A Month of Adventures

Fact: I am terrible with blog post consistency.
Also fact: I'm not too terribly concerned. I'm having too great a time to capture in words and photographs.

Here's a quick recap of the last month.

I've given three Russian toasts.

My face when they told me I'd be making a toast (that would also be filmed).

I wished luck in life to all, because I didn't know what else to say.

We went on a weekend excursion to the cities of Vladimir and Suzdal' (Владимир и Суздаль).

I swear, Russia is so panorama friendly.

Forever representing THE Ohio State University everywhere I go.

Blue on white on blue.

Taking on Vladimir, one selfie at a time.

I took a 14 hour train to and from Nizhny Novgord to explore the magical city of Saint Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург). I didn't ever want to leave.

My travel mates, Adam and Katya, and I.

Walking where the great Russian writer Alexander Pushkin once walked

I love me some Russian writers. This is Ivan Turgenev.

Probably my favorite picture of the trip,
at The Church of Savior on Blood.

Me + Hermitage + Neva River = perfection.

I played beach volleyball and soccer with other people on my program and became a champ.

Soccer champs!

Our soccer/volleyball group! + my host family and a couple other Russians.

There has been SO much more (like another dacha, making a Christmas ornament, the planetarium, etc), too much to put in one blog post (probably why I should have been more consistent with it in the first place...). There are also a ton more photos where that came from - maybe I should make a photo blog also...

We're off to Kazan' (Казань) today on four-day river cruise. This is the trip I've been most excited about (except perhaps Petersburg). Kazan' is the capital of Tatarstan, which has a massive Muslim population. I'm excited for the mosques, for a different perspective of Islamic culture, and to see how the four major religious groups (Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist) peacefully coexist. So, until next time!