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Travel
Journal: Week Fifteen
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Monday,
September 3, 2001
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Monday,
September 3, 2001 The big mystery today was whether Yulia was coming home or not. I spent the morning cleaning the apartment, and finally I couldn't stand the suspense, so I called her father at work. He told me that she and Kyle had gone to Yalta, and she would be back on the 8th. Lena came over around 6 p.m., and Sasha and Vera were to arrive around 8 p.m. Lena, of course, was ready to get the party started, but first we had to go to the grocery store. I think we got a little carried away, because I bought 5 loaves of bread and 4 hunks of cheese for garlic bread. Why is it that when you buy a little it's not enough, and when you buy a lot, it's always too much? We were having a grand old time, making food and joking around. Then we started dancing around the apartment while we waited for Vera and Sasha to arrive. Lena had just decorated herself with the leftovers from the bachelorette party when the doorbell rang. Sasha and Vera were a little surprised when we opened the door, but they quickly got into the spirit of things. We ended up having a great big slumber party, and it was lots of fun!
Tuesday,
September 4, 2001 Lena decided that she should go home, so we parted on the Marshrutka. I called Vera when I got home to tell her that we had the photos from last night. She told me that she talked to Seva, he had tried to call several times last night, but no one answered. I guess we just didn't hear the phone in the other room.
Wednesday,
September 5, 2001 On the Metro I thought and thought about it, and decided a nice pair of earrings would be perfect. Plus, I decided to head to Anglia, the English-language bookstore to look for something for Seva. After about 2 hours and 15 jewelers, I finally found the perfect pair of earrings for just the right price. I was just about to give up hope of finding something, until I discovered a pair of pretty gold earrings with little sapphires and aquamarine stones set in them. The best part was that the jeweler had a blue velvet box to put them in, which really showed off the color of the stones. From there it was on to Anglia, where I spent 45 minutes trying to decide which book to buy for Seva. I had hoped to find a collection of short stories by various authors, but, unfortunately, I had no luck. I finally settled on Breakfast of Champions, because Seva told me he likes Kurt Vonnegut, and Less than Zero, because I thought he would find it interesting and modern. From there I rushed home to Kupchino, bought the stuff to make garlic cheese bread, wrapped the presents, gathered up my photos, portfolio, and computer, and headed off to Seva's house for dinner. Seva and I arrived at the Metro station at the same time (I was coming off the escalator as he was walking through the doors) and he helped me carry my heavy load to his house. Nadya was overjoyed to see me, but also very sad that it would be the last time. I couldn't stand to wait, so I gave them my gifts almost the moment I walked through the door. Both of them were surprised but very pleased. Nadya immediately put on the earrings and gave me a big hug and kiss. Then she started to cry, because she will really miss me. I started to cry a little too, because I will really miss her. We quickly stopped our crying, and decided that we needed to make the most of our last evening together. So we sat in the kitchen, laughing, looking at photos, and drinking beer. Pretty soon, Sasha's cousin Pasha arrived, and it started to feel a little bit more festive. Soon after came Vera, followed by Sasha. It was druzhba mezhdunarodami -- cto per tsentov (100% international friendship). We really celebrated the evening in grand style, only finally going to bed at 4 a.m. I have so many stories I could tell, but it would take a very long time to tell them all. It was a great time with great friends, and something that I will not soon forget. I also got an Email from Yulia today saying that she will be arriving on the train from Yalta on Friday around 10 a.m.
Thursday,
September 6, 2001 I wasn't the only one who gave up sleeping, and by 10 a.m., everyone was sitting around the table drinking tea. Seva's grandmother made her appearance several times without her teeth, and despite everyone's attempt to get her to put them in, I told her that if she didn't want to, she didn't have to. Grandma, of course, was in agreement, and everyone else thought the whole situation was hilarious. By 11 a.m. all of us were drinking beer. Seva assured me that this was not usual behavior in his family, but under the circumstances it seemed quite appropriate. Seva's mom left to run some errands, and we decided to go to the country with his friend Stas. Unfortunately, we stood waiting for the train for an hour, and then when it finally arrived, it was so crowded we couldn't even hardly move. We ended up standing for the entire 1 1/2 hour ride. Our luck did not improve when we arrived and discovered that the next train back to the city didn't leave until 8:20. Still, it was a very peaceful afternoon, away from all of the noise and pollution of the city. We got back to St. Petersburg pretty late, but we ended up going to Gorkovskaya Metro station to meet Seva's friend. Unfortunately, we were about 45 minutes late. His friend was nowhere to be found, so I talked him into going to McDonald's instead. From there we headed back to his place so I could get my things. Almost immediately, Pasha showed up with one of his best friends, who asked me all sorts of strange questions about America which I could not answer. Seva told me later that he was "afraid" of me, because he had never sat in the same room talking to an American before. It started to get so late that I thought I would just stay until the Metro started running again, but around 5:15, I couldn't take it anymore, and I had Seva call me a real cab. It was about three times as expensive, but much easier than trying to catch a car. When I got home, I cleaned up the apartment for Yulia, and then I went to bed.
Friday,
September 7, 2001 I really wanted to talk to Yulia, but Vera told me that her boss wanted to meet me today to discuss a possible job opportunity for me. I somehow managed to get to her building and meet her, but it was very difficult to find and somewhat scary because I was lost for a while. Igor was very nice, and he seems very eager to help me make more business contacts in Russia. I am so grateful to Vera for the effort she has been putting forth to help me find a way to return to Russia and stay for a more extended amount of time. I ran home to get something to eat and grab my digital camera for Sasha, and then headed to Vera's house. We waited for a couple hours for Sasha to come home, and a couple more hours for Seva to show up. After a while, Vera decided to go to bed, but that didn't stop the rest of us from having a great time. Sasha gave me a really cool present tonight. It's an old, Soviet-era metal flip calendar, with the Anichkov Most (horse sculptures) engraved on it. He said it is to help me count the days until I will return. I just wish I didn't have to leave at all! I'm going to miss everyone so much. |
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