Food Stuffs

Feeling quite ill --- some sort of stomach virus. Praying it's not giardia.... Ah - St. Pete water.

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Wanted to briefly talk about trips to the grocery store. I usually pack my lunch and take it with me to class - plus it's nice to have some yogurt at home for those late-night snacks. But let me tell you: going to the store in Russian - is quite difficult. Generally, I have little idea what I'm buying. I go to the bread counter. (In most Russian grocery stores, you must ask for what you want... you can't just pick it up off the shelf.) So I see a crossaint. Sure - looks good. But is it filled? Who knows! I've learned to ask, "bez chocolata" and "bez myasa" (Without chocolate and without meat?) because one time I got stuck with a roll filled with ham. You never know. What looks innocent mighn't be at all. I also spend a great deal of time trying to deciper labels. I picked up two packs of what looked like crackers of a sort (in a grocery store with isles... and another thing: pagacaking here is entirely different.... except for Lays :)) but they had different words on them. The pictures looked the same - the colors were the same. But the words different. What was the difference. My dictionary didn't have the words. So I just picked one. But all of this takes time. Adventures to the grocery store can last seemingly forever as you decipher what's what. Don't even get me started on Shampoos! Granted I know when I'm buying shampoo versus conditioner. But am I buying shampoo for curly or straight hair? died or natural? volume or not? or some combination? It's complicated. (And note - packaging different --- can't rely on the yellow colored Herbal Essense!) Ah Russian grocery stores....

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Went to Novgorod on Saturday with the group. A 3.5 hour bus ride - a 4 hour visit - and a 3.5 hour bus ride back. But I (surprisingly) enjoyed it.... Spent most of the bus ride down talking to Z about different religions' takes on the afterlife and commandments. He's Morman --- it was interesting. But did make the time pass.

Novgorod itself was quite splendid. It's the first major city in Russia - and at one point (centuries ago) was larger than Paris and London combined. It was a huge traiding center. We went to a few monestaries outside the city - then took a tour through the Kremlin. Ate a huge lunch at this medieval restaurant "Detinets". Quite yummy - And they had called ahead to ensure a vegetarian meal for me. Mine looked much better than the meat versions - if I may say :)

The bus ride back was spent singing childhood songs/rhymes (Miss Mary Mac...) and getting "Advised" I met with the program leader. As I'm a graduate student, I'll be getting 12 Russian Independent Study Credits. Not bad :) And it doesn't revel that I'm taking only second level :)

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Yesterday, we were off to the Marinski'i again. This time to see the senior recital of the graduates of the Vaganova School of Ballet. This is probably the best ballet school in the world. Period. Technically, they were quite good (with a few missed landings not-so-steady-lifts) but you can still tell they're a bit young. Missing some of the artistry and emotion that I've seen in the NYCB, Jacek's, and other companies. But there were two exceptions: a modern piece that was fabulously executed - and this hilarious clown duet. They got a call back. And they deserved two more. I'll post some pictures later this week.

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Off to Peterhoff today.
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to be continued...