Practice?

In the words of The Great Allen Iverson, "Practice?!"

Why has my fantastic time here suddenly become consumed by homework and reading? Why do I have to practice grammar in class and sit through boring lectures? It's whack. I'd much rather be going out and around in the city to restaurants, bars, and parks and just living everyday life putting my Russian to use in the real world. I'm so frustrated with having to do all of my work that I don't even feel like doing an elaborate blog. Here are some things about St. Petersburg that are fun facts-

-mullets (men with long hair) 98% of men wear their hair long here. it is the most popular hairstyle here. It's disgusting and I hate it.

-rollerblading is probably more popular than biking. Remember back in the early and mid-nineties when everyone wanted a pair of inline skates. I even had a pair. Well that fad has just caught on here. It's also annoying and strange to see people going up and down the streets in rollerblades.

-There are a lot of older people here that are poor/homeless cause under the Soviet Union government their pensions were all taken care of but when that government phased out many of them lost their retirement funds. Every now and then there will be a group of them somewhere protesting to have the country be the way it used to be 30 or 40 years ago.

-In Petersburg there are only about 60 Sunny days a year. So There are more yellow buildings in this city than almost anywhere else in the world. To say you're by a Yellow building here in this city is like saying you're by a hotdog stand in New York. There are also a lot of pink buildings too.

-I bought a Naruto Manga volume in Russian yesterday. It's really helping me learn to read a lot better.

Also... Uh... Why bother. All you do is skim this for the good stuff anyway. No clubs as of lately. No baller lavish expensive VIP sections. Just books and homework and the smell in this apartment isn't getting any better. Enjoy the pictures.

Stay Tuned.

Walk in the Park

What do I have in common with an elderly Russian woman and her ten year old granddaughter? That was the question running thorough everyones mind today at the Park.

I have to do this quickly cause I've got homework but the pictures should explain it all.

I went on a walk in the park today with my babushka and her granddaughter Sonya. My babushka told me that she was from Ukraine and that she came to St. Petersburg and studied electrical engineering and then worked as an engineer for several years and then as a typist from home because she had children.

We went on a walk in the park and it was absolutely beautiful! The weather is so gorgeous today! The park is only a couple of blocks down the street from here and the first time I saw it there was some type of formal military ceremony taking place. There was the lake and people were relaxing and it was so nice! I wish the walkways were paved and not dirt though.

Random. This Russian guy comes up to me and tells me in Russian that he likes how I look.

Sonya brought her pet mouse. She keeps it on her shoulder 90% of the time (even at home). At the park she let it run around in the grass a little bit. She wanted some ice cream after we finished walking around the park. I explained fathers day to them but they said they don't have it here. They have family day and women's day though.

It's actually really funny now that I think about it. Imagine. Me and those two walking around a park together in Russia.

Anyway, we had to leave because my babushka had to go see her other daughter that lives in another part of the city and I walked back home with Sonya. And now I'm here and now I've to do homework.

Stay tuned.

Always Keep an Umbrella/Snacks

I think my host sister is trying to kill me! She cooked rice and chicken and of course the tomatoes and cucumbers and it all tastes awful! My host grandma when she was here cooked the best. Her daughter/my host mom Анастасия Михайловна (Anastasia Mikhailovna) cooks okay but the middle of my eggs in the morning are runny. I usually just eat the bread for breakfast with butter and I had some oatmeal bars my mom packed me but I finished those Wednesday. I take the eggs with school with me and have them with lunch. I usually don't even eat all of them. And I've just learned that the granddaughter/daughter Таня (Tania) cannot cook to save her life! I'm sitting here now with a plate of food in front of me that is disgusting.

Speaking of bad cooking I've devised an antidote! I made oatmeal this morning! And it was so good! I'm just going to tell her that I'll make my own breakfast every morning.

I saw a homeless person pick up a half smoked cigaret off the street today and start to smoke it. This country is just so (you insert a word here).

And it's cold! I've worn a jacket everyday! I know I'm in Russia but come on! Jackets in the middle of June?! It's preposterous!

Let's continue to talk cuisine. Two Restaurants this week. We first went to this baller Japanese Sushi Restaurant with the most Americanized name ever. "Oh! Sushi!" (it was wri But the sushi was fantastic! They even served filet mignon for only $12. I didn't order but I plan on going back and trying some. And I already mentioned the Georgian one. The pics I posted are of Georgian Foods. The lamb and chicken were crack! Although, I've had better prepared lamb before. Chicken was on point. And that bread! Was so delicious! I had like two plates of it!

We went to the Restaurant for this girl in our groups birthday. I should be a professional toaster. After I raised my glass to her and a few other things you could tell that she was feeling extra special. What can I say? I words have way with.

Still not sure what I should do with this plate of food next to me...

I almost brought my umbrella today but decided against it. Dumb idea. I get to the gym go to the school. Pick up my homework Do all these normal things and the weather is beautiful. I go down to the metro. And when I come back up at my stop it's pouring. And I'm just like "Why God?" So I sprint from the metro to my apartment building and I get in and the smell that hits you when you walk in was worse than usual. And the elevator was acting strange so I had to go up a bizillion flights of crooked stairs in a building that smells like urine and cigarets and that I was afraid of running into someone in the building cause they'd think I was robbing the place.

I think I'm just going to scoff this stuff down and then go run and meet up with Sif at the Hooka bar he works at. The cucumbers taste like dirt dude! She just cut them and didn't even wash them! I can't tell if she hates me or if she's just anti-social. I'm really nice around the house! I swear! I help them move heavy stuff. Carry groceries in! I use вы (formal) instead of ты (informal) (like vous and tu in French) even with the animals! Having a big strong southern gentleman around the house is the best thing that ever happened to this family!

My theory is she loathes men because her father left her mom or maybe it's cause I'm Black. Or maybe she just doesn't like me living here. Who knows. She can be cool at sometimes and other times not so cool. I'm slightly overreacting. We mostly just don't interact that much. That's all.

Anyway, got to eat this Russian culinary calamity then make moves.

Stay tuned.

Healthy and On Schedule

The picture with the sunshine was taken roughly 30 minutes before the picture with the rain from the bus was taken.

I have cucumbers and tomatoes with EVERY dinner. And I'm starting to get on a better schedule in terms of studying, working out, and free time. I got an A on my first assignment!

I'm studying harder and really trying to devote more time to focusing on grammar. I'm happy the Lakers won. Kobe is the best basketball player in the world.

The Russian news report here today said that the Laker fans in LA partied like "gangsters" and showed clips of LA fans in the streets going crazy.

I was called 50 Cent Sunday on the Metro. I still get looks from lots of people. Especially kids. They're not hateful looks or looks of disapproval it's like "elephant in the room" kind of look.

But my diet here is ridiculously healthier than I've ever been in my life. Plus joining the gym? I'm going to come back looking like Dwight Howard... Not how he was looking last night but how they'll depict him on the cover of NBA LIVE 2010! Can't wait for that to come out! I'll be first in line to purchase it for my PS3.

I have my first exam on Wednesday. I'm so ready for it.

The weather here is schizophrenic. I woke up with all cloudy skies and light showers. Got to school and it was sunny and too hot for the jacket I was wearing. About halfway through the tour we were on it started getting cloudy and dark again. It started to rain and we (the group) voted on just driving around the rest of the tour and not walking.

I got to get some sleep. Gym at 8:00am!