The Second Archive
I spent January in Russia, thanks to a Colby program that allowed me to leave campus as a freshman. I had a great time there, lived with a host family, and checked out what it's like to actually be a Russian. Neat experience. Anyway, while I was there, I wrote emails back to my friends and family at home about my trip. There were some problems with the email there so a lot of people never recieved them.
January 10, 2001
Subject: Russian update
hello from st. petersburg!
capitol letters sort of don't work on this computer so i'm just not going to bother. i'm sorry.
some of you have emailed me back to let me know that i'm going to russia...thanks. some of you also wanted to know what i'm doing in russia. colby has a january term in which you take a special class, something that isn't normally offered. i took a semester of russian language this fall and i really liked it. so when my professor gave me and my class the chance to go to russia for janplan, i took it.
i'm taking a special economics class taught by russian professors in english. i really like the class. i'm also taking a special russian language class...its tough. i'm also living with a host family--a man and his wife who had children but they are grown up and have children of their own. its a little tough b/c my family really doesn't speak english so my one semester of russian is coming in handy.
ok, so quick update. i went to a russian club the other night...that was interesting. it's not like an american club--people don't get super dressed up in skanky clothes or anything. they just sort of wear whatever. cover to get in included 2 sodas, and it cost 50 rubles. for anyone who's not sure, that's less than $2. when i see you all, i will tell you all about it. something about email to a mass group just won't cut it.
last night i went to a concert. it was rachmoninov (russian name i can't spell...) and this man played the piano...incredible. absolutly incredible. enterence for this was also 50 rubles for fifth row orchestra seats. amazing...alrighty. i'll get in touch with you all as soon as i can.
much love,
karen (or prager depending on who you are...)
January 11, 2001
Subject: Poor, poor fish
Hello my friends....
I found out that there's a computer at my house which "sometimes" works...and it's working right now...so I have capital letters!
Ok...amusing story...I'm sure you will all get a kick out of this one. I'm sitting at the dinner table, just like every other day, and my mother is practically shoving Russian food down my throat. They like to feed me here. They can't talk to me very well so they just feed me instead. Right. So she asks me, in Russian, what I want for dinner tomorrow. I try to explain to her that it really doesn't matter what she feeds me, as long as it's not pork, the one meat I really don't like to eat. So, she asks me if I want sausage for dinner tomorrow. My Russian must be really bad. I tell her that I will eat any other kind of meat. And she says, "Ribu? Ti hoches ribu?", which means, "Fish? Do you want fish?" I explain that fish is fine, so she goes into the refrigerator and takes out a pot. She explains that she wants to show it to me to make sure I'd be willing to eat it. No problem. So she opens up the pot. Understand now, that I'm currently in the middle of eating my dinner. I look down, and there's a fish HEAD looking back at me with a sad, dead little fishy face. I almost screamed, and you guys know that I'm not the screaming type. She picked up the head and tried to give it to me to hold, which even I really didn't want to do. I saw that there were normal looking pieces of fish underneath, they looked almost like salmon steaks. I pointed and told her that I really didn't want to eat his head, but that I would eat the rest of him, at which point she points to the tail and asks if i want to eat that too. I made her put the head back in the pot and close it. Normally, I'm all about that sort of stuff. But not so much here...:)
Alrighty. I'll be in touch, sooner rather than later...
Love,
Karen
January 13, 2001
Subject: Russian Living
Hello everyone!
I just want to write a brief one, to tell you what I did yesterday. You will be amazed at the cost of living here in Russia.
1. Ticket to the Russian Art Museum------10 rubles
2. Postcards at the Museum (6)-----------13 rubles, 50 kopeks
3. Ice Cream bar------------------------- 5 rubles, 50 kopeks
4. Ticket to the Kopelli concert hall----15 rubles
5. Program at the concert---------------- 7 rubles
6. Trip to McDonalds after concert-------36 rubles
+
___________
87 rubles
I converted 87 rubles into dollars at the going rate of 28 rubles to a dollar. It's about $3.00. Incredible.
Take care and have a good weekend.
Love,
Karen
January 22, 2001
Subject: Back to the USSR
Hello my friends.
Just got back from Moscow this morning...overnight train and everything. we stayed at the Intourist, a slightly seedy hotel that's very close to the Kremlin. It was a really interesting experience. Here in St Pete's, we don't really have a lot of communist leftovers, but the overall look of the city is still very Soviet. There's not to many symbols and most of the names have changed (leningrad to st petersburg, for example). In Moscow, everything is very western and modern. Lots of lights, lots of American resturants and familiar sights. They, however, have preserved most of the communist names and a lot of the traditions. Hard to explain but very interesting stuff.
Anyway, I have a specific story that I wanted to tell you about, and then it's off to the Cosmitof museum to see their collection of bottled babies :)
We went to Lenin's tomb in moscow, very high security, very big deal. And I saw his fully embalmed body, facial hair and all. exciting stuff. We were searched for cameras and everything and then we went inside. There are 6 guards in the mosoleum, guarding lenin. And they watch you like you're a terrorist. Incredible.
So, we left the tomb, took some pictures of St. Basil's cathedral (the really fameous one with the swirly tops), and left red square. We were standing around for awhile, just sort of observing the square. There was a meeting in the Kremlin, so only a certain number of people were allowed in the square at once. We were standing there, and then a huge band of people began parading through the square with red hammer and sickle flags, communist arm banners, and a sign that said "C-ideal-Lenina-V-21 vek" (I think that I got it right.) Roughly translated, it means "With Lenin's ideas in the 21st century." They were very quiet and peaceful demonstrarors, didn't cause the slightest problem . They all went in and visited Lenin's body, put some flowers on the mosoleum, and then paraded around somemore.
I have to say that this is an experience that I will NEVER EVER forget. And when I teach history in a high school someday, I going to tell them this story.
For anyone who hasn't noticed the irony: If these folks had the government they wanted, there's no way they would EVER be allowed to parade around Red Square like they did. Interesting, huh?
Take care everyone. I may not write again until I get home. Have a great week.
Love,
Karen
January 26, 2001
Subject: Trollybus
Hello--
I'm doing fine, and I leave the day after tomorrow...Monday actually, at 6.45 am.
So, I have a story. My friend Joanne and I went to an organ concert at a hall here. We took the metro there, but my russian mother told me that it was much faster to take the trollybus (it's a bus that runs on cables). I agreed, even though i think that the trollybus is the largest communist leftover. Anyway...
So Joanne and I walk to the station, which is about 3 mins from the concert hall, vs. the metro which is 15 mins from the Kapella. We sit in the station, and about 10 minutes go by, no trollybus. 20 minutes, 30, 45... FInally, we pick up a different one taht takes us to Joanne's apartment. I figured I'd call my family, b/c now, it's 10.15 and I'm fifteen minutes late....and i know that it'll take another hour to walk to the other metro station and get a metro home. So we go up to her apartment and I almost trip on the homeless man who sleeps on the landing that her apartment is on. WE go into her apartment, and her mother is great. I tell her about what happened and she gives me the phone. I call my mother, and tell her what happened IN RUSSIAN. If you've ever spoken on the phone in a language that isn't your native one, you should try it. It's the weirdest experience.
Joanne's mom decides that we're going to have tea. I tell her that I don't really need anything, and she says no, and sits me down. At this point, it's 10.30. Her mom also decided that there was no way I was going to walk all the way to the metro. So she calls me a taxi. 70 rubles, and she orderd it and told him where I lived. I finally got home at 11.15, an hour and fifteen mins. late.
Take care, see you soon.
Love,
Karen
February 25, 2001
Subject: Saturday night
Hello!!!!
I haven't written anything in so long...but then I got this email from Heather and was reminded that I haven't been in communication with you since Russia.
In case you weren't sure, Russia was awesome. I just soaked up everything Russian, including the language. I took my first oral exam for Russian II this semester and my professor said I was "creative and thoughtful in the language and speaking quickly ...however, gramatical skill is lacking." Perhaps this is because I stopped conjugating verbs and declining nouns and adjectives into their proper cases...especially when I was talking to my mother. It was all about communication.
Since I've been back, I've been working almost non stop. Last week I actually spent more time in class then I slept. We're working on improving that situation.
The real point of this email is to tell you a story...as usual. So, tonight, I was enjoying a lazy evening of watching a movie and sitting around my newly decorated dorm room in my pajamas. I'd turned off my instant messanger and was ignoring the phone. Anyone who really wanted to talk to me was going to have to come upstairs. OF COURSE, without fail, my friend Emma (who I love dearly) came up to say hello. She said she was going out to a campus sponsered party (aka Colby buys a keg and Colby students drink out of it as loud rap music plays...). Being the sort of friend I am, I put on my shoes. Didn't change my pants (I was wearing blue flannels).
So we headed off to AMS, the location of this party. AMS has a party room in the basement that people can reserve for a night. And this particular night it was reserved by the student government. So we went in. It was nasty. I don't know what I was expecting...maybe a fun night of bingo and twister or something. Nope. The usual Saturday night crowd had invaded the beautiful party room. Drunk people had pretty much bridged past the "hey, how ya doin?" and the "hey, nice leather pants...", and they weren't even talking, just grinding with their huge blue beer cups in hand. Normally I wouldn't care. Not at all. But they were spilling their beer. Drunk people don't clean up after themselves. And I have to work on Monday morning...in AMS...mopping.
Love,
Prager :>
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