World Spins Madly On

It’s been a relatively peaceful week. On Wednesday night there was apparently a really important soccer game going on (Real Madrid [of which Jesus Navas is unfortunately not a member) vs. err, some German team [of which Mario Gomez is unfortunately not a member). The plan was to meet at a British pub close to the Primorskaya metro station, just one north of Vasilieostrovskaya, and I got there in time for the game to start at 10:45. Adam and I left the bar at midnight to catch the metro home before it closes at 12:30, but apparently Primorskaya actually closes at 12:10, so we were forced to walk home. I think it’s supposed to take around 40 minutes to walk from Primorskaya to Vasileostrovskaya, which, during the day shouldn’t be that bad, but it was late, and all the tall, gray depressing buildings made our walk home extremely sketchy. Thank god I had Adam there with me, because there was no way in hell I was going to walk home by myself without knowing the way. We basically ran home, and at one point, as we were passing a graveyard and after having gotten spooked by a closing door, I told him that if I took off without warning for some unknown reason, it’s not because I’m ditching you or leaving you behind to get eaten by some mafia guy that comes out from behind a bush; it’s just my flight or fight response. We passed by my place at a quarter to one, but Adam still had to cross the bridge to get back home to the dorms; the same bridge that supposedly goes up at 1:25. Needless to say, we said our goodbyes quickly, and vowed that we were never, ever getting back together going to Primorskaya again. 

On Friday night I watched the Hound of the Baskervilles Sherlock episode with Adam in the dorms, and I brought a bottle of Ukrainian wine for us to share. Good thing it tasted like raisins (I usually like sweet wine), cause neither Adam and I could drink it without feeling disgusting (alas, it was on sale). In any sense, I had had an awful Friday, and I needed to let loose (I finally had an explosive meltdown on Thursday [I’m fairly positive my host mom will never ask me about my past history with любов at the dinner table ever ever again], was so distraught that I absentmindedly set my alarm at the wrong time for the next morning, showed up to Marina Olegevna’s grammar class 45 minutes late, and missed our test). And I guess I did exactly that, because after having finished that bottle of wine, that episode of Sherlock, some seriously needed gossip sessions and the first ten minutes of the movie “This is the End,” I puked my guts out. Adam was sweet enough to walk me home, and I fell asleep immediately after I hit the lights and got under the covers. 

Bleh. 

But WHATEVAHH. I’m feeling better, both physically and mentally at the moment, so I can now finally tell you about the ballet we went to last night. We had an excursion to the Mikhailovsky theater where we saw a performance of “Sleeping Beauty.” The Mikhailovsky looks a lot like the Mariinsky, but I think it was a little bit smaller and less ornate (picture cream and burnt orange-red colors). I sat in a box to the left side of the theater on the first level, and I had a tough time seeing one of the corners, but it didn’t matter, cause I thought the show was pretty amazing. I can’t pretend to say I know anything about ballet (ask me about the movie “Black Swan” though and I’ll rant for a good 10 minutes about how AWESOME I thought it was), so in that regard I think it’s easy for me to overlook just how complicated and demanding some of the dance moves and techniques are, but there were a few scenes where my jaw definitely dropped a little as I watched them unfold. One scene in particular sticks out in my memory: Sleeping beauty was standing on one leg (on her pointed foot, to be more precise), with the other leg extended out perpendicularly, and she stood like that for a good thirty seconds as different male ballerinas came up, took her hand, and walked her in a full circle. It reminded me of the ballerina figurines you see and watch twirl in a circle when you open up some music boxes. It was both beautiful and painful to watch, for I could only imagine the strain that put on her entire body. Of course, the ballet was full of playful bounds, leaps and twirls, but I enjoyed the last act the most when they did a sort of sampling of various other fairytales. My favorites were two cats that were so feisty and graceful (Aristocats?), and the couple that did Little Red Riding hood; the wolf looked like he was having the best time flying from one end of the stage to another! In the end, the character that got the most applause was definitely Maleficent (as he should have). When he first came onto the stage though, the only thing that I could think of was Jim Carrey in SNL’s spoof of the Black Swan (a must watch here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwby0YmAXVc). 

So that’s that! Ballet at the Mariinsky? Check ✓ The next big adventure is Moscow, and we’re taking an overnight train (hello sleeping pills) on Wednesday night. Stay tuned :)