History Lessons

It was back to group number 37 today (our original group) and boy was I glad to return! The traditional university model in Russia (from what I’ve gathered) puts students of similar degree paths in the same group for their entire period of study. Thus, had Sarah and I remained with the group we tried out on Saturday, we never would have seen anyone from our original group again! And not that the people in group 38 were unwelcoming or anything… but to see everyone’s animated faces light up as we walked into the classroom this morning…I can’t believe I ever left them!

Toilet = 20 rubles

In class we learned about the history of St. Petersburg. It’s only 300 years old and was founded as the capital city by Peter the Great, who modeled it off of Amsterdam. Its name was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd during WWI after a bout of nationalism (‘burg’ is more German sounding). It was then changed to Leningrad in honor of Lenin, and was changed back to its original name in 1991 at the request of its residents (3 names in 300 years…eek!). Though it is no longer the capital, it still has has 5 million residents (4 times the size of San Antonio), and is the most European city in all of Russia. And another random fact: Peter charged a stone tax for all people entering St. Petersburg, to aid in the building of his dream city!

St. Petersburg is a former swamp, so canals help with the drainage

While I didn’t visit anywhere interesting today, I was fine with it because it was the first day Sarah and I have not had any obligations (finished with the entry paperwork!). Hopefully tomorrow, after lessons, I can walk to Dome Knigi and buy a children’s chapter book…I’m sure I’ll get some weird looks reading it on the metro, but I’m used to that by now. Until next time!