A breath of fresh air

This is going to be a long post, so grab some popcorn and settle in.

   To catch up from the last few days, this past weekend was fairly uneventful. Another foiled attempt to go to Petergof gardens on Saturday (darn you crummy coastal weather!) had us wandering around an Ethnography Museum which, while interesting, was not what I had psyched myself up for. It was basically a history of all the people of Russia, which are quite a few, and how they used to live. The loom to the right was highly interesting to yours truly, and there was even a (small) bit of fabric woven on the other end of it, with a spinning wheel and drop spindle nearby. I couldn't imagine trying to thread a loom that uses the same type of string for the heddles as what you're trying to weave with. Headache galore.

    After about 3 hours of looking at how various groups of people lived, and working and walking around areas (about 1/3 of the whole museum) that were under reconstruction or closed for setting up new exhibits, I was more than ready to walk out. The prof apparently has a stomach (and legs, feet and back) of iron, because he then asked us if we wanted to stop for the day, and go get lunch... or go to another museum. Sharing looks of disbelief, we all promptly voted for lunch and home, as we won't have another day off til the 26th, when most of us get to start 22-24 hour flights home.

    Sunday night was another ballet- Sleeping Beauty this time. We were literally in the worst seats of the house- 5 stories up from the stage, having to duck to not hit our heads on the ceiling (which I'm sure was beautifully decorated, if viewed at more than a 5 degree angle), and in the back row of seats on that level. Most of us spent the performance half-crouched against the ceiling so we could see something, but not able to stand up fully. Add to this the fact that heat rises, and the dinner I'd eaten disagreed with me, and it was not the best night of the trip. After act 1 which, to be honest, didn't impress me, half of our group decided to leave, and ran into Artemi... coming out of a hotel. Far be it from me to ask what he was doing in there, but suffice to say, he wasn't suffering with us. He guilted the group into coming back, where we spent another miserable hour and a half, and booked it as soon as chicky woke up and danced with Prince Tight-pants. 

   Interestingly, there was apparently a third act, though I'm not really sure what could be done after she wakes up, and there was no force in the world that would keep me in that location, as it was already past 10, and I had homework to fall asleep on. Best of all- we had paid 500 rubles (about $20) for that lovely experience. Woo. Monday was another something cultural that obviously didn't make much of an impression, and Tuesday was kind of free, though again we had homework piled on that I (again) fell asleep on. 

   Finally, finally! Even though Wednesday was still kinda crummy, it was our last opportunity to go to Petergof Gardens, and we voted to make an attempt for them anyway. We managed to get a fairly un-packed bus out there, and we left the rain behind in St. Petersburg, though the clouds, wind and coldness persisted the entire day. We walked through the opening areas, which were very pretty, with fountains and Alice in Wonderland-esque rows of square trees and hedge mazes. After entering the park itself, I saw the fountain to the left, and started to take pictures, thinking it was beautifully amazing. Artemi saw me, and told me to wait for a moment, as this was only a side decoration of the "main" fountain area.

   The area to the right is what he meant- it's a massive area of "only" 200 individual fountains. The guy in the center is Samson tearing the jaws of the lion, and the water goes up roughly 60 feet from there. Many of the fountains feature the checkerboard pattern you can see here, as Peter (the great, I believe) loved chess, and asked that it be incorporated often. From the base of the fountain, the water flows out to the Bay of Finland, passing under a few bridges along the way.

  Here is a view of the cascade from the base- you can see more of the fountains and statues. As always, many of them were damaged or destroyed in the Nazi occupation, and have only recently been restored. You can take a tour on the underside of all of this, but apparently it's really only interesting to engineers or others interested in the secret workings of fountains (I'm looking at you, dad). 

 We spent about 3 hours here, which for once did not feel like an eternity, but does mean that there will be jumps in where the pictures come from. To scene from the right is of the "lower" gardens, and the waterfall in the distance is about 60 feet tall and also checkerboarded. Our group just walked around the pool in the middle, but I saw a crumbling stone stairway, and climbed to the top for this view. The ocean was literally directly behind me, so the wind was pretty intense, but I felt it was worth the view and running to catch back up.

This structure, entitled something about a sun, rotates slowly, and emits a perfectly round spray of water, when the wind isn't blowing it to pieces. While a lot of the wind was blocked by the trees and building, the gardens were laid out with avenues for walking and riding in carriages, so they were straight, geometrical, and quite broad. As such, a fair amount of wind was able to penetrate, but for once, it was fresh, clean air, and I was surrounded by greenery. Suffice to say, I did NOT want to get back on a crowded bus and return to the dirty city. Moreover, the weather kept most people away, so the parks had lots of room to stretch, breathe, and regain one's personal space. Thanks, I'll just camp out here and commute to school somehow. 

   Needless to say, that wasn't going to happen, so we all were making the most of our time here. Apparently, Peter was also found of practical jokes, and a number of areas had trick fountains. One area had seats on cobblestones, and certain stones therein would trigger fountains aimed at the seats. There was even a "mushroom" that looked like seats under an awning... but the rocks surrounding it triggered water to come down on all sides, so the person sitting would have to get wet to leave the area. 

    The scene to the right is a carriageway that would randomly be inundated from both sides by hidden spouts. It is now scheduled to hit at 1,2, and 3 pm, and we happened to come across it minutes before it was due to go off. A delegation of CU students wanted to try to brave the dangers, and formed a small squadron in the center, supposedly with interlocked umbrellas. What we didn't know is that the water didn't just come from the top, it came from the sides too. While I'm proud to say that only our group stayed in there til it was over (all the russian booked it as soon as the water started), the bottom half of pretty much everyone was quite wet. Despite a desire to practice making a Troy-like turtle formation and come back for a second try, we moved on. 

  On the way out, we passed by this "little" side building. I believe it was just for gardeners, but I think this is pretty close to what I want for my house when I settle down somewhere. Ok, maybe a little over the top, but still beautiful. 

  All in all, it was a gorgeous day. Cold, yes, windy, yes, overcast and grey, yes... but spacious, with clean air, and GREEN! While the question of getting a dog is still up in the air until my landlord makes a decision, I am definitely going to set up some plants on the patio when I get back. I can't believe how much difference being around nature- and having clean air to breathe- can make. 

   Going forward, we leave this Friday on a night train to Moscow ("only" 400 miles away), and won't get back til Monday morning right before class. Naturally, our time there is chock full of bus tours, walking tours, and a tourist market, so there doesn't seem to be much relaxation, greenery, or clean air in the forecast. However, to counterbalance all of that, today marks the turning point of one-digit numbers remaining until my departure! 9 days and 20+ hours of flight left until I land in beautiful, friendly, sunny and (it better be) warm Colorado again. Can't wait! Even better, unless something goes horribly wrong, I'll be able to start dance classes again. Woo! 

As a side note, (I know, you thought you were done, ha!), we were studying subjectless structures in grammar class today. Remember those Yakov Smirnoff jokes, "In Soviet Russia..."? They have an element of truth to them. A while earlier, I noted that the russian language works hard to avoid personal responsibility, and Artemi made a comment that one thing russians always look for is "Who is to blame?" Subjectless constructions work such that you don't say "I want ice cream". This is too much personal responsibility. According to my prof, you would say, "There is a desire that has come to exist in me for ice cream" (хочется меня мороженное). This way, she reports, you avoid the responsibility of knowing that it will ruin your diet, or that you don't have money for it... it doesn't matter, because the desire has awoken in you, it's not your fault. This both baffles, frustrates, and amazes me, as my american mind is all about taking control and responsibility for my own life and decisions. Truly, in America, you have desires; in Russia, desires have you.