These late-May photos are mostly random outdoor shots of Barnaul and Barnaulians(?), many taken during "walks" with my friends as spring finally - FINALLY - started kicking in. (The photos of the mountains which I posted earlier were actually taken in late May as well, so that's a bit out of order.)
The third through ninth photos are a few photos I took simply walking home alone from school back to the Bergers' house, which I did every school day. The October Region (Oktyabrskiy Raion) sign is actually on top of my host sister's school, the Russian-American school specializing in English (even though there's no real connection to the States anymore.) And the park seen at the end of the alley in the sixth photo is owned by Mr. Berger, my last host dad. Our house is right across the street from it, but a ways from that entrance because the park is really long.
The tenth through fourteenth photos are from the 15th, the day after my 17th birthday, when some of my best friends, their friends, and I went for a really freaking long walk all the way out of the city to the beach. (The beach is actually just this mosquito-ridden stretch of littered sand set on a large stagnant pool, but the locals don't really seem to notice how disgusting this is.) I sure as heck didn't touch the water, but it was a fun day anyway. (BTW: The Ob' is a river beginning in Gorny-Altai with the Katun and the Bia rivers meeting, and runs all the way up to the Arctic Sea - and if I'm not mistaken, it's the 3rd-longest river in the world. You learn something new every day, eh?)
