Last Russia Blog Entry?

I am ready to leave. I'm not packed, yet, not phyically, but my brain is full, and I'm ready to get on that plane tomorrow and head off home and back to hot shower land.

So, this is my last post, at least from Russia, and after I tell you about the Beckett play I saw last night, I will be done. I am going on a midnight boat ride tonight through the canal system for the opening of the bridges, but unless the boat sinks, I won't report on it. The boat will putter around the canals and river system, get to a certain point, wait for the bridges to open, and then all the boats will together go under the open bridges. It will be dark out mostly, there will be the bright lights of the city along the embankments, and much drinking and merriment will be had by all, including the mosquitoes.

I will go home and pack.

But last night I went with Christina to a play at the Peter and Paul fortress which is on Hare Island. The theatre was no Mariinsky, and for that I liked it much better. Something much more appealing to me about a group of artists performing a Beckett play (called Sans Parole) in a space at the base of the tower on the fortress wall facing the river, a wall originally built to defend St Petersburg, than about a group of artists performing Eugene Onegin at the Mariinsy, which is what I went to see on Wednesday night.

The P & P theatre space was small and dank and cool, like a wine cellar. It was the first time I had been cold since I have been here and we sat on chairs more comfortable than those in the Mariinsky and watched a two hour, two man performance that was physically challenging to the actors who did not flinch during the whole two hours. They were amazing, and of course this was a great performance to go to because it was all in pantomime and language not necessary. As interesting as the performance itself was the experience of buying tickets for it. When we turned up, about half an hour before the performance, we first asked a woman about buying tickets. She looked quite concerned, and called over another gentleman, who arrived with a clipboard and a list of names. He asked for our names, asked how we had heard about the play, then told us to pay 400 rubles. Christina looked dubious; she didn't want to pay that much, and I asked, incredulous, "each?", and then he looked at us and said, "no, together", so we payed our 400 rubles total, got our tickets and then went back outside to eat yet another blini, this one with apricot jam, and watch as construction workers tamped down some dirt before beginning to reinstall a brick pathway. The whole of the Peter and Paul fortress grounds and many of the buildings are being reconstructed, and, in fact, much of Petersburg is in reconstruction. There are hundreds of these massive buildings throughout the city which were once "great" homes, and then became apartments during soviet times. And fell apart. Deteriorated from the outside and inside.

While we ate our blini and drank water, we noticed that in fact our tickets should have been 400 each, but I guess the guy figured we would walk away if he had charged us that much, so, halved the price, and everyone was happy. And the play was fabulous, and probably one of the highlights of my SLS time as I was completely engaged by Beckett AND the venue AND the actors.

Between the Hermitage visit and the P&P visit, I did a lot of walking yesterday, and this morning I woke up not very rested. I think the combination of so much walking and so little nutrition is vile and I'm surprised that I have not become ill while here. But maybe my body is saving illness for later, kind of like sticking it out while teaching, then getting sick over the December break. I listened to Crime and Punishment for a couple of hours this morning, on my iPod, and realized that my experience of this novel is greatly enhanced by knowing where the Hay Market is, and what streets Roskolnikoff walked along. However, because I'm "listening" to this novel rather than reading it, I also realize that I don't really know how to spell his name.

Great novel, though.

You should read it.

Anne