Day 56: 28th October: Ploshchad Aleksandr Nevskovo and Tikhvin Cemetery

Tikhvin Cemetery

So, the day after being told I do absolutely nothing (which is not true - it's because two of our group have gone to Moscow with their relatives, and my landlady thinks I should be too, which is quite different to going by yourself - my relatives have no intention of coming out here. The opportunity has not yet arisen to be able to go there and back (16hours by train) over the stretch of a weekend, when you have work due in in the following days - my sleep pattern is bad enough without ruining it further, thanks. So having had a natter to dad (and the most childish of panic attacks - AHHH I WANT TO COME HOME), decided to visit the cemetery after a lesson today - because the lesson finished at just-gone-four o'clock, there's not an awful lot you can see in time of it closing (museums here close at about 6ish, the last tickets being sold an hour before closing time). I had not known that this was the burial place of Dostoevsky, among some of the most famous Russian composers. It's quite a bleak, shady cemetery (then again, I have never come out of a cemetery thinking it was bright and colourful) - morseo when you arrive there a little prior to five o'clock. And when you've gone by yourself - oo-er. Although I did not think  it would be as bleak as it would soon become.

Mussorgsky's Grave

Rimsky-Karsakov's Grave

So, inside the cemetery, I saw the graves and headstones of famous musicians and painters, politicians and scientists. The cemetery is quite renowned in St Petersburg, though it's not very central. The grounds are solemn and silent, yet serene. The headstones are not something I've ever characteristically associate with gravestones (then again, there is probably not a technique exactly..- and I've never been to visit the graves of famous people), and the decoration is lovely - for example, the graves of Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Karsakov (famous composers) are engraved with music score and golden musical notes, which I thought was quite touching. I might not even know the professions of some of the people here now, had they not been accompanied with illustrations and sculptures to depict what they had achieved in their lives. I liked this, because the fact that someone had spent a lot of time designing these just illustrates the pride that Russians have of their history - however grey and gruesome parts of its political past are, there is a sense of pride in their cultural side, its illustrations and sculptures meaning that their spirits and work will never be forgotten.

Dostoevsky's Grave

Glinka's Grave

Well, being the moron I am, I ended up getting locked in there, after seeing some Americans in there (asking for the best graves to see) - um, oops. So I text Jess (not sure why, since there's nothing she can do, but I freaked out - it's 6pm-ish, getting dark, starting to rain, I'm alone...I freak out at the prospect of sleeping in a graveyard. AND add to this that it's about 3 days before halloween - I don't believe that shit but never ruled it out...BUMS.
After calling Lyuda, trying to hold my tears back, she sorts it and the POLICE come to let me out! I nearly shat myself as I don't have my passport on me (if you don't have documents on you in Russia when requested, they can throw you in jail), but they were really nice about it - directing me back to the station, not implying I'm a moron....it was certainly an experience.

Tchaikovsky's Grave

Day 39/40: Pornstar hair and Margaret 'Thetcher' (12th/13th October)

12th October

FIRST SNOW! Not a lot, albeit, but wheyyyy snow!

13th October

First Experience of a Russian Beauty Salon

Plan for today was to go to Vasilevsky Island and travel round that bit, bite to eat, lots of photos of the various little places there... Instead, what do I do? I don't even leave on the metro and instead spend about six hours in a Beauty Salon getting my hair to be Courtney Love/pornstar style hair, as I thought blonde hair was a good idea. So far, I like it, but on the productivity front...? Roll on weekend - maybe the zoo and that lot...Manchurian Lions up there! (not real ones, beautiful ornamental ones - that excursion will probs be the next)

So, the beauty salon. Not a lot of differences from Britain, except that you can get everything done in just one place - pedicure, manicure, hair cut/dyed/styled...other things on the sign that I do not understand....A lot of odd-angled mirrors - I could see the back of my head about 3 times at the same time, on different mirrors, freebies at the end (hairspray, volume serum, deodorant - the latter, not for some kind of ill odour, it's a promo thingy...), general chit-chat as always, countless cups of tea, enduring the peroxide burning and itching your scalp, too expensive for a poor student, lots of awesome-as-music (you know you're in a salon too long when you hear Lady Gaga about 5 or 6 times, 3 times the same song - not that I don't enjoy it, I just wonder where my productivity is going.....) OH and I was FORCED to eat cake - I decided this new hair was a reward for being told I look less fat - and after dismissing chocolate as a treat, I decided on hair. I was offered  пироги, I kindly refused. She does a puppy-dog-'pwease' face and suddenly two are being put into my hands - omnom cream. NO! SINS! - anyway. All tickety boo. Jess is ringing tomorrow instead WOOPDIDDY DOO! British contact!

Russian news - Русские Новости

Which reminds me - I was hurriedly told to go into the kitchen, as Margaret Thatcher was on TV. I thought she'd popped her clogs - nah, she's 85, put that champagne back in the fridge...It's the nearest I've come to crying at the news (that was not an attempt of joking about Thatcher - that would be too easy) There was news about the Chile miners, who got stuck in August - they have been brought up from underground, alive, all of them ecstatic, chanting Spanish, embracing sons, daughters, wives, friends....mistresses?! I am so so pleased. BEST STORY of the year, by far. - Sis might see those videos and be reminded of the war heroes returning to loved ones and being ecstatic - she'll love it. When I have a computer again, I will find that story, I am so happy for their families.

Here are the other stories:

Story 2: Ukraine collision between a train and a bus, 43 killed, drivers injured. They even have safety barriers but it couldn't save them. Such a tragedy.

Story 3: Sochi 14 - saw a lot of cool things, saw Putin (wh...not that he's not cool), didn't hear anything cos they talked over it (something I'm told off for, like I'm her fucking daughter. Sigh.

Story 4: Disabled Latvian child who has walking problems and something visually wrong with his head (I'm not sure what exactly is wrong with him, these are just things that I noticed. We watch him on a horse, learning piano, singing - he is enthusiastic and he is an interesting boy to watch, he seems to inspire the kids he meets - but why must they point out that disabled people can still do things? Good on them, but why wouldn't they get on with their lives? I just hope he inspires a lot of people, despite the fact he's been slightly exploited.

Oh well. A little footy - spoken over again.

And here we are, the Iron Lady (which she is also called in Russia) WHY IS THIS NEWS?!

"Oh I don't like Thatcher, what she did - no way am I watching the documentary that's next" - says I - Lyuda tells me that they love her, something I only hear from my mother, and probably her mother, and other super-pro tories. Strange thing being that I reckon Lyuda and her mother would not be Tory - Lyuda seems very liberal and I think she may have some of the Tory thinking, but I think that if she had lived in Britain before Labour took control, she would not be a tory. So whoopdedoo, Maggie ain't dead yet. Then again, deciding between Thatcher and the soviet union, I can understand how she would be the less of two evils. Just about.

And then another story which I will keep as brief as possible, as I cannot even believe this is being reported about, especially in Russia - today is London's 50th day of correct parking. Firstly, the UK would barely touch on this subject and even so, the public wouldn't care unless it was a national holiday. Secondly the parking HERE?! In my early blog entries, I noted about the parking - people don't even think about parking - you can drive and park on PAVEMENTS. You can park on a pedestrian crossing. The driver is alrways right, no driver particularly cares about the pedestrian, unless they are wearing something even slightly feminine or showing flesh (like...an arm, or something - I have been subject to this) A pavement can be even tripled parked - a car by the kerb, a car parked on the road next to it, a car parked on the pavement - this is all fine...the most ironic thing is that the road that I see this most on - Moskovsky Prospect - is bang in the middle of the city/metro map and there is a massive carpark in the road parallel to this one. I nearly get run over most days, cars go through pedestrian crossings when people are walking on them, people turn in the street with no consideration for pedestrians. And this country, Russia is reporting the fact that UK is celebrating good parking? What message is this trying to send?

In fact, I am the clumsiest of all, how am I still alive?! Any wrinkles that I will get soon will be from simply crossing roads in Russia.
Gave into temptation, got Jungle Book on DVD in Russian, the most epic of disney films. Off to watch now while drawing up Russian politics timelines to decorate my wall with, I am that cool a person, indeed (made even cooler by putting 'indeed' at the end of sentences. FML, ok, stop now...) . Reminds me of Mikey Mowgli - I knew this would become part of the blog entry. (haven't seen this since I was 4 - cue tears!) Regardles of language, you just know that the magic is still there, particularly with something like The Jungle Book (Kniga Dzhungley)

Day 37: 10th October

More shouting. First lots of drilling from downstairs (very loud), second the shouting that is cropping up now and again from the kitchen (between which, they talk quite loudly).

Stayed in the house again today, the weather is absolutely rubbish. Learning vocab and trying to do Natasha's work for tomorrow - something about imperfective and perfective verbs, which I swear will send my brain to destruction. Brain meltdown? Check. It's probably taken up most of the last 4 years in which I've studied Russian, and while I can use them mostly by instinct, I absolutely cannot be doing with this 'explain why you pick this verb'. This confuses me, makes me look like a moron and consequently puts me in a dreadful mood. Though I got texts from Natty, mother and Jess today which were pleasing - getting a call (perhaps) from Jess later which I'm really looking forward t. Atm, learning about Romanov's through the expression of Disney. Rasputin is rather scary, not as cool as he is made out through VAGUE history, Marion would be DISAPPOINTED.

6th October: Hermitage

For those of you know are not aware, I need to stress the importance of the Hermitage - so here's a little information before I write - briefly- about the experience from my point of view.

The Hermitage is not only an unmissable feat of St Petersburg or Russia itself, it is actually one of the most famous museums in the WORLD and I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to go here - it's gold-cladden (as is most of the architecture in the city) and consists of art that spans over centuries. The collection itself includes about 2,500 paintings and tens of thousands of carved gems and drawings, all collected by the former monarch Catherine the Great, who lived in the Winter Palace which is in the Hermitage's grounds.
Even before entering the galleries, you can tell from the the building's exterior hat it is beautiful - as I said, it is abundant in golden decoration and rooms which beautifully decorated with sweeping staircases, ornamental stone and columns - the way the room is furnished is immaculate and quite clearly rich, in both material and content. The design, particularly on the ceilings, is intricate and stunning - of course, because it belonged once to one of the great Tsars of Russia, the rich architecture will come as no surprise - but actually being there, inside this vast building, is something that words can never do it justice - it absolutely must be seen.
And even now, I have not mentioned the collection of art, which brings together many nations and time periods all under one roof - the time periods whizz all the way back to the 7th-3rd centuries BC, all the way up to the twentieth century. This can also give you an idea of the number of countries that might be under this roof too - listing all the countries that are under this one colossal roof, but there are galleries devoted to Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, German, French, English - and of course Russian art - all unveiled to the eyes in this gallery. This is before you even consider that in the oriental collection, the collection covers most of Asia, where you can marvel at art from India, Iran, China, Japan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - just to start

So, we all gathered outside the garden-y area just before the entrance into the gallery (not so hot on names) before entering the palace and heading up the main staircase, built by Rastrelli, who built the Winter Palace among many other structures found around St Petersburg. I was very fond of this, due to the chessboard floor and the first glance at intricately designed walls. And then when you throw in the fact that Royals used to scale this staircase, it's just a bit WHOA to take it all in
Following on from here, we enter many columned-rooms that are covered in golden intricate design as well (my description of these is very repetitive, simply because I cannot find another word to describe it - fault on my part)
The pieces of art that you see here are not only paintings and drawings - there are many sculptures, mosaics that cover ceilings and floors, carved pictures as well - the variety in the different types of art, the artists' nationalities and the span of the eras across which the pieces of art were created, is just beyond belief - I am certain that I will have missed a lot of it. There are even loads of massive pot-teacup type things here - I don't even know how to describe it apart from how it appears to me - it's a vessel that's probably about four(ish?)-foot tall and has two handles on the sides of the vessel - it's kinda like a Goblet of Fire, from the Harry Potter films.

The amount of religious and mythological decoration is also in abundance, not only in the Hermitage, but in a lot of Russia. Of course, the Russians are famed for their religious icons (pictures depicting stories you can read about in the Bible) and a seemingly great interest in religion. You can see the great respect to religion, when you consider the appearance of the Church on Spilled Blood, Armenian Church, St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow - like the world itself, you can tell that someone has taken a lot of care and trouble to make these places as beautiful as possible, it can't have just sprung out of nowhere, or with minimum effort.
The halls leading to the Italian galleries are awfully pretty as well - this particular one is a replica of a 16th century corridor built by Raphael Loggias, in the Vatican, requested by Catherine the Great. She was a great fan of Loggias' work and therefore, commissioned copies of his work to make its mark in Russia, in 1787. As you can see on the ceiling between the beams, Biblical scenes were depicted chronologically.

And then along came ZEUS, in what feels like the basement, there are many mummies and sculptures relating to Greek and Roman mythology - an enormous room of busts, murals, various sculptures of figures of mythology.As I have a strange obsession with Greek and Roman mythology, this was quite a high point, and a lovely note to finish on.

Day 31: 4th October

In Search Of

Things I've lost in Russia – two Sim cards (I know - HOW the hell, right?!), my metro card (basically the Russian version of an Oyster), my school pass about a BILLION times, any thought as to what I'm wearing – the main thing, is that I seem to be prone in losing my way. This has even been a problem in Britain, when I'm getting from one train to another. I just can't seem to compute A to B, it always seems to be A to C, A to 23, A to middle of nowhere – anyone who knows me will know what I mean, something in my brain just does not connect itself with navigation. I get halfway through finding somewhere, get very very close and then my brain is 'DOES NOT COMPUTE. DOES NOT COMPUTE' and I end up walking around like some foreign moron for the next hour or so – it's fun for discovering things, sometimes, but it is otherwise tedious and wears out my patience.

This happened today – no surprises - and so I write this in a French bistro, smoking British cigarettes, ordering Russian food – xenophiliac love <3 This time, I think I have very good reason to have given up on the venture and have succumbed to somewhere that looks pretty.

I went searching for Russian Museums in the Dostoevsky area (I could've got the metro, but no, being me, I thought the getting lost part would be fun, I started on Nevsky Prospekt and went kinda left and hey presto, at least it's the area)

I went there in the hope of finding the Oceanarium – I, as far as I know, have never been to an aquarium. This I do not find, which is cool, because there are quite a few things I can see from the map (which I also did not find) – the Dostoevsky house museum, a famous rock club (called 'Fabrique'), as well as the top spot for pancakes, which is a high point of Russian cuisine ('blini').

Of course, embracing my inner child, I look for the Oceanarium – which I don't find. But oh well, I'll have a look for the Dostoevsky House museum, which seems to lead underground. That's shut. Why? - because it's a monday. Ok. Arctic and Antarctic museum? Also shut. The one day where I get free time after a lesson, and everything's shut – after perhaps an hour or so of looking for it, this is, to say the least, irritating. I would otherwise have pursued the fact that the Oceanarium MUST exist somewhere, but the second I smelt fish and saw lobsters, I walked in to find a fish market and do not want to feel like a moron anytime soon again, please. BIG BOO BOOS.

So, I find myself now in this bistro, and I was so not driven to it because of the '24 hour bar' sign that was outside.

Apologies for the lack of blogging, it is hard to get to the laptop when I have no english converter plug adapter thing again – ANNOYING. I shall update soonish, and this is the last blog entry I will write in the back of this diary – I want to get a pretty new one in a bit! Kinda an FU to the technology side, due to the trouble I've had with internet and finding a bloody adaptor out here. Actually, fighting technology in general – it always lets you down, but it is NECESSARY for us to depend on it, it's so annoying. The plug issue is, of course, my fault – massive error – but I am not excusing all of technology for this fact.

I've been given a bottle of water. Tap water is rare, if non-existent here because it is not healthy to drink the tap water – if you want to drink water, you have to boil it (which is difficult when you're not allowed near the stove) or you have to buy it. So finally, I can fully appreciate free tap water.

This place is a little dark, but beautifully decorated – dark green walls and framed pictures all over the walls – I don't really know who, as I'm not completely attuned with French culture, but the Edith Piaf that is hanging from the ceiling must mean that this restaurant deserves kudos. I could not go here on a regular basis, but I definitely do love this place – it's beautiful and the atmosphere and staff are very pleasant but it is a bit out of my way. Also, I am a student who should be living off £2 pizza and tesco value bread – it's not exactly friendly to my bank card. Shame though, as I feel like a Roman swarmed with grapes, when they light my cigarettes for me. The appearance and familiarity are what drew me to this, not the combination of 'wine bar' and '24 hours'- честная говоря!

Davai Poznakomimsa!: We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo....(29th Sept-3rd Oct)

On the 29^th and 30^th September, we had to give presentations for an optional lecture , during what may be a lunch break, for Russian students. It is described as a chance to meet new English people – to us, we are expecting three people, if that, and our teachers. Of the six of us, two of us are given the chance to talk about our families, two about our homes, two about our night life, speaking in native English, to the Russian. It's bang in the middle of what would otherwise be a free day, so to most British students, it would seem inconvenient – however, it's not like it's a chore, and after all, if these students are choosing to listen to us in their own free time, then yeah sure. In the meantime - maybe meet some Russians? Yes I think so.

So, I ended up with family, which is best for me due to the fact that my town is not something I would not have enough material for two minutes' speech - something I had realised after a lesson where I described my town

"My town is called Abergavenny. It's a small welsh town where 15 thousand people live"

"Are you sure you don't mean fifty thousand?"

"No, I mean fifteen"

So with a town life that is not interesting, and a nightlife that is the complete opposite, family was the best, perhaps.

Sveta and Me

Anyway. So the presentation went done alright. We met with girls after each presentation - on the first day, Katya, Masha and Kate; the second, Sveta, Anya and Nastya, who have consequently taken us around St Petersburg. The great thing I had found about this, is that while in my own uni, people would probably not go out of the way to listen to year abroad students talk about their lives (particularly about a family, who they might never meet), the girls were so really interested in improving their english and excited about getting to know us. They're a little younger than us, as university in Russia starts around 17/18 years - I teach second year students at the university who are 17 - but we get on, and although some of them have been forced to learn English (e.g. I teach engineers, who have to study English as part of their degree - if I had been forced to study a foreign language in university that I PAID for, I would be raging.), these girls are interested in English, the way that we are interested in Russian. It doesn't sound unbelievable, I realise - but imagine knowing, at the age of seventeen, that you wanted to be an engineer. And alongside the degree, you have to learn a foreign language, whether you want to or not, whether you have the skills or not? Even if you don't plan to leave the country? For this reason, if my students want to talk in class, they can. Their future is mainly up to them anyway. (you could argue this to the teeth. Anyway.)

So, the first group of girls - Masha, Katya and Kate (also Katya) met us after the lesson, took us up to Nevsky Prospekt to take us to the Church on Spilled Blood, then for blini in the fast food restaurant - although they have McDonalds here, you can eat blini (pancakes) or kasha (oaty rice dish) in two seconds and keep on walking (Russia, in general, is much healthier - smaller portions, and so much option of the 5, perhaps, 10-a-day - which is IDEAL.

So we have a natter, code-switching between Russian and English, loaded with a small dictionary for weird words, and agree to meet again - this was gooood :)

The next day, we meet girls who are slightly younger and far more BOUNCY and excited about meeting British people ('british' is something I have learnt to stress, as I keep being asked about 'life in England', as if Wales is just another country in England - uh, I think not. Ya iz oowelsa!) and although we don't have time to go anywhere that day (I am shattered, it is late in the day and we need to get back)

So let's start October with a bang and we head off towards the Peter and Paul fortress, where we see a much cheaper and not as good a version of Madame Tussauds - but enjoyable. And hell, I've not been to Madame Tussauds since I was probably about four foot, I will happily get excited about having my picture taken with a blatantly fake Pope John Paul! A few hundred roubles and hereeeee's Johnny!

Nearby, just a little walk away, we are taken to a Zoo (the zoopark) where I am thinking - I've not been in a zoo since I was about 10ish...be cool, be cool...OMG A CAMEL! POLAR BEARS! GOATS! Goats...? GOATS!

First thing that we see are the polar bears. Just as you get in through the gates, it's the first thing you see. I've never seen any arctic creatures before, and I am amazed by how big and bulky they are, and the remarkable way that, when they get playful, they are very much like little puppies. I have always been very fond of bears, but this is the ultimate cutest.

Next that is pinpointed is the your stereotypical massive Aslan Mufasa, literally just striding up and down his cage (albeit a very small cage, the poor thing - the standards in this zoo, like many, are dreadful. This particular part of the zoo has meerkats, big cats and mice. The meerkats' cages are as big as the big cats'. You can't get the idea of scale, I guess, but you can understand how unfair it is on the poor cats.

We then watch a lynx breaking a poor rabbits legs, while eating it, which makes Tom squirm like a little girl (which is rather amusing, I have to say)

The most unexpectedly beautiful creatures there had to be the wolves and the foxes. They are actually rather dainty. The snowy wolves there walk like dainty dogs, and the foxes have much smaller features than I thought - then again, people make foxes out to be such villians that I must have just been convinced they were bigger than they actually were...anyway, I digress...

Another very beautiful type of animal - the reindeer. I think this is just because of the obsession and general excitement associated with Christmas - these were gorgeous. Like horses, another creature that I find absolutely beautiful, they have big wide eyes and a playful nature - luscious eyelashes, and they attack each other with their antlers, getting tangled up in one another, which is quite cute to watch, though you worry that they might lash out, major, but it's still sweet - it's playful fighting

There are many big cats around - jaguars, leopards, tigers, lynxes, jackals (I think the two latter fall into that category, though, I forget...) The jaguars and leopards lay lazily, and were not moving - fair enough, given the small cages to live in and the shelves they have to lie on - I wouldn't move for other people's pleasure in that case either. I am not against the idea of zoos, even though animals can be kept in enclosures all their lives (despite the fact that zoos can help save endangered species and if the animals can live longer when in captivity, then I'm all for the idea. As long as it's viewing pleasure and not harming the animals, I am not AS against it, I would not actively act upon it. However, some of the animals in there were racing from side to side and forward and back again, trying to find a loop in the cage, a chink in which they could escape, but to no avail, repeatedly. What would be a living space to a lion would be half the amount that a bunch of monkeys would have. The standards shocked me completely. Then again, the fact that they cannot be protected in a familiar environment, rather than being locked up for public consumption seems weird all by itself, even when you take out the conditions.

Garry Potter and the Russian Ridgeback

26^th September 2010

Sorry that I haven't blogged recently, there is not an awful lot to report except little trivial things and the start of a list of 'You know you're in Russia when...', as of recently – though one of the highlights may be going to a Russian club for 'back to school' night. I saw a Jim Beam guitar on the wall and instantly knew that I had to go there again, perhaps even take the guitar home with me- Jim Beam, and stringed instruments, it doesn't get much better than this.

NO PARKING YOUR
ANCHOR HERE, MATEY!

The main recent event though, was a little boat trip around St Petersburg – it's really truly beautiful and quite a different experience from wandering around with your camera, with the potential of bumping into people while your peripherals are only devoted to the shot you are trying to get. Also, the shots can be much better – as long as you aren't sitting in front of someone tall, or someone with a stupid hairstyle...hm, the latter... though this is the colour I want for my next hair dyeing session...the platinum blonde look. I've been fond of the idea for a while....

Basically living Russian (ie speaking it all day long) and staying on the metro for an age really takes it out of me it seems, so I had been doing the anti-social go-to-lessons-go-home-eat-work-sleep routine. I am exhausted by the end of each day and even these last few days, I have been a little rundown and flu-ey. All that I've been doing is wandering about and getting lost, As well as translating this bad boy...Гарри Поттер и дары смерти (Garry (lol) Potter and the Deathly Hallows)

Day 9-11: Proper Heads Down stuff starts....trivial post..

Day 9: September 12^th

Had to go and get some money for the landlady...bit of a misunderstanding about rent, which kinda reduced me to tears the day before. In the rain. Which is rather refreshing. The only consolable thing yesterday was that I could spend a few hours away from there just so that I didn't seem to be this wreck, and Eliza Doolittle (that Rollerblades song. Like Jack Johnson had done a few years ago, it just chilled me out, if briefly)

Got some fuck-off massive headphones and played that song down into town and then once I'd got everything, headed back to the flat....and the maniac Russian drivers that go past splash me halfway up my thighs, down to my feet. And I am wearing jeans and tiny flats. The traffic here is a bit mental, as I'd said before. And this, apparently, isn't altered by weather. I wonder what it's like during fog. At the moment, it's a bit disastrous – I am left wet and miserable.

Lyuda wants to leave the house to escape her work, so we go to a Chinese restaurant just 15mins walk away from the flat, where I was handed a yellow marigold (which is nice, in theory, though it's yellow which, by Russian tradition, means that the man is going to leave you. Though this is for my own good – otherwise, my standards sound low). While there, we piss about laughing and order food etc. I am told to play 'Durak' (fool) but not HOW to play it, which sorta angers Lyuda's mother that I'm not 'thinking for myself' – the reason being that I have not been taught all the rules, and Lyuda's mother had not wanted to even begin learning poker - HOW and WHY!!! So we play Durak and Lotto (BINGO!) which is good for me learning numbers, in needing to recognise numbers immediately when shopping when the masses get a bit annoyed by ALL THESE FOREIGNERS

Off to bed with a stinking headache and sleepy sleep, first lesson the next day....

Day 10: September 13^th

I don't really remember this day, not gonna lie. We've been told to do Russian presentations, to perform to Russian students who are going to do the same but in English (I don't much like the idea of this, but yes yes, cool...) and we do grammar with Natasha....not a very busy day, as I am now trying to work lots etc and be the good student my mother imagined me to be....mirite?

We're also given a short passage by Chekhov to do (wicked.) and I'm given my teaching stuff from Roman, for friday, which is massiiiive, lots of little sheets and a little booklet to work from. I forget what he said I had to give them for homework. I don't even know if there is homework – the students might benefit from getting the most senile of the six of us Durham students, who forgets things from minute to minute. We shall see. I wouldn't want me as a teacher, not the way I am at this moment in time anyway.

Day 11: September 14^th

Lesson 1: let's discuss Maria Sharapova which is a little boring and I zone out at points to 'design' dresses and draw.

Go for lunch, very nearly late for a lesson which I've left the work that we had to prepare at home for – not a good start. Have to say the stereotypes that we have thought up about Russia – many of them being 'cold' and 'vodka' and 'bears' – understandable – among others. I kinda drift in and out of the lesson, and see how many Harry Potter characters I can list in the 45minutes we have in the rest of the class (very very dreadful of me and a waste of time, especially due to the fact that whenever I was asked anything – 'uhhhhh...') I feel rather guilty as it was actually the lesson that got us talking the most. It was valuable.

Been told that I can't enter the house until 6pm, as no one is at home – and I have no key – so I head to the coffee house to read the rest of Harry Potter 7 (loser – this entry makes me sound like I don't have a life outside Harry Potter....) which I am reading, and translating, at the moment. Skim skim skim through it and head back on the metro, which is a bit packed, wait for the next and go home, eat and FLOP, early night sleep (Sleep for about 16hours, very on and off, and with peculiar dreams about having a little black girl who I was parent to (not biologically. I don't even understand.), partying in college, owning a dog that tried to jump off a bridge, which the child also tried to do, amongst other things that I've now forgotten....

Catch-Up Blog Entry

Before you have given up all hope on reading Russian travels (that's directed to all THREE of you who may or may not be reading this), I have actually been keeping track of *most* of what has been happening, I especially have things about the museums and famous sights I've been to - but as my internet and laptop access was low, I had been scribbling down in the back of diaries, little sheets of note paper, before buying this baby, from the famous 'Дом Книги' (Dom Knigi - Book House), because my blog, as is diary writing, is very important, as well as the diary itself being beautiful and including some of the work of the artist, Иван Билибин (Ivan Bilibin) inside. A beautiful hardback

ANYWAY before I blather on anymore - it's all written down, keep your eyes peeled for entries to come (but don't necessarily be ready to read them all, I talk far too much)!