Better than French fries.

I am so proud of my home state right now:http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051109/NEWS04/511090310/1047Well done, Idaho. It's about damn time.

Pyramids? Check.

Carrie, Jenn and I spent all of yesterday sightseeing in Cairo and Giza. Our tour started with a trip to the national museum, where we saw a bunch of stuff from King Tut's tomb, and after having lunch by the Nile, our bus took us out to see the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx. It was surreal to see them in person. I had this feeling of excitement and accomplishment as I mentally checked "See the Pyramids" off my list of "Things To Do Before I Die."Then we went to a perfume museum of sorts. I didn't know this before, but Egypt produces most of the essence oils used in all the world's perfumes. We met a man whose family has been making essence oils for generations. He was pretty neat-- he said he could recommend a type of perfume for an individual by looking at his or her skin type and "aura." He told me that with my skin type (*cough* freckled and pasty) I shouldn't wear scents that are too sweet or flowery. Regarding my aura, he said, "You are a fighter." I wanted to say "Is that a challenge?" but instead I just bought some of the essence oil he recommended for me-- a light Japanese perfume.Tonight we're going to take a bus to Mount Sinai. The plan is to hike to the top of the mountain, watch the sunrise, and maybe receive the Word of God, if there's time.

Blog like an Egyptian

I now have in my passport a new stamp and two really cool visa stickers that say stuff in Arabic on them. You know what else they say on them? "Egypt." Yeah, man.We arrived in Sharm El Sheikh this morning, and our hotel is even better than we thought it would be. The pool is gorgeous, and even has a swim-up bar. Of course, I don't think we'll be doing much booze-drinking while we're here because the country is predominantly Muslim and furthermore, it's Ramadan. Whatever. I can drink in Russia. What I can't do in Russia is get a tan. Well, truthfully, I can't really do that anywhere with much success given the stubbornly pasty/freckled nature of my skin, but that's a whole 'nother story. What I'm trying to say is, I'm psyched to be here.A little later in the week we're going to the Cairo/Giza area to see the pyramids and such. Apparently we can buy tickets there on a local airline for less than 10 dollars. I don't know how I feel about that, exactly. I mean, I love bargains and all, but I just hope it isn't like a Flintstones plane or something-- like we all have to take a running start before we can get airborne.On the agenda for tomorrow: nothing. Absolutely nothing. Of course, our plans may change-- we might take the bus to the Red Sea and check that out. But right now, I'm looking forward to sun, pool, and nothing. Bliss.

23 hours in Moscow

Hi, all. Melissa, Jenn and I took an overnight train from St. Petersburg to Moscow. We arrived here at around 5 in the morning (Saturday), and we will meet the guy with our plane tickets to Egypt at 4am (Sunday). I got zero sleep on the train. Damn overheated tube-of-death. Right now, I'm running on sugar, caffeine, and fumes.We did have a pretty cool day, though. We met up with Carrie (she left Petersburg a day early) at her boyfriend Ivan's apartment in the outskirts of Moscow-- a classic (by "classic" I mean "endearingly janky") Brezhnev era apartment building. We met his brother Petya and his friend Nikolai-- nice enough guys. They invited us to have vodka (at 10am, mind you) and buterbrody (Russian open-faced sandwiches) of butter and caviar with them. Sooooo Russian! I'm actually developing an affinity for red caviar now. Thanks to childhood memories of camping trips and fishing in the Idaho wilderness, I never thought I'd be able to see that stuff as anything other than bait-- goopy red stuff in little jars in my dad's tackle box. Anyway, it was really cool to be socializing with folks here in such a Russian way. I was jazzed. Of course, that could have just been the vodka.Melissa, Jenn and I then spent most of the day strolling around the center of the city, including a visit to the Tretiakov gallery (free admission with our student IDs! Woot!). Now we're killing time at the airport. Egypt or bust!Poka!

Good News and Bad News

First the bad news: our plans fell through, and it turns out we're not going to Scandinavia for our fall break next week.
The good news: we're going to Egypt instead.
Actually, that's not really "good" news, is it? It's more like holy-crap-I'm-going-to-Egypt!!-awesome news.
This weekend, Carrie, Melissa, Jenn and I will be fleeing this freezing cold (albeit beautiful) meat locker they call St. Petersburg to lounge poolside at an Egyptian resort hotel.
Egypt, baby. Woot.

Zolotaya Osen'

The title means “golden autumn,” for those of you keeping track. That’s how they refer to this time of year ‘round here.To celebrate the end of the first round of exams, a few of the other students and I went to Pavlovsk on Saturday. It’s a town about a half hour away from St. Petersburg with a beautiful park—the former estate of Grand Duke Pavel, Catherine the Great’s son. It was great to get out of the city and see some foilage (sic).Foilage (sic), yay!From left: Alex, Swathi, me, Jenn (hiding, for some reason), and Hilary. We ran into some students from Hogwarts, who were there on a field trip. The locals got into the spirit of the season by making crowns out of the leaves. We were lucky enough to find some crowns that were left behind. Here’s Hilary, modeling one of the crowns: I tried to make a crown of my own, but it was hard, so I gave up. Alex apparently thinks we’re posing for a Calvin Klein ad in this pic:Even the statues were getting into the spirit of the season! We found a lovely bridgeSuch a good-looking bunch: Melissa, Jenn, Hilary, Alex, and me. That night, we traded Alex for Carrie (hee!), and the six of us girls had a fun impromptu Ladies’ Night in Swathi’s apartment. Her host family was away at their dacha for the weekend, so we had the place to ourselves. We stopped by a grocery store on the way to her place and bought a splendorific assortment of food and beverages—complete with three bottles of Soviet champagne! I love that stuff. I just love that it exists—oxymoronic in a way. Cristal for the Proletariat.Anyway, it ended up being a fabulous evening of delicious food, drink, and girl talk. It’s really cool how all of us in this fellowship group hit it off and became friends automatically. We don’t have classes during the last week of October, so a few of us are planning a boat trip to Scandinavia! I’m sooo excited!Oh, and I do have great pics from Novgorod, and I will post them once I figure out how to resize them. I’m still a bit of a greenhorn at this stuff. Do vstrecha!

Bonnie: 1, St. Petersburg: 0

Well, it's been a long week of tests and near-death experiences, kids. As far as the tests go, well, we've been assured that they're just for the teachers to assess our progress and tweak their methods accordingly. They aren't testing us to see who gets voted off the island (or islands, as it were-- damn swamp city). Which is a good thing too, since I did craptacularly. Have fun with that one, LJ spellchecker.
They made the mistake of telling us that the tests didn't really count towards any "grades" before we took the tests. Knowing that, I was so tempted to go all Mad Libs on the tests. That would have been great:
The Sofia Cathedral is the lumpiest cathedral in Russia.Peter the Great died after someone bet him he couldn't eat fifty eggs.In the Peter and Paul Fortress ladies drink free every Wednesday.
Oh, right-- I promised you near-death experiences. Well, I've gotten used to my life flashing before my eyes every time I try to jaywalk here. But this morning was extra special. During rush hour, the metro trains are filled to capacity. Everyone crams in, and if you find yourself in a pack of people moving in a certain direction, you have no choice but to go with the flow. Well, this morning I was caught in a crowd of people trying to cram into an already-full train, and I lost my footing at an inopportune moment: my right leg slipped between the train and the platform, down to my knee. Quite a moment. I said to myself, "Self, you're going to lose your leg, or your life, or both. You're gonna die ugly." Fortunately, a good Russkii Samaritan grabbed me by the arm and pulled me up just before the doors closed. I was too embarrassed to look him in the eyes when I thanked him.
But despite the city's best efforts, I escaped both its language tests and its transportation system with my life. Hence the score, Bonnie: 1, St. Petersburg: 0.
On to cheerier topics, here it is, abiding byim_no_robot 's rules: the Sex Mix, coming in just under the wire at 79 minutes, 59 seconds.
Cruisin', D'AngeloI Feel Love, Blue Man Group & Venus HumThe Wind Cries Mary, Jimi HendrixI Wanna Mmm, The LawyerDream On, Depeche ModeLatour 'Blue', Buddha Bar 5God Put A Smile On Your Face, ColdplayRapture, BlondieRez, UnderworldI Put A Spell On You, Nina SimoneFirst Cool Hive, MobyLove Song. 311You Can Leave Your Hat On, Joe CockerPurple Haze, The CureThe Way You Dream, 1 Giant Leap and Michael StipeDelicate, Damien Rice

Picture Dump

As promised...My host family: Tatiana Nikolaevna, Lena, Tanya, and Lena's boyfriend MityaMy apartment buildingMy bedroom. It's still this clean. I swear.Ema. The dog that God forgot.The statue of Pushkin in front of the Russian Museum.Let me put it in perspective, SAT style...RUSSIANS : PUSHKIN :: GERMANS : DAVID HASSELHOFFThe cast of characters: Hilary, Melissa, Mike, Carrie, and JennBadasses.Hilary and meJohn and AlexMe and Johnsome art museumWe're going on a tour of Novgorod tomorrow, so I'll hopefully have some moregood pics soon. I really like the other students in the group-- we all get along great. We're all feeling the stress of our classes and the workload, but having each other's encouragement and reassurance at the end of the day is a lifesaver. Plus we have fun on the weekends. Next up: a visit to the Russian Ice Capades and the Baltika brewery(fingers crossed!)So I'm having fun, and I'm getting an education. And I'm developing quite an affinity for seaweed salad andSoviet Champagne. Yum...

Cock'er? But I don't even...

This entry is horribly overdue. I apologize for that. Keep in mind that I'm in Russia-- nothing gets done in a timely manner here.Anyway, last Thursday night, I went to a Joe Cocker concert in Dvortsovaya Ploshad (Palace Square) with a couple of students in my group, Alex and John. It was excellent. Such cool place for a concert. Right in front of Catherine the Great's former residence. Heh heh. The old nympho was probably rolling over in her grave.If you've ever seen old video of Joe Cocker performing back in the day...yeah, he's still like that. I was not disappointed-- the guy delivered. He was just as, um, animated as ever. And his voice has not changed a bit. He could still emote and screech, and he sang his heart out on every song. It was definitely a memorable night.I think Joe Cocker might be more popular in Russia now than in the States. My host sister Lena was really jealous that I got a ticket to the concert. But it was interesting-- the songs that were big hits in the US weren't the favorites of the crowd at the concert. Alex and John and I were absolutely going nuts (screaming and jumping) when we heard the opening measures to songs like "Feelin' Alright" and "With a Little Help From My Friends." The rest of the crowd didn't seem as impressed with those particular songs, but they did go nuts during songs that we had never heard before.I wish I had pictures of the actual concert, but they wouldn't allow photography past the security checkpoint, so here's a picture I took of the square before the concert:

Pictures Coming Soon!

I have a lot of photos of all my St. Petersburg sights and peeps, and I will upload them and link to them soon. In the meantime, here's a classic, in honor of the football season that I'm currently missing. *sniff!*Go Cardinal Football! I'm with you in spirit. Keep kickin' ass, ABF Drumz! For the love of God and all that is holy, my ears are bleeding! :)

Lysistrata Ivanovna

Last night, a bunch of us ventured into janky-ass South Central St. Petersburg to see a performance of Lysistrata. I have to say it was really cool to see a Russian performance of the play. It's usually difficult for me a to really get into a play. I mean, I enjoy going to plays, but it's hard for me to get past the intrinsically over-the-top acting of the stage. I can't help but roll my eyes.That wasn't the case this time. I was totally sucked into the performance and I didn't once have the urge to roll my eyes at the acting. I think the reason I was able to get into it is because the Russian language is by its very nature over-the-top. It's so dramatic as it is-- intonation is crucial, and the range between accented and non-accented syllables is much broader in Russian than in most other languages. As a result, the language is very animated and dramatic in its everyday usage. If you observe Russians on the street, whether they're conversing with their friends or just buying something from a kiosk, you will witness very animated exchanges. This language isn't just spoken, it's performed, and I think I was able to enjoy the play last night because it was performed on a dynamic level similar to that of the everyday interactions I've been witnessing since a I came to this country.Also, Russian women are characteristically ballsy. They are no pushovers, honey. It was really awesome to see a bunch of sassy Russian women bark out classic feminist dialogue. So much chutzpah and moxie. It was a very cool evening.In other news, an unfortunate member of the program must have accidentally ingested some local tap water, because he came down with the Russian equivalent of Montezuma’s Revenge. I don’t know if it goes by a name here. The Romanov Curse, maybe? The Tartar Retreat? The Cossack Saber Dance? I'm open to suggestions here, people.

labor daybor

I found out that, sadly, Labor Day is NOT and internationally recognized holiday. So while my friends in the states have been enjoying a long weekend, my weekend was regular-length and is already over. I did enjoy it, though. On Saturday, I went to the Russkii Muzei (Russian Museum) with a couple of students from my program. The museum is hosting a ginormous Chagall exhibit until the end of the month, including works on loan from other museums (including my beloved Tretiakov Gallery in Moscow!) and private collections. As cool as the Chagall exhibit was, I think I got more of a kick out of the museum's regular collection. Since the museum exclusively hosts works by Russian artists, I got to see many paintings that I had previously only known from my language textbooks. It was really neat to finally see the full-sized murals as opposed to the 3" by 5" prints they wedge between boxes of verb conjugations.Yesterday I went to the gym for the first time since I've been here. I got a membership to a gym called Galaktika. :) It's adjacent to the Petrovsky Stadium, and gym members are allowed to use the stadium's track (provided there isn't a soccer match going on). Since the weather here is still unbelieveably nice, I spent almost two hours out on the track. There's something about a completely empty stadium that's so zen. I couldn't leave. I wanted to stay out there for as long as possible-- just me, the blue sky, and a couple of stray tabby cats that found their way into the stadium.After hitting the internet cafe to check my email and read the news (Bush gets to appoint ANOTHER Supreme Court Justice?! WTF?!), I had dinner with my host family and watched some TV with my host sister's boyfriend, Mitya. He's a pretty cool guy. They started showing that ABC show "Lost" over here (dubbed, of course), and Mitya's almost as big a fan of the show as I am. He kept asking me what was going to happen-- they're only about halfway through the first season over here-- but I refused to give anything away. "Ya nye skazhu! Eto surpriz!"Today-- Labor Day, ahem-- we had our first official day of classes. It went a lot better than I thought it would. While I'm still pretty sure that my Russian is the worst in the group, I don't feel like I'm hopelessly behind. We have two 90 minute classes, followed by an hour one-on-one with a tutor. My tutor, Olya, is really nice. Since it was our first session, we just introduced ourselves and talked about what we would work on this semester. I told her that I really want to focus on improving my conversational Russian. It's always been my weakest area. I know that my problem that I'm so self-conscious about my speaking abilities in Russian that I end up staying pretty quiet during any conversation, and I don't get the practice I need. She assured me that we will work on it and that soon, I will feel comfortable speaking Russian. She even told me that the Russian I *do* speak is almost totally correct, and that I barely have an accent. Zuh?! Um, thanks, but are you sure you're talking to ME, Olya?Do vstrecha!

Hot.

Check out my student ID card.What do you think? Can I pass for a russkaya studyentka?

Zdravstvuyte!

Well it's official: your Bonnie lies over the ocean. Greetings from Russia. Where they keep the cold when other places aren't using it.Actually, the weather's been pretty good so far. What's funny is that it almost seems to be making the locals uneasy. They're so used to things starting to turn ugly right about now that they don't know how to react to summer lasting as long as this.I arrived in St. Petersburg on Friday afternoon with a group of 9 other American students. My host family is just as sweet as can be. I'm living with a mother (Tatiana Nikolaevna), her 2 daughters (Yelena, 21, and Tanya, 17), and their dog Ema. Oooh, boy. Ugliest. Dog. Ever.Not only is the family incredibly nice and congenial, but their apartment is great. It's absolute luxury by Russian standards. I think it's safe to say that I totally lucked out in terms of my housing assignment for this program. Tatiana has even offered to do my laundry!After dinner and a much needed shower (great water pressure, by the way), I went to bed. It was a bit of a fitful night, though, between the jetlag and the early pangs of homesickness. On Saturday, the other students and I were led on a walking tour of the area around the university. Our department's building is right on the Neva River, and the view is amazing. We walked across a gorgeous bridge to the square where the Hermitage is. That's right. The freaking Hermitage is within walking distance of my school. As is the Bronze Horseman. It's such a trip that I'll be spending everyday so close to such iconic Russian landmarks.After the group walking tour, Tanya took me and a couple of other students to the Peter and Paul Fortress. It's a small island that has a prison (where Dostoevsky was held) and a church (where many of the tsars and tsarinas are entombed, including Catherine the Great and, as of recently, the entire Romanov family). We lounged on the island's strip of sandy beach for a while, just conversing and taking in the unseasonably nice St. Petersburg weather.Classes officially start later this week-- we've just been having introductory lectures so far-- but first they're going to test us (exhaustively) to see how our language skills measure up as of now. Wish me luck (I think I need it)!

Goodbye!

"Goodbye" is a word that's been on my mind a lot recently. This month has been full of goodbyes-- some expected, some unexpected, all of them sad. I've known for months now that I would have to say goodbye to all my friends at the end of the summer, but even so, now that the moment has arrived, I feel horribly sad. I know I'm about to embark on an adventure, and that I'll be having fun and keeping busy once I'm in Russia. Right now, however, I'm just worried about making it through the next three days without collapsing in on myself from the sadness of leaving everyone I love. I know we'll keep in touch with email and IM and phone calls. It's just... that ocean is just so large...Goodbye, everyone. My next entry will be from Russia. With love.

Working girl

My six weeks as an "office bitch" began yesterday. I'm working at the Alumni Center, and so far, my work has consisted of making copies, formatting spreadsheets and mailing labels, and printing said labels. There is also some light cutting and stapling. Yep, I'd say my higher education is paying for itself...Sarcasm aside, I'm actually kind of enjoying the work. There's something relaxing about it. It's not like doing schoolwork, because quality isn't an issue. There's only one way to print a sheet of labels, so I don't have to stress myself out over doing the task especially well, like I would if I were writing a paper. I can just turn off my brain and listen to my headphones as I do whatever assignment they give me. It reminds me of that Simpsons episode when they go to Japan, run out of money, and end up having to work at a fish-gutting factory. Bart enjoys the repetitive work and feels like he's found his calling: "Knife goes in, guts come out. Knife goes in, guts come out." That's so me at this job. Except with less guts and more Microsoft Office.

Birthday memories...

Dear, sweet, wonderful im_no_robot threw me a birthday party a couple nights ago-- by far the most fun I've ever had on my birthday. The theme was "Baby's First Birthday," because I've never really had an actual birthday party before. I think it's because I'm a summer birthday. And also because I'm lazy.Anyway, this birthday party kicked ass. It was a barbecue with great food, great drinks, and an awesome soundtrack. A bunch of great people were there, and I really enjoyed spending my birthday with them. And I went absolutely apeshit on the pinata.

House-sitting

I'm house-sitting until the end of the month. It's pretty cool having an entire house to myself. I get to be completely uninhibited-- walk around in little attire (it's cool-- the window shades are closed), go to the bathroom with the door open if I feel so inclined, listen to whatever embarrassingly awful saccharin dance music I like without feeling the need to make lame excuses for it, like, "Um, I just set my music library on 'Random play', and, uh, I think a friend of mine was using my computer one day and she must have, um, downloaded that song without me knowing."The actual owners of this house are really nice, good people. They only set a few house rules, and I'm cheerfully abiding by them, but still I worry that I might somehow unwittingly violate their trust. I don't mean by strutting around in just a towel-- no, I'm cool with that. And if they happened to equip their house with hidden cameras, I still wouldn't feel guilty about it. I mean, I'm not flashing the neighbors or desecrating anything in the house. And actually, I think hidden cameras in this situation would constitute a violation of my trust, as it would be an invasion of my privacy. I think the only legitimate reason for hidden cameras is deterrence; otherwise, it's just voyeurism. Stores have signs saying the place is equipped with hidden cameras so that people will be less likely to steal. If the owners of this house have hidden cameras out of concern that something will get stolen, they need to tell that fact to whomever they are trying to deter from stealing-- in this case, the house-sitter. Especially in the case of a house-sitter-- someone they know will be naked at times in their home (at least to shower). Otherwise, they are just being voyeurs. Whatever. If that's the case, I guess you'll be seeing me on housesittervoyeurism.com or something.Anyway, whenever I look around for an innocent item like a glass or a dishrag or something, I feel guilty opening a drawer or cupboard, like I'm snooping. I honestly have no desire to snoop around here-- I don't care about these people's private matters, and I truly want to respect their privacy. I mean, they're letting me stay in their home, rent-free, and all I have to do is guard the place, collect the mail, and water some plants. But still, that slight pang of guilt is there. Maybe it's a good thing-- just my conscience asserting itself. At least I know I have good intentions here. And since I'm not being paid for my services (I understand that commonly, house-sitters are paid for the chores they do) I think that as long as I abide by the rules the owners set and respect their property and do the chores they asked me to do, I have the right to look for and use, say, a glass (which I will wash after use), and yes, strut around in nothing but a towel. Provided the shades are closed.

Okay, here goes-- my first LiveJournal entry. I have to say that at the moment, this resembles the awkwardness of a first date-- like there are going to be a bunch of long pauses, and I'm going to say something stupid and embarrass myself. I guess I shouldn't be too nervous, though. I don't imagine a lot of people will be reading this, except those I choose to tell about it, and that won't be happening until later, when I'll actually have interesting things to say. I should explain: the reason I decided to start a LiveJournal in the first place is because I'll be living in Russia for a while, and I thought that an online journal would be better than sending mass emails to my friends to update them on my various adventures and antics. That's why I named my LJ "Sputnik"-- it's the Russian word for "satellite" of course, but it translates to "traveling companion"-- and this journal will be my traveling companion. I won't be leaving for Russia until the end of August, but I figured the summer would be a good time to get the journal started and learn all the features of LJ and, um, comment on life's little foibles, I guess. So I've got one last summer of Bay Area sunshine and palm trees, and then it's off to Russia. Where they keep the cold when other places aren't using it. Nah, I'm excited to go. But it will be a bit of a gear change, to say the least.So that'll do it for my first entry. I'm new to LJ, but it seems like it has a great community vibe. So, if you're reading this, leave me a comment and I'll return the favor; add me to your friends list and I'll do likewise.