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).