SNOW!

The Neva!
Representing how man battled nature...
The Hermitage
Church of the Spilled Blood, through the bus
Catherine and Peter
In the Hermitage
Белый медведь!
It's snowing!! It looks just like Christmas (should be)!! I AM SO EXCITED!
That said, I will probably fall down and this time BREAK my ankle... it's sooo slippery. Luckily around where I live it isn't so bad, I only almost fell once. And it's freezing. Luckily I just got a package from mom with Marina's thank you gift, and a pair of really warm gifts. I gave Marina her gift that my mom made, a purse and coin bag, and she loved it. We had a little love fest where she told me that I was so nice and really easy to host and so on. I realized then that the one thing I'll actually miss about Russia is her. Despite nagging me about not wearing enough long sleeved shirts, forcing an abundance of food on me, warning me not to let the wind blow on my neck, and "healing" my sprained foot by wrapping it in ace bandage so tight that my foot turns purple, she is just so honestly concerned with my well being that I can't help but love her. She does her best to give me all types of Russian food, encourages me to try new things, and actually calls me pretty a lot. When we went to the dacha, she was like "Emma, did you see all the men on the metro ogling you?" No, I didn't. "How could you not?! You're so beautiful, you better be careful. They love your hair." She pretty much IS my mom. She bought me lotion for my hands, because I told her I have skin problems. She's the nicest person in the world and I'll really miss her when I leave.
I won't miss the bus, though. I missed my first class yesterday because the bus I take EVERY MORNING decided to take a random turn 2 miles away from school. I got off, went to the nearest bus stop and awaited my bus. Turns out it was the WRONG bus stop, and so I had to jog to another one. I then waited 20 minutes in the snow for a bus. By the time I got to school, it was 9:30. I didn't feel like ambling in class that late, so I just read in a classroom until it was time to go to literature. The bus is horrible.
I'm starting to become afraid of my tolerance (and sanity), which has dipped to an all time low since being in Russia. I'm a pretty passive person usually, and generally don't mind letting others do whatever they want to. I'm pretty much a doormat, honestly, but it doesn't really bother me, that's how passive I am. However, if you do this in Russia, you would literally get nothing done. They cut in line like it's their job, and if you don't get cut back you're going to spend 20 minutes a day waiting around. They're bossy and vocal, and heart breakingly honest. So to say the least, I've had to change a lot of things about my personality here. Like defending myself to people. Like cutting in line. Like pushing people. Like knocking down babushki to get where I need to go. Anyways, people piss me off all the time now, and I really feel like screaming all the time. Maybe it's just city living...