The Heat is On
While I’m sure you’re tempted to launch into the lyrics of the classic 80s song, I am being quite literal. Earlier this week, when the newspapers reported that the temperatures were going to drop to 1ºC by Friday, I grew a little alarmed that our heat still hadn’t been turned on at home or at school. Fortunately, on Tuesday afternoon, our pipes started to make weird gurgling noises and the radiators became warm to the touch. Apparently, our neighborhood was among the last to get heat in St. Petersburg!
As a result of the heat, I’ve had to rethink my clothing strategy entirely. Last week, I wore heavy turtleneck sweaters all the time, along with a wool coat. At night, I wore a sweatshirt and heavy socks to bed. Now that it’s a bit warmer inside, I can wear lighter sweaters and shirts again, so that I can peel off layers upon arrival indoors.
Alas, if what to wear is our biggest concern, I think we’re in good shape. Yesterday, we learned about another mishap with our Finnish friend, Utta. She is the only other person in our Russian class, so we’ve gotten to know her quite well. She came here to learn Russian and to be closer to her Russian boyfriend, who attends a local naval academy. He was shipped off just after she arrived here, so they have spent ridiculously little time together even while living in the same city. The stories she tells us of her old Soviet apartment are incredulous – her toilet broke, her pipes leaked, her elderly landlord moved back in to get everything fixed, etc. Yesterday’s story beat them all: her landlord had died in the apartment the night before!
Hearing Utta’s stories makes us so appreciative of the support network we have here. Had a fraction of these things happened to us, we would have found a new place to live by now. It’s actually hard to believe that we’ve been here for two months. I felt like the first month would never end, but the second month has come and gone remarkably quickly. We have begun to hit our stride.
We have found a fabulous Western-style grocery store that’s a 20-minute walk from our house. While it’s not conducive to daily shopping trips, nor does it stock tofu, we are thrilled to have found it! And on our way to the grocery store the other day, we stumbled upon a high-end gym. We went in and asked about the prices (too high for us) in Russian; amazingly, we were able to understand the gist of sales presentation!
We are also beginning to feel like we are contributing to the community. Every Sunday, Matt and I teach at EVA, a local Jewish organization. I teach two groups of 5-8 year olds and one group of 9-12 year olds. Matt has the older kids, who are mostly 15-20 years old. On Monday evenings, I host an English Club at YESOD, where about a dozen young adults congregate to practice their English and learn about a Jewish or Israel-related topic. Matt spends Tuesday afternoons tutoring in an after-school program at one of the Jewish day schools. We are starting a joint Hillel-Chesed program that encourages young people to visit the elderly on Shabbat to bring a little light into their lives; this week is our first trial run. We continue to help the JDC and other local organizations with English translations and idea generation. Next week, we have not one but two missions coming from the US. And at the end of the month, we are joining Adain Lo on one of their children’s camps for five days outside of the city. In more ways than one, the heat is on!
As a result of the heat, I’ve had to rethink my clothing strategy entirely. Last week, I wore heavy turtleneck sweaters all the time, along with a wool coat. At night, I wore a sweatshirt and heavy socks to bed. Now that it’s a bit warmer inside, I can wear lighter sweaters and shirts again, so that I can peel off layers upon arrival indoors.
Alas, if what to wear is our biggest concern, I think we’re in good shape. Yesterday, we learned about another mishap with our Finnish friend, Utta. She is the only other person in our Russian class, so we’ve gotten to know her quite well. She came here to learn Russian and to be closer to her Russian boyfriend, who attends a local naval academy. He was shipped off just after she arrived here, so they have spent ridiculously little time together even while living in the same city. The stories she tells us of her old Soviet apartment are incredulous – her toilet broke, her pipes leaked, her elderly landlord moved back in to get everything fixed, etc. Yesterday’s story beat them all: her landlord had died in the apartment the night before!
Hearing Utta’s stories makes us so appreciative of the support network we have here. Had a fraction of these things happened to us, we would have found a new place to live by now. It’s actually hard to believe that we’ve been here for two months. I felt like the first month would never end, but the second month has come and gone remarkably quickly. We have begun to hit our stride.
We have found a fabulous Western-style grocery store that’s a 20-minute walk from our house. While it’s not conducive to daily shopping trips, nor does it stock tofu, we are thrilled to have found it! And on our way to the grocery store the other day, we stumbled upon a high-end gym. We went in and asked about the prices (too high for us) in Russian; amazingly, we were able to understand the gist of sales presentation!
We are also beginning to feel like we are contributing to the community. Every Sunday, Matt and I teach at EVA, a local Jewish organization. I teach two groups of 5-8 year olds and one group of 9-12 year olds. Matt has the older kids, who are mostly 15-20 years old. On Monday evenings, I host an English Club at YESOD, where about a dozen young adults congregate to practice their English and learn about a Jewish or Israel-related topic. Matt spends Tuesday afternoons tutoring in an after-school program at one of the Jewish day schools. We are starting a joint Hillel-Chesed program that encourages young people to visit the elderly on Shabbat to bring a little light into their lives; this week is our first trial run. We continue to help the JDC and other local organizations with English translations and idea generation. Next week, we have not one but two missions coming from the US. And at the end of the month, we are joining Adain Lo on one of their children’s camps for five days outside of the city. In more ways than one, the heat is on!
posted by Alyson Fieldman at 9:18 AM
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