Favorite moments
The time has come for me to start reflecting on my year here....I will begin by noting some (by no means all) of my favorite moments here - things that, for the better, I'll never forget.
In no particular order:
- Riding the elektrichka back from Zvenigorod after a hike in May, listening to the women on the train sing, their voices floating through the car. The smell of the forest that day
- My first night out with the guys last fall at that random restaurant – four Americans speaking Russian all night (in spite of the pained liver the next morning from the vodka)
- New Years, 2005 (no explanations necessary)
- My and Alana’s crazy Christmas party, even though I didn’t want to have one in the first place
- Riding the ferris wheel with Alana in Gorkii park in the middle of January
- Victory Day in St. Petersburg – the parade, hearing the radio announce the moment of silence while standing on Ul. Belinskogo. Watching the fireworks from the bridge with Sarah, Marina and Alina
- Sarah's trip
- John's trip
- холодно девушка! холодно! (Kholodno devushka, kholodno!)
- Trip to Riga to see Liz – Especially sitting in the hotel bar on the top floor, sipping hot balsam and looking down at the city
- Going to Borodino with Dave and Zhenya
- Any time I was sitting in a caf?, having coffee with a friend, be it Maike, Zhenya, Dave, Maya or John
- Club Griboedova
- Snowshoeing in Izmailovskii with Alana – and summiting Red Square afterward
- “человек! человек!” (Chelovek! Chelovek! -Yes, I look back on this trip with fondness)
- Riding Finnish sani at TsKPIO on Elagin Island
- Taking Sasha to dance class and the chaotic hijinks associated with it
- Late nights with Marina and Alina over finnish liquerchiki
- The late winter sun in St. Petersburg
- Witnessing a true "white night" on the bus to Helsinki
- Bathing in the REALLY cold spring in Pereslavl'
- Being gluttonous with Maya and Sean and suffering the consequences of the "jihad" afterwards. (sorry, inside joke, you had to be there)
