Kalinka Knits. : I have arrived

Here's the DL on the short time I've spent in St. Petersburg:

St. Petersburg = Winter Wonderland (if WW's include a lot of slush and ice)

Number of times I've looked foolish in front of Russians = too many to count

My neighborhood = nice; I live on Soviet Street (the 8th of 9 Soviet Streets actually), just off the Square of the Proletariat Dictatorship, very close to the city center and very convenient for nightlife

My school = originally a convent built by Tsarina Elizabeth; converted into a girls' school by Catherine the Great; housed Lenin's government during the 1917 Revolution (NBD)

My apartment building= sketchy (looks kinda like Jimmy's (Bobby DeNiro) warehouse in Goodfellas where he freaks Karen out)

My apartment = Soviet-retro chic

My host parents (Irina and Yuri)= Soviet-retro chic; she talks to the food while she's cooking ("Where are you my cup?" "What are you doing my macaroni?"), and he wears wife-beaters and loves television; she works at Peter and Paul Fortress and he's a musician.

My host cats = BAMFS, except not really, because Sonya is a bitch and Serekshka (Irina calls him her boyfriend) is afraid of me, maybe because I accidently locked him in my room for 30 mintues; really beautiful though

The food: not as bad as expected, but there is a lot of it. For my first meal with my homestay family I had soup (potato with chicken), pasta and meat (I have no idea what kind of meat-Irina just said "meat") and tea; we had blini and coffee (pancakes) for breakfast. Irina gives me so much food; what I ate for dinner was probably the equivalent of what I normally eat for an entire day.

And now, what you really want, pics: