Everyone's left the city now, or so it seems. Lizi and Sarah Jones have returned to Siberia and there are still have a few weeks before classes start again. As such, it became necessary for Sara (roommate) and I to entertain ourselves in the interim. Late yesterday afternoon, Sara was on her way to meet me at Stereo when she ran into Aleksei and Tolya on the street (two of the Russian teenagers we befriended at Tatianen Den' and stayed out with one night, roaming the city until dawn). Aleksei and Tolya invited us to get a beer with them. I was adamant with her: "No, I don't want to, every time we hang out with the Russian teenagers it turns into some sort of bacchanalian disaster, and it's not even 5pm yet!" I told her to tell them I had a meeting or something, but they kept texting and saying that they were waiting for us.
So, stupid stupid me, I finally caved because Sara kept making puppy dog eyes at me. Thus began a 13 hour whirlwind that ended with Nafan making me cry, Steve setting a fire in the hallway, and the dezhurnaya breaking in and screaming at us. The Russian teenagers didn't leave until 6:15am; they're good kids, but this is just ridiculous.
The dezhurnaya was SO pissed off at Sara and I the next day. She scolded us for sneaking Aleksei and Tolya into the dorms, saying: "I know this isn't the first time that you've had boys stay over." But the other boys who'd spent the night were Adam and Misha! They were GAY! It hardly counts.
15 January, 2006
Adrienne, Kate, and Misha have left Russia; Sarah Jones and Lizi visited from Irkutsk just in time to follow a massive Siberian cold front all the way to Moscow. -40 degrees! I have never been so cold in my life.
While trying to secure Lizi and Sarah a room in an obscure hostel, I had my first real encounter with the aforementioned Siberian cold front. It was a 20 minute walk from the metro station to the hostel, which didn't seem too daunting when I first planned the excursion. By the time I'd made it 2 blocks, I could no longer feel my thighs (even under 3 layers of clothing). Then my nose went completely numb and started running like a faucet. The icy wind whipped my face, making my eyes water and my vision blur.
I looked to my right and saw a tall Russian man smoking, nonchalant and gloveless. He seemed completely unaffected by the -35 degree gusts. He surveyed me, bemused, from under his furry hat, obviously thinking: "That stupid American can't handle the cold!"
And yes, I looked awful - snot had frozen under my nose as I stumbled blindly toward my destination. It took half an hour of thawing in the hostel's foyer before my eyes started working again!
It's so cold that Moscow's Soviet-era power grid may not be able to handle the growing city's demand. They're shutting down power in various business sectors in order to conserve energy. And I read somewhere that they're feeding the monkeys in the zoo wine (and the elephants buckets of vodka) to help warm them. All of Moscow is preparing to hunker down into hibernation mode.
While trying to secure Lizi and Sarah a room in an obscure hostel, I had my first real encounter with the aforementioned Siberian cold front. It was a 20 minute walk from the metro station to the hostel, which didn't seem too daunting when I first planned the excursion. By the time I'd made it 2 blocks, I could no longer feel my thighs (even under 3 layers of clothing). Then my nose went completely numb and started running like a faucet. The icy wind whipped my face, making my eyes water and my vision blur.
I looked to my right and saw a tall Russian man smoking, nonchalant and gloveless. He seemed completely unaffected by the -35 degree gusts. He surveyed me, bemused, from under his furry hat, obviously thinking: "That stupid American can't handle the cold!"
And yes, I looked awful - snot had frozen under my nose as I stumbled blindly toward my destination. It took half an hour of thawing in the hostel's foyer before my eyes started working again!
It's so cold that Moscow's Soviet-era power grid may not be able to handle the growing city's demand. They're shutting down power in various business sectors in order to conserve energy. And I read somewhere that they're feeding the monkeys in the zoo wine (and the elephants buckets of vodka) to help warm them. All of Moscow is preparing to hunker down into hibernation mode.
 |
| My hibernation station. I miss sunlight. |
 |
| Four foot tall snowdrifts in the courtyard. |
11 January, 2006
on the midnight train to St. Petersburg
Adrienne has joined Kate and me in Moscow! We decided to go to St. Petersburg to show Kate around and, when we boarded the train, we thought we'd lucked out. Each sleeper cabin has four bunks, but the fourth person never showed up so we assumed we had the cabin to ourselves. Boy, were we wrong.
Around 1 am, the train stopped at some remote station (maybe Tver?); the entire car tipped slightly to one side as a new passenger boarded. We held our breath as heavy footfalls approached our cabin. The door opened and light from the corridor strained in around the massive silhouette filling our doorway. It was our 4th bunkmate, a VERY overweight man who was destined for the upper bunk over mine. I instantly began to worry that he would break the bunk and crush me, but I also wasn't sure he actually could get up there.
He closed the door behind him and began to disrobe. He smelled SO bad... when he pulled off his boots, I thought I might die. The smell of body rot was so overpowering that I think I actually passed out for a little bit.
Then he amazed me: he propped one foot on each lower bunk so he was straddling the aisle. He put one hand on each upper bunk and hoisted his considerable bulk with the agility of a gymnast on the rings. Even his toes were perfectly pointed! Swinging his massive legs upward, he somehow propelled his entire body onto the vacant upper bunk in one deft movement. He fell asleep immediately, as evidenced by the regularity of his labored breathing.
Russian train cabins are overheated to the extreme and, as we all know, heat rises. Our leviathan cabinmate's odor grew more pungent, almost yeasty, as the bacteria on his unwashed body began to bake. Adrienne was only 18 inches away from him and couldn't sleep. Her eyes were watering (she would later describe his stench as "tropical"), and after a few hours she finally climbed down and sat on my bunk.
We were all a little strung out by the time we arrived in Petersburg, and his stench had infiltrated our clothing and hair. Showers were needed, immediately.
Around 1 am, the train stopped at some remote station (maybe Tver?); the entire car tipped slightly to one side as a new passenger boarded. We held our breath as heavy footfalls approached our cabin. The door opened and light from the corridor strained in around the massive silhouette filling our doorway. It was our 4th bunkmate, a VERY overweight man who was destined for the upper bunk over mine. I instantly began to worry that he would break the bunk and crush me, but I also wasn't sure he actually could get up there.
He closed the door behind him and began to disrobe. He smelled SO bad... when he pulled off his boots, I thought I might die. The smell of body rot was so overpowering that I think I actually passed out for a little bit.
Then he amazed me: he propped one foot on each lower bunk so he was straddling the aisle. He put one hand on each upper bunk and hoisted his considerable bulk with the agility of a gymnast on the rings. Even his toes were perfectly pointed! Swinging his massive legs upward, he somehow propelled his entire body onto the vacant upper bunk in one deft movement. He fell asleep immediately, as evidenced by the regularity of his labored breathing.
Russian train cabins are overheated to the extreme and, as we all know, heat rises. Our leviathan cabinmate's odor grew more pungent, almost yeasty, as the bacteria on his unwashed body began to bake. Adrienne was only 18 inches away from him and couldn't sleep. Her eyes were watering (she would later describe his stench as "tropical"), and after a few hours she finally climbed down and sat on my bunk.
We were all a little strung out by the time we arrived in Petersburg, and his stench had infiltrated our clothing and hair. Showers were needed, immediately.
01 January, 2006
New Year's Eve on... well, near Red Square
Kate flew in to Moscow on New Year's Eve; I met her at Sheremetevo airport and we headed back to the dorms so she could rest before dinner. As we sat on the unheated bus, Kate got her first taste of Russian winter. "My thighs are numb!" she remarked, giddy with jetlag.
"That's just your meat freezing," I explained, equally merry. It was so wonderful to have my best friend with me!
We had dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant with my roommate and some of her friends who had also flown in for the holiday. Afterward, we boarded the metro and headed toward Red Square. When we exited the subway at a stop a few blocks from the Kremlin, we saw a row of barriers blocking the entire road. A single metal detector was set up in the middle as some sort of crowd control.
The crowd swelled and grew as we edged closer to the metal detector. It was a quarter til midnight, and the metro station kept spitting out more and more people - all of them anxious to get to Red Square before midnight. Kate and I got separated from the rest of our group, but we were only about 10 feet to the left of the opening along the fence line - we were SO CLOSE!
Then the crowd surged behind us, pushing us against the makeshift barricade. Visions of being trampled to death by a drunken Russian New Year's mob filled my head, and my heart started pounding. The crowd surged again, and a section of fence to my left toppled over. A few young men began to leap over it and, in response, the people behind Kate and I pushed even harder.
Adrenaline took over. As the section of fence right in front of us was shoved over, I knew we had only seconds to make a decision. I grabbed Kate by the arm.
Knowing full well what we had to do, Kate screamed: "I DON'T WANT TO!!!!!"
I yelled back: "YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE!"
It was our only way to escape an inevitable death by trampling. We leapt over the fence and together we ran like the wind, a drunken Russian mob hot on our heels. We ran about a block, before coming up on a line of authoritative-looking riot police. We decided it would be just fine to celebrate the New Year right there, about a block from Red Square and safe behind the riot police.
It was a very memorable first day in Russia for Kate.
"That's just your meat freezing," I explained, equally merry. It was so wonderful to have my best friend with me!
We had dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant with my roommate and some of her friends who had also flown in for the holiday. Afterward, we boarded the metro and headed toward Red Square. When we exited the subway at a stop a few blocks from the Kremlin, we saw a row of barriers blocking the entire road. A single metal detector was set up in the middle as some sort of crowd control.
The crowd swelled and grew as we edged closer to the metal detector. It was a quarter til midnight, and the metro station kept spitting out more and more people - all of them anxious to get to Red Square before midnight. Kate and I got separated from the rest of our group, but we were only about 10 feet to the left of the opening along the fence line - we were SO CLOSE!
Then the crowd surged behind us, pushing us against the makeshift barricade. Visions of being trampled to death by a drunken Russian New Year's mob filled my head, and my heart started pounding. The crowd surged again, and a section of fence to my left toppled over. A few young men began to leap over it and, in response, the people behind Kate and I pushed even harder.
Adrenaline took over. As the section of fence right in front of us was shoved over, I knew we had only seconds to make a decision. I grabbed Kate by the arm.
Knowing full well what we had to do, Kate screamed: "I DON'T WANT TO!!!!!"
I yelled back: "YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE!"
It was our only way to escape an inevitable death by trampling. We leapt over the fence and together we ran like the wind, a drunken Russian mob hot on our heels. We ran about a block, before coming up on a line of authoritative-looking riot police. We decided it would be just fine to celebrate the New Year right there, about a block from Red Square and safe behind the riot police.
It was a very memorable first day in Russia for Kate.
 |
| New Year's festivities behind the riot line |
(Photo courtesy of Misha Molodoi)
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