Running Rampant ‘Round Russia

Hi everyone!

            So at this point it has been almost a year since I did Semester at Sea. Unfortunately, I was separated from all my pictures because of computer issues (technology and I have a love-hate relationship) and I didn't want to post without some pictures to give you all a good visual. But, now that my photos and I have had a wonderful reunion, I figure it's about time for you to see what I did during the second half of a fantastic study abroad experience. So without further ado, off to Russia we go!

             Out of all the countries we will visit on this trip, Russia is the 6th. Russia is also the only country where we will spend 5 days, most likely because getting the Russian visa was pretty expensive and the SAS people want us to get our money’s worth. One thing to note about Russia is that I was actually looking forward to visiting this country, the most I think, because my brother and sister lived there for half of their childhood lives. But after the first couple days, I have to say that I’m feeling a bit underwhelmed. I don’t know if I expected the whole city to be the setting of the 1997 film Anastasia, or if I thought that every church I saw would have the classic onion dome, but it seems that Russia will not be in my top three favorite countries. Now, on to the interesting parts…
            The first day in St. Petersburg had me spending a large amount of time on the Neva canal. I ended up accidentally signing up for two programs that went on the Neva, so I feel very comfortable saying that the portion of the Neva I saw multiple times is now a very close friend. The weather in Russia is by far the hottest and muggiest we have encountered so far, so feeling the breeze on my face on the water was very welcome.
The Neva Canal!

One of the many nice views from my trip(s) on the Neva
            My second day in Russia reminded me just how much I like to know exactly where I am at all times, and how much I love being able to read the street and store signs in the English alphabet. As you know, the Russian language and alphabet is way, way different from our own, so you kind of just have to try and memorize where you want to go and where you’ve been. My friends and I attempted to use public transportation, and then abandoned it after discovering that Russia has rush-hour traffic at the weirdest times of day, and walked into the main part of St. Petersburg sweaty and exhausted without even seeing anything important yet! Needless to say, I’m a little uncomfortable and annoyed as we make our way to the Our Savior of the Spilled Blood Church (which does have those famous onion domes by the way) and then to an indoor market where sangrias are made up of more fruit than they are alcohol. This is also the place where I tried macaroons for the first time and let me tell you, I’VE BEEN MISSING OUT! THEY ARE LIKE LITTLE COOKIES MADE OF MAGIC AND UNICORN TEARS and I am happy to say that they made an exhausting day make a turn for the better.
Yay Sangria!
             After seeing more of the shops and markets Russia had to offer, we had to make our way back to the ship so that I could get ready to go to the ballet! And here begins my recounting of the most terrifying taxi ride. First I have to say that this was my first taxi ride because where I live I have just never needed to take one, so I was already nervous. Then, equipped with the address of the dock in Russian, and the English pronunciation of it, my friends and I set out to find a taxi driver because there was not enough time for us to walk back to the ship. We found a driver, showed him the paper, and all seemed to be right as rain until the taxi driver, after a couple minutes, turned in the wrong direction. I figured that he would be finding a less busy street to drive on but after several minutes of going the wrong way, I turned to Emily and asked her if we were, in fact, going in the wrong direction. She hadn’t noticed (this is surprising because she is usually very aware and because we were SPECIFICALLY TOLD by staff to make sure that we always had our wits about us in this country particularly). So I found the little courage I had and spoke to the taxi driver about the problem and I ended up figuring out that he had just read the slip wrong, and then he took us where we needed to go without charging us for his mistake. It all ended well for us, but my anxiousness was justified since one group of girls had their bill increased by their taxi driver because they weren’t paying attention, and one group of boys got dropped off in the middle of nowhere by their driver. After calming down, I got ready for the ballet and joined my friends for a lovely rendition of Swan Lake. When first learning that I would be going to Russia I made sure that I would attend a ballet because I figured that this would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I wanted to make it count. I think I made it count!
Me, right before the ballet started

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