Part I: Going Postal
I went to the Post Office yesterday. There were two different windows, behind which sat two different women. There was a long line in front of one window. I, lemming that I am, got in the line. I had been waiting in said line about five minutes, when I noticed that the woman behind the lineless window was staring at me and at the letters in my hand. I began to have a sneaking suspicion that I needed to go to her, but as she made no move to wave me over, I remained where I was. After a full ten minutes, when I finally reached the head of my line, I was told that I needed to go to the other window. Hmmm. Nope, I was not surprised. Neither was the woman who had been watching me. She knew all along that I needed to be in her line. You have got to love customer service in this country.
I returned to the Post Office again today. There was a chair blocking the entrance to the facility. The door was wide open, and there were no signs saying the place was closed or anything, so I climbed past the chair and went inside. No one was behind either window. I stood there for about a minute, and a woman walked into view behind the windows and said: We are having lunch. Well, I did not have anywhere to be for several hours, and as I had gone rather out of my way to get to the Post Office, I figured I would simply wait for their lunch to finish. About ten minutes passed, during which time various women poked their heads out and stared at me. Finally one gave an audible sigh and asked if I wanted to buy something. I told her I wanted to mail some letters. She sighed again, then agreed to sell me some stamps. Hah! I win.
The moral of this story is that I have started sending cards and letters and such to all of YOU (while braving the Russian Post Office to do so), therefore feel free to send me things in return (especially since the USPS is a lot more customer service oriented). Hint, hint.
Part II: Anastasia
Before I left the US, my mom gave me a book entitled Anastasia, the Riddle of Anna Anderson by Peter Kurth. I have been working my way through it ever since my arrival in Russia. It is the tale of Anna Anderson, one of the many women who claimed to be the daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. I (as many of you, I am sure) had heard the speculation that perhaps Anastasia had somehow escaped the execution of the royal family in Ekaterinburg in 1917, although I never gave much credence to the rumor. (I mean, they made it into a Disney movie, which of all improbable things cast Rasputin as the villain. How serious of a theory could this be?) Anyhow, Kurth’s book is well written (it reads like a novel, albeit a scholarly novel) and very well researched (although he is obviously biased in favor of Anna Anderson's claim). After finishing this book, I would say that it is QUITE likely that Anna Anderson was in fact Anastasia Nicolaevna, daughter of the Tsar. If any of you can get a copy of this book, I highly recommend it. Whether or not you believe that AA is Anastasia, you will be entertained, and it will give you a lot to think about. The next book I am reading is a biography of Anastasia’s mother: Alexandra, the Last Tsarina by Carolly Erickson which I picked up at the AH. I will let you know my thoughts on it when I am finished.
I went to the Post Office yesterday. There were two different windows, behind which sat two different women. There was a long line in front of one window. I, lemming that I am, got in the line. I had been waiting in said line about five minutes, when I noticed that the woman behind the lineless window was staring at me and at the letters in my hand. I began to have a sneaking suspicion that I needed to go to her, but as she made no move to wave me over, I remained where I was. After a full ten minutes, when I finally reached the head of my line, I was told that I needed to go to the other window. Hmmm. Nope, I was not surprised. Neither was the woman who had been watching me. She knew all along that I needed to be in her line. You have got to love customer service in this country.
I returned to the Post Office again today. There was a chair blocking the entrance to the facility. The door was wide open, and there were no signs saying the place was closed or anything, so I climbed past the chair and went inside. No one was behind either window. I stood there for about a minute, and a woman walked into view behind the windows and said: We are having lunch. Well, I did not have anywhere to be for several hours, and as I had gone rather out of my way to get to the Post Office, I figured I would simply wait for their lunch to finish. About ten minutes passed, during which time various women poked their heads out and stared at me. Finally one gave an audible sigh and asked if I wanted to buy something. I told her I wanted to mail some letters. She sighed again, then agreed to sell me some stamps. Hah! I win.
The moral of this story is that I have started sending cards and letters and such to all of YOU (while braving the Russian Post Office to do so), therefore feel free to send me things in return (especially since the USPS is a lot more customer service oriented). Hint, hint.
Part II: Anastasia
Before I left the US, my mom gave me a book entitled Anastasia, the Riddle of Anna Anderson by Peter Kurth. I have been working my way through it ever since my arrival in Russia. It is the tale of Anna Anderson, one of the many women who claimed to be the daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. I (as many of you, I am sure) had heard the speculation that perhaps Anastasia had somehow escaped the execution of the royal family in Ekaterinburg in 1917, although I never gave much credence to the rumor. (I mean, they made it into a Disney movie, which of all improbable things cast Rasputin as the villain. How serious of a theory could this be?) Anyhow, Kurth’s book is well written (it reads like a novel, albeit a scholarly novel) and very well researched (although he is obviously biased in favor of Anna Anderson's claim). After finishing this book, I would say that it is QUITE likely that Anna Anderson was in fact Anastasia Nicolaevna, daughter of the Tsar. If any of you can get a copy of this book, I highly recommend it. Whether or not you believe that AA is Anastasia, you will be entertained, and it will give you a lot to think about. The next book I am reading is a biography of Anastasia’s mother: Alexandra, the Last Tsarina by Carolly Erickson which I picked up at the AH. I will let you know my thoughts on it when I am finished.
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