Snow

Last Sunday, there were a few flurries. Monday morning, everything was covered in a few inches of pretty white snow. Tuesday morning, there was more snow, only it was dirtier. Wednesday morning, going outside required trudging through disgusting grey slush, going around huge snow piles, and trying not to get splashed by cars. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, more of the same. Hello, winter.

The Neva river. November 27. The bridge I cross every day on my walk to class.

The canals are frozen over, and the ice is completely covered by snow. Even the Neva river is almost frozen. Ice floes appeared on Wednesday and by Friday only a narrow channel in the center was still moving. Once it gets colder and the ice gets thicker, people venture out on the ice to go fishing -- or take a short cut to work.

Surprisingly, in Russia plowing the streets and shoveling the sidewalk almost never happens. I have seen snow plows exactly once on the street, and I think they were only plowing that street so that the buses and trolleybuses could get through. Roads are only clear from being driven on continuously, while sidewalks have a narrow path created by the feet of lots of cold commuters. However there are streets that never get cleared at all, like the street my school building is on. I think the cars parked there just get covered by snow and stay there until the snow melts.

All of a sudden, so many things make sense. Why everyone takes their shoes off inside, why parents and dog owners insist on dressing their charges in snow suits starting in October, why there are шиномонтаж (shinomontazh - tire repair) places everywhere. Of course there are also the things that make absolutely no sense. Why they don't plow or shovel anything, why women continue to wear high heels and mini skirts, how those tiny European cars get around without getting stuck. Only in Russia...

Birthday dinner! with my roommates Leah and Ashley