daylight stealings

It is 5:15 pm and it is dark outside. This past weekend was Daylight Savings in Russia, and we saved approximately....nothing. Darkness. By 3:30 pm the sun is going down (if it ever came up...or it might have just rained all day, like it has done for the past two weeks), and it feels like the day is over. I have mixed feelings about this because I like dark evenings, but I think maybe I'm not the hugest fan of dark afternoons. Or maybe if there were some sun during the day I would be more okay with the darkness. Also the rain is getting a little old. Some snow even would be a welcome novelty. But whatever. It's okay I guess.

I got the closest I have ever come to being hit by a car on Tuesday. I was crossing a side street with no traffic light, and holding a very noticeable pink umbrella when a truck came careening around the corner and missed me by a milimeter. At the last second I hopped out of the way and turned to stare at the driver, cigarette hanging out of his mouth, yelling at me from behind his rolled up window. I fail to see how it was my fault. At the next corner I realized, in the middle of the street, that I was crossing while the light was red. I clearly am a fast learner.

[ps - weather.com reports sunrise of 8:16am and sunset at 5:08 pm for today. Seems about right.]

in other news...

You'll be happy to know I'm still HIV-negative. In order to obtain a Russian visa, one needs proof of this negativity. So this summer I got tested, for my student visa. BUT, test results are only good for three months, I was tested in July, my visa lasted from August to November, I am getting a new visa extension starting in November, the first test is no longer good, and so I need a new one for the new visa. Yuck. Why.

Thankfully Megan and Paul needed to be tested as well. Others in my family have had blood drawn and tested in this country before without any lasting damage, so I was less worried than they. But still, thoughts of dirty needles, dirty surroundings, the possibility of actually getting AIDS from the test itself, the removal of my life source from my body, and doctors being bribed to change test results all found their way into my head at one point or another.

So, a little wary, we head to the clinic. After being ordered through a security gate, up the elevator, down the hall, and to TAKE OFF OUR COATS, we arrive. I go first since I am communicating with the nurse lady and understand what is going on. She is the friendliest Russian I have encountered in customer service. She comments on my Ukrainian last name. I am mercifully spared the excruciatingly-detailed interrogation on my (lack of) sexual history. I sit down on the chair and she pricks my finger. Vaguely recalling being tested for iron levels when I donated blood, I thought this was just the precursor. She kneads ten drops out of my finger, scraping them into her little vial, then closes it and SAYS I'M DONE.

Whoa. That's it. Ten drops of blood (at $1 a drop), and that's it. I get up, happier than when I sat down, Megan and Paul get their fingers kneaded as well, and we leave, not 30 min after we entered. Today we came and picked up the results (negative - no bribing there), and that's that.

So there's at least one thing about Russia that is better than the US. Makes me wonder why they needed those multiple vials of my blood in Dallas.......

on life in another culture

A. On PDA
This is getting on my nerves. PDA is just not a big deal here, and much more culturally acceptable than in the States. MUCH more.
1. On the metro
a) I ride the metro 4-8 times per week. At least once a week for the whole time I have been here I see a couple riding the escalator down (always down) to the metro in a liplock. From which they do not release for the ENTIRE escalator ride. Which is usually 1-3 minutes long. Sick. I guess it's particularly convenient since the girl can stand on the higher step and be the same height as her boyfriend, and it's a few minutes in which you are forced to stand there and stare at each other.
b) Once I got on the metro and then looked back as the doors were closing. A couple had narrowly missed getting on before the doors closed. They didn't look very upset about missing it, though, cause they promptly attached themselves to each other. "Oh, honey, bummer that we missed this train. Let's just make out until the next one comes along in a couple minutes." Seriously. It's like couples here don't know how to talk to each other. If they have a few spare moments in which they have nothing to do, they make out.
2. On the street
a) The couples making out are always standing in the most conspicuous places. Usually on street corners. It's like they've decided they want as many people as possible watching them
b) Kissing is one thing, but then the guy's hands start moving. That's all I'll say, but really, get a room.
I guess I should say that I'm not against all PDA. It's fine that people aren't ashamed to show they like each other, but there is a limit which I feel is being passed all the time here. People really only want to see others making out at their wedding or in movies. The metro escalator is a little too much.

B. On Internet Lingo
1. Facebook Equivalent
The Russian version of facebook is a website called "V Kontakte" which means "in contact." It looks the same, with the blue border, etc, and as far as I know the features are the same as well. What cracks me up is the bizarre way it has entered the Russian vocabulary like "facebook" entered English. It's used in similarly grammatically incorrect constructions. We say "I facebooked him, I wrote on her wall, I told him on facebook." They pepper their sentences with vkontakte - said as one word - and the sentences sound equally ridiculous to the outsider: I saw her on incontact, I logged onto incontact, I told him in vkontakte, etc. It is pretty funny.
2. Basic Computer Talk
This has been observed both while using computers in computer labs here which are set to Russian for obvious reasons, and in listening to people's talk. It is interesting to see which words have been translated from English, which have been transliterated, and which have been changed to suit the situation. For example, words like "computer" and "disk" are transliterated - they are called "kompyutr" and "deesk." Words like "mouse" and "save" "control panel" are translated - "myshka," "sokhranit," etc. Then there are the adaptations - the USB flash drive is called a "fleshka"; download is called "zagruzka"; to copy a file is "skeenut." It always cracks me up to hear a string of these words together. The sentences are just comical - "skeen' mnye na fleshku" is the best.

C. On Church
I am loving my church. I found it through a friend of a friend, and have been four times so far. It is a reformed Presbyterian church of about 20-25 members. We meet on Sunday afternoons and I go to a small group meeting on Friday or Saturday evenings. Things I like about the service: communion every week with wine (really good wine, too), served to each person with the words "Christ's body/blood broken/shed for you"; corporate recitation of the Nicene Creed and Lord's Prayer; formal prayer by the deacon; prayer "with and for one another" at the end of the service; benediction at the end; after the service everyone stays and drinks tea and talks for an hour or so. It is good. It feels like home. They are trying to create community and grow and preach the gospel. The people are friendly and inclusive. We sometimes misunderstand each other or I don't know what's going on and it can be awkward, but that's okay. I love being in a service that feels familiar but is in Russian. It is great to recite together, hearing the strong, rich Russian language rolling around me while I join in with English (the words are way too long and fast for me to keep up). The building is freezing cold but other than that I can't complain. I wasn't expecting to find a church I was really happy with while I was here. I am thankful.

D. On things that are becoming a habit
1. Drinking a lot of black tea. Every morning with breakfast and when eating with other people. It is good but I can't drink it after about 7 pm or I don't sleep. They just add sugar here - no milk.
2. Carrying a map, camera, water bottle, umbrella and book to read on the metro with me wherever I go.
3. Paying in cash.
4. Spending every evening alone, usually reading and/or listening to music or podcasts, and eating every meal alone.
5. Checking my email 4-5 times a week.
6. Wearing a scarf, 2-4 shirts, and socks that go past my ankle.
7. Feeling lazy if I don't walk enough in one day to make my feet sore.
8. Getting yelled at. My guiding philosophy while exploring is to do whatever I want until I'm told not to. This involves opening and walking through doors, entering buildings, walking past security desks, crossing streets, etc. It seems like more often that not I am not supposed to be doing this, so I get corrected. But the way I see it, it's as easy to try to do something and be stopped as to find someone and ask whether I'm allowed. Plus, maybe sometimes I get away with things that I would be told are not allowed, if I had bothered to ask. But it does lead to many rebukes...

Chesmenskaya Church

We ventured out even though it was cold and rainy. I forgot to take my gloves and as a result froze my hands for the sake of pictures. I hope you are thankful. Chesmenskaya Church is - surprise - another Russian Orthodox church in St.Petersburg, though pretty far south of downtown. So, a 40-minute metro ride and 20-minute confused walk later, we ran into it. It is kind of hidden away, and you walk behind a building and along a muddy path through the grass, and come upon it. It is so bright and candy-like against its gray overcast surroundings. Very interesting.
mudmudmud:
in the middle of nowhere:
a birch grove on one side of the church:
it may look big but it is actually pretty tiny:
The front. I guess I caught a woman bowing and crossing herself in front of the door. It took a number of attempts before I got one mostly straight and centered. My fingers were stiff from the cold and couldn't really hold the camera still:
We stumbled on a multiple-baby baptism when we went in. We missed the actual sprinkling, but were there for when the priest lifts the baby in front of the icon and makes a sign of the cross with its body while the mother kisses the painting of Mary:
Rainrainrain. Me and my stupid American umbrella that can't handle the wind here:
We braved the cold, rain and mud:
little graveyard behind the church filled with war heroes:
someone put an apple and fake flowers on his grave:

photo pairs

It is so great to be in a cafe with free wireless. I'm overworking my computer to get everything done that I need to. It's the first time I've been online on my own computer in nearly three weeks, so there's lots of uploading and downloading going on right now.
So, some photo pairs - taken on different days, in different places, but going together well.
First, paintings of the parable of the Prodigal Son.
#1 taken at the Russian Museum, painted by Ivan Chernov, 1795:
#2 taken at the Hermitage Museum, painted by Rembrandt, 1665:
Next, canals in St. Petersburg. Two of my favorite pictures.
#1 taken along the river Moika:
#2 taken along the Griboyedov canal:
Then, statues of writer and poet A.S. Pushkin.
#1 taken outside his restored apartment museum:
#2 taken outside the Russian Museum:
Next, the gravestone of Princess Elena Kurakina.
#1, the real thing taken at the cemetery outside the Nevsky monastery:
#2, a replica taken inside the Russian museum where flash photography is forbidden:
And the last pair of pictures may need a bit more explanation. It is the custom for Russians to get married and then go around the city with the entire wedding party taking pictures by all the landmarks/sights. So they'll be by statues, government buildings, etc. I run across wedding parties all the time, the bride shivering, the groom smoking and/or drinking, the photographer barking out instructions (how stressful), and the friends drinking and yelling "gorko! gorko!" This is another Russian custom - the friends yell "bitter" and the couple kisses to make it "sweet."
so, picture #1 by the Rostralye Columns on Vasilyevsky Island:
#2 outside the Church on Spilled Blood:

happy birthdays

Today is my dad's birthday and last Friday was Jesse's 18th. I can't call them to say happy birthday, and I'm not there to give them a present. So I thought I would give them a blog post. Full of pictures of me. Cause I love them that much. The absence of things to do in the evenings here has led to me looking through all our scanned pics. And so I found some favorites and am posting them in celebration.
First, me and Jesse way back when:
Road trip cuties, 1991:in Kyrgyzstan, 1993. He is on my bed. One of my favorite pictures cause of our expressions, the fact that we are holding hands, the fact that he is wearing tights, and the number of Soviet patterns in the picture:
at the kitchen table, Kyrgyztan 1994ish. Carrie now wears the outfit that I am in:
On my bed again, reading The Little Engine that Could:
on the parents' bed:
1995ish:
fall 2006, I think:
in Princeton this summer:

At the hospital, I think, July 1988. He says I looked like a squishy raisin:
One of my favorite pictures ever:
I would crawl up behind him in the "hollow of the tree." He would lean back against me and pull out the little hand mirror to see my face:
at Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan, 1995

filler post

No real desire to post extensively right now, but I thought I could put out a teaser.

A few things:

• the receipt rage has hit Russia/the fSU. When we lived in these parts four years ago, there was no such thing as a receipt, or returning things, or whatever. When I came to visit the fam in June, I noticed more receipt-giving, and it is rampant here in St Petersburg. Every little shop and kiosk gives you a receipt along with your purchase. But. They are usually tiny scraps of paper, and don't even have the product information printed on them, but basically just the price. And then they have this odd habit of ripping it before they give it to you. The standard procedure is take out the money, tear the receipt off the printer, rip the it halfway down the middle, and hand it to you along with your change. I don't understand this. Is it some kind of proof of purchase that an unripped one is not? Is it to prevent fraud? How? I could just rip a counterfeit one and present it as real. I don't get it. Yet EVERYONE does this. Who decided this was a good idea and decreed it to be the universal practice? Am I missing something?
• This one is not quite so baffling. Almost all tourist attractions - museums, churches, galleries, Peterhoff, whatever else - that charge entrance fees have separate prices for Russian citizens and foreign citizens. They charge foreigners AT LEAST twice as much, and often three or even four times more. This is crazy to me. There is no reason for this other than that they can and there's nothing we can do about it. But seriously. I know some Americans are rich, but some aren't. And not all tourists are Americans. It seems unfair. But, usually I can pay the Russian student price because I am a student at a local institute. But other times they make me pay the foreigner price like at Peterhoff. Stupid.
• I can never go online to look at class listings for next semester because the website is down on weekdays from midnight to 7am. Which for me is 9am-4pm. The exact hours I am ever on campus. Super-frustrating. I'm not sure how I will enroll. I guess I can stay late some Thursday.
• Megan and I have been on a weeks-long search for good chocolate/candy. They sell candy everywhere by weight, so there will be a store or kiosk with boxes and boxes of different kinds which is kind of overwhelming. We were looking for chocolate candy with a creamy center. This is hard to ask for, and we got bad advice sometimes. But after lots of experimenting and candy-eating we may have found just the thing. YUM. I love chocolate. Candy is one of the good things about Russia, along with ice cream and Teremok.

[my translation class is doing funny things to me that I just noticed. As I was reading back through my post I was thinking about the nightmare of trying to translate it into Russian. We talked yesterday about translation of words like "thing, stuff, matter, way, occasion." Harder than it may seem. I noticed how many times I used the word "thing" and was glad I don't have to translate them.]

names

With pretty much every married woman I know being pregnant right now, I have been hearing and reading a lot about names. So, I decided to add my own names blog post, though with a slightly different twist.

It's about Russian names. And you are free to use one of them for your kid, if you wish. Basically, Russian names are really limited. Everyone has the same ones, chosen from the same list. This results in multiples. In my translation class of 10-ish people, there are three Svetas. Confusing. So, I tried to make a list.

Men's names:
Vladimir, Dmitri, Konstantin, Oleg, Anton, Boris, Aleksandr, Sergei, Aleksei, Stepan, Yurii, Volodya, Maksim, Evgeniy, Nikolai, Valerii, Kirill, Vasilii, Vitalii, Pyotr, Pavel, Igor, Ivan, Mikhail, Ilya, Fyodor, Lev, Gregorii, Georgii, Andrei, Timofei, Stanislav, Vladislav, Mstislav, Svyatoslav

Women's names:
Aleksadra, Irina, Mariya, Marya, Svetlana, Marina, Ekaterina, Tatiyana, Lyubov, Olga, Oksana, Dariya, Anastasia, Nataliya, Anna, Elizaveta, Polina, Vera, Nadyezhda, Elena, Varvara, Valentina, Victoria, Raisa, Rita, Evgeniya, Galina.

What have I missed that is not a short form of one of the above?