Russian hotdogs.

Settling In

Well, I have made it to Voronezh in one piece. After a couple of hours of confusion and arguing about my ticket payment I finally made it onto the right train. I had all eyes staring at me as I lugged my 50-plus pound suitcase through the platskarta car (one of the lower economy classes on the train which has 6 "bunks" in each car, and everyone is able to walk through them, making the car technically safer though considerably less private).  Eight hours later, we arrived in Voronezh, and my bunkmate helped me maneuver my suitcase off the train and then gave me his contact information if I ever needed anything. Until this point, I had felt confident in everything but as I exited the train I realized how much unknown lay ahead. Fortunately, one of the younger teachers was waiting to meet me. She brought me to the dorm in which I will be living and made me wait while she and the elderly woman "RA" attempted to reach various strong men in various dorm rooms in order to find someone to carry up my suitcase (I swear it was not that heavy! I forgot that in Russia it is such a no-no for a woman to lift more than a grain of rice). Then she kindly brought me to her friend's house for a much appreciated homecooked meal of borscht and plov. The next morning, the young teacher, Ira, and I went to the main mall in the city and bought a number of things for my new room. The English department bought me a microwave and an electric kettle yesterday (I didn't think I should tell them that my history with microwaves is fraught with mishaps). It has already snowed twice in Voronezh, but today is a little warmer and feels a little bit like an autumn day. They haven't turned the heat on yet, so Ira brought me some tape to put on the windows. 

 I have a room with two small beds, a dresser, an ancient fridge, and a small bathroom. Here are a few photos. 

This broom was also left by the last person for me. 

Not sure how much use I will get out of it, but I am keeping an open mind.

I'm very thankful to have somewhere cheap to live that is also safe (everyone must present ID and the dorm closes at 11pm sharp). It is also in the center of the city right next door to the largest cathedral in the city - a beautiful church. I have a feeling I will get along well with all the women who take turns sitting at the desk (I have been sent back upstairs a few times to dress more warmly and have received multiple lectures on safety). At first, I didn't think I had hot water but then was informed that the hot water is only available from 10am-6pm. Oh, and also, the cold nob means hot on my shower and vice versa. Because, why make sense? Every time that I have showered a giant pool of water forms in my bathroom, so yesterday I spent a few hours putting together a makeshift shower curtain/curtain rod. I feel very accomplished; It has only fallen down once. Not only am I learning how to live in Russia- I am learning how to really live on my own for the first time.

 There is one washing machine in the dorm next to me, but I am apparently not allowed to use it because I don't live there. The people in my dorm all handwash their clothing in the basement. I guess I can either suck it up and buy a tub to wash in or...just keep buying underwear.

Somebody, not sure who, called a carpenter for me. My closet doesn't have shelves or a pole and is kept closed by bent nails, so I am hopeful that he will fix it all for me. The carpenter's eyes grew wide when he learned I was an American. He immediately asked the two questions I have been peppered with the most: "You have husband? You like Obama?". That experience and other similar ones this week reminded me that being an American in Voronezh is not nearly as common as being one in St. Petersburg or Moscow. I have already been the first American that many of these people have met. Their wonder and curiosity about where I am from and their eagerness to tell me either that it is their dream (they often use that word specifically) to see New York or California or how adamantly they despise America is something I will never get used to. The questions I receive vary immensely, but each time the experience reminds me how fortunate I am to be able to see other parts of the world up close. 

I met my main contact who explained that I will be teaching 16 hours a week at two "faculties" or departments. Each class consists of about 15 students and meets for two hours. Unfortunately, I only see each class every other week, so learning all of their names will be a challenge (Ira told me they are all named Sasha anyways). 

Yesterday, I went to church at the large cathedral next door and then explored the city a little bit. I haven't seen too much, but I like Voronezh a lot so far. There is a beautiful river in the middle of it, and I am quite close to everything that is in the center of the city. The mall I went to on Saturday is a giant-6 stories structure with a movie theater, restaurants, grocery store, high end stores like Boss and Zara, and about a million shoe stores (of course I had to buy Russian boots right away). The country girl in me was overwhelmed from the hustle and bustle of the city and was happy to find this park.

I'm looking forward to exploring the city more when I have a better idea of where things are...and when I finally learn my own address and how to get home. The Offspring and Limp Bizkit are coming to Voronezh next month. Almost everyone I talk to has already asked if I am going to see them. 

I was also recently reminded of the trials and tribulations of anyone trying to get through Russian bureaucracy. I went to register (one has to register in a city within 7 days or face large fines and the possibility of not being allowed to return to Russia). Ira went with me and basically spoke on my behalf for a good portion of the time.I spent most of the time confused and thanking my lucky stars that I had her with me. Then we went back and forth between five different offices to try to find out what I need to live in the student dorm. Apparently, I need to get a medical exam in order to live in the dorm. I assumed this meant a physical and possibly an HIV test. ACTUALLY, it means that I have to see 8 doctors including a surgeon, infectious disease specialist, and a therapist (there is talk about a 9th doctor, but I didn't catch what type of specialist they were arguing about). I also need another blood test, urine test, and xrays of my lungs (since TB is such a problem). Everyone we have spoken with, which is probably about 14-15 people, has told me different things about the ORDER in which I need to do these things (apparently this matters a lot?). I'm hoping to get out of as much of this as possible so I can begin focusing on teaching. On that note, I'm off to teach my first class!

Ramblings From Russia: Voronezh Version

I am back in Russia and so is my blog. I will be in Russia for the next nine months as an English teacher. I have been placed to teach at Voronezh State University in the Applied Sciences and International Relations faculties. I have never been to Voronezh before, but here is the little I know about my home for the next year:

1.     Voronezh is a city about 5-9 hours south of Moscow (depending on if your mode of transportation is train, bus, or crazy Russian driver). 

2.     Voronezh has a population of about 890,000 (slightly bigger than San Francisco’s population). 

3.     Voronezh is most famous for alleged UFO sightings in the 1980s

4.     Most importantly, Voronezh boasts a Mango (by far my favorite clothing store in the world).

As of yet, I have received very little info as to what I will be teaching, to whom/what level specifically, or even where I will be living, but I have developed a more “zen” attitude about these things since there’s really nothing I can do about it until I arrive in Voronezhon Friday night.

Right now I am in Moscow for a five day Fulbright orientation and training.  Last Friday, I flew from JFK and met Madeleine on my connection flight out of Zurich, and we arrived together at Domodedovo. At the airport, we found ourselves sufficiently lost while attempting to find our driver after clearing customs, and in our panic we then proceeded to confuse random strangers by speaking incorrect Russian while attempting to ask them if we could borrow their phones in order to locate our driver. (Who knew it was so easy to mess up the word “roditel” (parent) with “voditel” (driver) when frantically looking for the latter?)  We eventually ran into our rather, by that time, impatient driver who took us on one of the most terrifying drives of my life for two hours to our hotel on the outskirts of Moscow. I think our airport experience was still better than the first time Madeline and I attempted it.
 
I have not had much of a chance to explore the city since we have training every day, but I have made it to a few Moscow landmarks. Tomorrow is our last day in Moscow, and we have a whole day to ourselves to wander around and explore the city, which I am looking forward to very much.
 
Here is a picture of me with my fellow Rochester friends on red square. Even though we all majored in Russia and studied abroad, this is the first time the three of us have been together in Russia.

 
Tonight, we found a nice restaurant called “Sixties” on top of one of Moscow’s sky scrapers which has this beautiful view of the city.

Also, if you are familiar with my extreme trepidation when it comes to pigeons, you can only imagine how I feel about the new phenomenon in Moscow called "zombie pigeons". In case you haven’t heard of it, since August people have been frantically reporting cases of birds, pigeons specifically, acting strangely (falling onto people, getting their necks stuck in awkward positions, dying unexpectedly on the streets, etc). It doesn’t sound like a disease that can be transmitted to humans, but I am keeping a very healthy distance from any pigeons (normally my policy anyways, let’s be real).

On a more serious note, I have one more day in Moscow and then I head to Voronezh. Next update will hopefully be from there!

Western European Adventures

I have to take a small side diversion from my Russian ramblings to quickly describe my Western European Travel Week. A few weeks ago I got a break from Eastern Europe and spent a week in Paris. Paris was everything I thought it was going to be! The people I stayed with were so gracious and even gave me my own apartment. What a nice (slightly needed) break from Russia. I honestly hadn’t seen the sun in weeks and even got sunburned on my first CLOUDY day in Paris. I loved absolutely everything about the city. I was able to walk almost everywhere and with the help of my guidebook (thanks, Masha!) and my wonderful hosts I was able to see a lot of the city. I saw all the major landmarks but my favorite two by far were Musee de Orsay and the Shakespeare Bookstore. Since I am in love with the impressionists, Musee de Orsay had almost every painting I grew up loving. I spent hours wandering through their impressionist gallery. Shakespeare and Company is the name of an independent bookstore opened first in 1919 in Paris that I also fell in love with. I could have spent hours sitting and reading there. The Louvre was also incredible and a bit overwhelming because there was just SO much to see.

Here I am outside the Louvre! Wilson Commons (UofR's main student building was designed after the Louvre's triangle entrance).

The French cuisine definitely lives up to its reputation. Crepes and Croissants were a wonderful contrast to my regular dinner of boiled potatoes and borsht. Who knew that a simple French baguette could be so rich and delicious! I ate one for breakfast on the train to Versailles. I forgot the warning to tear off the bread before biting into it. I am pretty sure that everyone on the commuter train was silently laughing at the silly American tourist with a baguette stuck in her mouth.

I got really excited every time I saw the Eiffel Tower. It reminded me that I was in PARIS and how lucky I was to be there.

Here is a view of the city from Notre Dame.

I was fortunate enough to meet up with a few friends in Paris and with one of them (Betsy!) went to London for one day. I was warned but did not realize just how expensive London really is. The first night there we bought a metro ticket one way that was the equivalent of over six dollars. For one underground ride. Betsy and I just laughed and laughed because the fare was so ridiculously high. London was also my first hostel experience. Since it was probably the cheapest hostel in the city, it was definitely…interesting. Every person in our rather smelly room was over 50 and living there indefinitely. I was also terrified of bed bugs, but thankfully had no encounters with them (that I know of…). It was, however, wonderful motivation to wake up early and explore the city. We saw so much in one day: Kensington, the Tower of London, Westminster Abby, Parliament/Big Ben, British Museum, National Gallery, Piccadilly and Leicester.

Buckingham Palace! I was so happy to see the sun. 

For me, the most startling thing about London besides the prices was the fact that everyone spoke English. I hadn’t heard that much English since August! I noticed that I let my guard down a bit with my belongings because I tend to subconsciously trust people who speak the same language as I do. Even though Betsy and I were only there for a day and a half, we figured out the metro system very easily and even helped out other lost Americans. 

At the British Museum with pieces from the Parthenon. (NERD alert)

The weekend I returned to Russia I traveled to Pskov, an ancient Russian city about four hours from Petersburg, with Anya. The marshrutka we took to Pskov was playing “The Proposal” with dubbed Russian voices. It was pretty hilarious. When we arrived, it was SNOWING. I was so excited! We stayed in a woman’s monastery for basically nothing for two nights. I earned my keep though by helping the nuns with their English! There are 100 nuns at this monastery, and they were all incredibly sweet and gave me little presents to remember Pskov. On Sunday morning, Anya and I took a bus to the Pskov Cave monastery, which was amazing. I am really going to miss these beautiful, peaceful places. The monastery is very unique because, if I understood correctly, it was never closed during the Soviet times. We ate lunch and went through the caves before heading back to St. Petersburg.

The following week, we had a Leningrad Rock concert at a club near Nevsky. It consisted of Americans (specifically on our program) singing Soviet 80s songs and Russians singing American 80s songs. It was so much fun! I was part of the choir who sang “Goodbye America”, a song about a man saying farewell to America even though he had never been there. There is even a reference to a banjo.

These are the students in my program at the Rock Concert. Can you find me?

Sad to say, my semester in Russia is quickly coming to an end! Yesterday, I had my last day of work at the Hermitage. They were so sweet and gave me lots of presents (including 2 hardcover books in Russian and the 2005 Annual Report in English). It was hard leaving the Hermitage for the last time. I keep telling myself I will be back sometime soon! Even though I am in complete denial that I am leaving this country in three days, I will not miss the lack of sunlight or my uncaring host mother. I will blog again soon with details on my last few days! 

I've been bit by the travel bug

I sincerely apologize for how long it has been since I have updated! After my week of traveling, I found myself needing time to recuperate but having to do a million and a half things instead. But let me recap my travel week! First, we set off for Moscow on an overnight train. In Russia, there are two types of train cars: ones with doors and ones without. Apparently, the Russians rationalize the ones without doors as being safer for someone traveling alone because they spend a whole night sleeping next to a stranger and probably wouldn’t want to be completely shut in. At least that’s what they told us. Nevertheless, our first train compartment had DOORS! We woke up in Moscow and immediately hopped on a tour bus to see the city. Since we were only in Moscow for a few days (about two and a half), it was a challenge to limit myself in all I hoped to see but even still, I managed to pack in a lot including Red Square (even Lenin's body), the Kremlin (and the churches and the Armory Museum inside!), the Tretyakov Gallery (one of my absolute favorite galleries to date), the Novodevichy Convent and Cemetery (where Gogol and Chekov among others are buried), the Goulag Museum and a few other beautifully baroque churches. Unfortunately, at my favorite places, like the Tretyakov Gallery, the Armory, and most churches, I wasn’t able to take pictures. But here, I am in Red Square in front of St. Basil's Cathedral, the signature church of Moscow.

 I was seized with the urge to do something a little different in my pictures at Red Square, so here I am jumping with my friend Sarah.

This, unbelievably, is the spectacular interior of one of the Moscow Metros.

I also got to meet up with some old friends!

I have to say I was surprised by Moscow. First, it needs to be noted that people from St. Petersburg can’t STAND people who live in Moscow and vice versa. Therefore, I was warned by almost everyone that Moscow was a dirty city where people were greedy and cold. Surprisingly, it was almost the opposite! Moscow was definitely a huge and dirty city, compared to St. Petersburg at least, but her inhabitants were every bit as friendly! They even smiled and laughed on the metro (a very rare event in St. Pete’s, in my experience anyways). Whenever I found myself lost or confused, I was always able to find help from a Moscovite. I was even escorted places a few times by random people who, out of the goodness of their heart, just wanted to help this poor American girl find what she was looking for (something I have yet to experience in St. Petersburg, granted I haven’t been lost there very often). Nevertheless, I missed St. Petersburg and its beautiful canals very much!

Only a few days later, we hopped back onto a train WITHOUT doors and in 14 hours arrived in Kiev (after two border checks at 5am).  Kiev was amazing. Just amazing. The people were so pleasant, and the city had such a welcoming feeling overall. Ukrainian has many words that are either the same in Russian or very similar and many words that are RADICALLY different. It felt to me like listening to Russian in my sleep, but I was able to communicate in Russian since almost everyone spoke it as well. I really enjoyed wandering around the city in the mornings before our tours began. St. Sophia's Cathedral and the Kiev- Pecharsk Lavra (famous Russian Orthodox Cave Monastery) were beautiful places, and we were able to visit the caves briefly, but how I wished I could have spent more time there. 

 Kiev also had a great World War II Museum (Great Patriotic War as they call it). It is in the base of this monument to the war.

 Here I am standing in front of the lavra.

After Kiev, we spent a total of 19 hours on trains (with one break for an hour) including the trip back to Petersburg on a Russian speed train. I was actually extremely impressed with the speed train. I felt like I was in first class on an airplane! It almost felt too modern to be Russian. After jumping off the train and bolting home, I set off for Helsinki with a few friends that same night! Since our trip to Helsinki wasn’t with our CIEE Group, we decided to couch surf in Helsinki (cross another thing off the bucket list!). I never would have couch surfed if I were alone, but it ended up being a really interesting and positive experience. The person we stayed with was pleasant and even helped us cook one night. Helsinki was such a wonderful break from Russia and a very green city. The air was so clean, and organic shops and markets could be found on practically every street. We wandered through the famous design district and found many cute shops with eco-friendly products. Helsinki also was already preparing for Christmas and had a few “Christmas markets” that were great to wander through (which was wonderful because I LOVE Christmas). On our second day, we went to a fortress about twenty minutes from the mainland called Suomenlinna.

If I had to compare this beautiful island to anything, I imagine it would be a cross between Ireland and New Zealand. It is still a residential island, and over 500 people live there. 

Oh, and did I mention that water is FREE in Helsinki (there is absolutely no free water in Russia)? I drank more water in those two days than I have in probably the three months I’ve been in Russia. Besides the six, yes six, border control stations, it was the perfect way to end the week. And, in this week, I more than doubled the number of countries I have visited. As the title of this post suggests, I cannot wait to explore others.

I was shocked when I realized how little time I actually have left! Next week is already my travel break, and after that it is a mere 17 days before I return home. There is so much left to see and do (even though I have done almost everything in my guidebook already, yay!) I have taught English a few more times and really enjoyed it. My students are wonderful! I have also started a “Toys for Tots” program with a local orphanage and can’t wait to visit with the kids soon hopefully. I also shook Artemi Troitski's hand last week at a lecture (famous Soviet rock critic). I wasn’t able to gather a lot out of his lecture in Russian (besides his love for the Beatles and disdain for Brittany Spears), but he was a funny guy.

I finally feel that my Russian is at a level where I am comfortable speaking. I have even been able to stumble through many meaningful conversations that have lasted up to a few hours. But I must say, the weather is getting rather depressing. The sun rises around 10:30 am and sets around 5pm. I am pretty sure the best Christmas present I will receive this year will be seeing the sun again!

Here is my comedic Russian tidbit for the day: on many streets one can find this machine by the metro.

 Yes, it is an umbrella vending machine. That should give you a good idea about our wonderful weather here in St. Petersburg.