St. Petersburg, Russia [2]

"Thanks for the help, I was very surprised why she attacked me," I said politely.

"Your welcome." replied the young man who continued to go on his way.

It was 2100, I walked briskly down the street along the canal, heading back to my apartment, I just wanted to go home, take a warm shower and fall asleep.

I tried to erase the images of Deniz in my mind, the sadness in his eyes when he let me go, always haunting making me feel guilty, I cried myself to sleep remembering it, it's very difficult to forgive myself for hurting him. Besides that, I tried hard to fight the storm of feeling homesick towards Deniz, I admit Deniz was too beautiful to be forgotten.

Over and over I convinced myself that this was the best way, I had to find myself completely, improve my perspective of seeing the world, forgive myself, make peace with my past, heal all of my psychological traumas, accept myself completely, and reach the best version of myself.

A fun day at the end of winter, as bright as the color of the brush strokes I painted on the Matryoska wood. Today I took a course on making Matryoska, a Russian nesting doll that can be filled with smaller wooden dolls inside it. We were given material in the form of basic explanations, history and practice of making a typical Russian doll by the instructor. This Russian handicraft has been very popular since the end of the 19th century, the course lasted for 2.5 hours at the Matryoska Museum attended by ten people in the class I was in.

Most of the course participants were travelers from other countries like me who were also enthusiastic about artsy crafts.

The history behind naming the Matryoska doll is a little funny but full of value. The name Matryoska comes from the name of a woman named 'Matryona' which is the name of a fat woman who has given birth to many children, which is why the shape of Matryoska is a wide full figure. The models of Matryoshka dolls can range from Russian peasant girls, beautiful long haired girls, fairy tale characters, Soviet leaders, evil characters, superheroes, and our selves.

Likewise, with sketching facial shapes, hairstyles, coloring, and repeating the motifs on the smaller dolls, we could freely express in detail. In my opinion, Matryoshka is an authentic Russian work, because it was not born from elements of cultural adoption or was inspired by European artists, the vibrant color of Matryoshka. To me, it is a strong characteristic of this Iron Curtain country.

The matryoska is a symbol of the Russian babushka, a strong female matriarch, and the main character in the Russian family, the shape of the Matryoshka doll which tends to be round and elongated like an egg is a popular symbol of fertility and reproduction since ancient times. Like eggs, from the life of the Matryoshka doll piled up in a symbolic form. The doll with the largest egg gave birth to a smaller doll, just like the babushka who gave life to the younger generation of her family, is symbolized by a family filled with an array of smaller dolls.

I smiled as I painted remembering the incident on my first night in St. Petersburg, how angry the woman was when I sat on the cold rock, which is believed to prevent me from reproducing later. The importance of family and future generations is to the people here.

"I love the color of your doll. You mix and match the colors into a perfect unity." said Mia, the woman sitting next to me in Matryoska's class.

"Thank you, your work is great too." I said, smiling and glancing at Mia's painting Matryoska.

"Guys, I need more black, can I use your black paint," said a man from the other side of the class that I didn't know. They mingled like they had known each other for a long time.

"Of course." I said, handing him the black paint without noticing his face. I continued to focus on my puppet doll. It was a special satisfaction to see how beautiful they were, polished beautifully by the brush strokes of my hand.

"Thank you. I'm Joseph, by the way," said Joseph passing quickly.

The class is run casually and is very fun, filled with laughter and jokes from the class participants who are all foreign tourists. We presented each of our Matryoska works at the end of the class. Our teacher is a friendly and patient person, her name is Ivanka, she helped us from making sketches, selecting patterns, coloring, detailing to finishing our works.

Each of them displayed extraordinary designs, according to his imagination, we chuckled at Joseph's work of black Matryoska with red horns and carrying a trident.

The class ended with a photo session with the work we made.

"Hi, are you interested in joining our group" said Mia, a classmate in Matryoska's class her eyes sparkling as she jogged to catch up to me as I started to walk along the corridor. "What group? I don't understand." I paused for a moment and looked back at the beautiful blonde-haired woman.

"I, Yura, Joseph, Liana and Olga are part of the same traveler group, we are planning to visit Murmansk."

"Will you join? This will be very exciting, the more the merrier." Mia explained. "Of course I'll be happy I'll come along." Turning around, there was already Liana, Joseph and Yura standing behind me.

"What do you plan to do next?" Said Liana, a woman with brown hair, slightly chubby. "Not sure, I might go home or explore the city," I replied casually.

"Come with us. We'll hang out at Na Vina, as well as discuss our trip next week." Yura said, smiling enthusiastically. "Okay," I said, nodding in agreement, I walked following their steps. They seem very familiar with each other, I looked at them a little enviously, it turns out that having fellow tourists to travel with is nice.

We then walked together to a cafe which was located not far from our class, Na Vina Wine Bars it's very cozy, always crowded with visitors. The atmosphere felt relaxed even though it is quite crowded, and the music was quite good, perfect for gathering with friends. The location is on the corner of a major street, directly opposite the Kazan Cathedral, in the main street traffic center.

People can choose to hang out on the inside or on the terrace. Russian people really like to hang out at bars or clubs, more or less like the Indonesian culture that I grew up in, they tend to be in groups and don't like to be alone.

This cafe is quite popular with a large variety of wines, various types of wines from all over the world are here, good quality and reasonable prices. They also had a selection of modern wines and new brands.

"How long have you been here?" I asked opening the conversation.

"I've been here for two months, I'm from Munich, Germany. Said Mia, a blonde girl with long hair with a slender posture who offered me to join, she seemed to stand out and was so active from the others.

"I've been here a month, third year student in Busan, South Korea." Sapa Yura did not want to be outdone, Yura was small, sweet with slanted eyes, cheerful smile. he is the youngest of us.

The man who sat beside Liana also introduced himself. "Me and Liana from Spain, we are engaged, doing the traveling thing before we get married and start a family," said Joseph.

A woman beside me also opened her voice, "I'm Olga, I'm from Kiev, Ukraine." said a woman with colorful hair a little tomboy style.

"What brought you here, Jade? Indonesia is very far from here." asked Mia then.

"I'm a traveler, only five days I was here, before I visited Turkey and stayed for a month there. I'm interested in museums, art and history. That's why I'm here," I replied firmly.

"I've been to Bali when I graduated from High School eight years ago. I love the warmth there. The beach and the unique culture." I hope to come back again, "Mia said dreamily.

"Yes, I've read how exotic Bali is" said Liana, glancing at Joseph as if giving a code to visit there in the future.

"Yes, Bali is beautiful, you can enjoy beaches, mountains to your heart's content, the people are friendly, and the cost of living is cheap." I smile again.

"It sounds interesting to visit, I've heard about it many times before." Olga added.

"What are you doing this weekend, why don't we go to a club together, before the trip to Murmansk?" Interrupted Joseph.

"Great idea." Olga replied enthusiastically.

"Agreed," as Joseph confirmed.

I looked at Yura, trying to find out if she would participate or not. Yura and Mia nodded as if they didn't mind. I said yes, for the sake of compactness. We exchanged whatsapp contacts, they added me to the whatsapp group and agreed to meet often and share information.

I came home with Mia in a taxi, Mia stayed in the apartment near where I was staying. Mia tells about her background as a writer, I listened while occasionally glancing at her. Admiring the beautiful girl with long blonde hair from Germany, from the way she tells stories and cries about things, it really seems that Mia is a strong, genius, disciplined woman who is also mature. Her life was harder than mine, but she was able to get through it.

"Great," I muttered.

I give thanks for this day, God sends me new friends who can give color to the next journey.

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