Adam Harris stands in Red Square in Moscow. Harris, a 2014 Seneca Valley High School graduate, studied abroad in Russia during the fall 2017 semester.

A local man recently got an up-close and personal look at Russia.

Adam Harris, a 2014 Seneca Valley High School graduate, studied in Russia last semester to learn the language, culture and history of a country that has had a complicated relationship with the United States.

Harris, a history major who is graduating this spring from California University of Pennsylvania, landed in the country in early September and stayed until November.

Harris took Russian language courses and two Russian history classes at a St. Petersburg university and stayed in a dorm for international students north of the city center. Of the 700 people in the building only 20 were American, he said.

Harris said he has a keen interest in Cold War history and has visited other communist and former communist countries, including Cuba.

“I'm really interested in how communism has affected society … usually in a negative way,” he said. “So I've seen that firsthand.”

One of his favorite experiences was visiting Red Square in Moscow and seeing the Kremlin, St. Basil's Cathedral, Lenin's Mausoleum, the GUM department store and the State Historical Museum.

“Even if you didn't know the history of it, you'd still be amazed. The buildings are beautiful,” he said. “The amount of history that is compacted into this one square in the city, it's really overwhelming at first.”

Harris' trip was cut short due to a medical issue. He contracted a viral infection, which gave him a unique, although unexpected, experience with the Russian medical system.

Kelly Harris, Adam's mother, worried about him on his trips abroad, but she was thankful for his experience in the country. “It's very exciting, him being a history major,” she said. 'It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance for him.”

A full story about Harris' time in Russia appears in the Butler Eagle.