It's been almost a full week since my last post and a lot a lot has happened so i'll try to recall as much of it! The theme of our summer voyage is Russia and the West and so the entire curriculum is inter-weaved to ensure that in our ports, global studies class, and focus is on how Russia impacts or is impacted by the other places we are visiting. The day before we arrived in Russia, we had no classes and it was "russia day". There was a series of presentations, language workshops, and cultural information to help us prepare for the experience. First the positives: I went to a workshop put on by Photo Mike, the ships photographer and it really made me rethink how I approach my photography. He talked about space and how we need to be culturally sensitive when we're taking pictures. At what point are we disrupting the lives of others for our own benefit. I loved it and want to do this presentation when I get back. I'm going to talk to him about whether he'll let me do something similar! Now the not so good, there has been a huge emphasis on safety and I completely agree with it but there was a heightened warning about zenophobia and racism especially towards people of Asian/South Asia/Darker Skin. So when you have a small population of staff and students who are of color, this did not make my arrival into St. Petersburg very exciting. I was freaked out to be by myself and travel the streets and at one point asked for someone to escort me to the subway station.
The first day we arrived was a mess, we had to get our passports stamped by customs which took a total of over 3 hours waiting in line. A lot of students missed the scheduled tours that were to take off 3 hours earlier. Nonetheless, my first trip that I signed up for was to visit a russian family. Along with 7 other students we visited the home of a ex-ballet dancer and her mother. She also has a daughter who was away at university. We were greeted with tea and desserts which was fantastic. She has made the napolean herself the morning off. We talked about where we were from and the stereotypes we had about Russians and vice versa. The only barrier was that none of us spoke Russian and she did not speak English. We had a translator there and she helped us explain everything. I'm not sure where the home was located but it was a fairly large apartment built in the 1800's. That was the best part of it, rich history. Along with the cultural experience, what I was able to walk away with was a revisit of the privilege that I have. I'm so fortunate to have a nice home and sometimes there's too much value put on making the place look good that I forget that some of the most simple things can do just fine. So that was great!!!
The next thing I had planned was the Russian Ballet and so after returning from the Russian Home visiting, grabbing a quick bite to eat, we headed off to the theatre to see SWAN LAKE. I was blown away!!! it was the most beautiful and moving piece I've seen. The talent on stage was amazing! The theatre felt like a theatre, we dressed up and I put on my suit, we had our own box of 4 chairs and it was shaped like a U. The only problem was that it was not air conditioned and really hot. I almost passed out a few times so other than that it was great!!! After I got home I had a huge headache which I tried to get rid off but had to assist with an incident that happened the morning off so for the rest of the second day my muscle was tight and I walked around not feeling so well.
Day 2 in St. Petersburg! I woke up after not getting a full nights rest and having to assist with the incident to meet up with Sarah and Dean who were in town for a conference and celebrating their honeymoon. We went by the Church of Spilled Blood and had lunch at a cafe eating Beef Stroganoff. Sarah ran into a small injury which made it difficult for her to walk around the city and I had a headache so we called it a day! I went back to the ship to sleep off my headache and after feeling better, Megan, Kristyn, Zuri and I went to dinner looking for a Georgian restaurant but ended up eating amazing sushi!. Sushi is a national dish so being close to the water, it was fantastic some of the best that I've eaten!!! We then met up with John, Caroline, Sarah (another person on ship) and went to a few bars! Carl and Abbey showed up and enticed me to join them for a 1:15am boat tour of St. Petersburg (at night the bridges go up so that ships can go past it, St. Petersburg is known as Venice of the North so lots of canals and bridges). We ran for our lives to get there but missed it by 1 minute, how awful is that! In Russia, pedestrians do not have the right of way so at points we were dodging cars! Not only did we miss the boat tour, we missed the window to cross the bridge back to the ship so we needed to wait it out until 3am to cross over. During that period of time, we got food at Hotel Astoria the swankiest hotel here in St. Petersburg. I just had fries but it was too salty. When it came time to either getting over the bridge during our 30 minute window or waiting until 5am, the hotel hailed a cab for us, one that we were told never to take but it worked out and we got over the bridge and I got to go to bed!
Day 3 I met up with Sarah and Dean again, we had lunch and because of Sarah's injury and wanting to walk close we ate at a sushi restaurant as well. go figure I come to Russia to eat sushi! After that Sarah said let's take a boat tour and for 20 dollars we got to see all of St. Petersburg on water. It was definitely really pretty and we got to see everything!!! I parted ways with Sarah and Dean but it was great to see a familiar face so far away! They went back to Paris to finish up their honeymoon! I was so tired from walking around the city that I just stayed local, we finally ate at a Georgian restaurant and the food was amazing. The flavors were rich and refreshing, it was like a mix of all types of cusines. LOVED IT!
I'm tired now so I'm going to stop writing and will post about today later! sorry, this is extremely long and unedited
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