And a new day it turns out to be. My Russian class began at 9:30 this morning, I needed to be up my 7:30, have breakfast, and get out the door by 8:30.
Class was good. It was in a different university building about 3 blocks from the Neva, located in an old red building that smelled of kitty litter. It was cute. This was my first class with the other teacher. Lidia doesn’t speak English, so that makes her explanations a little difficult to understand, but she really is such a sweetheart. She could definitely be a little more demanding of us, but her lessons give us a nice break in the week from always being on our toes with Elena.
Though I felt I learned a little in class, I did only have one goal for the day: to find a beautiful place.
I brought my camera (you can see the pictures on facebook!) and photographed everything. I walked for three hours, going up and down different blocks to the Neva, along the river, across to Nevskiy Prospekt, down to the Hermitage where I sat by a big fountain, surround by proud and very drunk St. Petersburgians (..?) who were celebrating the birth of their beautiful city (founded in 1703, making it 306 years old!) I absorbed their energy, packed up and kept walking. St. Petersburg has arguably the best weather anywhere right now. It’s about 32 degrees C, clear blue skies, and a wonderful and constant breeze.
When in doubt, go for a walk. After finally settling down at café mcdonalds, I was sweaty and smiling and really happy. Then, to top it off, I got to talk to my mom and dad simultaneously. I work out a lot of things going on in my life by talking about them and accepting or changing them. I can’t operate functionally by bottling up how I feel, even if they are great feelings, and then expect a good outcome. I gotta taaaalk about it, ya know? I love talking to my parents. They both offer such unique perspectives on every situation, I feel so lucky to have such a great relationship with both. I’d chalk that up to their parenting skillz-they really allowed me to grow in whatever way the wind was taking me, and never tried to force me to feel a certain about their ideas. They encouraged me to be exactly who I am. AHH I just love them so much!!
My mom and I talked about the straight faces the observed Russian citizens are consistently sporting. It’s not healthy to bottle up how we’re feeling was the conclusion. The other day when I just wanted to skip around and sing then chose to repress those wants…not great. I left my Russian Internet palace with a fresh perspective. I’M NOT GOING TO TRY TO FIT IN ANYMORE. I’m weird and like to express how I feel by making faces. I’m no longer concerned with the consequences of smiling.
Thus, I smiled the whole way home J
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