sooooo i am effectively over the whole gayness of my last blog post (i dont mean to offend any homosexuals by using the word "gayness" in a derogatory way).
but anyway. we went to vyborg on sunday. aka yesterday and it was interesting. the tour guide was hilarious. loved him. totally inappropriate too. we climbed a bunch of stairs. and i prayed to god i wouldn't fall down any of them---success! it was very snowy/melty there and cold. those are my impressions. i think i was half asleep the entire time. i noticed it looked a whole lot more scandinavian though. those were the pretty parts. the russian/soviet buildings were same old falling down pieces of architectural brilliance (note the sarcasm). what else did we do. i ate a bag of m&ms on the bus. listened to music with eunice. fell asleep on the way back and im pretty sure i was snoring. but i couldnt exactly tell because my ipod was blasting. so it was either the music or my potential snoring that kept waking me up.
...
yep everything else is just a blur of grey and melting. oh except there was a mini tank. people climbed up on top of it. photo-moment. i didnt take a picture. hot damn. missed out.
...
so today i went to my internship, contemplated life on my walk to the metro in the gray warmishness of a st. petersburg thaw, and decided i need to get my shit together. i translated some sociological journals and then found myself on the metro back to primorskaya. still gray, not so warmish.
...
started working on vertkin's paper, realized how bad my english is now and my complete lack of correct grammatical usage. im an epic fail at my native language. i blame russia. damn you people and your completely different grammar structures. maybe by the time i go home my english and my russian will be on the same level. and not in a good way.
....
what else? im freaking tired. and i have a new addiction--some tvorog-like hybrid of a cottage double (the thingy with cottage cheese and jam in the same package. say goodbye instant breakfast kasha and hello cottage cheese tvorog jam things.
i had a pretty awesome convo via fbchat today with colin, my long lost high school friend. it was almost as amusing as those bus ride conversations we shared back in junior year. wow. except it was a little more existential and future inspiring. i cant believe i havent actually seen him in like 3 years. i had an oh shit moment that blew my mind. ive talked to him, and we've had legit conversations but i havent actually seen him or made personal face to face contact in almost 3 years. oh how the world has changed. it made me really understand bryan's point about how weird/surreal communications technologies make relationships. вот это да!
well im spacing and my eyes are about to close in on my head.
til next time
<3 d
понедельник, 30 марта 2009 г.
четверг, 26 марта 2009 г.
random acts of OMG that was so nice.
lately i have been noticing more and more often the merit of humanity. the best thing in life is when people go out of their way to do something nice for other people. especially cross-culturally. im being very optimistic and idealistic in this blog post but just because im so filled with idealism right now.
So, in our International Sec and Crime class the other day Seth was regaling us with tales of his trip to Kazan. he mentioned how the people he was staying with had bought him a big bottle of coke (because he's american). It's a funny stereotype but moreover its just nice. Just the idea that the people seemed to try to make him feel comfortable/went out of the way to get something he liked so redeems the idea of human nature in my book.
spurred on by this story Dmitri told us how he had the Americans to his house last semester for thanksgiving and how the first thing he thought of was to go get a bottle of diet coke and regular coke for his american guests. again the stereotype but again its just the thought that counts. Just the idea that he went out of his way to buy something for his american guests that they would like (not necessarily that he would like) is so freaking nice. Why can't everyone back home be so thoughtful??? seriously.
and then tonight the kicker was that our new korean suitemate Su Jin (sp?) made us all a korean dinner---totally spontaneous. It was just so nice. its made me think that i should start doing more nice things for people in my life. am i turning over a new leaf? i hope so.
til next time,
idealistically yours,
-D
So, in our International Sec and Crime class the other day Seth was regaling us with tales of his trip to Kazan. he mentioned how the people he was staying with had bought him a big bottle of coke (because he's american). It's a funny stereotype but moreover its just nice. Just the idea that the people seemed to try to make him feel comfortable/went out of the way to get something he liked so redeems the idea of human nature in my book.
spurred on by this story Dmitri told us how he had the Americans to his house last semester for thanksgiving and how the first thing he thought of was to go get a bottle of diet coke and regular coke for his american guests. again the stereotype but again its just the thought that counts. Just the idea that he went out of his way to buy something for his american guests that they would like (not necessarily that he would like) is so freaking nice. Why can't everyone back home be so thoughtful??? seriously.
and then tonight the kicker was that our new korean suitemate Su Jin (sp?) made us all a korean dinner---totally spontaneous. It was just so nice. its made me think that i should start doing more nice things for people in my life. am i turning over a new leaf? i hope so.
til next time,
idealistically yours,
-D
понедельник, 16 марта 2009 г.
failing at life, or more likely just blogging
epic fail on my resolution to write often in this thing. oh well. i kinda just forgot/have been less emo lately i guess. SO wanna hear some recap? welllllll for the past two weeks i have gone to a ballet each saturday, and both were fantastic. the first was Selfida which was set in Scotland and about some kind of fairy that lures the affections of a betrothed man and ends in double death. sort of like romeo and juliet except--not. that ballet was fun. afterwards me eunice katie and laura went to carl's jr. for some good ole american heart disease promoting fast food. and let me tell you it was goood. the most recent ballet that i have seen was called the humpback horse. it was one interesting flashy colorful truly russian ballet. I liked it alot. there were crazy wardrobes, horses, merpeople, a humpback horse and a gorgeous but somewhat dimwitted main character who spent most of the first act with his shirt off displaying his rock hard abs and very defined arms. *sigh* if he wasnt wearing lipstick i might have come away from that ballet with a crush. the music was amaazing. and everyone (mostly) from our group was dressed to the t's. it was cool seeing everyone in theyre ballet-wear.
soooo apart from the ballets i also went out for a bit on friday night with eunzie and liza. I met them at some art exhibition opening near m. Chernishevskaya. It was interesting modern contemporary stuff that you have to be able to "see" to understand. Needless to say my favorite piece was one that featured a dock with two trees to the side. it was preeeetty.
And so that brings us to yesterday, or as I like to call it Sunday. It was a usual sunday with unusual weather. (thank you god) it was SUNNNY. get it. SUNday. ok so that was lame. so sue me. buttt it really was gorgeous weather out. keep your fingers crossed for spring. so i didnt feel like keeping myself holed up indoors envying the sun so i went outside and joined it. I took a walk to the metro which was nice and EVERYONE was outside walking. the sun is liberating here in Russia. if winter is the evil villain of the comic book then sun is the superhero that comes unexpectedly to rapidly save the day. So besides walking to the metro i also did some "research" for my senior russian project. By "research" i mean hunting down reklama's that have pictures of children on it or some kind of demographically oriented subliminal message. I was victorious! thank you gazprom for your strategically located reklama-things that say gazprom children on it. so after finding what i needed i decided to go to the superawesomegrocerystore on vladimirskaya ulitsa--LEND. its the best. i bought some goodies that you can not find on the whole of vasilevsky island--hummus, iced lemon green tea, pita chips, peanut butter for a decent price, and a few things from the PREPARED FOODS section. amazing. then later i went grocery shopping for the staples with bimini which was fun. i like hanging out with her. i talked to my rents and fam as per usual and my sister was home. apparently my parents are planning a family trip to CANCUN again for next year and they were going to see if me and my sister have the same spring break but we dont so we are both excluded now. ON the bright side they have a banked time share week that expires in 2010 that my mom said my sister and i could use over christmas break! so me jill and cath are probably going to go to CANCUN then. i feel like such a spoiled brat. but at least im an appreciative spoiled brat right?
so another story. the epic chicken salad. yep i decided to make chicken salad and it was gooood. it has apples and other stuff in it and its the first thing i have made from scratch that actually tastes amazing and not just mediocre. i even poached the chicken myself. do i have a future in the culinary arts? i just might.
until next time,
Love,
--D
soooo apart from the ballets i also went out for a bit on friday night with eunzie and liza. I met them at some art exhibition opening near m. Chernishevskaya. It was interesting modern contemporary stuff that you have to be able to "see" to understand. Needless to say my favorite piece was one that featured a dock with two trees to the side. it was preeeetty.
And so that brings us to yesterday, or as I like to call it Sunday. It was a usual sunday with unusual weather. (thank you god) it was SUNNNY. get it. SUNday. ok so that was lame. so sue me. buttt it really was gorgeous weather out. keep your fingers crossed for spring. so i didnt feel like keeping myself holed up indoors envying the sun so i went outside and joined it. I took a walk to the metro which was nice and EVERYONE was outside walking. the sun is liberating here in Russia. if winter is the evil villain of the comic book then sun is the superhero that comes unexpectedly to rapidly save the day. So besides walking to the metro i also did some "research" for my senior russian project. By "research" i mean hunting down reklama's that have pictures of children on it or some kind of demographically oriented subliminal message. I was victorious! thank you gazprom for your strategically located reklama-things that say gazprom children on it. so after finding what i needed i decided to go to the superawesomegrocerystore on vladimirskaya ulitsa--LEND. its the best. i bought some goodies that you can not find on the whole of vasilevsky island--hummus, iced lemon green tea, pita chips, peanut butter for a decent price, and a few things from the PREPARED FOODS section. amazing. then later i went grocery shopping for the staples with bimini which was fun. i like hanging out with her. i talked to my rents and fam as per usual and my sister was home. apparently my parents are planning a family trip to CANCUN again for next year and they were going to see if me and my sister have the same spring break but we dont so we are both excluded now. ON the bright side they have a banked time share week that expires in 2010 that my mom said my sister and i could use over christmas break! so me jill and cath are probably going to go to CANCUN then. i feel like such a spoiled brat. but at least im an appreciative spoiled brat right?
so another story. the epic chicken salad. yep i decided to make chicken salad and it was gooood. it has apples and other stuff in it and its the first thing i have made from scratch that actually tastes amazing and not just mediocre. i even poached the chicken myself. do i have a future in the culinary arts? i just might.
until next time,
Love,
--D
пятница, 6 марта 2009 г.
Russian chick flicks?
so my friends, today starts the crazy intense celebration of national women's day in Russia. My lord it is intense. Everywhere i went today about 90% of the women around me were carrying a bouquet of flowers or multiple bouquets of flowers. i was not in the overwhelming majority today. Although despite my envy I could still appreciate the beauty of this holiday. Zach was so cute today---he gave LP a large bouquet of flowers and she was overwhelmed. It was funny watching it because he had that "oh yea im so glad you like it this isnt awkward at all oh ok let's hug" face on. priceless.
AND FINALLY the office was, indeed, a student lounge today. banjo playing included. way too many people in way to small of a space. fun though.
tonight me sarah katie and grace went down to nevsky to see a movie. Katie Grace and I got there early at about 7ish for a 830 movie because we wanted to buy good seats (after the horrible 1st row experience) and also because we wanted to walk around Nevsky a bit. So Grace wanted to get a relatively inexpensive diet coke (aka NOT the ones the street vendors sell) and i kind of know my way around the m. Mayakovskaya area so i revisited my first ever homestay in russia. I actually passed by the door i used to go through everyday. I wanted to go to the infamous 24 hour часа that we all so dearly loved over the summer. It was great--it still had the mini ice cream parlor type thing in it and it had tons of variety--unlike the grocery stores out by primorskaya. It made me really miss living on the main island and it made me realize what a freakin awesome location I had been in. I kinda wish i was still living there to be honest. so we got dc's and then we still had about 40 minutes to kill so we walked back to nevsky. I got to take the short cut that i remembered that brings you right out across the street from the movie theater. i felt so cool (not really). oh and we saw blood and a tissue on the ground while on the shortcut (awesome). so THEN to continue our tour of grocery stores I decided to show them the most amazing grocery store in st. petersburg. no im not talking about lenta. im talking about the one thats in the mall on Vladimirskaya ulitsa. Its like the best place ever. I would like to hang out in there. for real. im thinking about going back there tomorrow. partially because there were a ton of really awesome shoestores on the way. and i want to buy boots. and they are all on skidka. saweeeet.
oh and we ran into e.b. louis and lauren on the way back from the grocery store. that was fun.
so the movie. wow. what can i say about that piece of cinematic brilliance. well the plot began with a group of three guys--one of which was married--and they were all sleeping around and being manwhores and then one day all of a sudden they couldn't get it up. therefore they had to find love in order to get their manly parts to work. oh russian chick flicks. americans can definitely learn from you. in between their were great hilarious parts (man watching sexy tv eating donuts and crying because over his limp manly bits) and sweet romantic parts and crazy ridiculous russian parts (police chasing a tour bus that ran a red light and then needing to go to the supreme court?). nuff said.
oh and the entire thing took place in NYC. weird.
till next time
Love,
-D
AND FINALLY the office was, indeed, a student lounge today. banjo playing included. way too many people in way to small of a space. fun though.
tonight me sarah katie and grace went down to nevsky to see a movie. Katie Grace and I got there early at about 7ish for a 830 movie because we wanted to buy good seats (after the horrible 1st row experience) and also because we wanted to walk around Nevsky a bit. So Grace wanted to get a relatively inexpensive diet coke (aka NOT the ones the street vendors sell) and i kind of know my way around the m. Mayakovskaya area so i revisited my first ever homestay in russia. I actually passed by the door i used to go through everyday. I wanted to go to the infamous 24 hour часа that we all so dearly loved over the summer. It was great--it still had the mini ice cream parlor type thing in it and it had tons of variety--unlike the grocery stores out by primorskaya. It made me really miss living on the main island and it made me realize what a freakin awesome location I had been in. I kinda wish i was still living there to be honest. so we got dc's and then we still had about 40 minutes to kill so we walked back to nevsky. I got to take the short cut that i remembered that brings you right out across the street from the movie theater. i felt so cool (not really). oh and we saw blood and a tissue on the ground while on the shortcut (awesome). so THEN to continue our tour of grocery stores I decided to show them the most amazing grocery store in st. petersburg. no im not talking about lenta. im talking about the one thats in the mall on Vladimirskaya ulitsa. Its like the best place ever. I would like to hang out in there. for real. im thinking about going back there tomorrow. partially because there were a ton of really awesome shoestores on the way. and i want to buy boots. and they are all on skidka. saweeeet.
oh and we ran into e.b. louis and lauren on the way back from the grocery store. that was fun.
so the movie. wow. what can i say about that piece of cinematic brilliance. well the plot began with a group of three guys--one of which was married--and they were all sleeping around and being manwhores and then one day all of a sudden they couldn't get it up. therefore they had to find love in order to get their manly parts to work. oh russian chick flicks. americans can definitely learn from you. in between their were great hilarious parts (man watching sexy tv eating donuts and crying because over his limp manly bits) and sweet romantic parts and crazy ridiculous russian parts (police chasing a tour bus that ran a red light and then needing to go to the supreme court?). nuff said.
oh and the entire thing took place in NYC. weird.
till next time
Love,
-D
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