Start music: Dream On (Live), Aerosmith
The bags are packed, the boarding pass is printed, and my mom's freaking out: time to go to Russia again. It's bizarre to think that at this time one year ago, I'd never been on a plane by myself or left the country. How things do change! And yet they stay the same: my single bag is overweight (I've resigned myself to being incapable of long-term international travel within weight restrictions), I'm still worrying that there's something forgotten, the dog is still terribly confused...
First stop this time is Washington, DC, which is exciting since I've never been there before. We're not really getting time to sightsee, which is sad. Instead, we're spending all day in the ballroom, listening to presentations. I'll strive to be attentive, but don't expect much of a report ;-)
After a few days in DC, we'll fly to St Petersburg, which is awesome - I love the city and the weather should be much nicer this time around (I was last there in October). Rumor is we'll have free time there, so yay for poking around some more in the not-freeze-your-face-off weather. Ooh, and yay for blinni at Teremok - chocolate and banana, mmm.
From Petersburg my group hops first to Moscow and then to Volgograd (aka Stalingrad, my favorite Russian city). We then bus from Volgograd to Astrakhan, as the Astrakhan airport is currently undergoing repairs. We're planning to fly out of Astrakhan at the end of July, though. Having seen the massive sidewalk reconstruction undertaken in Voronezh last fall, it seems at least possible that the airport will be ready to go when we are, but we'll have to wait and see.
Classes start Monday, June 9. You know, I swore I'd never take summer school if I could help it, and now what am I doing voluntarily? Silly Sara.
I hope you'll come along for the ride with me - I'll post pictures and all that. Please take care of my parents - they're still adjusting to shipping me halfway around the world every few months. Have a wonderful day!
End music: Nobilissima Visione: II. Marsch und Pastorale, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (why yes, iTunes does think I'm crazy...)
Saturday, May 31, 2008
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