Saturday night:
I just found out that I have a new family. They live really far away, on the island with the Peter Paul fortress, which means 40 minutes on the metro plus whatever time it takes to get the bus. But that doesn't really bother me, because I have a home! The part of town that the primary and elementary schools are in (as well as all our apartments) is “newer,” that is, built during the Soviet Union, and honestly, rather ugly. But the part of town I'll be living in now, on Petrogradskiy Island, is one of the first places to be settled when St Petersburg was becoming a city. I'm excited to check out the area I'll be living in! The family has one little boy, Leon, and they have hosted ILP teachers before. Tomorrow morning I'm going to meet them, see their house and everything. Monday morning I'm supposed to move. I'll miss this family, they have been so wonderful, taking care of me when I was sick, helping me with Russian, and feeding me very well. But at the same time, I'm excited to meet new people. Still trying to figure out if it's a good or bad thing that I get to have two families, instead of the one that all the other girls have. Moving is not going to be fun, I still have to pack (which means I get to do that twice) and say goodbyes. The others only have to do that once. And I will definitely be living farther away than anyone else, by a long way! They have agreed to pay for the metro, since I'll have to take it to teach every day now. We'll have to see how things turn out.
Sunday evening:
First, IT SNOWED!!! I woke up today and everything had a thin layer of white on it. The sidewalks were slippery with ice where people had walked. When we were walking from the Metro station to my new apartment there were snow flurries, it was beautiful but freezing. I feel bad for the teachers who are away, they missed the first snow in St. Petersburg. Most of it melted, but there are still patches that will freeze tonight. At least now we have something pretty to show for the cold weather....
My new family is wonderful! They live in a small apartment in the old part of town, on Lenin St actually. Leon, their son, is adorable, I spent some time today playing with him. Alyona, my new mom, is very sweet, she doesn't speak much English (and is really happy that I speak some Russian) but tries very hard and I know she'll take care of me. She is a hairstylist, I might have her trim my hair before I leave :) My dad works in construction, I think more of the architectural side of things, he designed and remade the bathroom and it has a HUGE tub. They also have a kitten, a gray tabby a little bigger than Stalker was, that has tons of energy. She's an indoor cat and has been declawed, so I won't go around looking like I got in a fight with a rose bush. I'm all packed, had my last meals with my Yelena today, she made me borsch because she knows I love it. And I played Uno with her and Igor while drinking our tea after dinner. I just wrote my goodbye note, leaving that and some good Estonian chocolate on the desk after I take my bags away tomorrow evening.
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