Last Week... (long post!!)

So yesterday I was going to update, and got a little sidetracked... :-) So I'm going to try and do that now, especially since everyone has gone out for field trips.

And by the way, about yesterdays conversation with George, it was a good argument on both sides. And though we did get a little loud, we weren't angry at each other or anything like that. Thanks for all the encouraging words and thoughts!!

On to last week!

Last Monday was pretty laid back. I updated my blog (as you all read), laid about the dorm room and just enjoyed some quite time in general. All the afternoon class people were out on their field trips and I just sat back and relaxed.

That night I had the chance to attend a traditional Russia Folk show that was amazing. We got second row seats (first come first sever basis) and I also remembered to bring my camera. The dancers wore traditional dress, even the musicians. There was one guy with a huge balalika. He was way in the back, but I was able to get a pretty decent picture of him.

Here are just a few shots, you can see the rest at Flickr.


Huge Balalika:




This picture is of a traditional Ukranian folk dance that was amazing. It was all these women dancing around and gossiping to each other in the market. The blocking for this was amazing!






Okay, I'll stop there. But there are a ton of pictures at Flickr.

So that was a very fun night. What is surprising is that not very many people went. I think they missed out on a really wonderful performance! Oh, and a funny story from that night... there were some people in the front row who heard us talking and turned around to ask us where we were from. They turned out to be from Canada on a bus trip. When they found out we were from Georgia, one of them mentioned that we didn't really have a Southern accent. I laughed to myself because Justin and George weren't with us, and they didn't speak to April. Or they would have heard that good ol' Southern accent!

Tuesday I had my class in the morning where we talked about shutter speeds and apeture. Still trying to work that out. But I used my apeture setting the other day and was very happy with the result. Its just hard trying to remember everything!! What different settings are etc. On our field trips Jeff, my teacher is making us use the shutter speed priority setting so that we can get used to using it. I still haven't gotten the hang of what it does exactly yet, but I'm working on it!

Tuesday afternoon Stephanie and I waited for the afternoon classes to be out to figure out what we were going to do that night. We ended up deciding on a Italian restaurant called Mama Romas.



Stephanie, April and I went later than everyone else because they had to stop by EuroMed. On of the members of our group, Faith, had been in the hospital for three days at the beginning of our trip and this was a check up. And Rob was sick and need some medicine as well. Since the three of us didn't really want to go to EuroMed, we went and reserved a table for everyone.Which was a good thing because the restaurant wasn't big!

So at 6:15 we met Tracey, Rob, Faith, Justin, Sonja, Emma, Frank and one of the tutors for dinner. Three of us split two pizza's and I got some fries. Fries seem to be the one thing I can get here that always taste just as good as they do at home. For dessert I had tirimisu that was amazing!! They really do have some wonderful desserts over here.

After dinner we all came home. Then, I was sitting in April and Stephanie's room and we were talk about how much I was always in there and there was never a place for me to sit... and suddenly I thought it might be neat if I moved my mattress into their room. This idea was tossed around for awhile, and then we did! And so my bed has stayed ever sinc. My room mate Meg, is not in our room much at all, and I seem to spend a lot of time in April and Stephanie's room, so it seemed the logical thing to do. It has been a lot of fun, a brilliant idea, and has made our room a bit of a hangout sometimes.

Wed was my class field trip out to a small town called Gatchina. Which if I hadn't been so tired, might have been enjoyable. Our train ride there took almost an hour, it was a bit dreary outside, and not nearly as pretty as Pavlovsk. We walked all over the park and took pictures. Here are just a couple of pics:
Ducks swimming through the lake...




This an adorable little boy we took some pictures of. He seemed to enjoy it very much. Doesn't he look a bit like David P. when he was little?



It is spring for Russia, so we have seen a lot of ducks and there babies. While we were walking around, we saw this family of ducks that actually let us get kinda close!!



So after a very loooong afternoon of walking, we came home. I actually feel asleep on the train I was so tired. We all decided to stay in that night and take it easy. So April, Stephanie and I watched "The Last Holiday" with Queen Latifah. It was a cute movie that had some really funny parts.

Thursday was class again in the morning. And Stephanie and I decided we'd had enough of sitting around doing nothing, and headed out for the afternoon. We went down to the Hermitage to see more of the Winter Palace. Turns out a lot of the rooms are being re-done and we couldn't see them. But we were still able to see a lot of really beautiful rooms. I'll probably go back at least one more time to look at the paitings. Stephanie isn't a big painting person.

That night we went on a seemingly spur of the moment ice skating trip. The rink was open until 11, so we didn't even leave her until after 8. The group included me, Stephanie, April, Irina, Jeff, Emma, Ben and Ben, Winston, Micheal and Chico. It was a lot of fun. It wasn't a huge rink, but we and just a few others were the only ones there. We got on the ice a little before 10 and skated for an hour. I didn't fall down once!! I think we are all thinking about going agian.

After that, it some how ended up (despite how tired we were) that some people (Rob, Justin and Faith) wanted to watch a movie with us, so we started Anastasia, but they were all asleep after the firs half hour. (it was close to 2am)

Friday was culture class (dull) and then a group of us, April, Stephaine, Faith, Emma, Rob, Jeff and Tracey, went to the Lomonosov porcilain factory. They used to make all the dishware for the Romanov family. They have a store with porcilain that they make for a really good price. I didn't buy anything, but I really wanted to! They had some gorgeous sets. Both Rob and April bought a teaset for themselves.

That evening, several people went out to different performances. Most of those with us went to Swan Lake. I was interested, but it was running about $60 for tickets. I didn't want to go that bad.

So Tracey, Stephanie and I treated ourselves to a steak dinner at the Stroganov Steak House. Stephanie and I split a dinner (which was a smart thing to do!) and it was wonderful! We started off with a salad, and it was so good to finally be eating some lettuce! For dinner we had a New York Strip, fries, and sauteed vegtables. For dessert we had Key Lime Pie. It was the beste Key Lime Pie I have ever eaten. It was amazing!!! But I think I already mentioned that. :-D

Saturday was a really fun day. We went out to Staraya Ladoga which is out in the country about 100 km from St. Petersburg. It was a long bus ride, but the countryside was worth it.

On the way there we stopped by a World War II memorial that was really interesting. In WW II St. Pete was besieged by the Nazi's for 900 days. And though they surrounded the city, they never broke through. This is a big deal for the Russians because it was such a hard time for them and they lost 1/3 of the population during that time. (Which I think was close a million people...the 1/3 that is) But the Nazi's never broke through. So it is a matter of national pride for them.

Near the location where we stopped at Staraya Ladoga was a fort that was built a looong time ago that we toured. It was very neat. Got some good pictures there.

This is Rob, Justin and Brady... Rob being crazy as usual...(the fort is near the river and they are just on the outside of the fort looking at the river)


This is a view from the fort, it was really beautiful country:


Me at the Fort (and do you see how I'm holding my purse? I wear and hold it like that pretty much at all times, especially on the subway...that way I don't get pick-pocketed!)


In Russia, it is traditon for a couple after they get married to go around to all the famous landmarks around the city and get their picture taken and drink champange. So far we've seen a lot of this, especially around the city. And while we were at the fort, a newly married couple stopped by to take pictures...


After a tour of the fort, we went about a mile down the road to a spot near the river. It was also next to some anciet burial mounds, a bit like Etowah. There, the tutors had set up a spot to cook and started cook shashleak. Which is kinda like what we would call shish-kabobs. There was chicken, pork and salmon. All of which tasted really good.

This is a view from the area we were:



Our bus and one of the mounds:


The Group:






The ride home seemed long, I guess it wasn't though. Rob fell asleep and we had to take a picture...


We got back about 8:30 and despite mentioning several times going to bed early... we didn't. Stuff happened (drama) and myself, April, Faith, Tracey, Justin and George ended up staying up till almost 3. But it was fun and at the same time needed.

Sunday April and I slept in till 11 and decided to stay in. Stephanie went out touring. And of course yesterday George and I had hour big discussion. But for the most part it was a relaxing afternoon with George, April and myself. And then a quite evening with the same three plus Tracey, Justin and Faith again. We also watched Center Stage which was awesome. It had Ilia Kulik in it!

And now I'm trying to finish this update and go with Stephanie to a Wal-Mart type place. Tomorrow is class again. Then that night is our Evanesance concert and my all night feild trip for photography. Yay!!!!



Signing off with lots of love to you all...

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