Ya Ni Gavaru Paruski

29/08/16

So I had a blog post I wrote during my layover in England, but there is way too much to talk about for the “okla” 48 hours I’ve spent in Russia. Someone just told me “okla” is the word for “around.” I’ve been in Russia for around 48 hours, and I don’t even know where to begin…this may be a bit all over the place.

A picture from our bus leaving St. Petersburg Airport.

A picture from our bus leaving St. Petersburg Airport.

So you see how I wrote the date above, that’s how the date is supposed to be written in Russia. Rubles are pretty easy to keep track of, and the cost of living is really inexpensive in Russia. It looks like an average lunch costs the equivalent of ~$3 per day, which is just under 200P (rubles). The Russian equivalent of Walmart is called OK, and they have most things you would need or want in America. You can’t buy peanut butter there…you have to go to the special import store in the middle of central St. Petersburg & pay a premium. I haven’t made it to this store yet, but I will soon. Speaking of which, the metro is clean and efficient. It is extremely inexpensive (~20P or ~a 1/3 of a US cent). You can’t take pictures while you’re in there and you can’t congregate in large groups, or the police will come. Helpful hint, drivers in Russia speed up to hit pedestrians, so make sure you see the green man on the sign before you start walking.

Nuclear Power Plant...Maybe

A picture of what I thought was a Nuclear Power Plant aside the highway on the way to Akademicheskaya, St. Petersburg, Russia.

They do have a supplements store where you can buy whey protein, which I’m going to hit up tomorrow. I also joined to local “fitnus centor,” with some difficulty (more about this in a bit). The phrase “Ya Ni Gavaru Ruski” means “I don’t speak Russian.” “Eta Pravada,” means “this is the truth.” Well, this is the truth. I came to Russia speaking no Russian, not being able to read, and not being able to write. Hopefully I don’t sound too naive or over-confident, but I don’t feel nervous about this at all even though this is my new home for the next year. Let me explain to you what I’ve gathered so far.

Russian Highway

A typical Russian highway, the signs are in Kilometers.

Today I had about two Russian hours of language class (a Russian hour is 45 minutes). In that time, my Professor, Ingra, explained a few things. So the classic print Russian letters you see on signs, you don’t write with. You write in a different cursive form, which is how you first learn the language pronunciations. Then once this happens, you can start to read the print letters with these same pronunciations. By that time, you will start to be able to speak the language. Hopefully that made sense… :/

View from my Dorm.

The view from my dorm room in the International Dorms.

 

Dorm room is bare bones, the true Russian spirit of things!

Dorm room is bare bones, the true Russian spirit of things!

A view of the front of the international dorms in Akademicheskaya, St. Petersburg, Russia.

A view of the front of the international dorms in Akademicheskaya, St. Petersburg, Russia.

A picture of a building in the suburbs of Akademicheskaya, where our dorms are located, about 20mins from the city center.

A picture of a building in the suburbs of Akademicheskaya, where our dorms are located, about 20mins from the city center.

People in Akademicheskaya, a suburb of St. Petersburg, Russia.

People in Akademicheskaya, a suburb of St. Petersburg, Russia.

“Tak” (so) back to Fitnus Centor. I walked in to get a 3 month membership, 4450P (about 70 dollars). I asked the lady if she spoke English “Engliski,” because “Ya Ni Gavaru Ruski.” This is quite eye opening to say the least, now I know how people who don’t speak English in America feel! On a side note because I just remebered this, on our way to the dorms after first arriving in Russia, we saw some dude in a brand new Escalade driving on the grass along side the railroad tracks xD.

A vendor selling Matrushka dolls, scarfs, and other stuff to tourists outside The Peter & Paul Fortress in the City Center of St. Petersburg, Russia.

A vendor selling Matrushka dolls, scarfs, and other stuff to tourists outside The Peter & Paul Fortress in the City Center of St. Petersburg, Russia.

You have to keep a straight face most of the time here because Russian people don’t smile. It’s not because they’re all necessarily angry all the time, but they just don’t feel the need to show emotion. The train of thought is that when they see someone smiling as they walk around the street, they have something wrong with them mentally. Also, Americans abroad, putting things into perspective I guess we are all loud af, and a bit inconsiderate at times.

A Store in the St. Petersburg city center selling clothes for humans only...i guess.

A Store in the St. Petersburg city center selling clothes for humans only…i guess.

What else…tak…so all the students in the same study abroad program are really nice and a bit nerdy similar to myself (I mean what did you expect of people who decided to go to Russia to study abroad, #florence2k16). I can repeat about half a dozen key Russian phrases so far, but this has just been out of the pure need to survive, like “Ge De Toliet” (you guess that one).

Pronounced, "Res-to-ran."

Pronounced, “Res-to-ran.” (Shout out to Tay and David).

Tak, I’ve decided to name my blog chain of posts Re-yal Nia-rosia, “The Real Russia.” Here I am not going to post pictures of stuff you could google like the Hermitage or the Church of Our Savior on Spilt Blood. I am going to post stuff that’d you’d need to investigate yourself, Re-yal Nia-rosia!!

Tea and cake we ate on one of our group meals in the international dorms.

Tea and cake we ate on one of our group meals in the international dorms.

A bowl of borscht we had at lunch, soo good!

A bowl of borscht we had at lunch, soo good!

In Russia the light switches for the bathroom are on the outside for whatever reason...

In Russia the light switches for the bathroom are on the outside for whatever reason…

 

A sign inside a karaoke bar in the city center of St. Petersburg.

A sign inside a karaoke bar in the city center of St. Petersburg.

My rough class schedule is language classes M/W/F, and upper div. electives T/Th. It sounds pretty geeky, but I could have easily spent 2 more hours in my language class. This study abroad is totally self-motivated (we don’t have a Russian language department at UPS), and that makes learning that much more easier. Anyway, I’ve got classes tomorrow, and need to find out where the laundry room is, so for now I will just get some pictures in this post.

My Russian textbook, literal translation of title according to Ingra my language professor is "Success."

My Russian textbook, literal translation of title according to Ingra my language professor is “Success.”

Spakonia Nochi (good night),

-Andre (Andrew is the equivalent of Andriy in Russian)

Headed to Mother Russia

8/18/16

It’s 12 o’clock on my last day of work at my on-campus summer job here at UPS. I’m sitting at my desk with a fan whirring beside me, googling how to go about writing a study abroad blog. I’ve never been one to keep a journal or diary so I’m hoping my posts won’t come across as too contrived. I guess to start out I should tell you a bit about myself.

IMG_0731

I’m a 23 year old junior here at UPS. I’m an international business major, just started playing rugby here this past semester, and for the past year have been planning to study abroad in Russia. I don’t speak the language, have never traveled to the country, and do not know anyone who lives there. Probably the top two responses I’ve received when talking with others about my plans are: “Why Russia?” and “That’s crazy man.”

You know, the more I begin to think about it maybe it is a little crazy. It wasn’t until a year ago I had even considered studying abroad when my faculty advisor strongly suggested I consider doing so, referring to it as a “once in a lifetime, life changing experience.” As for why, I don’t really have a one tell-all response that can sum things up. Sure Russian cuisine isn’t world renowned, the tap water in St. Petersburg may be contaminated with an intestinal virus and heavy metals, and during the winter the temperature drops below freezing, but that’s just focusing on the negative aspects of the situation. I’ve created the opportunity, for an entire academic year, to immerse myself in a completely new culture that I’ve always been curious about.

At the moment I only have a few goals while studying abroad, but I’m sure this list will grow:

-Learn the language

-Be assigned a babushka during my homestay

-Travel the Trans Siberian Railway

-Volunteer at the Hermitage Museum

As for the frequency of my blog posts, ideally I would like to post at least bi-monthly. I’ll try to post as many photos as I can, and candidly share my experiences. Most sources recommend that a travel or study abroad blog be designed with a recurring theme, but at the moment I’m still trying to figure out what that should be. This is my first time blogging…any thoughts or suggestions? If you have any requests for things you want me to find out while I’m there, feel free to email me!

-Andrew

International Holiday

As the holidays are finishing up I feel incredibly lucky to have had such an incredible few weeks. Finishing up classes and saying goodbye to Granada just before Christmas was one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do so far on this trip. I survived finals, but saying goodbye to my incredible host mom and host sister, the 40 ILACA students, my new friends in Granada, and the beautiful city of Granada was no easy task. However, I was lucky enough to be invited to spend the holidays in Almería with a friend of mine who I met in salsa classes.

Saying Goodbye to Granada...

Saying Goodbye to Granada…

When we arrived in Almería we were greater by a large and delicious lunch of “bolas”… balls, similar to meat balls but with bread and other things. I was told this was a traditional New Years Eve meal for their family, but because her parents would be working this year they were eating it early. The rest of the trip seemed to be centered around food and family, and I felt lucky to be a part of a traditional Spanish Christmas. There was a ham leg in the kitchen that we slowly worked our way through by eating a little bit every meal an snacking on it when coming home late at night. On Christmas Eve we went to a suburb of the city and had dinner with her moms side of the family. They were all welcoming and more than willing to include me in the holiday tradition as we ate plum stuffed turkey, lasagna, seafood stew, and of course bread and ham. They wrapped up dinner by singing some traditional Christmas songs and waking up the 9 month old baby to join in the fun.

Exploring the Alcazar of Almería

Exploring the Alcazar of Almería

On Christmas day we ate lunch with her dads side of the family, just as loud, fun, and inviting. If I didn’t know better I would’ve thought they were arguing at the table as they yelled at one another between bites of food, but that’s simply the Spanish way. I got to try “caracoles” which is kind of like a snails ceviche and was actually quite good, along with the ham, fish, beef, and chorizo. This meal finished off with 2 giant boxes of desserts, one was pralines, the other bonbons! I was so full I couldn’t possibly eat another bite, but found room for a few more chocolates before we headed out.

A Christmas/Birthday Potluck in Almería

A Christmas/Birthday Potluck in Almería

Along with the traditional family meals, I got to meet a number of Alba’s friends from Almería and really get to see what it’s like to hang out with Spaniards. Up until this trip in Almería I was baffled by the night life of Spain (you’re not supposed to start heading to clubs before 2 or 3 am and can often be out until 8), but I now understand slightly better how this works. You start by taking a good siesta (2 hours) in the afternoon. You wake up around 5 or 6 pm and head for coffee with friends. You then go and grab some tapas for dinner between 9 and 11, and then head to a park or a friends house to hang out, chat, or occasionally play jeopardy games. Then you have a drink and finally go dancing. You hang out at the dance club until you’re bored and then go eat breakfast and head home where you sleep until 12. While I now understand the schedule, I’m not sure I could maintain it for any large period of time, but I’m told it’s uncommon to go out all the time.

The time spent in Almería was amazing for so many reasons… I was able to experience Navidad the Spanish way (or at least part of it since it technically goes until January 6th), I was invited to stay with a friends family and shown incredible generosity and hospitality by people who I hardly know, I got to delve into the Spanish lifestyle, and I think I learned more Spanish in 9 days than throughout my entire program because I never had an off switch.

I then headed to Barcelona for New Years Eve, and stayed in St Jordi’s Mambo Tango Hostel, which had an amazing staff and was relatively close to all the action. On New Years Eve Barcelona has an event which was referred to as the “Magic Fountain.” The fountain in their main square is turned on and colorful and there is music. Even better they have human pyramids where something like 20 people bunch together on the ground then 10 people stand on them, then 7, then 5, and so on. This was topped off by a fireworks display just before 12, followed by the eating of the 12 grapes at midnight in order to have a lucky year.

Finally Reunited with Maddie!

Finally Reunited with Maddie!

Finally on New Years day I headed to Prague and was reunited with one of my best friends. She is now on her way to Spain for the same program I just completed, but first we needed to meet up in an international location 🙂 Her family hosts professional paddlers from the Czech Republic every year and they showed us around the city and took us to Plzen, the original home of Pilsner beer. We toured the factory while there, saw the cathedral, and were treated to a delicious home cooked meal of traditional Czech food (potato dumplings, meat, and sauerkraut). We were invited to stay with the family of one of the boys who visits every year. His mother was an incredible cook and baker and gave us each 2 jars of homemade jam to take with us. The table had a cookie tray in the middle with about 10 different kinds of intricate cookies, all of which his mother had made for the holidays. This trip has also been characterized by a lot of eating… I’ve been full since I got to the Czech Republic and I’m pretty sure I’ll stay that way until I leave.

Making Potato Dumplings in Plzen

Making Potato Dumplings in Plzen

So I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to share my holiday season with incredibly generous and kind people from 3 different countries (my friend from the US counts too :))!