Well, after a massive delay (a month, I think), I have quite a bit of catch-up to do, but I fortunately have enough stories to satisfy that requirement ten times over.

After finally fixing (AGAIN) my internet issues, I find myself wondering where the programme is going. It seems like yesterday that I touched down in Pulkovo, but I’ve under two and a half months left before I shove off for home.

I can now say that I knew exactly what they meant during orientation when they said that things ‘seldom go according to plan’ in Russia. Sometimes, the repairs on the apartment buildings (unannounced) will leave you without heat or hot water for 12 hours. Sometimes the metro trains are so crammed-full of people, you need to wait ten minutes at the platform just to get on the train, despite the fact that in the morning THERE IS A TRAIN EVERY MINUTE.

Though fortunately, the fact that things “never go according to plan” can sometimes work in one’s favor. And that’s the story for today.

Our programme at Smolniy Institut consists of principally history and political science (and of course, Russian language). I’m a science major back home, and I figured that when I was in Russia I’d not get to dive back into the science side of my studies. Fortunately, that whole bit didn’t go according to plan either.

Someone who worked with the programme office managed to refer me to a veterinary hospital in St. Petersburg, and now I am absolutely thrilled that I get to go there, observe, AND help out with procedure. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to get my foot in the door, considering that, number one, my Russian is sub-par, and number two, whenever I try to find a student position back home, none of the vets want to give me the time of day.

That’s part of the reason why I didn’t have time to solve my router issue for a while. I spend half the day at that hospital three times each week, during what used to be free-time. And I very much enjoy being there, because the attitude about the place is “Hey, let’s help this student out and teach him how to do this and that.” It’s not like what was given to me back in America, where students are always an unwanted nuisance (from what I’ve observed) in all the vet clinics in New Jersey. And that, of course, is only what happens if they’re nice enough to let you inside in the first place, because 90% of the time, the places either don’t take students or don’t answer me. There is a completely different philosophy over here. There are always students in this hospital, and I have to thank Dr. Aleksandr Vladimirovich and Dr. Aleksandr Yuryevich for their assistance and support.

Depending on the hospital’s attitude toward the idea, photos may or may not follow.

I never thought in a million years I’d be able to get a spot in a Russian veterinary hospital, but I am extremely grateful for what I’ve been given, and I’m happy to say that “things (almost) never go according to plan in Russia,” because sometimes that can work in someone’s favor.

Location: St. Petersburg, Russia