My First Night Out

January 26, 2007

Last night I went to my first Russian bar. Apart from the fact that it was called Fidel’s and had a picture of Castro in it, I loved it. It felt kind of like home. It is confirmed that Russia does have hipsters as well as handsome bearded men who sit around talking about God and life and literature (at least that’s what I like to imagine they were talking about). It was cozy and packed out with college students. I’m thinking it’s going to be a nice chill evening, a beer or two, some conversation, then home to bed. You know, ease into the city gracefully and cautiously. Those I was with were thinking that once they had downed 3 or 4 beers, the night would just be getting started. To make a long story short, I spent the bulk of the evening walking aimlessly around downtown St. Petersburg in the unthinkable cold and no long johns with three people who needed to pee really bad. As fun as that was, I decided to head home and found that all the metro gates were locked at 11:30 when I thought they were open till 12. Not sure what bus to take, the only other option was the dreaded gypsy cab. A gypsy cab is not really a cab. You stand on the side of the road, slightly lift your arm, and some random car will pull over. You tell them where you are going and negotiate a price, in Russian mind you, then get in the front seat of their completely unofficial car and off you go. Luckily someone from my same neighborhood decided to come with me. The two of us got into a black BMW with a smashed windshield. The driver stopped on a corner and asked if it was the right place. It looked vaguely familiar so we got out and he drove away before we realized we were really really far from home and could possibly freeze to death. Luckily a Marshutka (bus type thing) came along and got us within a 15 minute walking distance. After getting home it took a good half hour of shivering under the covers to thaw out. I really honestly have never been so close to hypothermia. So yup, it’s cold here.