Island adventures...and my family arrives

Once again, by the time I begin to update my blog, I've forgotten most of what happened during the previous week. Basically, last week was passover. In some ways, Passover in Russia was much easier than in the States. I expected it to be horrible, but since I was the only person I knew keeping Passover, I wasn't talking about it or complaining about it with anyone. Also, there is barely any corn syrup in Russian foods so I didn't have to worry about avoiding it. So, Passover was over before I knew it.

Saturday, the weather was so nice and although my friends were once again heading to the banya, I decided to go off on an adventure of my own. I thought about going to a museum, but I couldn't imagine spending all day inside. So, while looking through my "Lonely Planet" tour book, I found a three hour walking tour around these really nice park-like islands. It started on Kammeny island, which is basically where the rich of the rich Russian population lives. It was actually incredible to see. The houses were like mansions (some designed in new, over-the-top styles, and others which were restorations of the original architecture) -- each one with its own security guard. All the cars driving around were BMWs or SUVs with dark-tinted windows. It was like being transported to the subarbs, although these inhabitants were most likely politicians, organized crime, or some combination of the two.

After exploring that island, I crossed the bridge and payed the minimal fee to enter Yelagin island -- the park island without any cars. It was an incredible place to be when the weather was getting nicer. There were Russians everywhere -- walking around, picnicking in the grass (never thought I would see Russians sitting on the ground), playing volleyball, paddleboating, etc. There was even an army band which played music for the old ladies to dance to; this music ranged from old Soviet marches to the chicken dance. (I got a fantastic video from that one!) I stopped in an old summer palace for a little bit, but I mostly spent my time just sitting along the lakeside and reading, which felt really relaxing compared to my usual life of running all over the place. Eventually, I crossed off of that island and stopped by the Buddhist temple. I'd never been to a Buddhist temple before, and somehow I happened to stumble upon the end of a service. This service involved a lot of singing, banging of cymbals, and other things. I wasn't quite sure what was going on, but it was interesting. The temple was beautiful -- so colorful, I was surprised by the presence of a Buddhist population in St. Petersburg. It seemed small, but strong. After that, I headed back home, but it was definitely one of the most enjoyable afternoons I've had in this new, nice weather.

Sunday, was also a fantastic day, as I had convinced two of my friends (well, one didn't need to be convinced) to go see the Moscow circus with me. Since February, I had seen advertisements for this show, so I knew I needed to see it. First of all, the circus h ere is held in the actual "circus" building, not a tent. The building had very pretty architecture, but once you went inside, it seemed more like a circus tent (especially because of the strong animal scent). Overall, I enjoyed the show. The acrobats were fantastic, though some of the animal acts were lacking (specifically the goat act and the hedgehog act, animals that we personally saw no special talents in. The hedgehog's act was that he could pop balloons by walking into them. Hmm...) . The circus also featured a boxing kangaroo and a bear act, while although the idea of circus bears seemed depressing, they could actually do some incredible tricks. My Russian circus experiences are expanding every day...

After that, I broke Passover, and walked around Peter and Paul Fortress with Katherine where we saw someone almost run into the Neva in his boxers. From there, we met our group for the performance of "Master and Margerita" we were going to see. If you've read that book, you know it's really confusing (but great), but this staging of it was weirder than we could ever have expected. The first 15 minutes were silent, and to all of our knowledge, had nothing to do with anything in the book. We stayed for the first act (an hour and 45 minutes!) and decided to split. It was nice to experience a Russian play, but with the craziness of the play, plus us not understanding the Russian fully, we decided it would not be worth our time to stick it out.

From there, I went to pick up my parents. They arrived safely, but sadly, their luggage did not. We're still waiting on that luggage to arrive -- hopefully it will tonight. It's been fun having them here: staying in a hotel, getting to show off my knowledge about the city, etc. Today we walked around, climbed St. Isaac's Cathedral to see the spectacular view, and went to the Russian museum. It'll be a very busy week. Ok, well I guess we're heading to dinner now!

Hope you're all enjoying spring!