Sunday, May 08, 2011
I woke up at five this morning and used the last napkin we had, so toilet paper was made a priority on our list of things to ask about. We didn’t have orientation until 11:30, so Sarah and I spent our morning looking up random words, imagining what we might have done and packed differently, and snacking on my diminishing stockpile of nut bars.
Around 11, we left to meet Volodya, but couldn’t manage to fob ourselves through the gateway to the lobby. We stayed on the opposite side, hoping he would see us and figure out a way to release us. When he got in and didn’t see us, he stepped outside, so I managed to tell the lady behind the counter that we needed to exit. Upon seeing our key, she suspiciously let us out and we approached Volodya, our orientation director.
And hallelujah! He spoke perfect English!!! After seeing how shaken we were by the whole ordeal, he went back into the lobby to see about getting us some IDs. We were told that the woman in charge would be there in an hour, and because we couldn’t get off the campus without the cards, we spent the time exploring the campus and asking questions. From what I gathered, students with SRAS are usually on an SRAS campus. However, we are living in a different dorm this summer because our program dates conflicted with the Russian school year. We eventually got the cards, which act as fobs, and Voldya took us off campus to show us how to buy metro passes and do currency exchange. Along the way, we picked up and programmed our cell phones, so if anything happens, I can get in contact with anyone in St. Petersburg, from Volodya himself to the U.S. Consolate!
When we said goodbye to Volodya, I felt ready to do anything. We had money, knew where the stores were, had a metro pass, and could fob our way onto campus and into our dorm. Sarah and I went to the store to buy food, tea, water, and toilet paper, and got back to our rooms safely. We were chased down by a guard at the entrance to our campus because I fobbed in Sarah, but at least we know security is really good!
More later! I’m going to eat some more bread and cheese. Yummm!
I woke up at five this morning and used the last napkin we had, so toilet paper was made a priority on our list of things to ask about. We didn’t have orientation until 11:30, so Sarah and I spent our morning looking up random words, imagining what we might have done and packed differently, and snacking on my diminishing stockpile of nut bars.
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| The Only 'Documents' We Were Given Upon Our Arrival at the Dorms |
And hallelujah! He spoke perfect English!!! After seeing how shaken we were by the whole ordeal, he went back into the lobby to see about getting us some IDs. We were told that the woman in charge would be there in an hour, and because we couldn’t get off the campus without the cards, we spent the time exploring the campus and asking questions. From what I gathered, students with SRAS are usually on an SRAS campus. However, we are living in a different dorm this summer because our program dates conflicted with the Russian school year. We eventually got the cards, which act as fobs, and Voldya took us off campus to show us how to buy metro passes and do currency exchange. Along the way, we picked up and programmed our cell phones, so if anything happens, I can get in contact with anyone in St. Petersburg, from Volodya himself to the U.S. Consolate!
When we said goodbye to Volodya, I felt ready to do anything. We had money, knew where the stores were, had a metro pass, and could fob our way onto campus and into our dorm. Sarah and I went to the store to buy food, tea, water, and toilet paper, and got back to our rooms safely. We were chased down by a guard at the entrance to our campus because I fobbed in Sarah, but at least we know security is really good!
More later! I’m going to eat some more bread and cheese. Yummm!
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