I just got my laptop charged up and have been feigning to write about the first few days of our journey...(I am now two weeks in to the seminar, so I will try to remember as much as possible)...
Our flight to Russia was pretty uncomplicated, however, we ran into a few S.N.A.F.U.S....one being the airport in Amsterdam....(it is under construction and our gate to board to Russia was horribly far from our landing gate). The entire time we ran to our gate, I remembered Andrey telling me once " this is all training"( he was referring to the amount of computer work I became involved in while researching his methodology). And he was right... everything I do now, I consider part of "Systema Training" via his methods; remain calm running, breathing naturally, and trying not to panic at the thought of missing our flight. It was all training.
Once our plane descended closer to Russia, we flew over the UK area. The view was amazing. The song "London Calling" immediately popped into my head and I thought of some of the UK Systema instructors. I wondered what they were doing at that very moment. I glanced over and noticed my partner in mundane crime, Jesse C. , was welling up with tears. He discussed how relevant the sites we were viewing from the air were to history. He loves history. My mind went blank and all I thought about was how we were getting closer to our goal that I set out to reach almost a year ago.
Once we actually landed in Russia(our plane had to be turned around 10 minutes before landing time due to a dignitary who was set to take off from the same airport), I began thinking that this was such a surreal moment in my life. This was all going to come together, or not. This was one of the most significant times ever for myself , and later I found out, for others. This would be a life changing event.
Getting from the actual plane to baggage area and then through customs was a bit more difficult then I thought it would be. Our bags were virtually dumped open and our suitcases disassembled. It just so happened our customs clerks were filled with anti-American sentiment. Not a good first impression, however, I understood and remained somewhat calm. As they opened the candy that we brought for the Karimov children, I felt a smidge violated. That was for OUR friends. However, the impervious "this is all training" motto, ran through my head.
We navigated through the airport and exited the gate where Andrey Karimov, his lovely wife , Katerina, and our fearless translator , Jaroslav Repin were waiting. Andrey did not stand out immediately as I thought he would, because everyone was wearing black . Once I saw him, I broke into tears...my knees got weak... I felt overwhelmed by finally meeting him. His wife glanced at me with the warmest smile I had ever seen which made me cry more. Their combined energy was astounding. Everyone began speaking Russian at a rapid pace and all I could do was cry.
At some point , Andrey and I skipped through the airport holding hands....I don't know why, but we just did.Perhaps because we felt like children and we just had to emote this feeling.
Within minutes, a black car pulled up and we began loading all our bags. I was not sure if it was a taxi or not, but we did not fit comfortably.It didn't matter. I was sitting in the backseat of a car with Andrey Karimov. Nothing really mattered at that point, not even the crazily high speeds and daredevil stunts of the Russian drivers.
As we zipped around St.Petersburg, I tried to take in as much of the architecture as possible. It was a task in futility. Apartment buildings looked like castles, museums looked like monuments and monuments looked like art sculptures. I knew I was not ready to even explore this city nor did I care. I was there to spend time learning from Andrey.
We unloaded our things to our apartment rental where our landlord was a very stern, older woman who looked like she could break my neck if she had to. All of us piled into the apartment and I realized that I had to take note of some cultural differences; in the U.S., if someone took you to check in a hotel , they would wait at the lobby until you were done. Here, everyone acted as though they must check our location to make sure we would be safe. It was a great feeling that I am pretty sure no one else would notice.
We decided to walk to a local restaurant for dinner.I noticed immediately the incredibly fast pace that the Karimov's walked. It was unreal. Jesse and I struggled to keep up on the rough cobblestone pathways. But we had no choice. My first crossing at a Russian intersection almost resulted in me jumping over a car. If you have ever been to Mexico, you are very keen on the driving styles there.Russians are like Mexicans....cultural mental note #1. St.Petersburg smelled exactly like Mexico City,cultural mental note #2.
We sat at the table to order and I realized that perhaps I should have learned some Russian, JUST TO READ A MENU(do'h). Luckily our translator jumped right in and helped. The entire moment was like a dream, except I began regretting the choice NOT to learn Russian. The food was perhaps some of the best culturally significant cuisine I had ever had. The misconception that I learned from culinary school that Russian and Slavic food had much to be desired, went out the window.
Sitting at the table with Andrey, I noticed several things. You can tell his mind works light years faster than most. You could tell he had ideas, plans and things to do. The next thing I know we were exiting the restaurant where he instructed us to "run" as though we were dining and dashing. I could not tell if he was serious or not, then he said "Cossacks never pay ...RUN!". This was the first of many humorous moments that happened. I told him I didn't run , ever and that I was ok if I ended up in the gulag. The bill was taken care of by the way, and I am still not sure if he was testing me with the "run" thing or not. Either way, it was fun to see his sense of humor play out in real life.
Once back at our flat, we realized we were here. We made it to Russia. Now what?
The following day, Jaro met up with us to tour bits of Russia. The mist, rain and cold weather and wind was bizarre. At some point, Jaro left us to return to Andrey's house and I knew this again, was another "test". The subway systems were even more complex than I imagined due to the language issue. Streets were not labeled and not one map app was working well.I put myself in a horrible position to learn under fire..and it was working.
The following day we were invited to the Karimov's house in Pushkin. The train station was another test, but I was able to connect with other tourists to figure out which train we needed to be on. They were from Shanghi and also traveling to Pushkin. While we waited in line to purchase tickets, we ate cookies with them and witnessed two elderly men launch into a tirade with the ticket clerk. She gave absolutely no care for what was being said to her. This was cultural mental note #3;Russians, like Mexicans, are loud talkers. I loved this place more and more.
Andrey and his wife picked us up from the busstop. Even that part was surreal. I had a difficult time wrapping my brain around small details like that. But, I tried not to spend too much time thinking about it. When we got to his home, his children came up to us with curious smiles on their faces. I talked to them like they knew English. They smiled. Andrey's dining table was covered in balalaikas. This, may have been the only thing that rang true to exactly how I pictured.
Immediately after we ate some cheese and berries , we strolled to the nearby park at Catherine's Palace. I couldn't believe this was only our third day here. The park was so beautiful and there were so many pictures that there isn't enough room to post all of them. At this point, I would have been happy with what I had experienced so far...little did I know of the good things about to happen over the next few days.
Once our plane descended closer to Russia, we flew over the UK area. The view was amazing. The song "London Calling" immediately popped into my head and I thought of some of the UK Systema instructors. I wondered what they were doing at that very moment. I glanced over and noticed my partner in mundane crime, Jesse C. , was welling up with tears. He discussed how relevant the sites we were viewing from the air were to history. He loves history. My mind went blank and all I thought about was how we were getting closer to our goal that I set out to reach almost a year ago.
Once we actually landed in Russia(our plane had to be turned around 10 minutes before landing time due to a dignitary who was set to take off from the same airport), I began thinking that this was such a surreal moment in my life. This was all going to come together, or not. This was one of the most significant times ever for myself , and later I found out, for others. This would be a life changing event.
Getting from the actual plane to baggage area and then through customs was a bit more difficult then I thought it would be. Our bags were virtually dumped open and our suitcases disassembled. It just so happened our customs clerks were filled with anti-American sentiment. Not a good first impression, however, I understood and remained somewhat calm. As they opened the candy that we brought for the Karimov children, I felt a smidge violated. That was for OUR friends. However, the impervious "this is all training" motto, ran through my head.
We navigated through the airport and exited the gate where Andrey Karimov, his lovely wife , Katerina, and our fearless translator , Jaroslav Repin were waiting. Andrey did not stand out immediately as I thought he would, because everyone was wearing black . Once I saw him, I broke into tears...my knees got weak... I felt overwhelmed by finally meeting him. His wife glanced at me with the warmest smile I had ever seen which made me cry more. Their combined energy was astounding. Everyone began speaking Russian at a rapid pace and all I could do was cry.
Within minutes, a black car pulled up and we began loading all our bags. I was not sure if it was a taxi or not, but we did not fit comfortably.It didn't matter. I was sitting in the backseat of a car with Andrey Karimov. Nothing really mattered at that point, not even the crazily high speeds and daredevil stunts of the Russian drivers.
As we zipped around St.Petersburg, I tried to take in as much of the architecture as possible. It was a task in futility. Apartment buildings looked like castles, museums looked like monuments and monuments looked like art sculptures. I knew I was not ready to even explore this city nor did I care. I was there to spend time learning from Andrey.
We unloaded our things to our apartment rental where our landlord was a very stern, older woman who looked like she could break my neck if she had to. All of us piled into the apartment and I realized that I had to take note of some cultural differences; in the U.S., if someone took you to check in a hotel , they would wait at the lobby until you were done. Here, everyone acted as though they must check our location to make sure we would be safe. It was a great feeling that I am pretty sure no one else would notice.
We decided to walk to a local restaurant for dinner.I noticed immediately the incredibly fast pace that the Karimov's walked. It was unreal. Jesse and I struggled to keep up on the rough cobblestone pathways. But we had no choice. My first crossing at a Russian intersection almost resulted in me jumping over a car. If you have ever been to Mexico, you are very keen on the driving styles there.Russians are like Mexicans....cultural mental note #1. St.Petersburg smelled exactly like Mexico City,cultural mental note #2.
We sat at the table to order and I realized that perhaps I should have learned some Russian, JUST TO READ A MENU(do'h). Luckily our translator jumped right in and helped. The entire moment was like a dream, except I began regretting the choice NOT to learn Russian. The food was perhaps some of the best culturally significant cuisine I had ever had. The misconception that I learned from culinary school that Russian and Slavic food had much to be desired, went out the window.
Sitting at the table with Andrey, I noticed several things. You can tell his mind works light years faster than most. You could tell he had ideas, plans and things to do. The next thing I know we were exiting the restaurant where he instructed us to "run" as though we were dining and dashing. I could not tell if he was serious or not, then he said "Cossacks never pay ...RUN!". This was the first of many humorous moments that happened. I told him I didn't run , ever and that I was ok if I ended up in the gulag. The bill was taken care of by the way, and I am still not sure if he was testing me with the "run" thing or not. Either way, it was fun to see his sense of humor play out in real life.
Once back at our flat, we realized we were here. We made it to Russia. Now what?
 |
| Train to Pushkin |
The following day we were invited to the Karimov's house in Pushkin. The train station was another test, but I was able to connect with other tourists to figure out which train we needed to be on. They were from Shanghi and also traveling to Pushkin. While we waited in line to purchase tickets, we ate cookies with them and witnessed two elderly men launch into a tirade with the ticket clerk. She gave absolutely no care for what was being said to her. This was cultural mental note #3;Russians, like Mexicans, are loud talkers. I loved this place more and more.
 |
| Myself, A. Karimov and Jaroslaw Repin |
Immediately after we ate some cheese and berries , we strolled to the nearby park at Catherine's Palace. I couldn't believe this was only our third day here. The park was so beautiful and there were so many pictures that there isn't enough room to post all of them. At this point, I would have been happy with what I had experienced so far...little did I know of the good things about to happen over the next few days.
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