St. Petersburg

I meant to update sooner, but haven't had the time. Since June 1st I've been in Washington, DC, St. Petersburg, and Tomsk. While internet cafes are around, it's more difficult to find wi-fi in Russia, but luckily I found it for free at the university where I'm taking classes. So, while DC is a beautiful city and there are many things to say about it, I'll begin with Russia, because this is where the adventure really begins.

I spent about three days in St. Petersburg, with half of my time spent in orientation for our program. I certainly did not have enough time, but I did manage to see some of the main sites and get a decent first impression of the city. This entry will be dedicated to pictures and videos, because there is still a lot to digest living in a very different culture, and it'll all come out sooner or later. Suffice it to say that Russia is a lot different from Europe or America, even though at first glance it may seem like a slightly familiar place. A saying attributed to Napoleon goes, "Scratch a Russian, and you find a Tartar."

So, St. Petersburg: it was founded in 1703 by the Russian Tsar Peter the Great and was the capital of the Russian Empire for about 200 years. This city is highly significant to Russian cultural identity, as it is Russia's "window to the west." Peter the Great is known for Westernizing Russia, mainly by developing its military, expanding its territory, and reforming the customs of the government and the nobility, the extremely small social class who essentially controlled everything before the major changes of the 20th century. Before Peter the Great, Russia was closer in culture and government to Central Asia and the Middle East than it was to Europe. For example, such cultural phenomena such as the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Enlightenment, which are so integral to the history of countries like Germany, France, the U.K. and the U.S., in fact did not even reach Russia, or arrived late in a more diluted form. St. Petersburg, then, represented Peter's attempt to turn Russia into a European country. Before construction of the city began under his reign, St. Petersburg was pretty much uninhabitable swamp located on the Neva River, so much technology (for example, the construction of canals) and sacrifice of human life was needed to create the first Russian city that had complex urban planning. Even today, although the swamp is long gone, in the summer Petersburg still has damp, stifling swamp air (kind of like Gainesville). In the winter, however, it is freezing cold. The city is also famous for its White Nights, which I observed when I would go to sleep at 3 am and it would still be light out. Another swamp phenomena was the threat of flooding, at least in the old times.

This here is the Decembrist Square, where the Decembrist Revolution of 1825 took place.

Here I am posing in front of a monument to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, my favorite Russian writer. He is to the Russian language what Shakespeare is to the English language, except perhaps is even more respected amongst his people, as many Russians, even the youth, can recite some of his poems by heart.

Finally, here is the Palace Square, which stands between the Winter Palace and the Hermitage, two historical sites. The October Soviet Revolution of 1917 took place here. 

I was also lucky enough to see a free concert given on the Palace Square by Roger Waters of Pink Floyd. I didn't find out about it until the day of, but it was quite a pleasant surprise. Pink Floyd is one of my favorite bands, and although I'm not as big a fan of Roger Waters, it was still incredible, since he played mainly Pink Floyd songs, including the entirety of Dark Side of the Moon. Crazy - here I am in Russia, of all places, listening to music my parents listened to when they were young. It's great how things turn out, and it seems my luck didn't stop there, but more on that later....