Sunday, May 16, 2010

We Were Always Meant To Say Goodbye

The time has come to leave the third Rome. I never expected that a year could have such an impact on my life. . It's been such a crazy ride.


Our last dinner with our wonderful program director Irina was out of this world. We ate at a restaurant called "In the Darkness". It's a pretty crazy concept. Customers have four plate choices: blue(seafood), red(meat), white(mix), and green(vegetarian). Then they are to the darkness, where they dine in a completely pitch black environment with blind waiters. It was definitely a unique experience. It was so weird not seeing what you were eating and having to feel around for the fork or like the bread. I don't think I will EVER forget something like that.


Moscow has been a really interesting city to live in. Moscow is scary, amazing, huge, fierce, dirty and surprising. It will chew you up and spit you right out if you aren't ready for it. For that reason I love Moscow. It is a city like no other. But at the same time I have to be real to myself and say that I could never call this city home. As much as I like the take-no-prisoners demeanor of the city, I could never feel at home here. It isn't that I don't like big cities. I actually cannot imagine myself living anywhere else. But unfortunately, Moscow just doesn't have have that something I'm looking for in a home. I'm alright with it though. I in no way regret spending my year here. Sure there were moments where I browsed around for a ticket back home the next day, and thought about telling some of my fellow group mates off... but it was all totally worth it in the end. I got to experience/see so much and I made a ton of progress with the language. There is no way it would have been the same if I didn't stay.


The last few weeks have been unbelievable. One of my favorite memories is the birthday party that was thrown for me. Kelly, Kara, Phil, Kim and even my roommate Darcy made a little surprise birthday party for me at Kelly and Phil's. They cooked hispanic inspired dishes which were wonderful. I also really loved it when we gave our presentations because we all together celebrated our freedom.


I will miss a lot from Moscow. I will miss my Russian friends and homegurl Eleonora. I will miss having so much to do and just having the option of hoping on the metro 2 min from my house and just going somewhere. Moscow left an imprint on me that cannot be erased.


As I promised, a link to Kiev photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=170630&id=673767863&l=241dca85c0

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Kiev and the lasts

The moment has finally arrived. I had my last excursion yesterday and I finished all schoolwork for the year. I am free.


I'll start by talking about our trip to Kiev. So our last trip of the year was to the Ukrainian capital. On the way there we were all separated into groups of two which meant each pair shared a room with two other Russians. Kelly and I were together and we shared our train compartment with Irina's friend Masha and her son. Her son is a young super energetic thing. When we got to Kiev it was weird seeing everything in a different but so similar language. I was really surprised at how pretty the city is. I like couldn't believe how beautiful it was. It was sunny and like everything was green. I also want to point out that the guys were better looking than in Moscow. I'm not saying that they were 10s... or even 7s... I'm just saying they were cuter. We had the usual excursion and like walked around and enjoyed the nice weather and sun. I missed the sun like crazy so I tried to soak up as much as I could. Ironically, one of the things I enjoyed the most was our trip to the monastery. I obviously refused to enter any of the churches but I did walk around and tried to get browner, which I think was a success. It was quite amusing to see everyone in the group just turn red throughout the day. During the night time I was pretty much a grandma. I had a lot of work to do so I actually brought it with me. So unfortunately I have no report on what the nightlife is like in Kiev. This was definitely my favorite trip out of all of them. It was simply amazing.


I plan to include a link to the photos in my last post.


It feels really weird being done with everything. I can't believe it was just last week when I was freaking out because I didn't know how I was going to get everything done. Now I am in my room, looking at the last souvenirs I needed to buy before I leave on Monday. The plan is to go to Germany and visit one of my BFFs Braeden for a few days then head back to the states and see my senior friends graduate. Meanwhile, I have been counting my lasts in Moscow. My last day of classes...my last excursion... my last weekend... and in a couple of hours my last dinner with the group.