So much to say. I still cannot believe that I am in Russia!
It was a good flight to St Petersburg as I had a row to myself. When I landed, it was super sunny and hot out.
Hee hee I am writing this and trying not to fall asleep...
And then things went downhill a bit. I have never been in a situation where I cannot communicate. Sweden so far has been the closest to it, but even then I knew that most people spoke English. I had a driver meeting me at the airport, and while he was very nice, he spoke little English. We could not communicate. I felt like I was mute and deaf. We went to hand gestures, but that still could not pass on enough information. There were three students who had not landed on the earlier flight, and he was asking me if I knew anything, but the language barrier kept the communication from happening. He called a number, handed me a phone and told me to speak English. The woman on the phone asked me if I knew where the other students were, but I did not know. I came to Russia really not knowing anybody.
We waited and waited but no one showed up. He gave up, and we headed to the van. The drive to the dorm was in broken English and Russian. My two years of studying the language gave me little help in the real world. It was still a nice drive though.
We get to the dorm, pass the guard and I try to understand what the woman in control of the keys was saying. We make it work, even though I do not know half of what she said. We (me and the driver) head to the teeny tiny elevator and head up, up, up to my new home. We get in and I meet my roommate who had just woken up from a nap. The kitchen is alright, the toilet strange, and our room large enough to house the two of us. We were still waiting for the other students who would have the other room in the apartment/dorm. We talked, settled ourselves in and I found out that she is American as well, taking advantage of the Canadian school system just like me. Went to bed and woke up in the middle of the night to our other roommates/program mates moving in. They had missed their flight because of delays and did not get in till after mid night. Talked a but, and headed back to bed.
Today, Monday, has been absolutely crazy. All of us, us four girls and one guy that are in our program, headed downtown to Nevsky Prospekt. It was easily an hour walk, but as it is a national holiday the streets were crowded and it took much longer. We wandered there and back in 7 or so hours, our feet aching and tired. We stopped at a store, and bought a lot of things as our apartment/dorm was not fully furnished. Afterwards, we made a lovely dinner of spaghetti with meat sauce. I am the youngest by at least two years and in some ways it shows. I think I am the only one who has not lived alone, and it was strange for me to buy my own groceries. In addition, I was unsure of what things should cost, as everything was in rubles and cheaper (or more expensive) than in the US. My goal is to live on less than 80 dollars a week, but this week more than that has been spent (and by week I mean two days). Then again, I have bought a lot of basic things that will last me the two months, such as shampoo, lotion and so on.
After dinner, we took our wine and beer down to the beach right outside of our dorm---its the gulf of Finland. It was full of trash, but we saw the sun go down over the water and it was beautiful, even with all of the broken glass and cigarette butts. Tomorrow morning we have our placement tests so lets see how that goes. I have a feeling (and kind of am hoping) that I will be placed in the beginner class. My Russian skills can more be described as the lack thereof, and I am worried that I will be put in a class that is toooo challenging.
But that will be tomorrow, and I am quite exhausted so I am heading to bed. Will keep you updated on how tomorrow goes!
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