(PS can I just say that I REALLY should have written these as I was experiencing them because it is incredibly blah and annoying to have to remember details days later.)
Monday was the day of the dissertation of the doctorate. Dr. Balaban was invited to speak at the event (unclear why) and apparently it's a big deal. He explained that in Russia, people are able to get their PhDs, and THEN they are able to get their doctorates. I'm not sure if America is the same way? But apparently doctorates are very rare and it takes a long time to get one. The culmination of the doctorate occurs in an afternoon of defending your dissertation, after which, distinguished scientists vote on whether the candidate is qualified to receive the doctorate. The whole event runs about 3 hours, and is then followed by a reception.
We arrived around 12:30pm to the Institute of Physiology on V.O. It seemed as if everyone knew Balaban, but he whispered to me that he barely knew 50%. (He speaks at a lot of conferences and is on a lot of committees, but I think he is usually the one presenting not the one listening). It was a funny comment... tough to be a famous scientist. At 1pm, the dissertation began. People gave some speeches about the candidate, and then the candidate herself presented her findings. She had a powerpoint, which I was thankful for since a lot of the graphs/pictures were in English and I was able to read the Russian better than listen to it. It was all very interesting - she was working on Drosophilia (type of fly) and looking at protein expression. The presentation was ~45 minutes long, and it was then followed by questions from the audience. The questions portion took a long time and it seemed as if they were meant to rifle the candidate up (Balaban said this had happened to him at his dissertation 30 years ago as well).
After an hour of questions, the rest of the time was dedicated to other people speaking about the candidate and other research they've done. Balaban spoke at this time, as did other people. Eventually, everyone left the room so that the scientists could vote. It turned out that the candidate passed, and then everyone gave her flowers and congratulated her. She looked very excited and happy.
Everyone proceeded to the lobby, where champagne and snacks/desserts were available. I hung around Balaban, but also talked with other adults, who were interested in what I was doing here and who I was. I kept throwing in the fact that I had lived in St. Petes for 5 months since everyone seemed to love this fact. Elena (the woman from the boat tour), was also there and we chatted a bit. Remember... everything that's happening always is in Russian.
Overall the research was interesting, and it was fun to talk to new people. Later on, the rest of the family met us there, and together we left to relax and snack in a garden nearby. Eventually, we headed to a place for dinner. A random guy who I did not know came, and the whole thing became very weird. The guy was dressed in a fancy suit, and barely acknowledged anyone but Balaban. I have no idea what they were talking about because they completely ignored the rest of the table (Olga, 2 girls, myself, and Elena). It felt like the women were decoration for the business meeting of the men. I got super pissed off and felt really weird and gross about the whole thing. We could have done something so much more interesting or fun! I don't want to be a statue, staring at food and not saying a word! Business meetings are fine, but don't let other people sit at the table if you're not even going to look at them. UGH.
Misogyny in Russia at its finest.
Granted, I don't think it was intended to be perceived that way, but it was. Eventually, Katya, Dasha, and I were able to leave and I showed them how to make fortunes (the papers with colors and numbers written on them). The three of us had a grand old time together, laughing, and talking. For one of the colors, I wrote black (черный) but they thought the "ч" was an "м" and we all started laughing.... Ok it doesn't sound that funny, but it was at the time! I have awful handwriting even in other languages. Oh well.
The tw girls are great and we got along really well. Balaban told me a lot about their history while we were walking to the dissertation about how/where they grew up. Apparently, Olga is an anesthesiologist, and the two girls (after basically being abandoned by the father) were raised primarily by a nanny. Now they all live in Moscow, and the father is out of the picture, and they love Balaban. They're both at tough ages (15 is not fun for anyone), but I think they're good girls at heart. Balaban worries that they're too spoiled (which... maybe they are, I don't know) or that they have bad attitudes.... But I think a lot of this is simply their age. They're smart, inquisitive, and lively -- they'll be fine.
We had an hour to kill before our train back to Moscow, so we briefly stopped in a mall on Vassilevsky Square. There were a lot of American and other western stores. Dasha particularly (older one) was very into shopping and she wanted to try on all these American clothes.... I definitely sense a fascination with American culture in them. They seemed to look up to me not only because I am older, but simply because I'm an American. Of course, the playing field is evened out whenever I open my mouth, but still. Some shirts had English writing on them, and I helped translate for them. They know a little English but are very scared to speak it. I also taught them the word "flip-flop" which they thought was hilarious (it is indeed).
At 11pm, we boarded the train and were off. We got into Moscow around 7am and then I went home, exhausted and in need of a shower. I'm so happy I got to go back to St. Petersburg and that I got to know the family. Katya and Dasha also really want to go to a waterpark here with me, and I think we may be doing that this weekend. Such a great trip! Yayyyyyyyy for travels.
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