This post title (for those who didn't get the reference) is a quote from The Rocky Horror Show, and I have been waiting for the right occasion to use it in a blog post for way too long. Showing how big of a musical theatre geek I am.
In any case, there are actually a few strange journeys which I have taken in the past week, but I'll start at the very beginning, as I've heard it's a very good place to start.
On Sunday I went to the Russian museum with my peer tutor. As she's been there many times, we basically did the speed-though strategy and didn't actually spend a lot of time looking at anything. I plan to go back on my own though, perhaps after reading up on the collection a little, as my student ID gets me in for free. I'm going to miss the perks of being a student of the Russian Federation. Anyway, the most interesting part of the museum, to me, was the folk art. They had all sorts of things that I can't remember the names of and could only describe using a lot of gestures, but just trust me that if you ever have the chance to come to Petersburg, it's worth a stop. My tutor explained to me that most tourists don't go to the Russian museum, because they prefer to see the European art in the Hermitage, so I'm doing my part to promote the place.
On Sunday my tutor and I also bought tickets to Oliver! which I'm really excited about. Did I mention how I'm a huge musical theater geek? It's funny, turns out that completely independently, my host grandmother and Nastya decided to go see the show. I tried to contain my enthusiasm about it, because I've heard a a few of Tatiana Dmitrievna's rants against the current state of music and theatre in Russia ("How dare the Alexandrinsky reinterpret classics?" or "When I was young, musicians could actually sing and the songs had meaning and musical merit") I haven't heard whether or not Nastya enjoyed the show, but I overheard Tatiana Dmitrievna telling someone on the phone that the girls "looked like prostitutes" and the music wasn't any good. Thankfully, she didn't complain about it to me, as I don't think my musical fan-dom could have remained silent.
On Monday I had my Phonetics midterm, which went surprisingly well. My reaction to that class is often that I end up hearing "Why Can't the English?" on repeat in my head as I struggle to pronounce ль, сг, дь, сж, ы, or щ (which don't exist in English, so for those who don't know what that means, I really can't explain it). However, after I read my excerpt from a children's poem (Айболит for those who care to look it up) and only stumbled slightly on the paragraph that she gave us to prepare, my professor told me that except for soft "L" (ль) I have barely any accent when reading in Russian!!! She qualified this, of course, by reminding me that reading is not the same as speaking without an accent, but I don't care! Наконец-то мне хорошо получилось!
The real adventure of this week, however, took place on Wednesday.
Ever since we first received the list of excursions at the beginning of the semester, the trip to the Baltika brewery was one of the ones I was most looking forward to. Especially after we were told that the tour ended with a beer tasting (that's right, like a wine tasting, only for beer). Also, Baltika is the 3rd largest company in Russia and the brewery we were going to is the second largest in Europe and almost completely automated.
So Tuesday night Sasha (my host mom) told me how to get to the metro stop where I was supposed to meet the group. Now, she didn't tell me how long it would take to get there, but after looking at a map, I figured it should take about as long on the marshrutka as it usually takes me to get to school.
Wednesday morning, running a bit late but not overly concerned, I made my way to the bus stop and waited under my (new) purple umbrella, which was protecting me from the wet snow that has recently been plaguing our existence here in the motherland. Just as I was beginning to worry that the marshrutka wouldn't come in time, it arrived and I followed the other travelers onto the small bus, fumbled in my wallet for the 30 rubles that it cost, accepted the change the driver gave me, and fell into a nearby seat with a sigh of relief. First obstacle conquered!
At this point, a brief explanation of marshrutkas is probably needed for those readers who haven't been to Russia. The term "marshrutka" is actually a shortened form of "маршрутное такси", which means a taxi that has a fixed route. The system has evolved a bit, however, since the name was coined, and the marshrutkas that operate in my neighborhood would best be described as smaller buses. Some of them are big yellow vans, but the majority look just like a normal public transit bus, only slightly smaller. As the city transit in St. Pete is severely lacking (one of my host mom's favorite rants), marshrutkas fill in the gap and go on different routes through the city that normal buses either don't do, or don't do frequently enough. They tend to cost a bit more (real buses are only 21 rubles) but with the convenience factor, they still do pretty good business.
Back to my marshrutka saga:
After a moment of panic, being stranded somewhere I was completely unfamiliar with, I decided that there would probably be another marshrutka that would come along with the same route, or at least one that could bring me to the metro. I'd be out another 30 roubles, but at least I now had a plan for how to get home. Mistake number 2 was taking the next marshrutka.
As I looked around for the best place to wait for the next bus, I noticed several people running to meet one that was coming down the street. When I saw the sign on the front that said "бесплатно" (free) I joined them. When I saw that the one stop listed on the side (how Russian buses indicate routes) was the metro stop I was trying to reach, I got in with the rest of the crowd.
It was not until about 20 minutes later that I realised my error. Instead of ending up at the metro, the bus (for this one was the size of a normal bus, just with more standing room) brought us to a big shopping complex centered around IKEA. Again, very much not my intended destination.
As the bus pulled up to the stop outside the huge building, however, I noticed a sign on the bus stop that said the name of the metro stop I was trying to reach. Thinking that there was a small chance that the metro was located somewhere near this big complex, I got off the bus. Third mistake.
After wandering into the parking lot next to the bus stop (the building was on stilts so the parking was effectively the ground floor) I realized that the metro was decidedly NOT there. After looking at my phone for the time, and seeing that I was already at least 5 minutes late, I considered calling my resident director to say I was lost. Then I decided that since I was already late and now had to wait for the next bus, I might as well give up on the field trip and just find my way to the metro.
Defeated, I made my way back to the bus stop to wait for another 15 minutes. This time, the bus did get me where I wanted to go and I finally reached the meeting place about 45 minutes after I was supposed to be there and at least 20 minutes after the group had left.
Resigned to the fact that I'd missed it, I noticed a bookstore next to the metro. Those who know me well will recognize that this almost immediately raised my spirits. So I went in and wandered through the aisles for a while before finding 2 Chekhov books (relevant to my thesis) and a huge bin filled with books in English. This was the most English-language I'd seen in a store here that wasn't framed for people learning English (aka it was unabridged and without a glossary in the back). This small victory alone almost made up for missing the excursion. I ended up buying the Chekhov and Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. There were a few other English books that interested me, but I reasoned a small one would be better for carrying around (as I am wont to do).
I then decided that as this metro stop was on the blue line, and I had no desire to brave the marshrutkas again, I might as well go wander through the center for a while. I walked around Nevsky, the Hermitage (outside), St. Isaac's Cathedral (though I didn't know it's name at the time), and after a big circle decided to see the rest of Gostiniy Dvor', since I'd only made it about half way the last time. Also, my search for a fur hat that costs a reasonable amount is always in the back of my mind.
So after what was probably way too long, without finding anything that didn't cost an arm and a leg, I made my way back into the metro and headed home.
Stay tuned for my history lesson from Tatiana Dmitrievna, further wanderings in the city, Friday's April Fools' celebration, and my trip to the cheap hostel that CISLA found. This post is already long enough, so those adventures will have to wait until the next one.
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