Adventures in Russia...

Ok, I thought I was done blogging for this week, but the most ridiculous thing just happened. I went with some friends to this café Dol’ka, which is near the dormitories where two of them live. This café has replaced our old favorite “Alyosha’s” which was basically the most miserable café in Petersburg. But, I had a soft spot for my month’s worth of memories in café Alyosha, and everyone had been trying to convince me to switch my loyalty to this new place. After tonight, we’ll have to see . . .

We arrived, sat down, ordered drinks, and pulled out our homework (which always looks awkward in café/bars). Next to us was a table of extremely drunk Russians. One of the women started staring at my friend Andrew and asked him to go outside with her. For some reason, he went, but ran back inside 5 seconds later after she had grabbed his neck and tried to make out with him. He literally had done nothing in this situation other than walk outside behind her.

5 minutes later, a really drunk guy comes up, runs into our table and tries to throw a punch at Andrew, who had apparently “called his sister a prostitute” (nothing of this sort happened). Another woman tried to convince him that that never happened, but for a good 10 minutes we thought we were in danger. He eventually left, only to come back again and try to start a fight once more. The same woman calmed him down again, and apologized to us for about 15 minutes, offering to buy us all ice cream.

10 minutes later, this guy comes back with two beers, apologizes to Andrew and gives him one. They clink glasses and drink. The rest of their party starts talking to us and apologizing profusely (they were very proud that they could say “I’m sorry” in English). Eventually, a different guy gets up and says he is going to dedicate a song to us, goes to front and starts singing karaoke to some song about friendship. From this, the night went downhill to my friend Natalie being serenaded, everyone up there dancing to the karaoke, and to a round of vodka shots for the table, with toasts to “understanding.” (Earlier one guy had given Andrew a shot of vodka, and when Andrew asked what they were toasting to [you don’t drink in Russia without a toast], the man thought for a minute and decided they were toasting to “the 8th of March, International Women’s Day.”

Basically, in an hour and a half, we quickly acted out an entire drama, from violence to friendship. I guess this is what happens in Russia on a Monday night . . .