6/21/09, 4:18 p.m.

today is my last full day with my family
this time tomorrow i'll be on the train to moscow
my host family is truly awesome in every way
i'll miss them when i'm back in the states
especially their food

friday the group went on a party boat cruise thing
it only lasted an hour [which was a drag]
but it was still really fun
pretty much everyone had vodka, too
[the kind i got was rather disgusting, unfortunately
for the record, премерная водка 'исток' isn't premier
it takes like five o'clock, or worse]
we got to see volgograd at night from the river, too
[which, by the way, is an incredible sight
seeing мамаев курган in front of a sunset is gorgeous]
after we got back to shore we hung out in the park for a while
and then we disbanded and went home

yesterday was the баня trip that i didn't go to
though i heard it was quite an experience
almost all of us met up at аллея героев around 7 last night
[we met up with my sister, jeff's mom, and a couple of their friends]
and we went to the белая лощадь one last time
the band was really good [they were called хулиганов нет]
everyone there had a really good time
it was nice to have a relaxed night with everybody
[as an aside, i've made an interesting discovery,
though it's probly not a shocker to anyone:
my russian is a lot better when i've been drinking
seriously, i was able to carry on conversations much more fluently
i didn't have to stop and go 'uh...' at all
i'll have to bear it in mind for the future]

coming on this trip has really done a lot for me
it reaffirmed my choice to learn russian [and hopefully get better]
this country is amazing, and the people are...well, unique
it's great to see the world from a different point of view
and it's nice to see more of the world than the u.s.
hopefully i'll make it make it back here in the next couple years
hopefully then i'll speak better, too [which i imagine will happen]

since i leave around one tomorrow afternoon to begin the long trek home,
this will be the last entry here in the российская федерация
i'll be out of contact until i get back to the states,
so, i'll end this by posting my route back to the states:
-train leaves volgograd tomorow at 17:00
-we arrive in moscow somewhere around 8 tuesday morning
-we fly to amsterdam in the afternoon, get there about 17:30
-15 hour layover in amsterdam tuesday night
-flight leaves amsterdam at 8:30, arrives in detroit at 11:30 wednesday morning

thus concludes my jaunt here in russia
hope this has been at least mildly interesting
if not, oh well

за россию!