After a harrowing journey, with many flight delays, rescheduling, and excruciatingly lengthy waits at the Mumbai and Moscow airports (courtesy of Aeroflot), the fifteen members of our delegation and our aggravated teachers were exhausted and relieved when we finally reached our destination - St. Petersburg, Russia.

Upon reaching this aesthetic and beautiful city our bad spirits were immediately extinguished as we immersed ourselves in the unique culture, vibrancy and heritage all around us. Founded by Tsar Peter 1 in 1703, St. Petersburg was like an amalgamation of Venice and Paris - with its numerous canals, waterways and bridges, flanked by magnificent palaces and intricately carved buildings and statues. As a cultural experience alone, our trip to St. Petersburg was breath-taking. We explored the wonders of 'Le Hermitage' Museum, dined at a grandiloquent palace, enjoyed a night of lively and robust Russian folklore, and were even treated to the most famous spectacle of Russia - the elegant and exquisite Russian ballet! By the last day of the trip however, most of us did not feel adventurous enough to attend the disco - which was apparently another rather rollicking experience.

Russian cuisine (which was unfortunately not satisfying for the vegetarians) was another new exposure which we non-vegetarians relished. From scrumptious beef stroganoff to savoury stuffed pancakes - we gobbled down the many traditional Russian delicacies offered to us like pigs. There was also a McDonalds nearby which ended up providing most of our nighttime snacks!


SPIMUN - which was the main purpose of our visit was an enriching, fun-filled and illuminating experience. It gave us the opportunity to befriend people from all over the world - USA, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, Mexico, Egypt, Palestine, China, Turkey, Belarus, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Czech Republic, Taiwan and of course, Russia!

We lobbied and debated exuberantly, passed numerous cohesive resolutions, and collaborated together to try and tackle many pressing global issues - with success. We also had some mischievous moments - in the Security Council, after discussing the issues of Iraq, Georgia, Kosovo and Sudan, we tackled an extra topic on our agenda just for fun - the Situation in the Galactic Empire (Star Wars)!

Students from our school performed laudably at SPIMUN - we bagged three best delegate awards - Ambika Vora in the Security Council, Sanchay Jaipuriyar in the Counter-Terrorism Committee and Abdullah Sheikh in the Human Rights Committee, all three delegates representing the UK. Jash Chouhariya's resolution also passed in the plenary session, and all our delegates put their heart and soul out during the conference - in fact, after one male delegate made a convincing opening speech, he was showered with notes from hopeful and complimentary female delegates wishing to acquaint themselves with him!

Overall, our trip to St. Petersburg was an absolutely unforgettable and amazing experience. At the end of it, most of us were reluctant to leave, and upon reaching Mumbai we were all 'Russia-Sick'. We would all like to thank Ms. Sen and the school for giving us this awesome experience…and our heartfelt gratitude to our teachers Ms. Maiti and Mr. Deb for tolerating us (a commendable feat) throughout the trip…

Spasibo!                (which means Thank You in Russian)