Back in the USSR

It's frustrating that I can't properly blog the past week and a half here, but I'm on the free hostel computer that I don't really feel right about monopolizing for more fifteen minutes or so. Thus I'll leave it at the following: St. Petersburg is my new favourite city in the world. It's gorgeous and radiant with creative energy. The people are full of personality and are a refreshingly inconsistent mixture of overly friendly, and Parisian-like brusque. As far as such things go the city is also just gorgeous. Broad avenues flanked by relatively unassuming palaces that are a humane four or five stories (as opposed to the skyscrapers of North American cities), and interspersed with canals spanned with ornate bridges and these perfect tranquil parks full of people sketching or performing puppet shows for awed children. I met these Maritimers on exchange from Mt. A and some Aussies that were travelling with them on their way to teach in Tomsk. They were awesome for drinking in parks and staying out until a still relatively light 4 a.m. with. So most days I wandered around by myself a bit, doing things like reading Fitzgerald in the Old Europe Hotel while drinking a relatively but duly expensive gin and tonic as slowly as possible and listening to a live harpist; sitting on a beach on the Neva drinking beer and watching a sailing regatta as dancers in white body paint pranced around and did Capoeira in celebration of Russia Day; talking Russian lit. and the greatness that was Stalin with a homeless dude who promptly decided I was his best friend and who thuroughly freaked me out by telling me about all the times he had been in jail. It's really nice to be travelling alone for a bit, although it's making me nostalgic for friends and family. And I keep wanting to bring up an inside joke to Karin or Brent and find that no one around will find it even remotely funny at all except myself. Cuba Hostel was cool too.

Moscow: Really big and really smelly and really hot. Overwhelmingly so at first, but I'm starting to digest it. Saw the huge war memorial which was spotted with brides (more brides than anything else oddly... I guess remembering the fallen of the Great Patriotic War is important to Russians entering matrimony), saw the huge exhibition of the successes of the USSR turned crazy capitalist themepark/flea market/who knows and paid too much for the worst pasta I've ever eaten, and saw the statue garden from Juliet Johnson's historical capital lecture. It was also weird and undergoing existential crisis. Can't comment more for now. Again met cool people and learned new card games. Going to the Tchaikovsky International Classical Music Competition tonight. Going to hear some piano playing tonight.

Love to everyone,

Ben