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Well, here I am, sitting in my room at my desk in Chicago.  I always knew that my time abroad would go by fast, but it still surprises me just how fast it went.  My experience in Russia went so unbelievably well, I could not have asked for a better time, everything fell into place.

The next part is to scrapbook - after all, I have thousands of photographs (of course, I am not going to print all of them, just the ones I really like...but I imagine that is going to be a lot), I also have a couple of pounds worth of tickets, programs, receipts, and other doodads.  I have my work cut out for me this summer.  I want to keep up with my Russian this summer so I do not backtrack on the progress that I have made this past semester.  Since I have arrived back in America, most of my dreams have taken place in Russia with me speaking and communicating in Russian on several occasions - I do hope that it being on a subconscious level is a good sign.  I will work at it!

Also, this summer is also about me exploring my options following graduation, because, scary as it is, I will be graduating next spring and will be thrown out into the world.  I want to have a plan.  I want to go back overseas - to Russia, to Georgia, to the Caucasus, to Central Asia.  There is so much of the world that I want to see.  The best way to do that, and seemingly the best option for me at this point, is to teach abroad whether through the Peace Corps or some other avenue.  I am excited about the prospects.  Russia has opened a door for me and I have stepped through it.  I am not going back.  I have so much to which I have to look forward.

I am in front of Smolny Cathedral and Convent, where I studied
this past semester.

Posing with the statues in front Saint Isaac's Cathedral. (A side note, the colonnades
of Saint Isaac's served as inspiration for the Capital Building in Washington D.C.).

Russian sailors in front of the Bronze Horseman.  (Catherine the Great's
tribute to Peter the Great).

I am standing in front of Kazan Cathedral. 

I am standing on Church on the Spilled Blood. 

My host mother, Elena Borisovna, and I standing in my room.

Pulkovo II Airport.  Last Sunrise in Piter.