Sweet, sweet, oh, Baltic Sea...

So, I've had the Cold War Kids stuck in my head for the past few days. How are you?

I live right on the Gulf of Finland. As in, I look out of the window on the balcony my room is attached to and I see the sea. This is somewhat disconcerting. But I like it, I think.

I thought Memphis was a bad city to walk in. Saint Petersburg -- at least, in Primorskaya -- is worse. On one hand, lots of people are walking, so it feels a lot safer in Memphis. I'm not worrying about physical violence. Pickpockets and the police are another thing. Some creepy man asked my friend, Ana, and I for our cell phone numbers the other day. No intro, initial hitting on, etc. Ana's host mom has strictly warned her to only date guys she meets at the university -- not on the street. On the other hand, there are no sidewalks in Primorskaya -- at least, none to speak of. Just rubble, really. And the drivers are insane. And while some of the cross-walks not only have lights but also a timer with how much longer one has to get across before being run over by a Lada, not all of the crosswalks have anything in the way of crossing lights.

Books are inexpensive. I bought a collection of some of Blok's poems, plays, letters, etc. in Russian yesterday. It was just under seven dollars. This makes me very happy. But shipping things back could become a pain.