Just a quick note to say I'm here in Petersburg. I got in last Thursday morning from Tallinn, where I was staying with my friend Lydia for a few days. It was great to hang out there and just sleep, eat, relax. I don't think I realized how tired I was till I got there. It was a lot of fun and a much needed break before coming to Petersburg, which is certainly home for me, but is still incredibly exhausting. The sleepy little cities of the Baltic states are far more managable.

Being back in Russia has felt more normal than I expected. It felt like I never left and that I'm just picking up my old life again here. I'm staying with Alla, my host mom from last year, up at Pionerskaya still. Olya and Jon were here for the weekend, which was great. We all watched the Russia vs. Netherlands soccer match and then wandered around the city, which had gone wild, after they won the game. It was also Aliyie Parusa, the Red Sails Festival, on Friday. But rather than brave the center again, my friend Chris (who graduated with me this year from Brown and did the ACTR program with me in Petersburg last year) and I just went to Primorskaya and sat along the gulf of Finland drinking soviet champagne and watching the white nights. I always forget how surreal this city is this time of year. I went to a Sex Pistols concert with Olya and Jon the other night, which was kind of hilarious. Mostly just to see the Russian punks. Oh man... There are pictures and video when I have the time to upload them.

I've been hanging out with some of the Brown kids as well this year. My friend James is on the program, and Michal, one of my professors, is coordinating it. And I just saw Nadya, my former tutor from ACTR. She said she will probably still be in Petersburg for the year, so it will be great to get to hang out with her still. So it's been nice to have some familiar faces. Svetlana was here for a bit, and I saw her on the boat trip through the canals last week. It seems like years and years ago since I was first here... but I guess it has been a few years already... haha.

For the rest of my time here I'll probably keep doing the same. Go to the opera and ballet, random concerts, museums, hang out with friends, and of course look for apartments. I'm checking out one place tonight. Hopefully it'll be good... I'd like to have a place to call home before I arrive here for the year in the Fall.