Oh jeez. As I write this, I've been informed by my dearest younger sister that I've only got a mere 15 days remaining in St. Petersburg. Thursday night we leave for a 3-day/4-night excursion to Moscow, giving me (practically speaking) 11 days in which to do the following:
- Write and turn in a 3000-word term paper on a topic I have now chosen, but which has not been approved (and I've decided to just write it because I don't have any more time to waste waiting on Josh and/or the Stetson email server).
- Finish acquiring souvenirs for all the people I love so much.
- Acquire a new suitcase to replace the red one. Drink to forget the deep, heartbroken sadness in the red suitcase's face when I told it it wouldn't be coming home with me.
- Give red suitcase dignified burial (read: take it out to the dumpsters).
- Consider washing my clothes, decide against it. They'll get cleaner if I just wait to do it when I get home.
- Request transcripts and arrange a ride to the airport through the university. (this can wait until the week after next, thankfully.)
- Pack ALL the things!
- Return home in one piece with all of my belongings.
The term paper is going to be the most difficult thing. I just can't seem to get the paper-writing mojo flowing this semester, probably because this has been my least writing-intensive semester of my entire college career. I have about a third of an outline completed at the time of writing this post, though, so there is that at least. I don't know why I'm having so much trouble staying focused long enough to get much significant work done, but I know I just have to grit my teeth and make it happen, like I always do. And I will.
I'm writing a half observational study, half comparative literary analysis on the role of gender in social interaction in Russia vs. America, using my own observations as well as the plays Three Sisters and A Streetcar Named Desire for points of reference. We saw an updated performance of Three Sisters a few months ago, so much of my task is in recalling the salient moments from that play--all of which were, of course, improvised or changed by the troupe, and thus not in the original text. I chose Streetcar because its ideas about men and women and how they interact, particularly along the specific lines I chose to focus, are still relevant in the 21st century. Also, I felt I needed a piece of American drama as a reference to balance the use of Three Sisters. So, we'll see how that goes. This is definitely among the more interesting topics I've written about, I think, so I'm kind of excited to see the paper in its final form. I have this condition where I'm incapable of writing an academic paper with all the thoughts and ideas in the order they ought to be presented in the first go-round, so every paper-writing attempt is an adventure in verbal Tetris, rearranging sentences, words, and paragraphs into the order they ought to be as they exit my brain.
Also at some point before I leave, we're going to an amusement park! Corinne, Liz and I went to this park outside the city center for this bubble flash mob thing that was supposed to be happening today; the crowd was huge, we didn't have bubbles nor did we know where to buy them, and it cost 50p to get into the event as it was, so we changed our minds about it later. However, when we left the metro at our destination, the first thing we saw was a roller coaster. (Link to a Youtube video of some people riding one of the four coasters in the park; you can see a few of the other rides in the background, like another Wild-West-themed coaster, one of those spinning swing rides like the Zephyr at Kings Island, one of those bungee/slingshot rides).
This park where the bubble shenanigans were happening is right across the street from what looks like a Russian Kings Island, called Wonder Island. It's not a big place, but it's got a lot of really cool rides! Admission is free--you buy tickets for specific rides at ticket counters inside the park--so we went in and had a look around, just to see if it would be worth buying the 1500p "universal" wristbands that let you ride ALL the things. We decided it was absolutely worth it, but that we wanted to come back another day, earlier than 4 in the afternoon, and with a fourth person to avoid the awkward "one lone rider" problem that happens with groups of three. We haven't decided on a day, yet, but it will probably be next Thursday. Whenever we go, I will be sure to blog about it.
I'll also be sure to blog about our Moscow trip! We leave Thursday night very late, get into Moscow early Friday morning, have a whirlwind visit so packed with stuff to do that even our free time is scheduled, then leave late Sunday night and get in early Monday morning. Renee (superstar that she is) arranged our trains such that we wouldn't have to miss any class to travel, and she also got us hostel reservations. If the Moscow hostel is half as nice as any of the hostels we stayed in during our spring break trip, it's gonna be fun. I guess Thursday will be spent deciding which clothes are clean enough to bring on a 3-day trip. I should wash some of them, but doing laundry in this apartment is a two-day affair, minimum. Whatever, I have clean underwear and none of my outerwear is stained or anything, so I'm good.
As I'm writing this post, I'm sitting in the kitchen and looking out the window, remembering when the roof of the building behind ours was covered in snow so deep they had to have a guy up there shoveling it off. Earlier today I was walking down Zhukovskogo, crossing the last intersection before getting to my block, and I remembered the three-inch-thick layer of treacherous ice that covered it when I first arrived. I haven't touched my purple down coat in weeks (which is honestly something I'm thankful for). Most days when I wear my jacket it feels more like a formality, because unless it's windy, it's warm enough that I don't need it if I wear one of my sweaters. Still too cold for just a t-shirt, but too warm for a thermal top. I'll soon be back in Florida where every day is warm enough for a T-shirt. I remember the night I arrived; I remember all the fun I've had with my roommates, and although I'm pretty much ready to go home, I find myself sad at the prospect of leaving, because St. Petersburg is fun when it's not punishing humans for continuing to live there with snow and ice and rain and floods.
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