End in sight

   Although whether it's the end of my rope or the end of the ordeal, I'm not quite sure. Forgive the negative tone of this post, I am running on fumes... or perhaps just the memory of fumes.

   

   Moscow was unexpectedly pleasant, for the most part. We set out on Friday, meeting at the train station at 10:30 pm. This was unexpectedly complicated by the fact that the map wasn't quite honest about it's location, and I didn't know the word for 'train', but I managed to find my way to the required place in time.

We got on the train at 11:20, and set off. It was fairly difficult to sleep, between the white nights and the movement (and random stopping and starting) of the train. We were 4 to a cabin, and I got very lucky with my cabin mates, all of us being fairly calm and quiet. We sat around chatting for a bit, then hit the bunks- 2 on top, 2 on bottom. The guardrail to keep the people on top from falling out of bed was less than stable on the concept of staying in place, so we used a runner from the table to tie the two together- you can see our ingenious design on the side of the picture here.

  We arrived at 7:30 in the morning, having had slightly less than quality sleep, dropped stuff off at the hotel (where I at least did not have time to get food either, so was then running on the usual Russian diet of candy bars and water), and headed out for a bus tour. We stopped off at a couple places, most of which I napped through, and apparently looked pathetic enough, huddled over a second candy bar, that the driver came back and gave me an apple. I managed to croak out a "спасибо" (thank you) before devouring it like it was the last thing on earth. Feeling slightly better, I managed to make the next few places (more churches... yay), before we all got kicked off the bus and moved on.

  Quick stop at the Red Square, which was... red... ish... ok, I jest, it was quite pretty, but I still wasn't really up to snuff. We hit a local mall's food court for lunch, oh-so-thrilling, and I managed to get a slice of horrible pizza and almost an entire banana and chocolate blini down my throat in the space of about 20 minutes. Unrelaxing and underimpressive, but the blini was the best thing I'd tasted in a week or so, so life was looking up. On to the Kremlin!

Ok, a quick note before the Kremlin. There are only a few options for "public" toilets in Russia: none, pay, and this option to the left: a hole in the ground, with no toilet paper. I thought I'd become inured to the lack of toilet seats and toilet paper in Russia, but this is the first time I'd been graced with no toilet even. Myself and one other were the only ones to brave the danger, but my habit of carrying kleenex with me at all times finally paid off. I can't imagine doing this in the usual female attire of high heels and stockings. Even better: there are signs saying "Please do not throw toilet paper (mysterious, as there was none offered) in the toilet!" This, my friends, is what the trash bin is for. Attractive, no? 

   Moving on, the Kremlin was... well, more churches. Not to be critical of anyone's religious beliefs, but having one church dedicated solely to marriages, one to funerals, one to weddings, etc... it just gets a little silly at some point. And that point is most definitely when my feet are killing me, I'm malnourished and exhausted from lack of sleep and walking everywhere. Also featured in the Kremlin were the largest bell and canon (seen here) made, at least in Russia. True to the Russian spirit, however, they are too large to actually be useful, so they were moved, unused, to the Kremlin for display. Good game, practicality, good game. 

     Finally, we made it back to the hotel, which was highly impressive. Thirty floors high, and wonderfully furnished, with a real flushy toilet (and toilet seat!), and a real shower, with real water pressure. I spent an hour in there, getting truly clean for once in 5 weeks, then made myself go to dinner before passing out. I was told there was a buffet in the place, so I went there with my trusty sudoku book. 450 rubles -about $15- is a little high for my budget, but what I ended up doing is eating a plate of (delicious!) food, then doing sudoku til I got hungry again, rinse and repeat. I stayed in there for about an hour and a half, and finally felt truly full and nourished, again for the first time in 5 weeks. My downfall was the cup of tea with dessert (Russia doesn't believe in drinking water, but tea has become a mildly acceptable substitute). I was hanging in just fine, but a cup of warm tea just stops the brain and reminds you how tired you are. Stumbled up to bed, abluted, and crashed. 

   Breakfast the next day was at the same buffet, and I followed the same meal plan, staying in there for a wonderful hour; a great way to follow up 10 hours of solid sleep on a real bed with real sheets. We hit the metro for some more memorials, mostly of world war 2, as the triumphal arch to the left shows. More memorials, more museums, then finally left to ourselves inside an art museum containing mostly reproductions of stuff we'd seen before. A group of us waited 10 minutes to ensure that Artemi had left, and then followed suit. 

  We'd been told that all the metro stops on the circle around the city (think how interstates make a loop around cities, then put it about 60 feet underground) were beautifully decorated, so we spent about 30 minutes riding in a circle. Some, like the one to the right, were amazingly decorated with mosaics and busts, etc. Some, however, would not look out of place in any major city- boring, utilitarian, and unimpressive. We made the most of it though, and emerged with time enough to hit the souvenir market nearby. 

   I managed to get almost all of my shopping done there, and the people I was walking around with found a place that some food critic had been, and had a blissful dinner following in his footsteps. As prices were not listed, however, I elected to go back to the hotel and re-patronize the buffet for a last, longing, filling, nutritious meal. After an hour this time, the tea kicked in, and rather than sleeping in a plate full of delicious food, I went to the front room of the hotel and napped for a bit. 

   At 11pm, we all had congregated at the train station, and were informed that we would not be able to board til 12:10... a great start to an already sleepless night. Once we got in, my bunkmates pretty much climbed into bed, and I followed suit. Sheer exhaustion let me sleep a little bit better this time, but once again, we arrived in St. Petersburg at 8:30, and had to be to class in 2 hours. I made it home, somehow, and took a shower, but food was no longer an option. I forced down a hard boiled egg, and resorted to a coke to stay functional. 

   I cannot focus on anything right now, and I'm getting mildly seasick just sitting in my chair because the world is spinning around me. We got the plan for this week from Artemi, and it had something literally every night of the week. I wrote him back and politely declined Tuesday's and Thursday's night excursions, as they are more blasted churches, and we have a final exam on Friday. Thankfully, he said he understood, so now all I have to do is make it through 2 hours of a conversation class, when my brain can barely function in english, and stumble home. 

  Again, I'm sorry the tone of this post is so negative, but I am truly at my limit. I have written emails to people 3 times now, in barely comprehensible english, and every time, the internet has disconnected and destroyed what I've written. I want to be home, with people who care about me, where the air is clean and the water is drinkable and the food is nourishing. I want to sleep in a real bed, in clean clothes and sheets, and wake up feeling good. I want to not have to eat candy bars to keep from starving, and I want to not hate the world. I want to be able to walk down a street in a straight line, and know that I can manage any situation that comes my way, and not have to look confusedly at people as unintelligible strings of words fly past my head. I want to be home, and there are 5 days, a 20-hour flight, and a final exam keeping me from it. I miss you all.