July 5, 2007 || Still Playing Catch-Up

So I was going to start this post by telling you that yesterday made me more homesick than any other day here--I was missing Curtis, whose visit had made it feel like things had returned somewhat to normal, even though we were in a foreign country, and I went to the zoo, and I also forgot that it was the 4th of July! I came home from a day of "excursions," and my host grandpa asked me "You had a holiday today, right?" I had totally forgotten, so I said no. "You're an American, aren't you?" And then it hit me and I felt even worse--how could I forget? The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays, spent out at the cottage with family, toasting marshmallows or setting off our own fireworks while watching the 3, 4, 5 different counties/private homes from across the North Channel have their own fireworks festival. Thankfully, Nora was over, and she jumped up and started shaking my hand and congratulating me, and everybody cheered a little--it was really funny, and it made me feel somewhat better.
And then! I check my inbox today and what do I have? An e-mailed 4th of July card from Grandma, which made me really happy--so I just had my own private party in the internet cafe, with that card followed by the song from The Sandlot that plays when they have their yearly night game.
Speaking of which! (I know this post is really scatterbrained, but I left my diary at the apartment) I want to say thankyou thank you THANK YOU for the letters I received--the way they're delivered is completely arbitrary; dry spells followed by floods, and the letters are delivered all out of order (cards postmarked the 11th of June showing up before those postmarked the 9th). It means so much to hear anything from home--I live for the meager comments on here (this is a shameless attempt to once again encourage anybody and everybody to leave comments) and the letters are like gold to me. I actually take them everywhere with me, in the "Important Folder" I keep in my bag. Aside from my passport and money pouch, I probably check that most frequently.
So, back to me being homesick--well, as for Wednesday in general, we started by going to Dostoevsky's old home for our excursion. It was really cool, actually--you could see that some of the kids were just being overwhelmed by the fact that they were standing in Dostoevsky's house--THIS was the place where he wrote "The Brothers K," HERE was where he ate meals with his family, THIS is the painting of Mary he would look to for inspiration while "Crime and Punishment" took shape. Personally, I don't really like Dostoevsky (hearsay for a Russian major), but I'm sure I will be just as awed when I get myself out to Blok's old apartment, or if I get to see Bulgakov's museum in Moscow. After, Chris, Natalie and I shelled out a bundle for tickets to Castle Dance, which is a huge technofest being held in a castle off the coast west of St. Petersburg. It's an all night festival, running from 9pm Saturday 'til 9am Sunday, so I probably won't be getting any blogging done this weekend, either. There's over 30 DJs that are going to be there, and tons of people... don't worry, we've already all talked about the best ways to be safe, and that's what we're taking a semi-biggish group.
After that, I met Masha and we walked through the Summer Garden, a beautiful garden commissioned by Peter the I that backs up onto the Neva. It used to be chock-full of amazing Italian fountains and sculptures, but a flood ruined about 40 of the installations. I was extremely happy to be able to recognize some of the statues from my childhood obsession with Greek mythology--Apollo and Artemis were the first pair we ran across, then Mars, (please excuse the mixing of Greek and Roman appellations) and then there was a small courtyard held down by the statues "Dawn," "Midday," "Dusk," and "Night." Also, there was a large monument to the Russian fable writer Krilov. The garden was smaller than I expected and we finished with it quickly, so Masha took me over to the Petrograd side and we ended up going to the zoo ("What do you think about going to the zoo?" "I'd LOVE to! I love animals! Yesyesyes!" "Haha, I really like animals too.") We walked through the large park I've passed once or twice (on visits to the Musuem of Political History, and the Georgian restaurant is located out this way--really, I should get a map and mark all this stuff), and it's really interesting--imagine a park, big grassy area with trees, and I mean really big. Add in some big carts with small tables set out front selling beer and snacks. Through the massive theater Balticheskii Dom right in the middle--out in front of THAT, have blow-up moon bounces and giant slides, and people offering pony rides. Keep going further down until you see a super-mini version of the Joan of Arc festival; bumper cars, teacup-ish rides, a ship, etc. It's really kind of bizarre--then again, the whole permanent-carnival idea seems wrong somehow to me, too.
[My computer battery is really low, so I might end this right in the middle of my story, but what can you do?]
So we get to the zoo, and again, Masha and I have a tiny argument about who was going to pay (there was a lot of "Masha." "Jaclyn." "Masha." "Jaclyn." "I'm paying." "No, I'M going to pay." going on), and finally we went inside. Now, in my guidebook, it warned that adults might find the zoo... uncomfortable--not up to Western standards. After seconds, I could see what they meant. The animals were literally kept in iron-barred cages, and much smaller than what we'd think necessary. The fish aquariums were either bright, unhealthy green or exceptionally foggy.
For the first time in my life, I saw a panther and a polar bear pace their cages, looking like nothing if not lost. At the same time, the animals were much more lively--and the kids and people just loved looking at them. It was a really strange mixture of feelings, for me--I can appreciate how much joy seeing animals can bring... and I wouldn't want to take away that experience from anyone, especially not kids... but at the same time, these animals weren't exactly living the high life. I'll have to get pictures up soon, and then you can see.
[Okay, my computer is telling me that things are "critical" now. Time to shut down. I'm getting so backed up on all the things I want to share!]