Friday Hermitage with Zoltan

We bought a membership to the Hermitage last spring and have definitely not used it to its potential. I had an epiphany that Z is getting much better about being able to sit in the stroller or otherwise behave when he's out and about so I decided on a Friday - my day off work - I would take him to the Hermitage. If the weather's good it's a nice walk, and because of the membership if we only make it 1/2 hour it's still worth it.

Today was the inaugural visit. As I didn't know about getting up and down the stairs or where exactly those elevators were, I took the umbrella stroller. It was raining so we caught the bus, totally by accident got let off exactly where we needed to (Moika) and easily got ourselves there. It was an absolute madhouse inside though, and the woman at the entrance told me I'd need to check my jacket if I couldn't fit it in the stroller basket. I looked at the line of people checking things and decided if I couldn't make it fit we weren't going in. Somehow I got the jacket, Z's sweatshirt and the diaper bag all in the tiny little basket.

When we got inside, Z wanted to walk. So we start going up the main staircase baby pace. I was bumping the stroller up behind us with one hand - no way I could have done it with the Phil & Ted. At one point a Russian woman was energetically trying to say something to be about a "detskaya kortka" (child's jacket) and I figured she was yelling at me for not dressing Zoltan warmly enough. After pondering what she could have possibly been saying, I realized that Z's raincoat had fallen out in the bumping so I ran down and luckily it wasn't too far down the stairs.

Z was amazing. He wanted a walk a while but was happy to hold my hand. Then he wanted to sit and eat his snack. We were there an hour and only left because it was getting close to nap time. We got to get back to the Annie Liebowitz exhibit, which Terry and I had seen on its opening day with massive throngs of people. Today was a much more leisurely pace. Z especially loved the photos of Sarah Liebowitz (granddaughter?) and in each room we looked for the photos of "the baby" (his words).

I will absolutely be repeating the experience.

Detsky Sad Part II

Day 1: Alex doesn't nap during naptime. Instead she and the boy next to her talk the whole time while every other kid in class sleeps. I ask if he's the American in the school and she says no. I ask if he spoke English. She says no. Hm.

Day 2: Alex's teacher instructs me to bring a hat or scarf for her for the next day. Alex and I are in T-shirts. Hm.

Day 4: When I come to pick Alex up she's so excited. She has 2 friends! Yes, one is the boy she talked with during nap and the other is a girl ... which for Alex is a bit of a novelty.

Sightseeing off the beaten track

Happy Labor Day everyone! Two places I've been wanting to visit are finally crossed off the list:

- Alexander Nevsky Cemetery: the cemetery is comprised of two parts, one side holds famous artists and the other side, I believe, holds average citizens. We only got to the famous people side, and got to see Dostoevsky, Tchaikovsky, Stradivarius, and other luminaries. As today was a mind-blowingly beautiful fall day, sunny and cool, it was a perfect day to be outside and contemplating mortality without getting totally depressed. We will definitely be back with a tour guide.



- Loft Project Etagi: this is a multi-level gallery and more, currently hosting the World Press Photo contest winners. We went to see the photo exhibit, although there are 3-4 other exhibits there according to the Loft Project's web site, as well as a restaurant that's gotten some good reviews. For another day, though. The photos were generally beautiful and powerful, but as the media's love of sensationalism requires, often shocking and horrifying. The photos chronicled many human and natural disasters that I don't remember heading about when they happened, which makes the photos all the more powerful as now the events are etched in my memory.

Detsky Sad

Today we brought Alex to Russian preschool for her first day - school began on September 1 but as I was away we decided to wait and bring her today. A few awesomenesses:

- The boy and his dad walking in behind us. The guard said dobri den (good morning) to us all, and I hear behind me "Can you say priviet ("hi")?" So I turned around and asked in Russian if he spoke English and it turns out they are American! I don't think he's in Alex's class but I am sure they mingle on the playground ... and I could be wrong, he looked about the right age to be in her class.

- The teacher. When I went to bring the paperwork to school 2 weeks ago I brought Alex and she met the teachers and saw the classroom. The lockers all have different animals on them and the teacher remembered that Alex had liked the elephant. Unfortunately, a kid who showed up on the first day had already claimed it, but Alex seems happy with the jaguar :)

When I report back on how it went, I'll try to get a few photos of at least the outside.

Early morning team building exercise

We now have fabulous fodder for our upcoming discussion on crisis management and personal preparedness! Around 2am those who heard the alarms from their rooms were awakened, the rest of us had hotel staff pounding on our doors (of course I assumed it was drunks and I opened my door to yell at them and noticed the smell of smoke).

I really hope we get to start late tomorrow. Oops. Today.

CCCP ice cream

We keep forgetting to put this up. This is our favorite of the plain vanilla non-gourmet ice cream and not just because of the cover!

40 by 40

In the last 4+ years I have spent exactly one night alone - the night before I took the FSOA. Now I'm about to accomplish two huge feats - (1) I am going away for a week of training for my job, and (2) I get to do it in Dublin. I have wanted to visit Ireland forever, seriously it has been on my wish list for more than 20 years and somehow it never happened.

AND, Ireland will be the 40th nation I have visited in my life. I'm hitting 40 by 40 a bit more than 2 years early. It's a tiny bit sad not to celebrate that with my family but then they weren't with me for most of the other places so I guess it isn't too awful.

The real question is whether I will end up being a little crybaby being away from the kids for a whole week. Wanna place bets?

Youth Hockey in SPB

Friday I was asked to go as a representative of the Consulate to a youth hockey tournament being held in St Petersburg. The tournament has three teams from the United States so the consulate shows support in going. My job was to go to the opening ceremony. It was a non speaking role and there was interpreters there so it seemed like it was in my realm.

The event was pretty fun with some interesting things worth sharing. The first big thing is I meet Vladislav Tretiak. For those not familiar he was the goalie for the Soviet Union on the national (Olympic) team.  He played in the Olympics from 1972 to1984.  The only year he did not win the gold was the year of the infamous miracle on ice.  He was the goalie pulled at the end of the first period.  He was one the guys we all grew up hating and dreaming of beating when we became famous hockey players. My oh my how the world has changed since then. He seemed like a nice guy.  Granted I didn't have any lengthy conversations with him.

The second in true Russian fashion. There was a small luncheon after the opening ceremonies. One gentlemen offered me wine. I used some of my limited Russian to say no thank you. Then he proceed to say something to the gentlemen sitting next to me. This second gentleman looks over at my place setting and starts pouring me a glass of vodka. Clearly between them they decided that if I didn't want wine then I must want vodka.

This would happen in Philly

A friend of mine was on his way to the airport and either his taxi cut someone off, or someone cut his taxi off. They drew up to a light and the drivers both jumped out of their cars. They proceeded to beat up on each other until they light turned green. Then they both returned to their cars and drove away. I only heard the story, didn't experience it, but it was like a taste of home.

Creative Awesome Nannies

I have raved about my fabulous nannies before, although possibly not on the blog. I figure let's put a little photographic evidence as to why they are so super awesome.

"Club house" window shades and a flower box... and detailing


Pipe cleaner animals and Silly Bandz

Fish balloon