The next day on Friday morning, I ate breakfast and wondered what I should say to Olga today. I decided that it's best to ask her what she thinks of me and if we have any chance at a relationship, so I didn't live in doubt and waste time with her. During breakfast, I got out my camcorder and took some footage of the breakfast area. Surprisingly, the breakfast server lady, whom I described before as always looking grumpy and apathetic, suddenly smiled when the camera was pointed at her. I said "Kak vas zavut?" which in Russian meant "What is your name" and she smiled and said "Maya". I guess people want to make a good impression in front of the camera. All the other tourists I filmed there also acted friendlier and happier than usual when the camera was pointed at them.
Then I went to the lobby to use the payphone there. I called Olga to see what she wanted to do today, but she said that she had to go shopping with her sister in the morning, then work all day and night again, first at her teaching job and then at her babysitting job at night. Frustrated, I said "Olga, you knew months ago that I was coming this week. Why did you not make time for us this week? Why did you not arrange your schedule in advance?" She replied "I told you before, my schedule changes everyday and I cannot predict it. Right now I have these obligations today and I have no choice. Call me tomorrow morning ok?" I sadly agreed and said "Ok, I will try to find something else to do then. Bye." and then hung up. Realizing that I had no idea when or if ever I would see Olga again, I decided to start enacting my backup plan (described in the Preparation, Plan and Strategy section) in the meantime and went to my room to take out the paper sheet of phone numbers from my luggage, to call Natalia from Anastasia Web, who started writing me shortly before I left for my trip. She had agreed to show me around when I arrived in this city.
When I got back to the lobby, there were two guys there, one was speaking with a Mexican accent, and and the other was dark skinned but I couldn't tell what nationality he was. They were talking about a tour and so I asked about it, knowing that I might not have anything to do today. They said that they had a guided tour around the city scheduled in a van with a tour guide, and that if I came, it would be cheaper for all of us because the fare would be divided into three instead of two. I asked the price if I joined, and he said 15 dollars so I agreed, but said that I just needed a few minutes to make a phone call to someone. I called Natalia and when she answered, it was obvious that she couldn't understand anything I was saying so I looked at the hostel receptionist across the lobby and beckoned with my hand for her to come over. I said "Can you ask her where and when she wants to meet me?" and she said ok and spoke with her briefly in Russian and then hung up and wrote down the name of the metro station that she wanted to meet me at, and said that she'll meet me there at 8pm. She said that this metro station on Nevsky was the easiest place to meet someone because it is small and has easy to see entrances and exits which are close together. This was perfect, I thought, because it now gives me time to go on the tour with these two guys first. I thanked her and put the paper in my pocket. Then I grabbed my backpack with my camera and camcorder inside and told the two men that I was ready. We got into a parked van outside with a male driver and female English speaker inside, and then got acquainted. The Mexican guy was named Jesús (pronounced Huises) and was from
The van first stopped on request at a nearby electronics store, and we went in because Jesús wanted to get a voltage converter (from the foreign 220 volt to American 110 volt) so he could charge his camcorder batteries. When they said they didn't have it, I told him "Don't worry. I brought one that I got from Radio Shack. You can just borrow mine." so he agreed and we went back to the van. The next stop was at their tour agency office, so we could pay the tour fee. After I paid them the 15 dollars in cash, I asked them if they could give me some contact information for any local marriage agencies. They said they worked with one called A Foreign Affair and gave me their contact number. "Perfect!" I thought "since I had ordered addresses from their agency before and was just wondering if they had a local office in this city." I put the paper in my pocket and thanked them, and we were on our way.
As we drove through the main streets, the female guide spoke through a microphone and described the sights that we passed by. Our next stop was at a plaza with historical buildings all around it. Immediately, some salesman carrying boxes full of souvenir boxes came to us to pitch their hard sell. They spoke English very good too, and I was surprised that they'd use their great language skills to do this.
As I hesitated and looked at the boxes, they continued with their exotic Russian accents in trying to persuade me with what they could give me for what price. I did like the boxes and the Russian decorations and pictures on them, so they did catch my interest. When I bargained with them, they said my price was too low and below their cost. Then Jasson nudged me and said "Just walk away and they'll give in." So I did but they still persisted at getting me to agree to their price for three boxes. Finally, I got tired of all this bargaining and re-bargained for a middle price and bought two boxes. Jesús also bought one of the boxes himself. Then we took pictures for each other with our cameras around the site and got back on the tour van.
(Above: Our female guide, Yana)
The next stop was in front of the big massive cathedral structure called The Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ that you often see in photos and films of
Just before we got out, the male driver said "Be careful of the gypsies." I asked "Why?" and then got out when the van door opened. Immediately, a dark gypsy girl who looked about 4 or 5 years old ran up to us and said "money, money" and even starting grabbing Jasson's arm while he was walking around. (See image of her below below from my camcorder footage)
I noticed that the girl's parents were in the background sitting down while letting their daughter do this work. The little girl looked like she hadn't had a bath in a long time too. I felt bad for them. I gave the little girl some rubles and then we walked around the giant cathedral.
Unfortunately, they wouldn't let us go inside for photos without paying admission, which was pointless since we had a short time limit on how long we could be there. So we walked around the plaza and took pictures of the structure from outside. (You can see these photos in my online photo album too.) Along the courtyard, there was a girl playing wonderful serene music on her guitar.
We took photos with her and donated some money in her donation box. I filmed her with my camcorder too, and amazingly if you watch the tape on any TV (even an old one) you will hear the sound from her guitar music coming out just like if it was coming from an acoustic wave radio. I have no idea how it comes through so well. We also got some snacks to eat too, and since I was a vegetarian, I got a potato sandwich. Jesús also took a lot of footage with his camcorder, which was much newer then mine and had a much longer lasting battery, so he was able to take much longer shots than me! After a while, the guides called us and we went back to the van.
We next stopped at a park alongside the
After taking pictures for each other, I went to a souvenir stand nearby and bought a blue matroska doll, which is five wooden dollars in one with each progressively smaller doll inside the larger one. Then we got back in the van and went in front of the famous
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