Skittles and Swan Lake

You might ask why I titled this post Skittles and Swan Lake, well...it is because that sums up our 3rd day here in St Petersburg.  We began the day with a visit with the US Consulate. It was quite fascinating to listen to their experiences and what work they do for the US and it's relations economically with Russia. The students have asked great questions and have seemed actively interested and engaged in the visits.  We then broke for lunch. I decided to browse the grocery store. It is always an adventure at the grocery store in other countries. They have whole rows of chocolate and vodka. After a simple lunch of ham and cheese on good bread while watching Anastasia on my iPad...we traveled to the Wrigley gum factory. Many of the students were expecting a charley and the chocolate factory type experience. As expected the whole administration building smells of spearmint gum. The people at the factory were very friendly. They gave us lunch in their cafeteria or cantina as they call it. I was told the food in Russia would be bad, but I have not experienced any bad foods yet. It he majority of the food is meat and potatoes, so the Irish in me is loving it. After lunch we had a presentation on Wrigley and specifically their recent merger with Mars. Wrigley will now be not only producing gum, they will produce confectionary products such as Skittles and Starburst. After the presentation we were dressed in white coats, safety shoes, hair nets, hard hats and glasses. We were escorted through the plant. We saw  stacks of gum sheets and raw ingredients. They showed us the production of Hubba Bubba and the gum that rolls up INSErT. We were then taken to see how they make Skittles. It is quite a process. We often take for granted the process that it takes to make products you see every time you check out at the grocery store.  It truly was a great visit and we were given bags of gum to take home.  We then traveled to the St Petersburg Conservatory to see a ballet performance of Swan Lake. The theater, like most buildings in Russia was cracked and crumbling, but it did have a raw beauty about it. We sat on old wooden chairs.   The performance was quite amazing. It is a memory I will cherish. These dancers are so dedicated and perform with every ounce of energy in their bodies and souls. The orchestra was excellent. It was a bit interesting exiting the theater at 10:30 pm and the sun is still out. It was like we were at an afternoon performance.  All in all a spectacular day from Skittles to Swan Lake!