The Night Train

So I haven't blogged in a loooong while. The reason why is because my blog is ugly. So I get frustrated with it because I hate looking at it. If I hate looking at it then I know others defintely won't like looking at it so it makes me not want to blog. BUT... I will today because I have to tell the story of my night train experience.



So when I heard I would be needing to get night train tickets to get to Saint Petersburg I was so excited. I imagined the compartments were enclosed and roomy and that there would be a restaurant on the train. Basically I thought this night train would be a mixture between a Harry Potter and White Christmas train. Boy was I wrong.



Gulya (our Russian coordinator) wouldn't let us eat before we left because she insisted that we needed to be there early or someone will steal your seats. We get there like an hour early and we just sat around waiting for our train to let people in. When they did call our train we had to get out our passports and made sure our money belts were tucked deeply into our pants. I found my seat- it was right by the bathroom. I looked at my bed. It was on top of another lady's bed. Directly across was my friend Courtney's bed and below her was another lady's bed. I sat on my seat for a little while but my stomach was just gurgling from skipping out on dinner. I decided I would go to the restaurant with my fellow teachers, Melissa and Emily.



When we finally got to the last section of the train a drunk guy took it upon himself to tell us what to order. The waitress gave me a English menu and a really weird glossy look (her eyes were like bulging out of her sockets). The drunk man pointed to the appetizers, main courses, soups and salads and said none of that was good. When he turned to the alcohol he nodded his drunken droopy head in approval. We scooted over because he was really creepy. Then two younger Russian men come up to us and heard us speaking English. They asked Emily if she would like a drink and where she was from. "Sorry I don't drink... and I'm from Canada." A lot of Russians like to come up to us and ask us how we are doing. Whenever we answer back the conversation ends with I don't understand. Also if we tell them we are from America they talk your ear off for hours. So when we say we are from Canada it ends the conversation quickly. The two Russian men then asked Melissa and then me and they got the same answers.



We left to be seated. When we looked at the menu we just saw how ridiculous the prices were. None of us planned to order anything after that but the waiter was really upset that we messed up the nice napkins and silverware that he kind of forced us to order. So Emily ordered a 7 dollar water bottle and Melissa ordered a 10 dollar 8 ounce juice. We quickly left after he gave us the bill. On our way out we ran into some other teachers from a different school. We talked to them for a while and we were right in front of those two Russians that asked us if we wanted drinks. I was deep in conversation and didn't see one of the Russians reach over and pinch my cheek (the one that's not on your face). When I mean pinched I mean more like he got some and that feeling lingered there for like a good hour. I was mortified! I gave him a dirty look and just stormed off. I was so upset.



By the time I got back to my seat everyone around me wanted to go to sleep. People were pulling out beds and snuggling up. So I decided to do the same. I noticed however that my bed didn't have a footstool and I had no idea how to climb up onto my bed. The lady was sleeping underneath me and I didn't want to step on her nicely made bed. I struggled to get up. I tried climbing onto Courtney's bed and magically fly over to my bed but that didn't work either. People around me were starting to look at me and take pictures. I was out of luck until this nice Russian man took a plastic bed and told me to step onto the table. See not all Russians are bad. Just the ones that are drunk.



Couldn't sleep a wink, but the train ride was a good experience.