OK, This is Really the Last One

So, this is really my last post. I just wanted to share a few things.

First, I've been drinking the tea I brought to America with me from Russia all the time to try and re-create the wonderful times Lena and I sat in the kitchen and drank tea and laughed til we cried. I miss that.

Second, I have been indoctrinated into Skype. I talked to both Sergei and Masha today for about an hour each on Skype and it was wonderful. The quality was really good, as so was the price (free!). Hearing their voices was like magic. I miss them so much. I'm waiting for Lena to get back from her holiday so we can Skype too.

If anyone else wants to Skype with me my name is francesca-celeste :-)

Third, I miss hearing Russian language. I asked Sergei to speak some Russian to me this morning and almost started to cry. I mean, I really like his voice and the way he specifically speaks Russian, but I legit teared up...wierd.

So, that's it.

Peace

I Think This Is It

So I'm thinking that this is the last post in this blog...sad! I'm pretty much settled in a home, pretty much back on NY time and pretty much missing Russia like CRAZY. NY is not the same any more and I just don't feel like myself the way I did in Russia. Like Sasha wrote in her blog, I feel kind of empty. I feel lonely without my Russian friends and family. I feel hungry without Russian food. I miss the beautiful and interesting city of Novgorod. I feel that none of my pictures did it justice. I printed some pictures today and have started working on my scrapbook. Trying not to get tears on the pictures. It hurts so much to think of my time in Russia as just some fun trip to document in my scrapbook and then to get on with my real life here in America. I don't know where my life in America is going, but I wish it was going back to Russia.

So that's it. Trip is over, recuperating from trip is just about over, back to 'real life'. To read about my 'real life' please check out my new blog dedicated to said life. You can find it at www.iamfrancesca.blogspot.com

До свидания

Not The Last Post But Close

I have a few thoughts to share.

First, all my photos from the trip are uploaded to my album on Picasa. Remember you can view them without registering for an account and they are all nice and commented on and very nice, so look at them. The link again is: http://picasaweb.google.com/FrCeKo/RussiaSummer2009?feat=directlink

Second, you may be curious about how I spent my last day in Russia and jazz like that. I woke up, got ready and headed over the to Lycee because Stas needed us for a few minutes. After that, around 12:30 I met up with my Russian boy and we walked down by the river and took a few pictures. Then we crossed the bridge and met up with the group and Stas at the pizza place and had some champagne/tea/pizza. My good Russian friend Masha also met up with us and it was so wonderful to see her. Then we walked down to the Kremlin to take a few more pictures. Another Russian friend, Alina, met up with us which was nice so that I could say goodbye. Then I went with the boy, his name is Sergei btw, to see his family's apartment. I was interested to do this because I wanted to see what other apartments were like and how they were set up/furnished. I also met his brother for a quick second. Their apartment is nice. It's on the edge of the city so there was a nice view. Then we headed over to my apartment. I had to buy a card on the way for Lena so we stopped at Rus, the big store. Then we went to my apartment and spent the rest of the evening eating pilmeni for the last time and packing. While I packed Sergei helped me translate a note into Russian to put into Lena's card, read me the story of the Little Mermaid in Russian, and also told me the story of Cinderella in Russian. It was SO cute. We also listened to some music and he played with my ipod and kindle. Around 9 Misha came over, then Masha came over too, and Lena got home. We all hung out for a long time, later than I should have stayed up because it was really hard to say goodbye. Sergei stayed the longest because that goodbye was especially hard. We both got fairly attached fairly quickly and had spent a LOT of time together for the 4 or so days prior to my departure. We both knew that I was leaving, but we definitly care about each other, and that's as far as we could get.

Tuesday was all traveling. 2 hour bus ride from Novgorod to St. Petersburg. Had to say goodbye to Lena at the airport. It was horrible. Then we flew to Helsinki (took about 2 hours), changed planes, flew to NYC (took about 8.5 hours). Went through passport control and customs. Had to wait about 4 hours in the airport to fly to Roch. Ended up having to wait about 2 more hours on the plane and didn't get into Roch until about midnight. Then another hour drive home. It was an exhausting day of travel but my time feels all messed up because I am on Russia time, not New York.

It feels very strange to be in America. I missed silly things like my bed and my cell phone. As well as my friends and family. But I really miss Novgorod. I feel like I'm at my house, but I'm not quite at home.

Anyways, I will probably post one or two more times in the blog about my trip but then I will be switching to a new blog about my life in general since my trip to Russia is over :-(

Last Post in Russia

OK, I leave my apartment soon. I miss Russia already. Keep reading blog because I will update a few more times.

Last Day in Russia

I can't believe I have to write this but today is my last day in Russia. I leave bright and early tomorrow morning to catch a bus to St. Petersburg and fly away home. I wish more than anything that I could stay. I've become so attached to this city and the people that live here. It's one thing to say "I want to live in Russia" but what I really mean is "I want to live in Novgorod (with all my friends here)". I really truly love this city. I know that a lot of people my age do not like it here. They think it is too small and have their eyes fixed on St. Petersburg or Moscow. However, I like small towns/cities and this one is the perfect size. And, of course, I met so many amazing people here that I don't know how I am going to get through my days with out seeing them.

I don't really have any specific plans for today, no goodbye party like we had for Colin. I have to go over to the Lycee and pick up bus tickets for tomorrow. I also want to walk around the city a little bit and take pictures. Also, I need to buy vodka to talke home with me. I need to pack. And I need to somehow figure out how to say goodbye.

Oh, and PS...for the next 21 hours (until my bus leaves) I am dating a Russian. And he is wonderful.

Maybe one more post tonight before bed. I can't stand the thought of this being my last post in Russia.

Triple S Saturday

The first S: shopping. Lena and I spent some time on Saturday doing my souvenir shopping. Not too many details here because then you would know what I got you, if you are actually reading my blog at all...heehee. I can tell you what I bought for myself though :-) We finally made it to the tea store after meaning to for about 2 weeks. I bought tea so that I can pretend that I am in Lena's apartment in Nov when I am back in the states. I also bought a cute little wooden ring for about 50 cents that matches the bracelet that I got for my birthday. The only souvenirs I have left to buy are vodka ;-) and I will probably do that tomorrow. I still have a lot of rubles left though!

The second S: strange. A couple sort of strange things happened on Saturday but I will just show you one. When Lena and I were about to cross the river at the bridge near the Kremlin, we happen to notice that the sky looked very strange indeed. It had been raining all day, and this was the result:

The third S: sweet. Ok, I will confess. When I got all the warnings from my parents and from Liza forbidding me to get married when I was in Russia I thought everyone was crazy. I am a sane, and usually rational person. I could NOT see myself finding someone all falling so in love that I would want to marry them after so short an amount of time. Don't worry, I haven't changed my mind. But, I am surprised that I have fallen, not too hard, but still, fallen, for not one, but TWO Russian guys. I also know that a few people were mistakingly thinking that the romance of Russia might lead myself and a certain ex-boyfriend who was also on the trip to maybe get back together. While I knew beyond a doubt that this wouldn't happen, I was also fairly confident that I wouldn't actually be in any sort of relationship like that while I was here. People will remember that I joked around a lot about finding a Russian boyfriend at the beginning of the trip, sometimes just to give Liza a hard time ;-) However, here I am about to leave Russia and sort of dating a Russian guy. It was one thing when I Russian I was crushin on didn't reciprocate, but it's sort of unnerving that this one does...a lot. Hence, sweet. It might be a good thing that I'm leaving because I think if I spent much more time with him I would fall, hard.

In other news, since it's actually Sunday afternoon now. Toma and Max are home!! I missed them so much. Toma looks so tan! And she brought me cute little shell souvenirs from the sea...love it. I think later I will show her some pictures of all the stuff she missed while they were gone. Pictures from my birthday and the parties at Alexander's.

A Party, A Walk, and I HATE Goodbyes

First, I have uploaded many of my pictures from my trip to Picasa. You can see a slideshow of them (randomized) on the top left of this page. You can also view the album on Picasa, without making an account. I recommend this because this pictures will be bigger, in chrono order, and you can view all my quippy little comments :-) Here is the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/FrCeKo/RussiaSummer2009?feat=directlink

Ok, a party. Last night (Thursday) was Colin's last night in Russia so we had another little party at Alexander's. It was, if possible, better than the last one in some ways. We bought chicken and more Georgian bread and I brought the leftover vodka from my birthday. Alexander, Lesya, Valentin, Colin, Lena, Dima, Alina, Sergei and myself where there and we had so much fun. The food was delicious of course and we all just had such a nice time talking and hanging out, and singing along to AC/DC and Debussy :-) Alexander and Lesya are such nice people and they are so hospitable. And, we got to see inside their apartment and it is SO nice. And they have an adorable cat. Anyway, they are just the nicest and most generous people. Also, Dima came with us this time and he helped Alexander with some of the cooking, and so did Alexander's son Valentin, so Alexander could sit with us more and talk and drink ;-) He is generous with the vodka and cognac so I had to pay attention and take little strolls periodically to make sure I wasn't over-indulging :-) Also, I was glad Sergei decided to come even though he didn't know anyone. He said he like to meet new people and I think he had a good time. Lena and I agree that we think everyone had a good time. And Lena talked to Alexander on the phone today to thank him for having such a nice party and he say something along the lines of 'how could it not be nice when the people were so nice'....Adorable!


Ok, a walk. Today was the last day of our internship and we took a nice walk with the children to a church not far away. It was absolutely beautiful with many flowers and trees. We also got to hear the bells ringing which was really lovely. We went inside as well. It was a good size church and beautiful like all the others I have seen. It was a nice change of pace. Also, the children were very affectionate today. They wanted to hold our hands, sit on our laps and be picked up and held. Also, they loved that Sasha and I were taking a few pictures of the church and them, since it was our last day. They loved our cameras and had so much fun posing for the pictures and then demanding to view them. It was very cute and we got some really nice pictures....check the album on picasa to see them!


It's true...I really hate goodbyes. It was very difficult to say goodbye to the children, even though some of them didn't understand that we weren't going to be there anymore. It was sort of harder to say goodbye to the 2 women who supervise the children. Today 2 of our favorites were working and they had really nice things to say and gave us many hugs before we left. It was so sweet. I will really miss everyone there.
Also, today is Colin's last day in Russia. He leaves tonight for St. Petersburg. I am so sad to see him go because he has been such a great, great, great friend to me during this trip. He has a wonderful sense of humor and has really been a gem. I am determined to make it to Memphis to see him sometime while he is studying at Rhodes. It's not goodbye, only so long. He is actually coming over to the apartment soon to say goodbye...so sad!

Totz budz!