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My name is Mike Bender. I spent the entire month of September 2003 in Saint Petersburg for a total-immersion Russian language training course. I had already been to Moscow in 1996 & 1998, so I jumped at the chance to spend some time in "Piter." Click on any photo to see the full-size image. Need help? |
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My hosts were Svetlana ("Sveta") and her father, Anatoli. They have a two-room apartment on the unfashionable western end of Vasilievsky Island [map]. Sveta works as a receptionist for a travel agency on Nevsky Prospekt, and Anatoli works as a security guard for a storage company to supplement his government pension of about $50 per month. They were very hospitable, and we got along very well. I didn't see Anatoli very much, because he was taking a month off from work to take care of some things at their dacha in the village of Toksovo, north of the city. |
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Shevchenko Street as seen from Malyy Prospekt. The house I lived in is on the right. The building on the left with the blue awnings is a nightclub called Koloradskiy Otets (Colorado Father). On my second day in town, I asked Sveta whether she had ever been in there. She looked at me strangely and said, "Yes." I asked, "What is it, a country music bar?" "No," she answered, "striptiz (striptease)." Oops. |
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Another look at our building on Shevchenko Street.
That's a 24-hour grocery store on the corner. |
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The
front door. That puddle was there the whole time. Getting in
and out the front door—especially with luggage—was
a chore. |
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Sveta's apartment—the entryway.
Russians prefer hanging up their coats and taking off their shoes
in the
entryway. It's considered rude to wear shoes into the living area. |
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Sveta's
apartment—entryway. My room is
to the right (through the glass doors). |
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Sveta's apartment—kitchen. |
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The
bathroom in Sveta's apartment. Sveta and her father have been
hosting American language students for a few
years. And it seems that most of them have left a lot of their
stuff behind (I did the same thing). I referred to this bathroom
as the "Museum of Men's Toiletries." |
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Sveta's apartment—toilet. As is the case in many European countries, this is separate from the bathroom. I can't decide whether I think this is a good idea or not. |
Where
I lived pg 1 2 3 4 | St
Petersburg home | Help | Maps |
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