Marinsky Theatre

Today we went to the Mariinsky Theatre and saw Swan Lake. It was incredible. Really. I never seen a complete balley before and was expecting it to be interesting but slightly boring. From the moment I walked in I was impressed. The walls were golden, the seats were beautiful and even the curtain exuded majesty. We weren't far from the box where the Czar would sit and watch ballets. The ballet itself was amazing. It had never occured to me that you could blend music and dance in such an elegant way, and then use it to tell a story. I found myself getting excited at tense moments and could even find (gulp) the romance in it all.
I had been hesitant to spend the money to go to the theatre, but now I wish I had bought more tickets. Alas, they are all sold out for the rest of the season. Oh well, I'm glad I could go once...

White Nights

These last few days have seen the longest sunlight out of the year. So, we stayed up and watched the bridges again. Here's a picture of us in front of a raised bridge at about 2:30am. Check it out.

Russian Cruise Anyone?

Last Tuesday night there was a YSL dance entitled "Petersburg Style." People were supposed to dress up in the style specific to St. Petersburg. So, being without any St. Petersburg clothes and not having the money to buy them, I did the next best thing: I got a St. Petersburg haircut: a mullet.





I had my roommate James cut my hair. By the way, James had never given anybody a haircut before, had never learned about haircuts and used this old pair of ordinary Russian scissors to do the job. You can refer to the picture from the dance and form your own opinion about my haircut. Our host mom was pretty upset with me and Chelita Pate, the BYU employee who lives here and supervises us, was pretty much horrified. So horrified in fact, that she cut my hair again less than 2 days after I got my Petersburg haircut. I guess it wasn't meant to last, but it was sure fun to have a mullet for a couple of days.
Okay, so we went on a Russian cruise of Lakes Ladoga and Onega, in which we visited the islands of Valaam and Kizhi. Feel free to click on any of the links to get more information on any of those destinations. To summarize the 4-day cruise, there were stop-offs in the day, nice meals on board and crazy Russian dances at night. The last night we had a final concert in which various guests performed. The other guys in the Study Abroad group and I decided to sing the Beatles Yellow Submarine. I managed to procure the crew members' uniforms, which we wore as we performed (to rauccous applause.) It was fun.

Russia Day

This week we found the actual apartment where the old pawnbroker lived in Crime and Punishment. Yup, that is a picture of James and me outside her apartment door. As we walked in the building, we could see place where the painters were playing as Raskolnikov left the building. We also walked the "730 steps" back to Raskolnikov's own apartment (where Dostoevsky actually lived). While we weren't able to enter the building, there was a nice monument outside that I photographed. For those of you who are not yet familiar with Crime and Punishment, I highly recommend that you get a copy and read it.

We had class off yesterday, because today is a national holiday: Russia Day! It's probably better described as Russian Independence Day, but "Russia Day" suits me well. I figure that way it sounds more all-inclusive. In fact, you can celebrate Russia Day in America, if you want. Anyway, we spent our free time yesterday exploring another river island here in Petersburg. There were many old beautiful mansions and I even found this little sandy beach (pictured at right). It reminded me of home, so I decided to lie down and rest for a while. It was a nice spot and we (3 other students who I was spending the day with) decided that we will come back another day and have a picnic there. The beach-ette was so endearing that I even took another picture so you could see the mansion across the river.
Later, we decided to stay up until 1:00am and watch them raise the many bridges that span the Neva. We watched the them opening from Vasilievsky Island- where you can see almost all of them at once. The only problem was that we don't live on Vasilievsky Island, so once the bridge to our home went up we were stuck. The good news is that they lowered our bridge again 3:00 am and we daintily crossed back over and went home. I crawled into bed at about 3:30 am, and right after my head hit the pillow, it was 7:30 am and time for me to get up and volunteer at the hospital. I have included a picture of one of the smaller bridges for your enjoyment.
See you next week!

Old Church. Old Hospital. New Picnic.

This Saturday we had a "picnic" with some young members on one of the many St. Petersburg islands. It was a nice sunny day- a little bit chilly because of the wind- but still a great day. The island was far enough out of the city so that it was green and nature-esque. There was a nice blend of pine trees, natural grass and beautiful scenery. We set up camp right next to a little lake. We threw the frisbee around, played games and some of the Russians even showed me how to make my very own wreath with just dandelions! That's the yellow thing on my head in the picture. I'm going to make one for Rachel when I get home.
Church has been great. I always attend the same, little, out-of-town branch. The branch president is a missionary and was transferred to the city only a week before we arrived. He and his companion have been working hard to bring less-active members to Church. That fact, combined with the four energetic American students attending the branch, has helped bring up the excitement level a little bit. Church was great on Sunday. It was fast and testimony meeting and there were about 18 people present. After the branch president shared his testimony and opened up the time for testimonies, there was a silent gap. No one was getting up. I was just starting to collect my thoughts when I was shoved hard from behind. When that didn't get me moving, my "coach," one of the local old ladies, kept pushing me and start saying to me "Onward Serbia, Onward!" I think it was loud enough so that a passerby walking outside near our little chapel could hear it. So, I decided to get up and bear my testimony. The rest of the students and some members all followed (including my "coach"). That meeting, as well as the rest of Church, was great.
My volunteering is going well. I am now all outfitted with scrubs and little nurse-shoes. I "work" Mondays and Tuesdays, but only for a few hours each day. I work in the "Anesthesiology, Reanimiation and Intensive Therapy Ward" of the "Municipal Geriatric Hospital." That means that all of the patients in our ward are in pretty bad shape. I clean, retrieve medications and supplies, feed the patients, wheel them on stretchers to get X-rays, etc.Russian healthcare is interesting- It's not as bad as any of the horror stories you've probably heard, but there's no way it would ever in a million years even proximate any healthcare facility I've seen in the United States. It's a great experience though, and I have been surprised by how much I enjoy it. My favorite thing is being with the patients- they're wonderful.