Sorry I didn't update last night. I was slightly incapacitated. After work last night Olivia, Joe, Aaron, Ryan and I went up to the Leningradski Voksa to order our train tickets to St. Petersburg. That was a trip! First, we had to figure out which metro station to get off at, then once we got to the right metro station, we had to figure out which station was Leningradski... ughh. We waited in line for awhile at the first station only to be told to go to 14... didn't know what that meant so we went to window 14 and she told us to exit the building. Still confused, Joe approached an officer who informed us that we were in the wrong building. At this point, the group had split up because Ryan and Olivia went to find a bathroom. So we asked another group of officers where we could find a bathroom. Didn't understand a thing they said, but nodded and smiled and said "da, da..." and exited the building, as it was obvious there were no bathrooms in there. Then we realized Olivia and Ryan would be looking for us at that station so we went right back around to the entrance and walked straight past the same group of officers. I couldn't help but chuckle a little and a couple kind of laughed at us. I just shook my head and walked on. Then we made it to another station and I successfully succeeded in asking a lady where it would be possible to buy tickets to St. Petersburg... I am very proud of myself. We finally found the station and made our way to the ticket windows (ironically, ending up at window 14). We waited in line for a significant amount of time, but were happy to be in the right place. Now actually ordering the tickets, that was another adventure in itself. Thankfully we had Joe, whose Russian continues a little further past where mine fails. It took awhile, but we finally got what we wanted and at half the price of what they cost on the internet. So three hours, some dignity, lots of frustration, and $106 later, we had our tickets and were on our way back to the other interns' apartment and dinner.
We ate at a Georgian restaurant and had Georgian style pizza... it was very interesting, but good. Then we hung out with the other interns for awhile before heading back near the embassy to go to Molly Gwinns for a beer with the Marines, which turned into Coyote Ugly again.... and another 4:30 am night... ughh...
Randomly I met a guy that grew up in Duluth... he actually works at the embassy and is our neighbor... I don't know his official rank or what not, but he's like a higher up Marine... and then as I was leaving I ran into a guy who spoke English that grew up in Blaine, MN and now lives in Woodbury. Small flipping world... lol
Obviously my choices last night did not help me get healthier and I was in and out of bed until 5 PM, which is when I had my first bit of food. Since then I've done nothing but lie on the couch. Our other roommate came today! I'm super excited! Her name's Katerina and she is from Arizona... so now we have three girls from three different time zones.
Anywho, I'm off to bed...
Hey girl! Sounds like you used alot of self-control and the "golden gift" of patience. Wow, what a night. Are they all so,hmm,exciting? If so, keep up w/the nutrition we can't have you 'blowing back to the states cuz you failed to eat!LOL! You have so much to do there. Love to you, be safe, your aunt Cindy in Ca.
ReplyDeleteПривет Ashley,
ReplyDeleteЭто Татьяна из Хейворда. :)
I finally got to read your blog. I sounds like you are enjoying Russia so far. I am glad you like it, it's always interesting to know what people think of your country , what they might like or what might seem odd. One thing is always true though, time is going to fly by when you are having fun!!! It's especially fun to read about some of your experiences as I've been there too and can picture most of the places you are writing about. I hope your trip to St Petersburg is going to be fun (or was). I LOVE THAT CITY!!! Hope the weather is nice, it can be gloomy in winter. I like Moscow but St Petersburg is one of my favorite cities ever!! Хорошего настроения, новых впечатлений, интересной недели.