Pierre's been in the country now for about 6 weeks and has a good grasp of the Russian alphabet. Reading signs is one of his favourite pastimes. More often than not, it's trendy for signs to use "international" words that are common in English. It's not unusual to hear Pierre sound something out ("Kom. Pyoo. Terr") only to discover it's not really Russian. ("Kompyooterr. Oh - computer"). Some of them crack us up. "Business lunch" sounds like biznes lanch. "Snack" is snek.
During my class days this week, Pierre stays in and works at home or goes to the islands in the north of St. P to explore. Together we visit the Kunstkamera which is infamous for its babies- in-formaldehyde-in-jars exhibit, but which really should be best known for its ethnographic exhibits (in my opinion), especially the one on the Inuit. 100 year old waterproof jackets sewn from the intestines of whales are by far some of the coolest things I've ever seen. We also take a trip to the Russian Museum, which is a lot less sprawling than the Hermitage, but still huge. We make it through about half of it one afternoon and never make it back for the second half. The wing with the art from the 1900s is under renovation during our visit, unfortunately, so Pierre doesn't get to see the amazing collection of Soviet art. Next time.
The main event, when it comes to museums, is still the Hermitage. With several hundred exhibit halls (approx 400) it covers prehistoric time, the ancient world and carries on through to the start of the 19th century. It's very overwhelming and very easy to get disoriented in its halls. You can spot the tourists that have only enough time on their bus tour to drop by for an hour or so, because they look very impressed and exhausted all at once. Pierre makes a point of visiting every hall at least once, even if it's only to walk through it. By his 5th visit, he almost knows how to find his way around without the map. Almost.
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