Can I please be done now?

I’m definitely getting jaded. That little vacation was sort of cruel because now everything that bugged me a little bit about Russia seems exaggerated a million times. The novelty has worn off entirely. After being in two different countries that affirm your existence and worth as a human being, it’s hard to come back to cars that WILL run you over even when you have the little green man, and impatient, unhelpful people who don’t smile, ever. As soon as we arrived at the border my heart sank a little bit. Everything got grey and muddy and ugly and it smelled like cat litter. There was no toilet seat or toilet paper in the bathroom. We had to go through hours of ridiculous red tape. They really go out of their way to make everything as complicated as humanly possible. Oh Russia, you ridiculous, paranoid, proud empire. You take yourself WAY too seriously. It’s not the sneaking IN part you need to be worried about, ok? I think I’m just going to have to get tougher. While getting on the metro I was moving a little slow because I had a huge backpack on. My shoulders killed, and I was clearly precariously balanced. Everyone was wedging in past capacity and a woman just started shoving me over, hard, to get past. I may have turned around and given her a really mean look. My tolerance level is collapsing steadily. Today I needed to fax something to America. I went to an Internet café and was told to wait. So I waited. I came back in a bit and was told it would be a long time. I asked how long and the response was a snappy sarcastic “A long time.” Thanks. So I went to another place down the street and they don’t fax to America. How can something so easy be so complicated? While I’m on the subject, my list of St. Petersburg establishments that I will not be returning to is growing steadily. There seems to be a special little chip on everyone’s shoulder saved especially for Americans. At one café the waitress fully ignored us and served 3 other tables until we went and asked her for menus. Another café intentionally turns off their wireless when we come in. One restaurant tried to jip us about 75 rubles (approx. $3). When we asked her about it she gave us most of the change back in a giant pile of worthless kopeks. There are approximately 26 rubles per American dollar so kopeks are worth about one millionth of a cent. My friend and I went to a little Italian place for lunch. The waiter rolled his eyes when I couldn’t tell him exactly how many kilograms of Fanta I wanted. He told me they were out of soup, and then gave someone at the next table – soup. Ahhhh! Would it really kill someone to be a little tiny bit nice? I miss things that work and English and people whose job is to help you. From here on out I vow never to get annoyed with the girls who work at Bath and Body works who smile a little too big and hand you a basket and ask you a million perky unnecessary questions.