Thursday the 28th

I stole this picture from Robyn, but I'm pretty sure she won't mind. I love it. Its from one of the last weekends in St Petersburg when we stayed out all night to watch the bridges go up. It was beautiful.

Things here are...going. Everyone's been upset and on edge since a Grinnell student went missing since Sunday. They had over 400 people searching yesterday. They've gone over the entire campus three times and are now doing helicopter and foot searches of the surrounding areas. He was despondent before he went missing so you can't help but assume the worst.

With Daren's help, I finally bought my fall break tickets. The itinerary is something like this: Des Moines => San Francisco => Portland => San Francisco => Nevada => San Francisco => Des Moines. I think my family is incapable of planning uncomplicated vacations. It should be so much fun though.

We're going to see Little Miss Sunshine tonight.

So I'm hesistant to say much in case it jinxes something, but...the Russian Dept is supposed to be buying me a ticket to Moscow in the next three or four days. More on that later : p

I hate my psychology class even more than I thought I would, which is saying a lot. I think of the field as...nothing, sprinkled with acronyms, speculations, and touchy-feely bullshit. I'm surprised by how many intelligent, reasonable people I know who are psych majors. Anyways, the professor I have is definitely not helping. If she brings in candy one more day or reminds us that psychology starts with "p" instead of "s" one more time, I'm going to lose my mind.

Sept 24

Well another weekend has come and gone. It wasn't a good one. The question is, will Monday morning seem good by comparison, or is a good Monday morning impossible?

I hear the FogFest was really fun. I wish I could have been home to go to it!

I've been working on Debussy's First Arabesque and its so gorgeous I'm pretty inspired to practice. I've always had the belief that piano music doesn't transfer well over to harp, but my harp professor is of a completely different opinion...so its been interesting.

Friday afternoon is the time I put my life into order.

And waste time online.

Look what I found! Its pretty much the cutest thing...ever.

москва

Sept 17

I got another job! And more importantly, I think it will be a really good and fulfilling one. Its tutoring a 4th grade girl in reading and math--I met her and she seems to be really bright and open to people. Its just a couple hours a week, but the pay is terrific.

In other news, the highs of this weekend were way to high and the lows way to low. For my peace of mind, things really need to even out.

Now back to listening to Calexico and doing homework.

Internet!

We finally got internet and cable tv last night, not at the most opportune time since I was in the process of writing a paper and studying for a test (both today) but still incredibly nice to finally have!

I've been back at Grinnell for almost a month, and if this amount of time is anything of an indication, senior year is going to be the happiest and most relaxed yet. Things are just...really good, in a settled way.

I keep trying to find another job, since Dr Webb is phasing her college employees out in favor of a full time employee. Apply, apply, apply, but so far nothing to show for it. At least its giving me practice in job market rejection...? : )

I got my ears pierced and they look really nice.

Happy Friday everyone!

Vladimir

I went with the ACTR program to Vladimir en route to Moscow one of my last weeks in Russia. We went by night train, which I hear can be quite nice, but in my experience was rough since the train was really run down and my bunk was the one right by the bathroom door. Anyways, we arrived in Vladimir half dead but extremely impressed by the hundreds (thousands?) of beautiful churches and cathedrals in and around the city. Vladimir is one of the oldest cities in Russia and was a medieval capital. It was a thriving religious center until the 1200's, when it was attacked by Mongol hordes and went into decline. Today its a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of many beautiful cities on the Golden Ring around Moscow. Our time there was really good, though I saw so many churches that I had absolutely no desire to see more for my remaining 2 weeks in Russia! : ) Our hotel was decent, had a nice view of a nuclear power plant (oh, the smog), and had bbc world news on tv, which was both so good and so depresssing (on the situation in the Middle East) that I cried after watching it the first night. In any event, here are the pictures.


Assumption Cathedral

Multicolor churches in Suzdal', a small town not far from Vladimir with over 30 13th century churches.

Detail of a painting that covered the walls and high ceiling of a Suzdal' church.

Nevski

Some last pictures of Nevski Prospekt. I spent so much time there I actually became kind of fond of the noise and craziness.

St Petersburg with the Ganns!

There are so many great photos from this week, but I suppose I can't put them all up, so here are my favorites. It was good to have such a fun and relaxing last week in St Petersburg after an overall stressful and somewhat unpleasant time. The great company helped me end my time there on a positive note!

We rented a flat off of Nevksi just behind the statue of Catherine II which was really quiet, clean, and comfortable, things I'd come to believe did not exist in Russia. We went sight-seeing in the day, had some very good meals, drank vodka and Soviet Chamagne, and Jack and I went out a few nights to meet up with friends from my program. We also had some adventures with grocery shopping (yes, adventures with grocery shopping), red-light districts, and the Russian mob : )


My mom, Jane, Crystal, Robyn, me, Jack, and my Dad by Victory Park after an exhausting but really fascinating walking tour of World War II and the Seige history. The fountains were all installed for this summer's G8.


My mom and Jane having an exquisite ( and exquisitely expensive!) lunch at the Hotel Astoria.


From one beautiful and relaxing experience to another. We took a night boat trip along all of the tiny canals and rivers of the city and enjoyed a bottle of Sovietskoye Champanskoye. This is Spac Na Krovi, or Church on Spilled Blood, from Kanal Griboedova.


Jane, me, Jack, all a little blinded by the flash.


Cutest picture ever!

Back at Grinnell

Sorry to be so terrible about posting, but, as has been the case all summer, I'm without regular internet and justing using it where and when I can. We're supposed to get it in our house on the 12th, which will be nice, though I've gotten so used to not having it that my internet and plans addictions seem to be permanently broken.

In any event, Grinnell is fantastic. The house was rundown and filthy when we moved in but is looking better every day. Living with Jaime, LA, and Tyler has been great, classes are really interesting, have been meeting lots of people. No complaints.

I finally got a phone so I feel at least somewhat connected to the rest of the world!

I have tons of pictures of Russia and our new house that I'll probably start putting up this weekend.