So I thought what better day than today to blog about my thoughts on this country.. To be honest, when I first got here I was scared to death.. I'm an American who has only left the country once and it was to a resort.. so this was a first for me..It's different when you are in the middle of a huge city where you can't speak, understand, or read the language...and the money system is sooo different. Plus you get 18 hours of daylight!..My little world was turned upside down..After a couple of days I finally started to feel comfortable. We have learned how to cross the streets in "herds" so we don't get run over..Traffic lights don't really mean much around here and pedestrians do not have the right of way.. you will get hit! We have walked all over the city and actually found our way back to our hotel.. not sure how since we can't seem to find road signs at all.. I have really started to appreciate the "Russian" way... People here to me seem very laid back.. well, not when it comes to driving.. the driving here is insane... I'm surprised there aren't more traffic fatalities.. but what I noticed.. no road rage.. At home if somebody cuts me off or anything like that it can sometimes put me in a bad mood for awhile... here it's just the way it is.. We almost hit 4 people , almost had 6 wrecks.. but who's counting.. the point is.. nobody gets upset, nobody flips anybody off.. they just honk and go about there business without really getting upset.
People have been nice and helpful when they can be.. A lot of the younger people here speak some English..It doens't mean they always really understand what you are saying but at least you can somewhat communicate.
St. Petersburg is a beautiful city full of history and culture. It's buildings are amazing! Today we took a boat tour through the canals of the city.. We tried to find the English tour.. gave up and took the Russian tour... very informative.. if you understand Russian..oh well, we got lots of pictures.. We also visited St. Isaacs Cathedral.. very beautiful! We were able to see the whole city from the top. We even got to watch the Russia Day parade! Very fun getting to be a part of the celebrations!
Saint Isaac's Cathedral
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