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Monastery:
And then I got up at 5:30 am.I know, anyone who knows me will be shocked. It gets dark very late there in the summer (like 11 pm) and it gets light really early too.Sunrise is at like 3:30 am. I love sleeping late, but I thought it was 10 am when I woke up because it was so sunny. Note to self:you did sign up to go north right near the time of the summer solstice. Anyway, I laid around for a while and then finally got dressed. There were a few mosquitoes in our room overnight, so I was pretty itchy. I went out to the lobby and met Kiki. We waited for the rest of the group and Angelina so that we could all have breakfast. Another great meal in the dining room! I had this awesome pastry with apricot baked into it, with some yabloka juice.The only fruit I remembered, but one I like. Angelina also got the info from Shirin and me about our train tickets. What day are we leaving for St. Petersburg?Uhh....still a little discombobulated.
So it was time for our first trip. We all piled into a bus to go visit a monastery, Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra. We had so many guides that some had to take a separate vehicle and meet us there. That was good because the few of us who did know any Russian weren't really conversant. I hate being in a country and not speaking the language--I was kicking myself for not studying up more before I left--but having the Russian students there to help us was so great. It really made me feel comfortable, knowing that I had someone to help me understand the people I met.
The monastery was gorgeous from the first sight. We all took pictures as we walked across the bridge, through the gate and into a big courtyard. We stopped to get directions near a huge turret, a really tall stone structure, obviously meant for defense. It was like walking into a historical novel--I could almost see the archers standing guard in the little slit windows. We walked down a beautiful wooded path, past flocks of pigeons, and up to the main entrance of the monastery. Another one? And here I thought we were already inside.
Anyway, we got our tickets and walked through a huge archway with gorgeous paintings of saints and religious scenes. They were on the walls, the ceilings--bigger than life size and all done in bright colors. The walkway opened onto a nice plaza, with gardens and buildings and domes rising up just beyond us. There was a church with beautiful dark blue domes (minarets? spires?) dotted with gold stars. Most of the buildings were in white and gold, all shiny and polished. The center of the plaza held a large fountain with holy water, which people were drinking and collecting to take home. I didn't drink it, but I did bless myself. We listened to the tour guide until a sudden rain shower, which reminded us that we should really check out the inside of some of these buildings.
We ended up in a church, which was beautiful and crowded. There were no pews, but it was full of people who were lighting candles and praying near pictures of their favorite saints. I felt a little weird because all the women cover their heads when they go into the churches and I (along with a good portion of the group) had nothing to cover my head with. People understood that we were tourists and were okay with it, but I still felt out of place and a little disrespectful. I gave a little donation and lit a candle, then wandered into the main part of the church. It was incredibly tall and had art all over the ceiling, even inside the domes. There were huge columns and chairs set against the walls for the resident monks to sit in. I thought it was interesting that the monks wore black instead of the brown cloaks I'm used to seeing. It was super crowded though, so I walked toward the exit, waiting until the rain let up a little and I could explore outside again. Sure enough, the rain stopped and we had a few minutes to explore before we headed outside to buy souvenirs.
Our intrepid guides said that the best place to buy souvenirs was at the little market outside the monastery walls. It was at the bottom of a little hill, so I could see a vast sea of Russian nesting dolls as we walked down the rise to spend all of our money. This market was one of the informal tables-with-stuff markets that pop up near tourist attractions. The prices were great though, and I bought most of my souvenirs there. I snagged some wooden bowls (for me and for Susan), haggled for a deal on a wooden box for Dad, gaped at the price of a fur hat ($50!?!), and picked up a pretty little nesting doll for myself. Each doll inside is a different color, though I still haven't been able to open the next to last one--no idea what color the smallest one is. Our guides were roving from group to group, helping us talk with the merchants and translating their sales pitches. Apparently, my bowl looks like a hedgehog. Who knew? They finally shooed us back up the hill for our next tour.
We walked along more of the beautiful paths and around a pond to get to the restaurant for lunch. I was chatting with Kiki about my limited Russian and she told me that she could read some of the words because the alphabet is very similar to her native Greek. I still think "Pectopah" is a great way to think of it in my head, even if I know it sounds like "restoran". We had salad, borsch, soup, and ice cream squares for dessert. Tasty! We headed to the museum next, for a lengthy tour of the exhibits about Russian traditional dress and handicrafts. I was surprised to find out that many Russian women traditionally made their wedding dresses and then put them away until they were buried in them. That seemed like such a jarring second use for the dress, and I was shocked that it would still fit after many years and having a family. It was cool to see all the dresses and some looked very similar to the tradition dress in Slovenia, where my grandmother's family comes from--right down to the funny-looking hats.
Doll-making was the handicraft of the day, with all of us sitting down for a class. I'm not the most coordinated person, but I am pretty crafty. We had some string, a few pieces of fabric, and some cotton. I'm good, but not that good. Luckily, the teacher was very expressive and our guide translated. The teacher was also good at helping us keep our dolls from becoming all lumpy and deformed, so we did all right. These dolls weren't toys though. They are traditionally made for a baby, as a protector of sorts. They are never bought, only given or chosen by the mother and traded for. The doll is almost like a totem or a diversion, set in the cradle before the baby is born and also when the baby is not sleeping. The fabric comes from the clothing of the father, so that it will be imbued with his strength, and all the pieces are torn rather than cut. My doll kind of rocked, with her flowered fabric face and her awesome purple skirt. That was a cool afternoon activity.
The group split up for the last hour there, and I ended up with the group searching for the bathroom. We found it okay, but our guides said it was a Russian toilet and we should try to find the European one. It was way on the other side, so we went across the plaza, then we couldn't find it, then went back to get the other guides, then went back to the mythical tourist toilet and found out it was broken. Then we headed back to the Russian toilet--the guides were telling us that it would be a new experience. Standing toilet--with a window in the stall. Good thing I didn't have to go too bad. One cool thing:the woman in line behind me thought I was Russian and started talking to me about this cat that was playing nearby, and I was able to follow most of the conversation. Thanks, Rosetta Stone!
That was it for the monastery, so we got on the bus and went back to the university. Our guides were still going strong, so they took us to the mall. We all walked to the metro station and bought tickets. It was almost comical, with everyone trying to figure how much tickets cost and what to ask for. We finally made it on the train will all but 2 of us having bought tickets. Pavel and Katya said it would be okay, and they were right--we didn't see a single ticket guy the whole way. We got off in a new city, which had a huge mall. Everyone went to the third floor to eat, but Shirin and I weren't hungry, so we wandered around the mall. We went to a store that was like a Best Buy, which was interesting, but we got separated somehow. We finally met up again in the basement, where there was a bookstore, video shop, internet cafe, and supermarket. I got some super cheap water to take back with me and we checked out vodka prices. I didn't want to buy any because we would have to drag it all over the country for the next 6 days, but it is always good to know how much you should have to pay. The internet cafe was our next stop, but there was no one to take our money. Weird.
Anyway, the rest of the group soon joined us in the basement and we waited for everyone to gather before catching the metro home. We had a long walk home, full of mosquitoes (who would have guessed?) and a stop for cigarettes. We dropped by a little shack on the side of the road on the way home. Some of the people in the group asked what they were called, and our guides just said they were stores. Some of the city dwellers said they were like bodegas. Bodegee? (That's how you make Russian words plural.) I chatted with Katya on the way back and she was telling me that she has noticed how Americans smile and greet people they see on the street, even strangers. I remember explaining that to an international student when I was in college. It's so true though--we smile and nod to acknowledge people on the street, in hallways, even in the supermarket. Katya said that even in the few days she had spent with us she noticed herself doing it a little more. That made me happy. We were soon back on campus, where she told me that most people spoke at least a little English but that they didn't usually speak up because they weren't so comfortable talking. Sure enough, a group of guys was walking by right then and they said hello. They followed us over to the dorm, giving hilarious responses to our questions about the best vodkas to buy. They introduced themselves and most of the group stayed downstairs to chat. I was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, so I left after a few minutes and got first dibs on the shower. Night!
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