An Afternoon in My Room

I am spending the afternoon in my room today. Though I would love to be out walking and exploring, I'm not exactly allowed to leave the dorms for at least the next hour or so.

The reason for that is that the First Ladies of many of the countries involved in the G20 Leaders' Summit (which is taking place in St. Petersburg right now) came to tour the academy this afternoon, leading to a massive increase in security in and around the building. I had class earlier, before the group of First Ladies arrived, so I made it back to the dorms without difficulty, but other people have run into more problems than I did. One international trainee was stuck in the cafeteria for a long while before a teacher rescued him and allowed him to return to the dorms; another left the academy and now will not be let back in until after the First Ladies have finished their tour and departed.

Not wishing to seek out any unnecessary encounters with the FBI agents and police that are gathered in around the school in swarms, I have decided to remain where I am for the time being. I am stretching and blogging, and later I might try to read some Russian Harry Potter (from which I have read exactly one page thus far).

I feel like I should mention a few things which happened in the past two days, all of which made me very happy.

Yesterday I got a Russian SIM card for my cell phone, which meant that I was able to call my family and talk to them for the first time since my departure. It is not as if I have not had any contact with them while I have been gone and I have been away for only a short while, but there is something special about actually being able to hear the sound of someone's voice as you communicate with them.

I was thrilled by the price of my cell phone plan, which includes just about everything that I could want (including unlimited local calling and some data) for less than a third of what the smallest available data package costs when I am at home. I feel a lot better now that I have a functional cell phone. I intend never to get myself lost or into any other sticky situations, but at least now I would be able to contact someone to get help.

When I returned from my SIM-card-fetching excursion, there was a surprise waiting in the office of the dorm building, my student card. If one were to somehow merge the basic characteristics of a student ID card with the ornate and official ones of a passport, then write all of the text in Russian, the result would be something similar to this student card.

It folds closed like a book, and the outside part looks like this. 

When folded, it is a bit larger than a credit card. I believe that the gold writing on the front means something along the lines of "Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation". Inside is a picture of me and my basic information (first name, last name, birth year), and then information about my enrollment (the academic year for which I have been enrolled, the school's address).

I honestly was more excited to get my student card than I was when I got my driver's license. Not only is the card much more beautiful than my driver's license, but receiving it had more personal significance and meaning. I feel more like I belong here, less like a visitor, now that I have it.

Another thing which made me glad (which is much less important but still worth noting) is that I found some packs of Orbit White gum at the grocery. But what can possibly be so fabulous about some gum? Evidently, this Orbit White gum is so effective that it makes your teeth glitter, which they show by putting little silver stars on each piece of gum.

I find that to be pretty amusing. Chewing pieces of gum that are covered in tiny silver stars is far less exciting than finally having a functional cellular device or getting my student card, but it still helped make my day fantastic. (After all, how could it possibly not?)