Maslenitsa

I had a fun weekend filled with cultural activities!  

On Saturday, I saw La Boheme at the Mikhailovsky Theater. It was fun to see the opera the RENT was based on after being in it! They did a really good job - the set design was awesome and the actors/singers were very talented.

On Sunday, I went to a big park to celebrate Maslenitsa (Shrovetide), the last unofficial day of winter and the beginning of Lent

Maslenitsa was accompanied by an awesome fair, including attractions for children, stages with concerts and contests, carriage and pony rides, and lots of food and special honey beer

Rachel and I indulged in some good ole Russian shashlik 

Me with an effigy of winter, who just a couple hours after this picture was set on fire to symbolize the end of winter and the sorrows that come with it

Kids sledding in the beautiful park. The park, Central Park of Culture and Arts, is just north of where I live and is a nice place to get a hint of nature while still in the city

A stage area with some folks dancing around a maypole

Just a cute little matroshka 

I can't say no to face paint - really got me in the spirit! 

The doll that Rachel and I bought as our effigy - we stuck it in the snow and burned it to the ground!

Bye bye, winter

Banya Babes

An update: I have had pancakes since my last post. Exactly 3 times so far this week. More pancakes to come.

Yesterday was my second visit to the banya. The beautiful banya. It's a magical place that weasels its way into your soul and wrings it until you are pure and feel like god has kissed you on the forehead. We Banya Babes rented a private room that includes a sauna, cold pool, shower, and a couple rooms to relax, chat, eat, etc. You go between the hot sauna and cold pool to totally refresh and rejuvenate your body. Also, if you want to be best friends for life with someone, you ask them to hit you with a birch branch to help your circulation. The whole banya experience is perfect for bonding, feeling good mentally and physically, and sleeping like a baby that night.

If someone has not been to the banya, I will talk that shit up until they go to the banya.

This weekend will be an exciting one of festivities to welcome the beginning of spring (which is what pancake week is technically about, but I wholeheartedly emphasize the pancake part). I will definitely post about my welcoming of the new season on Sunday night : )

Spilling

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in so long - the website doesn't seem to want to let me post when I want to!

This past week and a half has been pretty normal school-wise. Tests are starting to pop up, some easy to deal with and some that involve a little more work. I'm gonna be honest, I've been really lazy in Russia so far. I usually only have about 15 minutes of homework, so once I find out that a test is coming up, it's hard to get focused and do more work. I have a culture quiz on Friday that I'm currently severely unprepared for, but that will definitely change by the end of the week.

I've run into problems within the last several days with things spilling. I feel like these things are trying to tell me something, but I'm too busy cleaning them up to think about what they could signify. Is something in my life spilling? Maybe it's money. Since my last post I've booked a hostel and bought plane tickets for my spring break trip to Prague, and it feels pretty shitty to see that money go, even though I know the experience will be awesome. Not to mention all the money I've been spending here on transportation and food.

In case you didn't know, this week in Russia is pancake week. I did not make this up. And so far, I have had zero pancakes. I feel like this fact takes credibility away from my life. By the next blog post, I hope this is fixed. And I'll try not to spill my pancakes.

I'm super cute. 

Rachel

St. Petersburg keeps getting better and better. I'm feeling comfortable with the city, finding my favorite places to hang out, and becoming closer with my new friends. Also, I've been laughing a lot recently.

Now, I just wanna take a second to brag about my friend Rachel. When I was picked up by my Russian hostmom for the first time, she told me that there existed a mysterious girl who would be living in the apartment below me but was delayed in getting to Petersburg. I got nervous - my expectations for this girl were suddenly very high, and what if she just wasn't as cool as I needed her to be? This girl needed to bus to school with me every day, go shopping with me, try new restaurants, and be there for me when shit went down and life was being difficult. I spent the next 24 hours wondering if this girl I had never met could live up to the person I saw her to be in my head. Well, she did.

Rachel and I have many adventures to come - stay tuned!

Revelations

Yesterday was an amazing day, and I want to share it with you all.

They say that studying abroad changes you, but let me tell you: it's not for the reasons you might think. Russia itself is fantastic, and just the fact that I'm living in another country for 4 months is amazeballs. But, what really opens up your world is the world. Not Russia, not schooling in Russia, not Russian people or homestays, but the fact that you're out in the world. I know that right now, I'm out in the world thanks to my parents and them being well off to send me here, but in a couple years, I'll be out in the world because I worked to get there. And I'll be doing amazing things.

There are some incredible people from the US that are here on this program, people my age who are independent and know what they want from life and do what they have to do to be out in the world. This isn't the first time I've run into these types of people, but this is the first time it's really sunk in that I can be this kind of person, too. In this past year, my personality has changed drastically and I've developed so much as a person that I can finally settle down on what I really want from life instead of what I think I should want.

After these revelations began to randomly happen throughout the day, I went to the banya (Russian bath house) with a couple girls from the program and that was really the cherry on my revelation sundae. The banya was perfect - it was not only a physical cleanse, but a mental one after a day of rampant thoughts about my life. Last night, I had the best sleep of my life and woke up so refreshed and ready to do anything.

I'm scared to come back to the US so changed that people around me won't know what to do with me, so guys, this is your preparation. I think you might like me even more.