An ending, part 1

Tomorrow, I am leaving my host city of Blagoveshchensk. Forever. It still hasn't really hit me, that I will no longer walk along the streets or see the people who have become so familiar to me in the last 10 months. But maybe that is because of the fact that although I am soon departing my host city, I still have about three weeks left in Russia. Tomorrow I will be boarding a train for Vladivostok, where there will be a Rotary conference, and where I will be living for the last three weeks of my Russian life. Many adventures and old friends await me in Vladivostok, and while I am excited to go there, I also can't help thinking about the last few weeks I have spent here since I got back from China.

Summer has finally arrived in Blagoveshchensk, complete with daily temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius. I have been trying to take full advantage of this warm weather by getting outdoors as much as I can. Our classes at the university have already finished, so now I am free every day. The past couple of weekends, I have been spending a lot of time at different dachas or barbeques. Two weeks ago, I went to the dacha of one of the Rotarians, where we ate delicious shashlik, walked along the Zeya river, played ping-pong, relaxed in a Russian banya, and discussed deep philosophical issues. The next day, I went horseback riding with a different group. We rode all day, fording rivers, along the beach, through green grassy fields that moved with the blowing wind, and along small ridges and hills. By the end of the day, my whole body was shaken and sore, I was sunburnt, and I had had such a great time.

I have also had some time to see a few more concerts. A few days after having gotten back from China, I went to go see Bi-2 in concert. Bi-2 is a Russian rock band, and I thoroughly enjoyed their music and the concert. This past weekend, I also went to a smaller concert of a local rock band called Perekryostok, which means "intersection". It was held in a small bar, it was loud, and it was also a great concert. Last weekend I also went to another barbeque with Rotary out in a park, where they welcomed two new members into their club. I helped out with the grilling, and we had great food and a fun group of people.

On Thursday, two Americans arrived in Blagoveshchensk, and came to live with my host family here in our apartment. Clyde and Vivian are an older couple from Alaska, who are Rotarians and will be going to the Vladivostok conference with us. My host parents speak some English, but I have also been translating for the Americans. It has been funny though. Russian has become almost more automatic for me now than English, so sometimes when I am translating something for Clyde and Vivian, I will start talking at them in Russian and not realize it. And of course they have no idea what I'm saying.

On Thursday night, I did my farewell presentation for my Rotary club. We went to a Chinese restaurant, and I made a slide show with pictures from my entire exchange year. I talked in Russian for almost an entire hour. I told about my life here, I told jokes; I thanked them for everything they have done. They presented me with gifts, and I also gave them gifts. It was all very emotional, and I will be sad to leave them.

On Friday, I traveled to the Bureiskaya GES, which is a hydro-electric dam about four hours away from Blagoveshchenk. It was a long bus ride, but it was definitely worth seeing. We got to go inside the generator room, which is basically a big empty hall, except for six big generators protruding from the floor. The whole hall was filled with a low rumbling hum, and I reached down and placed my palm on the floor, and could feel the vibration of the entire station working, the water pouring down, and the generators spinning. It was one of those feelings that I will never forget.

That night, once I returned, I went to dinner with Alexander Udod and his wife. Alexander Udod was the Russian politician whom I taught about the American political system and political jargon before his month and a half long legislative exchange program in Washington DC. He recently returned and invited me to dinner to thank me and tell me about his experience. We went to an Armenian restaurant. I had never had Armenian food before, but it was really delicious.

But now I'm getting ready to leave, excited to go, but also sad at the same time. I just know that I'm going to make the most of what little time i have left.