Thursday, July 18, 2013

Saint Petersburg This Week

Before I share some pictures from the past week, here's a funny (but not so funny) story about my a recent doctor's appointment that I need to get each year in order to get a Work Permit. 

It came up in conversation today with my Russian language teacher, Nadezhda, because we were doing an exercise related to the human body & health, and practicing my use of nominative, accusative, and instrumental noun cases.  Yes, I take weekly language lessons & yes, they are HARD!!!

One of the exercises was about going to the doctor, and I learned the word дышать (dishat), or "To breathe".    And the imperative form is Дыши (dishi);  how you would tell someone to "Breathe!".  And I suddenly made a connection & realized that at my doctor appointment last week, the X-ray technician was yelling this at me!  "Дыши!   Дыши!  Дыши!", and getting progressively more angry with me.    And now I understand why she ran 4 chest x-rays to check me for TB.  Apparently, I was holding my breath or not taking in a large enough breath, and she was rejecting each x-ray. 

4 chest x-rays in one day?  Do I want to know how much radiation I was just exposed to?  And I find it a little funny that passing a TB test once a year is all it really takes to get a work permit in Russia, from a health standpoint.  It really makes you wonder.

On to some pictures................................................................

Peter & Catherine the Great, chowing down on some ice cream


Summer love


Preschoolers learning the hula hoop!


A bride and her harem


Dueling brides, competing for the same coveted position on a bridge for photos


From the back, Catherine the Great looks a little upset that this bride is stealing her spotlight!


 
 An unannounced fighter jet performance
 


 
 
McDonalds in the park. 
 


 

 

 

3 comments:

  1. Great pictures and it looks like great summer weather

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  2. Looks like you're having such a nice summer and, as usual...nice pix ! Four in one day ? God ! But at least the next time you'll know what you're being yelled at to do.

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  3. PS - Pete and Cath ought to get their outfits cleaned.

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