By KMorris117
Привет!
It has been a little over a week since I first touched down in Russia, and what an exciting one it has been. I have moved in with my host family, and the experience has been fantastic so far.
Marina, my host mother, makes sure I am (overly) fed every day. She is kind-hearted, hardworking, and enjoys talking about growing up in St. Petersburg and in the USSR.
Liza is my host sister. She is working towards a Master’s Degree in art history, and she also works at a contemporary art museum in St. Petersburg. She speaks English pretty well and has helped me in adjusting to my new environment.
Ivan, or Vanya, is my host brother. He works and goes to school, and he is a great musician. He plays guitar and sings, and the other night we were jamming to some Adele and John Legend. The music I have heard in Russia is incredibly interesting to me. At restaurants and cafes, many of the songs they play are in English. Some are more recent, popular songs, and others are songs I haven’t heard since middle school. On Friday night, the bar we were at was playing all the pop hits from 2007-2010. To say us international kids were excited is a HUGE understatement.
Obviously, things are very different here than they are in the US. Still, I was surprised at how much of a bustling city St. Petersburg truly is. When many imagine Russia, they imagine a cold, barren wasteland. However, St. Petersburg is a constant hub of activity; it is like any other European city, except everything is in Russian!
This past week, some of my friends and I stumbled across an anti-café. Unlike all American cafes, one does not pay for their food or drink at an anti-café. Rather, you pay for the amount of time you spend there. We went to Циферблат (Ciferblat, meaning clock), a giant, renovated flat. Every room had cozy couches, tables, and chairs to sit at. There were even some computers and instruments scattered around that patrons could use.
When we entered, there was a woman recording what time our group arrived. There was a barista making coffee and tea drinks, and there were pastries and cookies out for anyone to grab. It’s basically an “all-you-can-eat-or-drink” ordeal, and my group sat there sipping coffee and tea for about 3 hours. As we left, the woman in the front calculates the amount of time you spent in the café and our group was charged for the amount of time we spent there. It equaled out to be about $5, which for the amount of coffee we drank (and pastries I ate) was a great deal. It is definitely our new favorite study spot, and I am excited to find other anti-cafes throughout the city.
That’s probably enough for now- I honestly love it here so far, so I could probably go on and on for days. I am so excited to explore the rest of this city, and I am excited to continue to share my experiences with you as well!