Farewell, Russia

Thank you all for following, this is my last post. I apologize for my sometimes random writing and my poor grammar. I'll blame it on a combination of language immersion, time, and maybe just being a little overwhelmed as far as what to write.
This semester has been interesting, exciting, frightening, new, and sometimes overwhelming but it has also been a lot of simply day to day living. I have had time to reflect and to think as well as to experience a different culture and become friends with people who in many ways are very different from myself but are pretty much just people. I have a Russian family who will welcome me back into their home at any time and for whom I would try to display the same type of hospitality (I'll let you know, mom and dad, if they are planning a visit to Idaho).
I think I would love to live in St. Petersburg or in the Russian countryside (I went to a dacha a few weeks ago and fell in love) but I have no idea if I will ever come back here and there are still so many places I want to go. I have a lot to ponder this summer in the woods and I'm planning on a re-evaluation of my life, my plans, my future, etc.
Of course I have many things I could tell any of you about Russia but I realize that your lives are speeding along and changing probably even more than mine and I would love to hear from you. If your are interested in seeing pictures and things, awesome, let's get together and swap stories. But I apologize in advance if I'm one of those annoying kids who gets back from traveling and won't shut up about it. I'll try not to be. I'll try. :)
I'll be in Idaho all summer probably, with maybe a trip or to in the Portland/California direction. I'll have my same home phone number and cell number and of course, email. Pretty sure we still don't have service at the homestead though, as it should be.

I love you, Peter's creation...

That is the first line of a Pushkin poem that is at the beginning of the Bronze Horseman and it is also how I feel about this city, the "Venice of the North."
Here are some pictures...

Dostoevsky's grave.

The battleship that fired the first shot of the Bolshevik Revolution. 

St. Isaac's Cathedral.

 Kazanskii Cathedral.

Peter-Paul Fortress. Peter the Great's grave and the remains of the Romanov family.

The beautiful Neva river...

In front of the Hermitage.

Bronze Horseman.

Just a pretty view of one of the canals...

On the (Rail)Road Again.

A final note from the “Pocket of Russia,” at the confluence of the Volga and Oka rivers, on a smoggy, gray day in mid April:

I’ve finished my exams, written my papers, and packed most of my things. Sunday evening we will board a sleeper train to St. Petersburg and in anticipation I have begun reading Crime and Punishment again.

I received a five on my language exam, which is the Russian equivalent of an A but I will not receive my grade for the other courses until I’m home. I took my last test in my tie dyed onesie yesterday and relished the shocked looks from pedestrians, bus-riders, and students as I skipped along. I went for a little walk across campus after I’d finished and was startled to see my old stomping grounds without piles of snow.  Apparently there are benches and rocks and all sorts of things I had not seen before. In an act of deliberate defiance, I set out to walk on the sidewalk rather than cut across through the trees where we used to always walk. This is significant because almost all of the Russians I know would use the sidewalk and the Americans, preferring a more direct route, would use the path through the trees, even if we sunk into snow up to our thighs. Shameless. I must mention here that it was really hard for me and I kept looking longingly at the path, even though it probably only takes a few minutes more on the sidewalk.

Anyway, I passed by the old dorm and sketchy little banya next to a soccer field and looked out at the now completely melted Oka. On my way back I noticed a few shy blades of grass (or weeds, most likely) pushing up through the dirt and litter and I got all sentimental thinking about spring and not being able to see a green Nizhni.

Ah, but I am ready to leave. As I was reading in bed this morning, Josh Ritter started playing on my laptop and I suddenly missed the rolling hills of the Palouse, the dusty ponderosa pines and swaying cedar trees, and that frosty little pocket on West Hatter Creek Road. I imagined Mom and Dad in the garden with Roxy and Diego and I longed to leave this polluted city with its ugly square apartment buildings and smokestacks, its parks full of stark birch trees and communist monuments, and dilapidated wooden buildings filled with litter. But, I will miss it…

When I return to the US and eventually Idaho—fatter, paler, and altogether richer for the experience—I want to take to the woods. I relish the thought of a health food diet supplemented by good books and clean air. I refuse, however, to make any serious decisions as to the continuing of my education or future employment for at least a few weeks or a month.

Also, I’m looking forward to St. Petersburg. Nearly every Russian I’ve met has said that it is the most beautiful city in Russia and I can’t wait to see Dostoyevsky’s old stomping grounds, the statue that inspired Pushkin’s Bronze Horseman, the Neva river, the Winter Palace, etc. I'll add some pictures there. 

Христос воскресе (Christ has risen)

I'm sitting outside right now, soaking up the 13 degree (50F) sunshine before going home for the day. This past week almost all of the snow has melted and even the puddles are drying up, it has been beautiful weather and I am loving it.
Yesterday was Easter, of course, and the above greeting is how everyone answers their phones and greets each other on this holiday (followed by three kisses). I hung out with my family all weekend, my sister from Moscow came and my mom's boyfriend Andrey as well. On Saturday night we went to a beautiful church nearby and crowded in to hear about 15 minutes of solemn nuns singing in their intimidatingly tall black habits. Then the priest song and spoke and everyone in the crowd was passed a candle, which we lit (despite the dangerously close quarters) before slowly squishing outside. At midnight the priest, accompanied by a few nuns and perhaps another priest came out of the doors of the church and as the bells began to ring he started chanting prayers. We followed him as he circled the church carrying icons and crosses. We solemnly made our way around, holding our candles until we got back to the front, where the priest announced "Christ has risen" and everyone answered "he has risen indeed" before kissing. It was a very beautiful service (lasted all night but we left after the candlelit part). Sorry Carly, I did not sneak pictures, that would have been disrespectful and nearly impossible in the crowd anyway. :(
Anyway, we went home and ate and talked until 2am. My sister is fluent in English and it was so much fun to be able to communicate with everyone. Then yesterday we hung out all day and pretty much just ate one traditional dish after another. It was delicious. It was an awesome holiday but I still think Matslinitsa was better because of the blini.
Anyway, I only have two weeks left in Nizhni! And I have to write a research paper and study for two huge comprehensive finals. This weather is not making me feel very studious, either...
Oh, almost forgot, I'll add a few pictures for you.

 The banks of the Volga, about 10 mins from my apartment.

Pretty much the best graffiti EVER. They have these all over the city, I don't know why...

We had a little "barbecue" with some Russian students and some South Koreans. It was a huge, muddy, trashy mess but it was fun. This is Riley throwing a fit about the mud.

My family! Andrey (boyfriend), Marina (mom), and Arina (sister).

Russia is Thawing

Lately it has been hanging right around 0 Celsius (32 F) and the sun is usually out for a few hours in the morning before clouds and smog set in. No one has been certain if it is winter or spring, as one day it will be slushy and the next it will be black ice again or fresh snow. However, today I finally really felt spring. It wasn’t sunny but the minute I stepped outside I heard melting, everywhere, for the first time in months. The sidewalks were mostly puddles and slush, with very little ice left, but the snow was still deep, dirty, and piled over cars and on the tops of buildings. I’m guessing it got up to about 3 or 4 degrees Celsius. The fog was thick and it wasn’t really raining but drizzle and slop was everywhere. Cars and buses along the road were covered in mud and slinging it successfully all over pedestrians. I finally saw Russian ground, although only in few patches and covered in litter. 
People have begun wearing their spring coats now, and women are wearing even more absurdly high heels and short skirts. Huge chunks of melting snow and ice occasionally crash off of a building’s eve and into the street. The other day Harley told us that this kills dozens of people every year and I can see how. However, a few kind and concerned babushkas have already warned me to walk away from the eves. 
Anyway, all of this to say that I have a horrible case of spring fever. I realized today that this weather means I can be active again, after months of hibernating and gaining weight I long to ride my bike or play catch in the backyard. I tried to play in this little broken down playground near Harley's apartment building but there is still about a foot of slush and it didn't work out. Oh well. Or as my host mom always says: taaak, no lahdnah. (well, but okay).
Lately I have been rather pensive, looking back over the last couple months and considering the next few. I will be leaving Nizhni in 3 weeks for St. Petersburg and as much as I try to, I cannot decide how I feel about this. I am not homesick really but I know I will be ready to be home and I am not already planning my next trip to Russia but I know there are things I will miss. I think, though, that more than anything this semester has made me want to travel more. I have already been scheming up ways to study abroad again next year or at least to pay a visit to my aunt and uncle in Ecuador or friend in Switzerland... 
But, for now, thinking about going back to Idaho and spending a few months with the parents, the pets, and the trees sounds like an excellent re-entry into the country. (After the nephews' birthday party of course). I wish you all the best, thanks for following! I suppose I'll post once or twice more, of course, but thanks.

Pictures

Hello all. I thought I'd send a quick update and post some pictures, since I haven't posted any for awhile. My Russian mom (Marina) and I are getting along well, even if we resort to playing charades on a daily basis. She made me take a bubble bath my first night at home and she continually stuffs me with chocolate, tea, and hotdogs (this one, I'm not so fond of...). Also, she has a french press and occasionally has coffee!! (No one really drinks coffee here).

Anyway, this morning I got back from Kazan, which is the capital of Tatarstan (an independent republic that is part of Russia). It was a very interesting city. They speak Tatar and Russian and Islam and Christianity have peaceably coexisted there for hundreds of years. I love traveling by trains, too, even though it is nearly impossible to sleep.

Okay, pictures! 1) folk dancers in Suzdal for Matslinitsa 2) the trans siberian railroad outside of vladimir 3) i love only you 4) banya! 5) some of us in the classroom 6) sasha with his snowboard 7) chai on the train to Kazan (accompanied by tales of adventure) 8) anya and me ice skating 9) march in nizhni...still very snowy 10) classic harley  (program director), reading sections of gorky's "my childhood" outside of the house gorky grew up in (in nizhni).

T

Моя Руская Семья (My Russian Family)

Greetings! I don't have time to write a long post but I thought I'd just send a quick update about my host family. I move in today, immediately after we visit the childhood home of Maxim Gorky (Soviet author).
I met my mom Thursday night at the international office but we did not communicate much since she does not know a single word of English. I understood that I will be living in the center of the city, near a place called Gorky Square, which is an awesome location. It is only a couple bus stops from the university and next to pretty much everything (the kremlin, the pedestrian street, an outdoor skating rink, etc). I have a 24 year-old sister but she lives in Moscow and will only be home on the weekends. My mom is about 50 probably and works as a banker. She likes to knit and says I will be staying in a pink room and can have friends over whenever I want. She seems really nice and rather well-off (she is going to give me a cellphone). Anyway, I'm pretty excited. Oh, and I heard she has people over often and likes to go out and do things (most Russians prefer to stay home). She also has a boyfriend, which should be interesting...
Anyway, I'm excited! Especially since I will be forced to speak only Russian at home. Should be awkward, challenging, and hopefully rewarding.
Much love from the Motherland!