Russian Ramblings

November 30, 2009

Hello dear ones,

It's hard to believe it will be December 1st tomorrow. Tom leaves tonight and I will surely miss him. I guess it's back to the nunnery for me. I have two single beds in my room, which is sparsely furnished, and really does resemble a convent. He's on his way to California to be with his Mom and brother Roy. His Dad is in a rehab facility so there's so much for him to deal with there. Now we have word that his Mom who is 96 has pneumonia and is in the hospital as well. This was a great respite for him and he had a wonderful time. His brother Bill's memorial service is yet to be planned so hopefully he'll be able to assist with that.

We had a wonderful first Russian Thanksgiving with our new friends here. We climbed our Rapunzali-like staircase of 120 steps to our friend Kat's apartment carrying all our Thanksgiving offerings: turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, cranberry sauce, apple crisp, gravy, wine and ice. We are thankful we lived to the top!! It was a fun evening with 8 other Americans and Lexi who is a 6 year old Russian orphan girl who was adopted recently by Kate, the teacher I'm subbing for. Kat (whose apartment it was at) had the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on and broadcast it on the brick wall of her living room. Of course this was Lexi's first Thanksgivng so she was thrilled with the balloon characters in the parade, but mostly with watching her giant shadow. That was a highlight for us! She's a beautiful child! We corrupted her by showing her how Americans put olives on their fingers to eat on Thanksgiving. You DO do that don't you??? It's a tradition in our family.

On our last weekend together here we spent Saturday touring the Peter and Paul Fortress and bought a couple of prints for our home in Juneau that remind me of where I live here. We toured the prison where they housed all the dissidents. They made it sound like a hotel but lit sure didn't look like any I've stayed in except for one in Sardinia. So many young people were hung because of their political beliefs. Hopefully, we will continue to respect people with opposing views in our democracy. On Sunday we went to the Smolny Cathedral which looks like a huge blue and white wedding cake and then took a long walk home by the Neva River. It was in the low 40's out so Tom took his coat off and was wearing a short-sleeved shirt. He received many stares from the Russian people out walking and a few smiles. At least now we know how to get them to smile! In the afternoon we went back to the Hermitage to gaze once again at the art work of Picasso, Van Gogh, Matisse, Monet, Cezanne, Leonardo da Vinci and all those important folks. The evening was spent seeing the opera "Aida" and then off to bed since Monday is a work day for me and Tom has to pack to leave for California. He was so happy to have come and experience St. Petersburg for ten days.

Tom and I experienced our first Russian traffic accident together. Ron was driving us and my two teaching friends Kat and Lindsey to our school play that the high schoolers were putting on. We were stalled in traffic and literally not moving when we were hit by a SUV. Nobody was injured and all we knew to do was pretend we couldn't speak Russian when the police showed up, which wasn't a stretch for us. Lindsey did speak the language but was told never to in these situations. An electric tram bus was coming into the intersection when the SUV guy decided he could race it. It hooked on his back bumper and pulled him into us. Fortunately, we are all fine but the car will need a little makeover. The funny thing is that on Friday we had school colors day so Ron sprayed his hair blue and white for the festivities. Can you imagine him at a Russian police station with blue and white hair trying to explain in English what happened? Talk about
credibility! Fortunately the American Consulate intervenes in these situations so they were there as well. Ron is not at fault and all is good. It truly is a wonderful world.

There are so many interesting characters in my daily life here. As I enter my apartment building I have to punch in a code and am greeted (in Russian of course) by the concierge on duty that day. We always have a conversation in our native languages but still are able to communicate a little. Elsa always wears a beige beret and loves Russian mystery novels, Elsa knits and watches Russian soap operas, and Tatiana sorts through old black and white family photos. I would love to know more about their lives but the language is a barrier for sure. They love Marlo, Ron's dog, who I walk everyday after school and always have milkbones to give her. Sweet ladies!

Not to be forgotten is my Russian alarm clock that goes off at unpredictable times from midnight to 6 a.m. Here's how it works. The men here (well some of them anyway) seem to go out to the clubs and pubs and other sudsy establishments to socialize every night of the week and stumble their way back to wherever they go laughing, yelling, sometimes fighting and setting off firecrackers. I wake up wondering where I am. Don't these people have jobs? Probably not, unfortunately! Somehow they enter the courtyard below my apartment to serenade each other (or maybe it's me!). Rude awakening! I'm tempted to get a dozen eggs and pelt them out the window! One night I awoke to someone singing "Ave Maria" in a beautiful tenor voice. At first I thought I had expired in the night. It was just my drunken angel. He hasn't returned since then. Meanwhile my battery alarm clock continues to wake me at 5:30 a.m. For variety sake firecrackers are lit off as well though I prefer to call them fire devils!

Then there's the Music teacher who is Iranian and is quite an accomplished composer and pianist here but teaches elementary music to make ends meet. If the children misbehave they have to sing the musical scale in front of the class. I have to leave the room to save my sanity and my ears! He teaches with an Iranian accent which is very difficult to understand. They kids are now learning Holiday songs to sing at a Winter Concert....mostly American tunes like Frosty the Snowman, All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth, Deck The Halls, and Auld Lang Syne. The children's accents are so adorable as they sing. And they do LOVE to sing inspite of the scale torture!

Tom and I took nightly walks around the city after dinner while he was here. Every building is lit up with lights which accent the architecture which is amazing and on a very grand scale. New Year's is the big winter holiday here so the decorations and lights are starting to go up. We navigate ourselves around the city by the canals and church steeples. They act as lighthouses for us guiding our walks.

A few funnies from the week:

Heidi, a red-haired, freckled faced American girl was trying to comfort a boy who was crying because he didn't want to go to gym because he had a runny nose. She said in her matter of fact American accent, " Oh, just suck it up and deal with it. You'll survive!" He did!!!

We've been making lots of paper quilts and reading wonderful quilt books. Most of the kids didn't know what a quilt was so I showed them some of my quilts I've made on my Facebook page. Bringing in REAL things is a bit difficult here so we make do. The math involved and visual problem solving has been a fun way to integrate the curriculum with the wonderful quilt books I brought along. I wish I had a sewing machine here so we could make a real classroom quilt, but OH WELL! As everyone reminds me, "You're not in Kansas anymore!" Or Alaska!!

Love to all!
Kathy