Monday, August 27, 2001
Tuesday, August 28, 2001
Wednesday, August 29, 2001
Thursday, August 30, 2001
Friday, August 31, 2001
Saturday, September 1, 2001
Sunday, September 2, 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 27, 2001
I feel asleep pretty early last night, but sometime around midnight, my best friend Lindsey called. I was so confused and disoriented, I couldn't even talk for the first few minutes. We talked for quite a long time, I guess we had a lot to tell each other. She's promised to take me to the Village Wok for some "real" Chinese the night I get home. (That's what best friends are for!) And from the stories I've been telling, I guess she thinks Russia sounds pretty cool, because she told me she wants to come here with me some time.

After talking to Lindsey, I decided to call my mom. I had been trying to call her earlier in the evening, but I couldn't get a line out. We also talked for a long time, and it was really nice. My grandma is coming up for the Fair, so she will stay for a few days at our house. I wish I could be there, it seems so wrong to miss the Great Minnesota Get-Together.

I didn't manage to get back to sleep until almost 5 a.m. I guess I was just excited from my conversations. I slept pretty late today, and then decided to work on my website. I spent about 6 hours writing travel journal entries and going through all of the photo's I've taken over the past week. There are two new pages of photos: Vera's birthday party and some photos from Saturday night.

This evening, Sasha called and wanted to know if I wanted to get together. I met him, Vera and Nastya at the Metro, and then we waited for Seva. He showed up with some friends, and we agreed to meet him in the yard in front of Vera's building. We waited and waited. It got colder and colder. We were absolutely freezing, but we didn't want to go inside and wake Vera's mother, who is pretty distraught over the robbery.

Finally Seva arrived, and we quietly went inside and drank some hot tea. We sat for a while, just talking and trying to warm up. After a while Seva and I left and I got a ride home from his friends, thankfully. It was too cold out to catch a car!

Tuesday, August 28, 2001
I am continually amazed by how much easier things have become for me here. Everyday I seem to notice something else that was very difficult when I arrived but has become automatic over the past three months. For instance, I used to be afraid to tell the Marshrutka driver to stop. Instead I would get out when someone called for a stop in the general vicinity of our building. Then, I got braver; I would go to the driver and tell him where to stop. But now I just shout out my stop like everyone else.

I've even noticed that I don't mind Russian food so much anymore. I guess I've been off visiting a lot lately, because I've been eating lots of it. I never thought that would be possible, not in my wildest dreams!

Speaking of dreams, I had my first dream (which I can remember) in Russian. It was a nightmare, but still, it was a pretty significant occasion, regardless. I dreamt that I was on the Marshrutka and the driver wouldn't stop. I was yelling at her in Russian, but she just completely ignored me and kept driving farther and farther away from the places I was familiar with. Finally someone called for a stop, and I jumped out, only to find myself in Como Park. Figure that one out.

Wednesday, August 29, 2001
Today was a very beautiful day. I went down to the center to get money for the last time. I found that my favorite ATM which used to give up to 10,000 rubles now has a 3,000 ruble limit. I took what I could, and then went to an exchange office and took the rest I needed off of my debit card.

After that I decided to go to McDonald's for lunch. It's amazing, but I haven't been there for a long time (probably because Yulia isn't home.) After lunch I took a walk for a while and stopped at a cafe and drew some sketches.

I went home and showered and changed before meeting Vera at the Metro. Then we headed back to the center to meet Sasha at the Levi's store where he's Assistant Manager. One of his coworkers was celebrating his birthday and invited us to go to a club. We hung out at the store until about 1 a.m., and then left for the club.

The club was awful. We only stayed for about 20 minutes, and then decided that everyone should come to my house. On the way (it was really far!), Sasha started to feel ill, so he and Vera decided to go home. I had no sooner gotten to the steps when Seva, Maks, and the girls from the store pulled up in the second car. They stayed until the bridges closed (about 3 a.m.) and then decided to go home, with the exception of Seva. We stayed up really late talking -- I finally got him all settled in the living room about 5 a.m., and then went to bed.

Thursday, August 30, 2001
I woke up at 10 a.m. this morning, and discovered that Seva was also awake. We sat in the kitchen drinking tea for a long time, and then I decided to clean up the kitchen. He asked me lots of questions about life in America, and we had a nice conversation while I washed the dishes.

He saw that I had the Moulin Rouge soundtrack and asked if I had seen the movie. When I discovered that he had not, I decided that we should go to see it right away. (I was tempted to watch it a second time when I walked by the theater yesterday.) We bought our tickets and had some time to kill, so we decided to visit Sasha at work.

Sasha was feeling much better, and quite happy to see us. We didn't have much time, but he was a little distracted playing with the store's turntables anyway, so we left. On the street we ran into Vera, on her way to talk to Sasha. We were in a hurry by this time, so we only talked briefly and then went to the movie.

Seva loved the film. He is a big fan of Baz Luhrman's work, and he had already bought the soundtrack, so we spent the rest of the day wandering around and singing the songs from the movie. We walked about 2 miles down Nevsky to pick up my black and white photos, and then decided to go visit Ilya and Masha, Seva's friends who gave me a ride home the other night. He wanted to stop in the grocery store to pick up "something for tea," and we ran into Masha. (St. Petersburg is starting to feel very small!) We visited and looked at photographs for a while.

Masha and Ilya both had other plans, so Seva and I walked to a different friend of his, Sasha's, house. (Not the same one.) We quickly decided to go to Seva's, and we were off. Sasha and I hit it off very well, because he is an artist and is leaving on Saturday for Tver, where he will study woodcarving for the next two years.

Before I knew it, Masha and Ilya showed up, Seva's mom was trying to stuff us with food, and I was reading dirty folklore aloud to everyone. Seva's mom insisted that I stay the night, and I was too tired to argue when Seva gave up his room to me. Still, it was a really fun day.

Friday, August 31, 2001
I slept so well last night. In the morning, I woke up and sat in the kitchen and talked to Seva's mom for almost two hours. She insisted that I eat a big breakfast with her while she plied me with questions. Then she invited me to come to the school where she works tomorrow for the First of September, the day when all the children go back to school. Apparently it's a real holiday, and something I really need to see.

Seva took me to see the chischik-pyschik today. He wouldn't tell me what it was, except that it was something I had to see. It turns out that it's just a little bird sculpture on the side of the bridge over the Griboedova canal. Apparently if you can hit it's head with a coin, you'll have very good luck. I guess I'll never know, because I threw almost a dollar at it with no success.

From there he took me to a design school, which I liked very much. The building was fantastically beautiful, and I loved wandering through the halls looking at all the students' work. Not far away, we went to the Anna Akhmatova House-Museum to see a photography exhibition.

I've been having a really great time, but I'm glad that I'm spending a quiet night at home. All of this fun is wearing me out!

Saturday, September 1, 2001
I'm going home in two weeks. I keep trying to forget that I have so little time left. Vera called this morning and said that she was talking to her boss, and he would really love to have a native English speaker to do translating for him. I know that I am perfectly capable at this point, but I also know that I don't really have the luxury of accepting this offer right now.

I met Seva in the afternoon, and we went back to his house. His mother was making dinner, and she was very glad that we would be there to eat with her. Dinner with his mother and grandmother was wonderful! I felt so at home with them, and we had great food, great company, and great conversation.

Seva's mother really likes to hear my stories about the adjustments I had to make when coming to Russia. She is so proud of me for my courage to come to a place where I didn't know hardly anyone and I am so far from home So we talked and talked, and I felt very capable of expressing myself, quite to my surprise. I only had to ask Seva for help a few times.

During the course of our meal, Nadya got a phone call from a good friend with bad news. While she was talking, I decided to make conversation with his grandmother. She is very old (93!) and senile. (She asked me which state I am from four times.) But I really enjoyed hearing her stories (true or not) of life in the village. Then she started to sing me songs from her childhood in the village. Seva was beside himself, he just kept remarking on what a scene it made. Meanwhile, Unkle Kolya came in to get some food. He told me to go straight home and forget all about Russia. I told him that I would certainly not forget about it, and that I can't wait to come back.

I think that dinner will remain one of my happiest memories of my life. I don't exactly know how to describe the feelings I had, but it was a mixture of joy, pride, and gratitude. My language skills have come so far, and being able to sit in the kitchen and have a normal dinner at home with Russian people, tell stories and jokes... it was just very special.

When we had finished dinner, Vera called and said that she would not be able to get together with us tonight, because her father called and invited her and Sasha to the dacha. Seva and I decided to go somewhere, but we didn't have a specific destination in mind. We ended up in the center, and from there went to see Sasha at work. About 10 minutes later, Vera showed up, and we hung out with them for a while, and then went to the Metro together.

After that, Seva started to have a migraine, and apologized profusely for wanting to go home, and cutting our evening short. I told him that no apologies were necessary, and we agreed to get together tomorrow evening.

Sunday, September 2, 2001
This afternoon I met Tatiana's mother in the center, and we went for a walk all around the city. We walked down the Griboedova to Nikol'sky Cathedral and then over to Theater Square. It was a long walk, but the weather was beautiful and I had good company. I was very glad that we had the opportunity to meet before I left.

Afterwards, I called Seva's house and his mother said that his friend called and needed help with something, and that he would not be home until late. She invited me to come over anyway, and I agreed. We had soup for dinner and homemade jam and bread for dessert. Uncle Kolya, the Anglophile, sat and had dinner with us, and asked lots of questions about life in America.

I was pretty tired, so Seva's mom walked me to the Metro and we agreed to meet at 6 p.m. on Wednesday so that we can say good-bye before she leaves for the dacha.