Monday, August 20, 2001
Tuesday, August 21, 2001
Wednesday, August 22, 2001
Thursday, August 23, 2001
Friday, August 24, 2001
Saturday, August 25, 2001
Sunday, August 26, 2001

Pre-Trip Journal Week One Week Two Week Three Week Four Week Five Week Six Week Seven Week Eight Week Nine Week Ten Week Eleven Week Twelve Week Thirteen Week Fourteen Week Fifteen

Monday, August 20, 2001
I am really becoming a Russian. Maureen and Marnix had problems registering their passport today, and I immediately started to think about who we could bribe. Didn't even occur to me to send them to the Dutch Consulate.

Lena and I did get to see Brigdet Jones' Diary today. She liked it, but wished that it had been in English. So did I, because it was much funnier that way. After the movie, we went to Vera's house for her birthday. Vera had invited me a few weeks ago, but I would have forgotten if Lena hadn't said something about it yesterday.

Vera's apartment is very small, but we all managed to squeeze in around the table. Her husband and friends were a lot of fun, so I had a great time. They're trying to marry me off to their friend Seva, so that I won't have to go home. The funny thing about traveling is that when you're staying away for a long time, you want to go home, but when the time approaches for you to go home, you want to stay.

So now I'm hoping that I can find a way to come back to Russia next summer when Kyle and Yulia will have one of their wedding celebrations in St. Petersburg. (If I can survive another Russian wedding!) Of course I am planning to go to the one in Atlanta regardless, but I'd really like to see all of my wonderful friends here again.

See the photos

Tuesday, August 21, 2001
Lena and I got back to Yulia's around 4 this morning. She had to get up at 7 to meet her mother at the train station. I wasn't able to go back to sleep, so I got up and had breakfast with Maureen and Marnix, who were heading of to Peterhof. I took a shower and then went to the center to buy them ballet tickets. I got them a couple of seats at the Alexandrijskij Theater to see the Eiffman Ballet's production of Giselle. They don't charge foreigners more there, so it was only 100 rubles for each ticket.

After buying the tickets, I came home and went to sleep. Our neighbor's are working on their apartment, so I listened to the sound of hammering and drilling all day. That made it pretty hard to sleep, but I got some much-needed rest, anyway.

This evening Ilya and Natasha came by with the photos from their wedding. Most of them turned out great, except for the ones in the ceremony itself. I really needed to use 400 film I think. Even so, I was happy with them, and so were they. Ilya told me that when I get married, he'll be ready. One phone call and he'll be on the next plane to America, tripod and all. I asked him how life is going, and he replied simply that it's family life. When I asked him if he likes it, he just smiled and said, "Very much." He does seem much more content and satisfied now. I'm happy for them.

I finished getting my photos from Moscow ready for the web today, so have a look.

Wednesday, August 22, 2001
I made plans with Maureen and Marnix to meet them at Smolny at 3 today. They liked the church very much and took lots of pictures. Then we took a brief tour of the inside of the school, where Maureen and I used the bathrooms.

I didn't sleep well last night, so I decided I wanted to go home. They had really wanted to go to a jazz club with me tonight, but I wasn't feeling up to it. We stopped at the mall in Kupchino so Maureen could buy some shoes to wear to the ballet, and then stopped at the grocery store. I attempted to make fettucine alfredo for dinner. I tasted great, but didn't exactly look great. Oh well, it all looks the same when it gets into your stomach!

Thursday, August 23, 2001
I spent most of my day today cleaning and doing laundry. Vera, Sasha, and Nastya were coming over for dinner; I had planned to make garlic bread, something that is very novel here, I guess. Along with the garlic bread, I was making pasta for dinner. I was very glad to find out that Lena hasn't left on her business trip yet, so she was also coming tonight.

The plan was for everyone to arrive at 6 p.m., but around 5:30 Vera called and said they would be about an hour late. That was absolutely fine with me, since the food wasn't even close to ready. Lena arrived right at 6, and kept me company as I panicked through my preparations. Meanwhile, Marnix and Maureen were busy getting ready to go to the ballet (I wish they could have stayed.)

At some point, Lena started getting very impatient for Vera and company to arrive, because she wanted to get the party started. She asked me if my "husband" was coming tonight, and I really had no idea. She called Vera, and found out that he was, which sent Lena into a round of teasing.

Everyone arrived just as the garlic bread was coming out of the oven. They were very impressed with my excellent timing and frantic culinary efforts. I don't think they had expected so much from me.

We had a great time together, but unfortunately, everyone had to leave around 11 p.m. As these things go, they didn't manage to get out of the house until 11:45, when we went down to catch a car. It took a long time, not surprisingly, no one wanted to stop for five people. We finally got a car, and as soon as they left, Maureen and Marnix returned from the ballet.

They had a great time, Giselle was excellent and the theater was beautiful. I guess it was a great deal for 100 rubles each. They told me that it more than made up for the bad ballet they saw in Moscow. I was relieved, because I was concerned that maybe they wouldn't like it.

Friday, August 24, 2001
We all slept a little late today, which was fine with me. I got up and cleaned up the kitchen, which I was shocked to learn did not disturb my guests' slumber.

In the afternoon we went to the Russian Museum for about 3 hours. I was really happy that Maureen and Marnix enjoyed it, because it's my favorite museum in St. Petersburg. I just think that it's very difficult to see Russian art outside of Russia, so it's a must-see, especially since the quality of the work is superb.

After the museum, Maureen and Marnix wanted to take me out to dinner to thank me for my hospitality. We went to Petrogradskaya to find a Chinese restaurant listed in the Lonely Planet. When we got to the place where it should be, there was nothing. Marnix decided we should walk around the corner of the building, and we found a different Chinese restaurant, which didn't look very promising.

We stood there on the street for a while, trying to figure out what we were going to do. A nice Spanish woman came out of the restaurant and told us to definitely eat there, because the food was great. I think we all were more than happy to follow her advice.

We had a great meal with great service. Our waitress was really sweet, she wanted to make sure that our dinner went perfectly. We sat for about two and a half hours, eating and drinking. The food was excellent, albeit a bit Russian. (I've never had Chinese food made with cucumbers.) For desert we had candied, deep-fried apple, pineapple and mandarin oranges. It was delicious, but pretty deadly.

Saturday, August 25, 2001
What a day I had today. I decided to check my University Email account. I'm still getting mail from my job at the U of M Foundation, which usually consists of notices that there's extra food in the kitchen. But today I found two very tragic messages. The first told that my friend's faience was hit by a truck and suffered severe head trauma. The second informed everyone that he had died.

I think I was still in a state of shock when Maureen and Marnix left. I'll see them in three weeks, so it wasn't a difficult good-bye. I hope they have a good trip home.

I was really glad that I had made plans with Lena and Vera tonight, considering I needed something to help take my mind off of the bad news I received this morning. We met at the Lomonosovskaya Metro station near Vera's house, and then headed back to my place by Marshrutka. It stopped on the corner where the grocery store is, so we bought some food and went home. It was garlic bread again, these crazy Russians can't get enough of it.

At some point we called Seva and Sasha, and made plans to meet later. Vera decided that I should stay at her house for the night, and I agreed. We met Sasha at the Metro and walked to Seva's from there.

His mother had just returned from their village, along with her mother and a friend. Seva's grandmother was a cute, traditional babushka. She was so delighted to "meet" all of us, even though she's known Vera for years. I guess she's a bit senile, too.

After a while, Seva's mom decided to come in and hang out with us. Vera made me tell her that I am her future daughter in law, (in Russian of course) and she was thrilled. We sat together, waiting for Seva's other friends and joking around. After Seva's friends came, we finally convinced him to play the piano for us. We were not disappointed. He played some Russian jazz, which sounded more like blues to me, and everyone who knew the words sang along. It was very cool.

It was late, so we decided to go home. When we got to Vera and Sasha's, we were in for a real shock. While we had been out, someone broke into their apartment and robbed them. They lost two stereos, a mobile phone, a camera, some jewelry, and food from the kitchen. We called the police and they told us not to touch anything, but that was pretty pointless. The officers who arrived almost two hours later were drunk, and were more concerned with seeing that I had my documentation on me than they were with the robbery.

See the photos

Sunday, August 26, 2001
Poor Vera. She was so upset this morning. She and Sasha weren't able to fall asleep until after 6 this morning. It will be a real financial strain for the family to replace the door, not to mention the things that were stolen. The worst part is the sense of violation, I think.

I went home, fairly exhausted from yesterday, but I had plans to go to my friend Alexei's parents', Yura and Lena, for dinner. The table was full of food, and it was delicious. I enjoyed their company very much, especially their descriptions of life during Soviet times.

Yura had so many things he wanted to show me, photos, drawings that Alexei did when he was little, etc. I can see that they really miss him, but at the same time, he wouldn't have much opportunity in Russia as a scientist. Still, I think it's a really tough decision to make, to leave one's family behind. I know that Yulia is really struggling with that decision, and her circumstances are much easier financially.