Adjusting to St. Petersburg

Sorry it's been awhile since I last wrote, but it's been a time consuming couple of days getting adjusted to where my classes are and figuring out how to get around. They have these things here called Marschrutkas and they’re basically communal taxis that run around the city and will pick you up anywhere and drop you off anywhere for only one more rouble (about 4 cents) than taking a bus, tram, or the Metro. After taking 2 wrong busses yesterday I am finally beginning to figure out the system here. It makes it pretty convenient actually. I was able to get to the US Consulate today on the other side of town by only walking about 5 minutes total.
This is my view on the way to class:
So, my first class was a little over my head. I saw a bunch of the people that had taken the same placement test with me outside one of the classrooms, and looking at my schedule, not realizing that it was Tuesday, not Monday, I went to the wrong room. Today's class, the right one, was a little too easy/slow, so tomorrow hopefully it'll be just right.

I was told by multiple people here that I really ought to go to Talinn (in Estonia). I’ve had to deal with some [St. Petersburg State] University bureaucracy to both register my current visa (which everyone has to do) and then try to get a multi-entry VISA to go to an EU country. To do that you must have an AIDS test. So it’s a funny thing though in the clinic. You have to wear these little blue booties over your shoes to help avoid bringing dirt into the building. As it turns out since almost all the students around the university wear these really high pointy heels, they just break right through the little coverings. It's kind of amusing to see these women in heels (and miniskirts) walking out of the nurse’s office and holding a big wad of cotton over their arms. But after much contemplation, and after being told that to expedite my VISA processing at all it’s going to be an extra $60 (after having had the AIDS test of course), I decided there is plenty to see in this country. Tallinn’s not going anywhere.

For example, I realized yesterday, during my free time in the afternoon, that I am able to get into the Hermitage for free. After walking around the Summer Gardens and getting a sun burnt forehead, I took a little stroll through the museum. At most of the most famous museums in the world there’s climate control, but not at the Hermitage. I would assume that since it never really gets above 80 here they don’t really need it. But as I walked around hundreds of millions of dollars worth of art by Van Gogh, Matisse, Gauguin, and Picasso, among many others, I couldn’t help but wonder if the 85 degrees inside, let alone the sunlight shining directly on some of the paintings, was damaging them.

Church of the Savior of the Blood (Site of the assassination of Czar Alexander II)

A Matisse in the Hermitage:

The view from the Hermitage ( I hope to get up there again soon to take this picture properly):

On a different note, I have mentioned before that I'm getting involved with the JDC while I'm here and I've been asked to help continue an English discussion club for some 20-30 year old Russians (I'm told no one asks whether they are Jewish or not, supposedly they've been found through various online networks). They meet in a brand new building called YESOD, similar to a JCC in the states, and paid for primarily by the Cleveland Federation along wiht other Jewish Organizations around the world. It's the largest center of Jewish life in Eastern Europe, and it's pretty amazing that a community close to my hometown helped put it here. I'm helping lead the discussion with another American law student from Boston, and this week was our first meeting we ran on our own, without the help of the two JDC volunteers who are leaving next week. I can't really talk about my impressions of the group since I haven't had a chance to get to know them very well, but I hope to write more about it in upcoming weeks.