Today Jackie and I went to Peter the Great’s Chamber of Curiosities, and dear lord I am still shaken up from it. The chamber is located inside the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, so not ALL of its possessions are freaky. We walked through exhibits featuring various artifacts from Japanese culture, African culture, South American, Indonesian, South Asian, East Asian, some Middle Eastern, and even a section on Eskimo life. In glass cases there were wax figures complete with traditional clothes, instruments, weapons, tea sets, jewelry, etc... There were also lots of miniature models of houses and buildings. I’m glad we came to this type of museum. I don’t know anything really about anthropology (sadness), so it was cool and educational in that sense. It’s also something very different in comparison to the Hermitage or the Russian Museum, for instance.
But that’s not to say I’ll ever go back there again. Definitely not. What is housed in the Chamber of Curiosities may enthrall some, but mostly I think it will gross everybody else out. The Chamber came into being when Peter the Great wanted to basically get rid of the Russian people’s superstitious beliefs about monsters (so I read) by proving to them that scary things exist in nature and biology, and therefore, theres nothing really to be afraid of (was that what his goal was? Huh). Anyways, during his reign he drafted a bill encouraging Russians throughout his empire to collect rare, bizarre oddities, and the majority of these rare, bizarre oddities just happened to take the shape of deformed fetuses. In the chamber, there are jars upon jars of fetuses with either two heads, fused legs, squashed limbs, no limbs, harelip, no lips, oversized heads, parts of their siamese twin attached, all the above, etc... And that’s only the beginning. You’re drawn to these small, white masses in jars that are filled with yellowish, green liquid at first, but after a while, you don’t want to look at them anymore. They are so disturbing, and Jackie and I understood very shortly after we entered the Chamber why our friend Meg told us not to go there on a full stomach. I didn’t get nauseous, but my stomach definitely started to knot. I feel bad saying this because these fetuses were human at some point and whatnot, but some of them were absolutely disgusting. I realize that sounds harsh, but it's honestly how I felt. At times I noticed my hands were clasped tightly together or that my hand would unconsciously rise to cover my mouth. I also did those random whole body shivers every once in a while (JUST GOTTA SHAKE IT OFF).
In addition to these fetuses, there were also skeletons of a newborn, a 7 year old child, and a giant who just happened to be Peter the Great’s footman (of course Peter the Great would hire a legit giant to be his footman!). Additionally, we saw various body parts in jars, including heads, a forearm and right hand with skin and bone still intact, the skeleton of a double headed calf, a chicken with four legs in a jar, turtles in a jar, snakes in a jar, (more animals in jars), Peter the Great’s footman’s heart, a baby’s heart and lungs, part of a guy’s cranium, a complete set of teeth (extracted by Peter the Great himself), an amputation tool set, shells, starfish, a stuffed opossum, and some random butterflies. That’s all that comes to mind for now, but don’t worry, we were not allowed to take pictures.
I am still learning about all of Peter the Great’s accomplishments. That guy did a ton, if not the most that anybody has ever done for Russia, and he was undoubtedly brilliant and daring. Nevertheless, if I learned anything about Peter today that I wasn’t already 100% sure of before, it is that Peter the Great was one sick son of a bitch.
Thankfully we had more anthropological exhibits to see after the Chamber, and by the time we left the museum our appetites had returned and we were ready for lunch. We took a bus back to the area around the Vasileostrovskaya metro station where we found the Soviet Cafe for lunch. The interior of the Soviet Cafe is designed to look exactly how a house or apartment would look like under the Soviet Union. My guess is during the 50s, to be more specific. The wall paper is somewhat floral and white, there are old fashioned box TVs everywhere, and there are old photographs and newspaper headlines hanging in frames on the walls. It was wicked cool! We picked our food from the special lunch menu, and I ended up getting a something with ham salad, shi soup (lots of cabbage), and spaghetti carbonara. It was all delicious, and I left the cafe, and the 50s, feeling full.
Today is my host dad’s birthday, so after we left the cafe we went in search of a small gift for him. I don’t know Alexander Grigorevich well at all, and I just found out about his birthday yesterday, so my expectations for finding him a super awesome gift were not that high. After a while of going in and out of stores that looked like they could possible have something gift-worthy (there was one random store that had some loreal men’s product with Patrick Dempsey’s face on it teehee), Jackie and I ended up shopping for ourselves. We found a really cool bookstore which I will remember to come back to. There were touristy flasks, magnets, chocolates, and calendars, but I didn’t end up getting anything for myself (too much pressure!). In the end, I bought Alexander a birthday card and some chocolate, and he thanked me multiple times for it. I also found out yesterday that Nina Vasilievna’s birthday is in May, so I have much more time to think of what to get her...
When we got done shopping, I went to the gym and then came back home. I knew that Nina Vasilievna and Alexander Grigorevich were having their son, Nikita, and his girlfriend over for the birthday dinner, so I was a little nervous. I love meeting new people, but meeting new people in a foreign language is NOT my forte. Getting to know people at all when I can't express myself in a foreign language really sucks. I almost told my host parents the other day at dinner how sometimes I wish they understood English; not because it would make communicating easier, but because they would know what my personality is like. I'm sure they have somewhat of an idea already, but I can't say Liv things with them (perhaps this is a good thing). They don't really know who I am, and sometimes I get mad because they only know me as some ignorant young girl who can only express herself in broken, incorrect Russian.
Anyways, I had no choice but to meet Nikita and his girlfriend. I waited until I was called for dinner before leaving my room, and when I entered the kitchen/dining room I did so in my normal tshirt, sweatpants combo (in Russia, you are expected to change into a more relaxed, pj-style outfit once you get home from work/school; "street clothes" are considered dirty). Needless to say, I should have put on a nice shirt (it's a BIRTHDAY DINNER, Liv, what was going through your head?). Nina Vasilievna was wearing a nice button down and slacks, and Alexander was also wearing a button down, but he still wore his track suit pants thankfully. Nikita had on a t-shirt and jeans (phew), but his girlfriend had a cocktail dress on. I felt underdressed, like I always do at these sort of things, and I asked myself why I was in my champion navy sweatpants and purple vneck tshirt all throughout dinner. Why, Liv why!
Nevertheless, the feast set out for us tonight was colorful and fit for celebration. There was a cucumber salad with yellow peppers and tomatoes (and lots of dill), plov (kind of like rice pilaf with onions and chicken), chicken cutlets and potatoes (with more dill), some fish with onions (I tried a bit and immediately refused any more), and of course, homemade Georgian wine. I had seconds and thirds of each dish, and I lost track of how many cheers and shots of Georgian wine we had (excuse all my typos and sloppy sentences ;). The food was all really yummy, as usual, and I am currently in my bed spread out like a fat elephant seal on a sunny day.
Luckily, Nina Vasilievna and Alexander Grigorevich were so busy catching up with their son that I was not addressed or asked very many questions at all, and that was more than fine with me. I was simply happy to be sitting there, listening to all these Russian voices ramble on at full speed ahead. Of course I didn't understand much, just tidbits of conversation here and there. Something about money and apartments, then something about the metro, then something about some Natasha. Blah, blah, blah. Regardlessly, it didn't take long for the Georgian wine to affect me, and before I knew it, I was laughing at things I didn't understand.
Throughout dinner, everybody rotated giving cheers to Alexander. Thank god I picked up on that, because when they asked me if I had anything to say I was somewhat ready for it. Feeling a little more confident, a little more "eyyy why the hell not!" I lead our last cheer. I firstly apologized for being in a t-shirt. After that, I said that I was sorry I couldn't say more sincere words, and that I was still learning Russian. I am very happy to be here, I continued, and I think that you (Nina and Alexander) are very good Russian parents. Thank you very, very much (except take that and make it sound awful)! Even so, they seemed pleased, and I was proud I managed to say something coherent.
When we finished with the real food we moved onto the banana chocolate cake, and Nina Vasilievna made us all tea (I LOVE that they drink so much tea here!). When Nikita and his girlfriend left, I said that it was nice to meet you and goodbye. While they were all saying goodbye in the foyer, I loaded dishes in the sink and sneakily finished the rest of Nikita's girlfriends uneaten cake (no shame). Nikita's girlfriend may be able to communicake (haah! that was a typo but I'm going to keep it :) with his parents, but I ate and drank SO much more than she did that I must have stood my own ground against this young Russian woman on some level. Did that last sentence make any sense whatsoever? No, Liv, it did not.
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