There must be something in the water

As I walk along the streets of Petersburg in my sneakers and backpack that scream nothing but “tourist”, it’s hard not to notice the countless gorgeous women in heels and other non-weather appropriate clothing. It sort of makes you understand the whole “mail-order bride” concept. But what our group wants to know is how on Earth are so many women in Russia so beautiful. We decided that there must be something in the water.

Well there is something in the water….it’s called giardia. For those of you that don’t know, giardia causes a diarrheal infection of the small intestine. Thanks, but no thanks.  Living in the United States I have been privileged to always have water available anytime, anywhere. I never believed in buying water in the States- it always seemed like a waste of money and a waste of plastic bottles. But it is very different in Russia. There is no option for “tap” at a restaurant and if you want water at home you either have to buy it, purify it, or boil it. My host family boils their water, but this also means you have to wait for it to cool before drinking (it’s no wonder they drink so much tea here…who has the patience to wait for cold water?)

Some of my friends and I have just joined a gym here in Petersburg and one of the things we were immediately excited about was a never-ending supply of water. “Drinking water” is actually listed on the gym’s list of “Basic Services”- this is the equivalent of an American gym listing a “water fountain” as one of their selling points….

When I first mentioned to my mother that I wanted to join a gym she asked, “Can’t you just find a Soviet gym where you can pick up rocks?” Sorry to disappoint, but the gym is actually very similar to any gym in America. It is probably the place I most easily forget that I’m in a different country.  I’ve been trying to get in workouts everyday. While, yes, I’ve been walking a lot here, I’ve also been eating a lot. Russian is probably not known for being the most health conscious country and it is often hard to find food that is not covered in butter, sour cream, or mayonnaise (a blog post on food coming soon, I promise).

Today I tried my first Russian Pilates class. I’ve done a bit of Pilates back home so it wasn’t too hard, but sometimes you just have absolutely no idea what she is saying. At one point the instructor came over to correct my technique and said something about an apple. I thought I just misheard her, but then realized she wanted me to pretend that I had an apple between my chin and my chest so I wouldn’t lift my head up too high. Luckily I was able to figure out what she wanted me to do without having to admit that I really had no idea what she wanted me to do. I’ve decided my goal is for her never to realize that I don’t actually understand what she’s saying. This basically means I must do every single move correctly or else next time she comes over to correct me I’ll be forced to confess.  

As I left the gym (not before filling up my water bottle of course) I realized that I went through an hour long class where no one guessed I was a foreigner….small feats.