Farewell D.C.

Leaving D.C. was one of the saddest experiences I have ever gone through. Leaving people that you have become so close with and will never see again on a daily basis is very unsettling. Leaving a city that you have fallen in love with and a life that is so different and exciting is disheartening. Leaving is a part of life.

What have I taken back to Massachusetts with me are the important things: friends, experience, connections, a taste of adult life, and tons of pictures of the George Washington Monument. I do not know how I have changed, but I know something is different about me. Seeing and feeling something that is much larger than yourself will inevitably do that to you.

When I first got home, I felt like I was back on Thanksgiving break, just waiting to go back to the airport and fly back to see my roommates and friends. That feeling did not go away for a few days, and still lingers around somewhere in my head. I miss my apartment, and my coordinators, and walking into the Wilson Center, and even the dysfunctional Metro. I also missed my home, and now realize that D.C. would not have been the experience it was if no end ever came.

Now that I am home, I get to talk to everyone on facebook, AIM, and Gmail, which is good enough for now. We are already picking out dates to go visit people and I think some of the girls are sending out Christmas cards. My Russian studies have kicked off and I get to sit around the house waiting for my internship to start in Boston.

This has been quite an experience. Take advantage of everything while you are here. If you are on the fence about coming, just do it. Every minute is worth your time. If you have even half the experience that I had, then you are still ahead of the game. Just trust me on all this.

I wish I could write sappier things to make all of you cry or really relate to what is going on, but you will not know until you are leaving. Then you can come back and maybe you will shed some tears while reading this, but until then, I am still here to answer any questions.

Good luck and enjoy!

Timmy V.

Winding Down

Surprisingly enough, I have a very busy last week ahead of me, but my second to last week here couldn’t have been better. My favorite experience the entire semester was going ice skating in the sculpture garden with some friends during a snow flurry. It was one of those perfect winter wonderland moments that everyone just keeps smiling about two hours after it happened. The only downfall was a ring of cuts around my left ankle but watching people fall more than I did made up for it.

Other than that, I spent most of my time writing papers and working on my portfolio, which ended up being a lot longer that I anticipated. Mine was about 60 pages, and took a while to piece together. Once again, stay on top of your work when you get here. It can get very stressful when you get back from Thanksgiving break and you have finals and portfolios and everything due all of a sudden. I still have to write a 15-25 page paper for my school that I have yet to start.
The other thing that I suggest for you to do is make your close friends get Gmail accounts. They are great for chatting and they are a great way to keep in touch. Plus, the program is awesome. I am pretty sure I have talked about this before, but it is worth bringing up again.

I am now getting ready to say goodbye to my new friends. It is going to be difficult, as I have been around all of them all day every day, and we are all really close. We are going to go out to a bunch of restaurants and really plan to enjoy our last week here. As corny as it sounds, we are like a little family. I am going to miss that a lot, but I am sure I will have something like that in Russia. Hopefully.

I really need to get back to my paper writing though. Keep the comments and questions coming!

Until Next Time…

Timmy V

A Week at Home

Surprisingly enough, the airports were not crowded at all. I took the train right into Ronald Reagan Airport and flew right to Logan without any problems, and since I didn’t have to wait very long for any trains, the ride from Grosvenor took no more than 35 minutes (Grosvenor is where I live). As I flew into Boston, I saw shipyards, old houses, rusted water towers, and pouring rain. It was nice to be home.

Over the week my parents had me get all my visa application stuff ready for Russia, and kept me busy with chores around the house and helping with Thanksgiving preparations. I was ready to get back to Washington and my “lazy” apartment routines after four errands. Once we all sat down for dinner and I met up with some friends later for drinks and dinner for a birthday celebration, I began to relax and moved back into the very familiar settings that I had left behind for a few months. I don’t know how close you are with your friends at home, but when I see mine it doesn’t feel like much time has passed, and yet we quickly accept the changes we have all undergone while being separated.

The mall was packed full of people, and it took 10 minutes to find a parking space, but we ended up getting some good deals on some warm clothes for Russia. My favorite present this year is one of those hats with the furry sides that cover your ears. I wore it all around until my mom finally took it away and wrapped it. For some reason she still puts “To: Tim From: Santa” on all the presents, though it isn’t even December. Some traditions are hard to break.

Tragically, terrorists attacked several hotels in India and killed close to 200 people and injured hundreds more. My parents had actually traveled to India and stayed in many of those hotels. They quickly cancelled their travel plans for January which took them right to Mumbai. India is one of my mother’s favorite countries to visit, but she said it just isn’t safe right now to travel there.

Other travel plans include them visiting me in Moscow and St. Petersburg over my Spring Break, which will be pretty exciting since my mom will finally be able to see the Ballet and all the massive palaces and museums.

My dog Lincoln really missed me and bothered me the entire week, and got really excited when a full grown deer (a doe?) was walking around our front yard and then went into our neighbor’s backyard to eat out of their garden. I took about 30 pictures, but most of them were blurry. Matt, my brother, threw an apple out for it, but it just ran away instead of eating it.

All in all, Thanksgiving was a success. I ate until I couldn’t move and realized how much I missed homemade food. Now I have two weeks to finish all of my papers and spend time with my friends. Hopefully it goes by slowly so I can enjoy it!

Until next time…

Timmy V.