2010: A Russian Odyssey

Dobro pozhalovat v Sankt-Peterburg!

(Welcome to Saint-Petersburg!) After a long journey of three flights, I’ve finally made it to St. Petersburg! The flight to Dulles was fine, but for some reason the eight hour flight from Dulles to Vienna was just killing me. Then the three hour flight from Vienna to St. Petersburg got me a little scared – whatever countries I was passing over, they were all completely covered with snow. Flashes of “What have I got myself into?” went in and out of my head.

Stepping onto the tarmac at Pulkovo airport was like an epiphany, I didn’t know such levels of cold existed. But now that I’ve bared the single digit and negative degrees, I know what to expect and it’s definitely manageable. I don’t think I’ll be going for long hikes in this weather, but it’s really not all that bad when dressed properly. I need to invest in a balaclava, that’s all I’m missing to feel comfortable outside right now.

I’m staying at the Hotel Pulkovskaya Park Inn, which is pretty far from the Petersburg city center, until Friday when we go to our homestays. The area outside our hotel is the Ploshad Pobedy (Victory Square) and there’s a massive monument in the center dedicated to those that survived and fought against the Nazi blockade of Leningrad for 900 days between 1941 and 1945. Here’s the view from my hotel:

Pretty much the whole day Thursday was dedicated to orientation and getting an introduction to “practical activities” like how to use the metro. We’ve been eating all our meals inside the hotel restaurant so far – mainly potatoes, rice, beef stroganoff, and today, borshch.

Tomorrow is our academic orientation in the morning and in the afternoon we’re moving in with our “Petersburg families.” I’m excited to see who I’ll be staying with, and how far I’ll actually be from the CIEE study centers. Internet is a bit expensive (or if free, then scarce) so I may not be around to answer emails or texts until Monday. Hopefully my homestay is near a McDonald’s, I hear they all have free WiFi. Also I added a little flickr feed on the right side of the page to show my latest photos!