Ice Bar

June 11, Russia's Independence Day, we went to Lyod (also known as Ice Bar in English). The bar is kept at about negative 8 degrees Celsius. Not sure how that calculates in degrees Fahrenheit. When you go in, they give you a big furry eskimo coat and boots and gloves. The outfits are quite adorable! Makes you feel like a true Russky. Then you go into this door- basically a big freezer. The place was very small yet unique. The bar, tables, couch, walls, and glasses were made of ice. There was a fur on the couch to sit on. The walls and tables had stuff frozen into it, such as flowers, bottles of colored alcohol, and caviar. The drinks were served in frozen glasses. People were licking the walls and tables, yet the brochure said it was all made of lake water, and you can't drink tap water in St. Petersburg. Hmm... no one reported being sick though. After we left, they threw out the glasses we used on the sidewalk. Easy clean-up! They played fun techno and dancing in the outfits was great. It was pretty cold, although not as much as I thought. You couldn't spend too long there, we were there maybe an hour or so with Irina (the director of the program) and Jeff (one of the professors) and Masha (my second favorite, definitely the most energetic, tutor). It was our experience of Russia in winter.

Cemetary: Second Seige (aka Mosquito Warfare)

On Tuesday, after classes, we decided to explore some stuff this side of the river. We were told that there was a memorial cemetary dedicated to the soldiers of the Second Seige during World War II (1941+). Although it took us awhile to get there, we made it. For the most part, it was wooded and had cement tombstone blocks with dates and names. Many of the trees had pictures tacked up with flowers also. The entire place was interesting, I didn't think it was well kept after, although it was solemn. We decided to cut through the woods to get back quicker... attack of the mosquitoes!! We start down a small path and the mosquitoes start to increase... soon we are deciding between turning back and continuing on but we feel it's better to keep going since we've gone so far (big mistake)... next thing you know we're swarmed and the guys with shorts have blood streaks down their legs... and yeah, we're running out of the woods waving our arms around like crazy Americans... next thing we're racing out and all the Russians who've been walking their dogs and sunbathing just watch us... do Americans get swarmed b/c they smell unlike BO? Hmm... interesting observation... I don't mean to be rude, but nobody wants 25 mosquito bites on them...

White Nights

This is something I am shocked I didn't know before I came. It was mentioned in the orientation, but I obviously didn't grasp what it actually meant. There is complete sunlight for most of the day, with darkness (more like a duskiness) from 12-ish till around 3 a.m. I like it because you can do a lot more, sight-seeing or even just walking around, plus it makes you feel a lot safer in the evenings. It is weird to see people drinking in the streets while it is completely daylight. It also screws with your internal clock, but it does make it easier to wake up in the mornings. St. Petersburg has a White Nights Festival during these months (I think about 3 months total) because they have winter for the other 9 months. Many people throughout Russia and the world come here to celebrate. I'm happy I had the chance to experience it, and it's going to be hard to get used to seeing a sunset when I get home.

PS:- the pictures are both around 11 p.m. at night, can you imagine how much this light screws with your head?

Classes and Field Trips

I'm taking Russian Culture, where we learn phrases and about certain societal differences. I'm also taking Politics and Government of the Soviet Union and St. Petersburg of the Romanovs. The way the classes are structered is that we have classes Tuesday and Thursday, and the corresponding field trips on Monday and Wednesday. Fridays we have our Culture class. We have some scheduled field trips during the weekends, but those are optional. We also have field trips organized during the week, to the opera, ballet, concerts, folk shows, whatever your heart desires. If there is something a few people want to do, the tutors will take you or at the least drop you off.

People-watching, Pick pockets

Post-Baltika on Monday, a few of us grabbed some cheap champagne and headed to Mikhailovsky's Palace gardens. We sat and people-watched for awhile. One thing noticeable is that nobody really smiles here. Everyone looks like they're living such a hard life. No one really says thank you. If you hold the door open for someone, they'll just barrel through without even looking you in the eyes. They'll also push you on the metro to get out of their way. The fashion here is insane. Basically anything goes. Girls clothes range from full-length dresses and outfits fit for a club, to just basic jeans. Most of the girls wear high-heels constantly, which must be hard with all the walking they do here. Guys clothing also ranges quite a bit. The time of day doesn't help predict outfits. Some of our tutors come to class decked out in heels, skirts, halter tops, sunglasses, and jewels in their hair. Someone in our group asked about the high heels, the girl responded with- if I don't wear high heels, what will I wear? To them, this is their only option. People travelling in the same group can also vary in their outfits. Our tutors are very awesome though, they're actually friendly and outgoing.

After enjoying a beautiful afternoon in the park with friends, we head back on the metro to go to our dorms. What else could follow such a relaxing day but insanity and drama. Two of the kids in our group get pickpocketed. The unfortunate thing about it is that we know the guy who did it, but there was such a bustle and nobody really cared around us, that we got pushed out when the doors opened and didn't quite know what to do. After that incident, we've been hyper-vigilant on the metro. Two other people have been pick-pocketed since then, and lost their cameras. Once you start paying attention, it is quite obvious what they are doing. The most annoying part of it all to me is just how blatant they are. Now we have our circle of death, where we huddle and keep all our stuff in the middle. The boys have a triangle of death, since there's three of them at a time usually. Whatever it takes to keep our stuff out of their hands.

PS:- the picture is off these 12 years old we saw drinking and smoking

St. Isaaks Cathedral

After the Peter and Paul Fortress on Sunday afternoon, a few of us headed to St. Isaaks Cathedral. We went up the collonade, about 200+ spiral steps, and there is a viewing deck around the building. It gives you a perfect panoramic view of the entire city. Unfortunately, there is so much on-going construction in St. Petersburg that there are cranes and other things everywhere. They ruined some of the beautiful views, but it was still a great day to see the city.

Baltika

Monday (the first day before classes start) we take tour of the Baltika brewing factory. It is the most popular Russian beer. They've only gone private post-1991 because everything before that was state-owned and collectivized, including beer. The factory was pretty fun, watching all the bottles go by on the conveyer belt. We had the director of International Relations giving our tour, which is impressive. Afterwards they let us taste all their different kinds of beer. They are numbered from 1-9, going up in alcohol content for the odd-numbered ones and the even-numbered ones are niche beers. For example, Baltika 0 is non-alcoholic, Baltika 9 is high-gravity, and Baltika 6 is a porter. I loved how our guide made the comment: "why would anyone drink a non-alcoholic beer if they could drink an alcoholic one". The laws on alcohol here are a lot different than at home. You are allowed to have open containers on the street, and most everyone in Russia seems to take advantage of it. You will see people, from the little old lady to the business man, walking around with a beer. They stop selling hard liquor after 11, but beer all night. It doesn't seem like they enforce any drinking age, which is 18. The club also didn't card us. I've been told though that a few months ago they did pass a no open container law, though nobody cares.