How to sum up these last two weeks…Between last-minute souvenir shopping, upcoming exams, and general exhaustion, the last two weeks seemed much less eventful than the first month or so. There were no more mandatory excursions and not that many optional ones, so my group of friends and I went on small, cozy “excursions” to parks, loft project (a contemporary art space with cheap, delicious fries), etc.
The week after Moscow, I had the privilege of seeing two of my friend’s apartments (with host mom consent…or the equivalent of consent), which was a bizarre experience. Here, we cannot have friends over, unless our host mom fully approves, and so we never see each other’s homes. In that same week, we saw Swan Lake at the Mikhailovsky Theater–not nearly as popular as the Marinsky theater, but in my opinion, it seemed just as nice, if not nicer. Swan Lake was absolutely incredible. It was my first ballet, and it will not be my last, that’s for sure. Since we were at the top balcony we had a full view of the stage, so we could see every dancer, every spiral, every movement. Oh it was simply magical, never before have I been so moved by the power and beauty of the human body. Also, my friend Nina mentioned (she used to do ballet) that the sound of ballet shoes on the floor is one of her favorite sounds because it makes the dancers–these beyond gorgeous and talented people–human again. I now know that I too love that sound. I can’t wait to see another ballet. Also, the director of the ballet changed the original tragic ending–the swan princess commits suicide–to a happy ending–the prince breaks the spell, and he and the swan princess end up happily ever after. An interesting choice…and possibly my one disappoint with the ballet.
Some other highlights from my last two weeks: seeing the Nabokov Museum, going to the Hermitage for a third time, a KGB exhibit, a Crime and Punishment walking tour, another all-nighter with my friends, a trip to Kestovski Ostrov (another island of Petersburg that most of us have never been to, though it’s very beautiful), and finishing classes. Since Nabokov is one of my favorite authors of all time, I was thrilled to see where he grew up. I especially enjoyed seeing first editions of all his books; I just have a thing for first editions, I guess. The KGB exhibit was also pretty fascinating, we saw recently released private documents from ex-KGB members. Although, my Russian was not up to the challenge of reading everything that was there. And then Dostoevsky…the man who started it all, the author who threw me into this mad obsession with Russia, Russian literature, and the Russian language. Naturally, the tour was pretty cool…seeing the actual locations where Raskolnikov walked, where the infamous murder occurred, etc. It felt very appropriate that this tour was so close to end of my stay here.
Let’s see, other than these little side-trips, we “graduated.” We had a little ceremony after finals, sang some Russian songs we’d been learning (it was pretty awful), ate some hot dogs. Surprisingly, many of our teachers seemed sad to see us go, even though it had only been two months. But I guess, a lot does happen in two months…And then on my final day in Russian (today), some friends and I had a “picnic” on Petrogradskaya Ostrov. It was a nice, quiet day, but a strange one…Not only was it our last full day in Petersburg, but it was the last day many of us would see each other. In a way, it’s hard to decide what I’ll miss more, the city or my friends. All I know is, I’ll miss both greatly.
melindanoack 