These past few posts have made me seem like a depressed, hopeless guy... and I kinda felt bad about leaving Russia and all the people I knew with this image of me. (I guess I didn't feel bad enough seeing that I pushed this post aside for so long... but America has a way of fostering procrastination... not good for my upcoming senior year filled with college apps) But like I said to a few specific people, I feel a whole lot better now that I'm actually here... In Russia, I had just too much time to bask in my sadness... I had so much time alone when I could just think about the times a
head, the memories behind, and the alone state I was in. But yes, I think that the melancholic time I had before leaving Russia actually did really help in the leaving process. It helped me a lot in saying bye to my favorite places as I re-remembered all of them one last time. In fact, by the day we had to leave Russia, I actually was feeling much better. (maybe I was just numb to the pain, but it still felt a lot better than all the sadness that I had been feeling then)
So this is a status report as well as some last thoughts I had during my last week in Russia... Yes, the melancholy, sad, hopeless Isaac has passed, and the cheerful, talkative, frank (sometimes even blunt) Isaac is back~ :) yay~
Now for some serious stuff~ haha
I'm really gonna miss Russia... I said I was done with sadness, not the goodbyes yet. Haha~ yeah well... As we drove to the airport one last time in our car, there was a bunch of traffic, so my dad drove all around the place, going into back alleys and driving all over the place. During this little detour, we passed St. Isaac's Cathedral, the place we performed "Much Ado About Nothing," the Marinsky Theater, a bunch of random statues just placed around the city for fun... haha~ and then I realized something... "Hey~ these people have these statues in their memory because they
were famous~!" Wow shocker huh?~ No but seriously, I've passed the Hermitage, Peter and Paul's Fortress, the Trinity Bridge, the Birzhe, St. Isaac's Cathedral, and all the other famous things in our city thousands of times and the most I've ever thought is, "hehe that building looks funny today..." or "hey it's my church~! (for St. Isaac's~ it's corny but that's the most I ever thought of it~ haha) or "we need a jumping picture by this place! not because it's famous, but because we haven't gotten one with this building~" I realized that we really don't appreciate our city as much as anyone else would.. Why? Because we consider it our home more than a famous tourist city. But seriously, not everyone gets to take pictures like this in front of famous statues every time they go hang out. I mean, we don't even give it a second look... But the person who took this picture for us was a German tourist who happened to be taking pictures next to me. I was more focused on one of my friends covering someone else, but he was just taking pictures of the statue in awe... Funny how two people taking pictures side by side can have such a different perspective on the same thing. But yeah, I wished I could have appreciated some of the things more in my home city while I had the chance. I mean another example is the Crime and Punishment tour we had in 9th grade. More than half of the students that went on the field trip were complaining that their legs were hurting and asking when and what we were going to have for lunch. Ms. Jamey, our supervising teacher was like, "Guys~ Seriously??? People pay thousands of dollars to come to this city to see the exact places described in this timeless book, and y'all are thinking about McDonalds?" hehe get what I mean? But anywho~ at least I enjoyed a lot of what I had~ ... somewhat...
And secondly~ I just re-realized how dear my friends were to me... I have so many posts in this blog about friends, but I can't emphasize the point enough. My less than 20 group of high schooler friends were so much like family, and I will miss you so dearly. Y'all are everyday in my thoughts (literally~) and I'm counting days till the next time we meet~ Just the way y'all came to the airport (who does that other than our school? but it's also gotten so routine that I've taken it for granted till now~) to see us off was so comforting to me. Like Coach said, I know the memories we had together will be cherished forever~ :)
Love y'all lots, and I have so many things I want to tell you~ Keep in touch~
Poka~
Proverbs 17:17
"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."
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