The half-life of my latest spell in Europe has elapsed, with 12 weeks behind me and 12 to go until I return to the U.S. just in time for the Fourth of July, unless I find another job here before my current contract ends. Brussels continues to slowly reveal its treasures, this is a great city in many ways. In others not so much, the other day some nutcase punched an employee of the public transit system to death and we're in the fourth day with no public transit, with continuous downpour. My 29th birthday is in a few days and I'll need to figure out the next step in my life. I haven't lived as long as two years anywhere in the last seven years, moving from my college home of Maine to Germany to Maryland to New York to Maryland (though I worked in DC during this stint) to Italy to DC to Belgium to Maryland and DC again (for all of six weeks) to Belgium again. It's definitely been interesting, though. I've been neglecting the blog during an intense period of work, but I should be posting more frequently now.I did finally make it to Switzerland, and it was beautiful. And right now, my passport and tourist visa application are at the Russian embassy. I'm planning to visit St. Petersburg after a weekend in Tallinn. After immersing myself in Russian politics, history and culture for the last four years, including spending a year and a half studying the language, I'm excited. It's an interesting time in Russia, too.
Ahead of the presidential elections, the BBC showed a great documentary, "Putin, Russia and the West." The four-part series is available on YouTube and is well worth a look:
On a related note, painter Aleksei Sergienko has an exhibit of portraits of once and future President Putin, entitled "The Kindest Man," on display in St. Petersburg. I wouldn't mind going to that although not sure how long art exhibits last.
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