Sveta's apartment—the living room. Actually, American labels like "living room" and "bedroom" don't hold a lot of meaning for Russians. This is a two-room apartment, with the smaller of the two rooms shown here. When I asked Sveta why they didn't use the larger room as the living room, she said simply, "This room is warmer in the winter."

You can see Sveta's plants by the window and Anatoli's drawing desk to in the left foreground. There's a couch between the table and the TV where Sveta slept.

Sveta's apartment—the dining table in the living room. There's an upright piano on the right, hidden by the general clutter. The pencil sketch leaning against the piano is of Sveta with her natural brunette hair color.

Behind the drawing desk, you can just make out the small couch where Anatoli slept when he was in town.

My room. As I said, this is by far the larger of the two rooms. When she is not hosting American students—which isn't often—this is Sveta's room.

Note the small enclosed balcony through the doors. I can also verify that Sveta was right about this room being the colder of the two.

My small assortment of shirts can be seen in the open wardrobe. I rotated five shirts the whole month I was in Russia.

The bed is made up with a feather comforter and feather pillows, which I supplemented with an extra pillow from the couch. The bed was pretty comfortable.

When I got a bad cold, Anatoli treated my illness with a Russian folk remedy in this bed.

The view of my room from the balcony doors. My suitcase lies open on the couch, ready to make a quick getaway.

I don't consider myself overly antisocial, but on the whole I would rather have stayed in a hotel.

This elegant building on the Spit of Vasilievsky Island was originally the Stock Exchange. The Soviets converted it into the excellent Central Naval Museum.

Stock Market Square on the Spit of Vasilievsky Island. One of the red Rostral Columns is visible on the right.

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