Ok so this is going to seem a little bizzare and out of date. For some reason the blog got blocked by the spam robots, but its back now. I'm getting the kids to catch up asap. Read this for now.

Day two: another perspective (this is posted late because the internet keeps going down. Photo explanation within. I'll try and sort it asap when internet is more reliable.

First of all I’d like to apologise for the lack of photographs on the blog so far. Steffan and I had chosen a selection from the city tour and Hermitage visit. However, in his enthusiasm a student who would prefer to remain anonymous (but lets just say that his name is also that of a famous ex-heavyweight champion of the world) brought the laptop to my room before they had finished uploading.

After our tour of the city and the Hermitage we went back to the hotel for dinner. Just as we were about to start, the missing President Pattison and her pack (of should that be Pak?) arrived looking hung, drawn and slaughtered after a long, long journey. They visited Damman & Amsterdam before climbing aboard a Russian aeroplane that seemed to hail from the soviet era. And they made it safe and sound, though the grilling some received by the passport control officers at the St Petersburg airport caused a few (more) frayed nerves.

They managed to successfully to dump bags in rooms and come down for our buffet dinner within a few minutes of their arrival. And straight into the programme. First we were all hustled onto a bus and taken to the conference centre. This proved difficult for some - getting aboard the bus I mean – but Zainab made it eventually. Once at the centre, the informal introduction began. We were introduced to the programme of events and to the student officers. Several countries gave a quick spiel about their own MUN context: some were long; some were short; some were deafening. From there, to the first stage of informal lobbying, when the students are encouraged to develop friendships, collect contact details and charm potential allies.

I love watching the lobbying. The contrast between personalities suddenly becomes all too apparent. Some dive straight in, furiously scribbling names and email addresses, drawing crowds of eager listeners. Mohammed Khan, it has to be said, is particularly good at this. His notepad was filled within minutes. Farhan was targeted by a St Petersburger named Maria who FORCED him to talk with her for most of the evening. Bisma closely monitored the situation in a sisterly fashion. Others were not so adept and two students actually approached me at one stage for advice on how to socialise. I don’t think I was much help.

We went from there to a folkloric performance. If this did not energise us, then there was something wrong with us (we were told). And it was definitely energetic itself, though Nashir fell asleep several times. Two string instruments provided the music, one of which was a gigantic guitar pick with three strings, and an accordion. A flurry of twirling, whirling and whooping women appeared and were quickly joined by three men whose job was to flirt in an athletic manner. And play the kazoo. The highlight was a man playing the saw. He involved a stunned looking Jasmine from Zurich with his act, and I think everyone was at that point praying that he would leave them alone, especially when he got a sneaky kiss from the unsuspecting Swiss girl.

Just one final highlight for the day was the snowfall outside. Tyler was quick to start a snowball fight. Rabeet wondered if we could bring some snow back to Qatar.