Some photos from January of this year, when I was on break from classes. Notable things that I did usually involved going to museums.










During one of our days of museum travel, my friend and I found, in a crowded Burger King of all places, a pair of blockadnitsi--that is, someone who survived the Siege of Leningrad in 1941-44. St. Petersburg holds a place of honor for such folks, enough so that they have that specific name for them, and they are honored alongside veterans during the Victory Day parade in May. These were a pair of adorable old ladies who gladly let us sit next to them and gave us chocolates and wished us and all our friends happiness and success in life.

My friend's Russian friend had a job as a freelance roof cleaner during winter. Which sounds pretty bomb-ass cool for a college kid who likes to get harnessed up and hang out in high places.