Hello from St Pete!
So, I’m all settled in and already I feel like I have been here an age! Our flat is really lovely and very modern. There are two massive bedrooms and a huge lounge and a kitchen. Jess and I have done some heavy lifting to make my room more like a room. We moved the sofa bed from the lounge which is a double bed and then moved one of the three wardrobes in Jess’s room into my room. So when our landlady came round to install the internet she marvelled at our strength! She is really lovely and didn’t mind at all!
Tuesday was a national holiday (Defenders of the Fatherland day apparently!) which is kind of the equivalent of women’s day. So basically men get presents from women and get discounts in shops and there are special coffees/sandwiches in cafes! Ridiculous! So I have only been to classes twice this week, it is the same kind of set up as in Moscow, we have from mon to thurs and then Friday off. The teachers seem very good though, they seem very thorough. I have been put in the 3rd out of 5 groups, but I think it is a bit too easy, so I may ask to get moved up.
I havn’t really had a chance to walk around and enjoy the city yet, which is a shame, but weather has been very debilitating! When we first got here, there was just so much snow, apparently the most that there had been in 110 years! So walking anywhere was just a nightmare and took twice as long as it would any other time. Cars were buried under about three feet of snow! But now, it has warmed up (to a balmy +2!!) and so everything is melting. I went out yesterday to go to a market and my poor feet have never been so wet. At one point they were actually in puddles in my shoes. There is just so much water and slush everywhere, it is horrible! You have to plan your way across the road to avoid standing in lakes! Also, now there is a constant danger of falling icicles! No laughing matter! You can just hear these massive crashes and a gigantic block of ice will fall from the sky! They are doing something about it though, part of the street will be blocked off and there are just men on the roof shovelling all the snow off, so you have to run past and avoid the snow bombs raining down!
Eva has been in Moscow this week, she did have a flight to Pete, but the company she booked it through went bust. So she had to book another flight and could only get one to Moscow. It has been handy for me though, because she offered to bring back the stuff that I left in Moscow. It has been a nightmare really trying to get the stuff back though. Irina, the girl who we lived with last term has been avoiding our calls and was being really shady for some reason, so we got pretty worried. When we eventually got through to her, she said that she was not longer living in the flat, but was renting out the two rooms. When Eva tried to set a time to go to the flat, Irina just rang her 15 mins before and said she couldn’t make it. But after a few failed attempts, Eva managed to get it all and she is flying up to Peter this evening. So hopefully, everything will be in tact!
So that is all for now, im sure I will have more interesting news next week. Lots of love to you all!
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