Russia: Better Than Ever

We were able to stay at our “permanent” place, the place we will be the whole two weeks (except for the trip to Moscow that we will take next weekend), the very first night we arrived in Russia. This is different than the way Ken had to do it last year, and it represents a great many changes for the better that the Institute has undergone in the last year alone.

Ken had to stay at the Hotel Morskaya in St. Petersburg the first night last year. Why couldn’t he stay at the apartment? One has to stay at a sanctioned place in order to validate/stamp one’s passport and entry/exit visa, so even though he had a free place to stay the rest of the time, he was extorted encouraged into staying at an expensive one instead.

This year, the Institute can utilize an “inviting agency” to validate our trip, which is much less costly. Also, this year, the Institute is a 100% certified part of the University of St. Petersburg, and the students sleep in a dorm that is part of the University system, yet separately located on the floor of the large building that the Institute utilizes in part. The church that’s affiliated with the Institute, the Church of Christ (where we’re staying) is only a 2-minute walk away, and it has undergone a major facelift, with all new floors, beams, paint, etc. It looks great. Our room is almost exactly the color of Katie’s bedroom back home, so she would feel right at home. We have high-speed internet directly in our room, if you can believe it, and we can call the States for a mere penny or so per minute utilizing a phone card we were given upon our arrival here. However, our kids can only call us from the States for about $5.00 per minute. Needless to say, we’re using the card!

You can see where Ken had to stay last year on the internet (a pretty nice hotel by Russian standards but that Ken said was mediocre at best, with its water coming on and off inexplicably, etc.); what follows are some fun translations you can find excerpted from that site. OK, OK, I know it’s mean, and I confess that the translator’s English is better than my absolutely non-existent Russian, but then again, I’m not pretending I know Russian, either! So, it’s still fun to look over some translation, like this one:

The arrangement of hotel allows reaching to historical and business places of city easily and quickly… Fascinating excursion over hotel is offered you with our site. Due to three-dimensional to the image you virtually will visit rooms of all categories. Interiors of suite, services, halls of a bar and restaurant will dip you into an easy, pleasant atmosphere of hotel and, having arrived to us, you will feel pleasure of the travelers who has come back from distant wanderings in the paternal house… Due to that all rooms are located on 7 floor, green plantings do not close beautiful views from windows.

Of course, if you’re exhausted by the time you arrive at the hotel, and I’m guessing you would be if your travel over from the States was anything like our long trip, fortunately, you will be engulfed in – well, again, I’ll let the hotel’s own brochure tell you:

All rooms after eurorepair 2003, are perfectly equipped, and offer a necessary set of services: the TV, one or two sleeping beds, a joint bathroom with a bath, the city phone with an output the international lines.

Cosy really the domestic atmosphere is created by professional designers and reached by use of warm beige tones of high quality finishing materials, soft carpet coverings and modern furniture.

So, none of that applied to us, since we were able to go directly to our apartment on the floor with the church. We slept well enough anyway; after all, it was “cosy really the domestic atmosphere.”



Special Russian Literature Bonus
I don’t have the Cyrillic alphabet loaded onto my computer and you may not, either. However, just humor me by saying this phrase aloud:
Voy-NAH e-e MEEr

Congratulations! Now you can tell your friends that you have read "War and Peace" in Russian.