June 10, 2007 || Meeting Host Families

June 10, 2007

“That’s a big glass case of ‘Do It Yourself But I’ll Point You In The Right Direction.”- Neil

First—I know why Europeans don’t shave. Showers are not fun places to linger if there’s no hot water. After an icy sponge shower on the first day, and a day full of grease just so I wouldn’t HAVE to shower, today’s burst of hot water was a priceless change. Today we meet our host families, so I wanted to dress nice…. but I didn’t bring any capris, so I decided on a skirt, which would have been impossible for me to wear if swimming hadn’t made me immune to the sight of my own hairy legs.

I wonder what they tell our host families, in how to deal with us? “Don’t speak anything but Russian to them, even if they break down sobbing?” Warn them that we’ll need alone time and a space of our own, like a new puppy? Give them tips on how to help us with homesickness and culture-shock? Teach them about power converters and peanut butter? I can only imagine some of those sessions, and how they must think some of our habits are so strange (and how useful some of them might be).

Speaking of, my lack of a household outfit is going to shock my family right away, especially my lack of slippers. Russians immediately change when they get home, and everybody has a pair of домашные тапочки (at least in the big cities). Their rationale is pretty sound, too—the big cities are so dirty (not so much due to litter as to air quality and dirt, since they’re so old and industrial), that their clothes and especially shoes are filthy by the time they get home. It feels a bit Soviet, too—keeping the public just at your door, but still out, and keeping the private life in.

As the Kazan Cathedral’s bells ring 10:30am I’m reminded that what I really wanted to write about was yesterday, our first real day on the town. We all went to lunch together at a блыны café (basically a creperie) after which about 7 of us got a short crash-course in navigating the city while the other 9 met with the home stay coordinator, Natasha, to find their homes on a local map, figure out how to get to class, learn key Russian habits and such (our lessons had been reversed before lunch). This short, intense lesson began with a stroll down Nevsky (St. Pete’s main drag), where Neil and Katya (Neil’s Russian counterpart) pointed out things like good cafes, the theater kiosks, common scams, and bus stops. Then we were lead into a metro station, given a metro and city map, brief instruction on how to buy tokens, and told “We follow you from here on out.” They gave us a destination, but we had to read the sings, change metro lines, and finally exit at our stop. From there, we had to use the maps to get back to the University. Jessica and I broke off from the other when we thought they were going the wrong way, and eventually asked a бабушка (babushka/grandmother) for directions. She pointed the way, and also offered us rooms for rent (but only until she figured out Neil was with us; she wouldn’t lodge boys). We found the way home, and walked it after 3 buses successively passed us by. According to Neil (who stayed completely silent until this point), who walks as nonchalantly but just as quickly as no one I know but Mike Furman, it was the longest he’d EVER waited for a bus on Nevsky.

Exhausted, we got back to the hotel around 4pm, which was when we’d agreed earlier to meet and get dinner with Trista and KK, as well as hit the Internet Café again, and try to buy tapochki (slippers). We walked around, got our first taste of Гостины Дворь (Gostiniy D'vor), a sort of mall. We ate in the shadow of the Kazan Cathedral, in view of Nevsky and Dom Knigi (House of Books), at a fabulous Japanese restaurant while we at first marveled at the bells’ booms and then began asking each other “When is it going to stop?!” I was back home for good around 8pm, where I had enough to do to keep me busy and tire me out until 11pm. I think the thing I want to buy most of all (after a plug adapter, which I forgot to bring) is an eye shade… and maybe ear plugs, haha.

àQuick Note: Have moved in! Marina Nikolaevna is very nice and chatty, though most of it goes over my head. I fear I am the worst at Russian of her 30+ exchanges. The last 2 girls both had at least 3 years. Igor has picked up on the fact that I don’t speak Russian well, I think, and keeps to his TV. Computer is charging; the bed is so soft I want to cry each time I sit on it (the beds at the University were SO low and uncomfortable). Wearing tapochki of previous girl; going to the store in 15 minutes. Don’t know the proper way to give them my gifts. Brought waaaay too much—I only have 2 drawers and 6 hangers with which to store all my clothes. Place is VERY nice—bright and cheerful with lots of plants and light. Interesting wallpaper in W.C.. Very very happy but upset that all the Russian words seem to have left my head; embarrassed to bring out dictionary at the table. First real waves of people-sickness—Marina Nikolaevna has a cell phone just like Nana’s, I missed mom because I kept wondering what she would think if she was here, and unpacked my stuffed moose from Curtis; wonder how he (and the others) are doing.

====You Might Find This Interesting====

>Russians, like most Europeans, have two “bathrooms;” one is simply a Water Closet, or room with a toilet—the other has a sink and shower, etc. Sometimes they are connected, but not always.

>In Saint Petersburg, and in Moscow and some other Russian cities, the hot water is turned off for a short period during the summer. This rotates every few weeks; and they do it so the pipes can be cleaned out. à Some Russians have a hot water heater right in their bathroom, so they can have hot water all the time. It’s called a colonko, and they have to light it themselves with a match—students without proper instruction from ACTR aren’t allowed to turn on these things in their home, because if lit wrong, they could explode. J

>As soon as they walk in the door, Russians change into different clothes, so the clothes that are all dirty from walking about the city, don’t dirty up the house. For the same reason, on Trans-Siberian rails and long train trips Russians will often quickly change into a track suit or comfortable clothing—it’s just habit, to keep dirt out of their personal space.

>Most Russians carry with them their favorite “pakyet,” which is a sturdy plastic bag used for carrying purchases from a store, and other things (in Russia, it costs extra to have your purchases put into a plastic bag). …It definitely makes the militia/soldiers less threatening to see them walking around in their uniforms with bright plastic bags from fashion shops and such in their hands.