Good news! Just got an email from the Russian-end coordinator of the trip. Despite the last-miunte-ness of the contact, this is not the first year he's been in this position, so hopefully things will be reasonably smooth. The email was mostly just confirmation of stuff we've covered earlier (which I appreciate), but he did also mention that there will be a welcoming dinner when we arrive in St. Pete's- a positive sign that they intend to actually feed us on a regular basis.
There was also a nice note that they will be showing us where the supermarkets on the island are, as well as local ATMs. They will be providing us with a map of the city (good, since mine from 2010 was used ragged), and metro cards. There will be a guided tour on the second day, after we've had a chance to recover from the 12+ hours of flight, and an optional trip to Moscow at the end of the month. Everything seems to be taken care of and planned ahead- here's hoping that things run smoothly!
The only odd thing that came up is that the dorms are not actually on campus, as it were. While they are on the same island (thank goodness!), the university dorms are apparently a 30 minute bus ride away from the actual classrooms. I'm hoping that it's a reasonable walking distance as well (since the island isn 't all that big!), and I'll be able to get exercise on a daily basis. So far, though, things look pretty good. Tomorrow, Angel and I are heading up for NYC, and the day after, the adventure begins. Woot!
In the meantime, here's a picture of my friend's little shih tzu that could quite make it on an entire walk with us. Fun, but he became a heavy lil bugger after a while.
There was also a nice note that they will be showing us where the supermarkets on the island are, as well as local ATMs. They will be providing us with a map of the city (good, since mine from 2010 was used ragged), and metro cards. There will be a guided tour on the second day, after we've had a chance to recover from the 12+ hours of flight, and an optional trip to Moscow at the end of the month. Everything seems to be taken care of and planned ahead- here's hoping that things run smoothly!
The only odd thing that came up is that the dorms are not actually on campus, as it were. While they are on the same island (thank goodness!), the university dorms are apparently a 30 minute bus ride away from the actual classrooms. I'm hoping that it's a reasonable walking distance as well (since the island isn 't all that big!), and I'll be able to get exercise on a daily basis. So far, though, things look pretty good. Tomorrow, Angel and I are heading up for NYC, and the day after, the adventure begins. Woot!
In the meantime, here's a picture of my friend's little shih tzu that could quite make it on an entire walk with us. Fun, but he became a heavy lil bugger after a while.
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