And again, i lag far behind.

Petersburg is starting to bud into spring. We've had several days over 50 degrees F and the rollerbladers are out in full form. I've switched from my long coat to my short jacket (even though i've had a couple of chilly walks home, i refuse to wear the winter coat anymore!) I've even been able to ditch my boots most days and walk around in my sneaks. Yuri said he has an old soviet bike in his apartment that he'll let me borrow for the next two months so that i can really enjoy spring/early summer in this city.

I finished binding together my Boy With the Red Balloon book. I'll send you all gorgeous pictures soon! Syd just got in to Petersburg this morning after a rough trip on the overnight train from Moscow. She's recovering by sleeping in past noon, and i'm in the kitchen enjoying sampling the selections of coffees she brought me from the US (Stumptown thanks to my old housemates in portland, and a giant bag of Metropolis coffee from Chi-town) and dipping apple slices into a fresh jar of peanut butter for the first time in months. Hopefully i'll take it easy and let the stuff last a while. I recently found Hummus in this city and I've been gorging myself on it whenever I'm back in my apartment.

Syd and I met here in Petersburg- she was a Bard student studying at Smolny for the summer program and for the second semester. We traveled all through Europe together at the end of the year. After so many adventures together we hadn't seen each other in two years, having failed to meet up in states in the meantime, until she got here early (6 AM!) this morning. Syd, Kostya and I sat in the kitchen drinking tea and eating fig newtons (syd didn't have any, fruit disgusts her) just like no time had passed. I'll keep all you anxious readers up to date on our excursions over the next two weeks. Knowing Syd they'll be far beyond the Russian "normal."


Abbie and her friend Jessie came through two weeks ago and stayed for a week. We all shared my bed and were lulled to sleep by Abbie's orchestrated snoring lullabies. These fine ladies got to come with me to see the printmaking studio and meet Yuri. We also saw a ballet at the Marinskii, saw the peacock clock go off at the Hermitage, heard a great funk band play and other things I failed to keep track of. Most memorable were the delicious dinners we put together- curry, italian style veggie bake w/ meat sauce, and a whole dinner of party finger foods Mermaid's style (you know, the movie with Cher winona ryder and a young Christina Ricci). All in all, a wonderful week!