Hannechka, Justushka, Marchushka

Dear Friends,

One more month left in Russia...too soon to leave. I still feel as if I haven't done enough even though I've been more productive here than I usually am in my life back in the states--this mentatlity of constant and continual self-betterment is something I promise won't leave me when I get back.

Russia is a little overwhelming for my mind right now. I'm not really sure where to start.

I'm in a silly mood soo...here we go.

Soooo I left my house on Saturday to go with my friends to this bar called the Real Maccoy (very Russian name, I know), and obviously to get there you have to take the metro. So the metro is one, beautiful. Two, its crowded. Three, Four and Five, its the best place to get into a fight, get pickpocketed, or to enter staring competition with a russian from an adjacent car. Imagine entering a well warmed building crowded with rushing (russian, haha) people--and as you push forward you peal your eyes to the back of your friends neck hoping you don't lose them amongst the crowd. Ironically enough, even though your eyes are fixated on your friends distinguishing peacoat in front of you, you are actually paying more attention to your backpack that's behind you--cuz Americans just don't seem to understand that a backpack is the easiest thing to steal things from--maybe we realize it--but I guess we're just too stubborn to change our ways.

;) Then you get on an escalator and seriously, no joke, you go down this huge tunnel for three minutes. As you descend, you have a beautiful russian couple making out in front of you, (jealous [ish]), and then a business man with his suitcase and listening to his Ipod. At this time you are also sweating, a little less than profusely, because of all the layers that kept you alive during the ALMOST HERE Moscovite winter outside. As you approach the bottom of the escalator, you literally, no joke, no exaggeration, you enter the Hall of the Mountain King. It's like a Dwarves underground majestic Hall--something like from lord of the rings--just without precious rings--but kind of.

:) The point is, that there is another world below us in Moscow. What fascinates me the most is that Russians think this is normal. I mean, the people here are so used to it--it's an underground World with a train that shows up almost precisely every minute of the hour to transport you to any point in Moscow--every stop has its own huge history. NO BIG DEAL right? No. It is a big deal and I'm getting used to it too--it just becomes a part of you and your everyday life--the history just kind of envelopes you--there's literally nothing like it in the world.

So anyway...I got to this bar and they didn't want the Americans to enter without paying a "cover fee"...which is really more of a bribe. :) That was the end of that night.

Next Time,

ABOUT PETERSBURG

Marcin