well, i'm in st. petersburg and i remember how much i love this city! it's so great and unique! it's not like the rest of russia, but it's such a fun place. i'm in mcdonald's right now using free wi-fi! astrakhan' didn't even have wi-fi! haha! before we left a-town our professors threw us a going away slash graduation ceremony and then our last weekend they set us up in a baza-otdykha where we relaxed and swam. i only stayed one day because i want the time to be with my host family and do last minute shopping and packing. our trip up here was fine, and yesterday i went to the hermitage. after that, my friend gary and i met up with our friend masha and went to a cafe downtown for pizza and wine and then hung out the rest of the evening. we went back and i got to bed at like midnight.

thus ends the good stuff. today i found out that lufthansa is on strike and our flights from germany to america were canceled. just canceled! so i don't know when i'll be back...it shouldn't be more than a few days but who knows! i'm so frustrated and just want to get home. i haven't heard anything else so we'll see.