This summer, I participated in the Duke in Russia study abroad. It was a six-week program based out of St. Petersburg, where I had the opportunity to take two Russian language courses at St. Petersburg State University. I went to class four days a week for around half the day, and then I spent my afternoons and weekends exploring St. Petersburg and learning more about Russian language and culture.
In addition to St. Petersburg, there were two trips over the weekend to Novgorod and Moscow. In Novgorod, I visited the Novgorod Kremlin and learned more about the history of the city (Novgorod translates to “New City”). In Moscow, I had the chance to visit the Red Square, St. Basil’s Cathedral, and the Kremlin.
One of my favorite outings was taking a riverboat tour of St. Petersburg. It was an hour of sailing through the city’s numerous, winding canals. We passed so many iconic sites, including the Peter and Paul Fortress, Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, Hermitage Museum, and the Kunstkamera. On the cruise, I remember starting to think about how familiar the city suddenly seemed in contrast to when I first arrived.
Caroline Maloney
Class of 2022, Biology, Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
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