Sorry I skipped a day. I had a crisis to take care of with my housing situation in Baltimore. I think I took care of most of it. There were termites in the old house, and this was unknown to any of the buyers or renters. An inspection took the house off the market. I found an apartment building called the Stafford House, which might work out well.
Let me see if I can remember what we did yesterday. We ate. Food is pretty good here when it is made right. I can't partake in all of the tastiness due to self-imposed dietary restrictions against fat and sugar, but I eat well. Breakfast here is usually the same, yall saw a picture of it earlier. We have coffee or tea, bologna, and different cheeses with butter and different breads. I like my breakfast sandwiches with old style mustard, cheese, and doctorskaya kilbasa. My grandma always wants me to drink my tea or coffee with sweets, but I hate having sweets in the morning because it sets me up for failure for the rest of the day in terms of eating well. I asked for fruit, and I had to go buy it. My grandma said she is not used to eating fruit in the morning. Can't change that now :). We bought bananas, apples, strange disk shaped peaches, and oranges. my grandma complained that the oranges had no flavor, but I sure did love them.
After breakfast yesterday, I went with my cousin Ira and her son Alex to the forest. He had a cool stroller that can turn into a bike when he gets older. He really enjoys going for walks/rides in his stroller. The forest is just a few minutes walk from their apartment and it is beautiful. The air immediately changes as you enter it. The trees soak up all the pollution and cleanse the air. No more cars or machines, it's pretty quiet in there. There aren't any animals except for insects. People bring their pets and children mostly. There are lots of small hills and trails, lots of green shrubbery and weeds growing everywhere. It's pretty wild. People go into the "rosha" to have picnics and relax. The trail is rough so the stroller had to be able to withstand the bumps. One of Alex's favorite things was to be pushed fast in the stroller up and down hills. Once we reached a big clearing with some playground equipment, Alex was let out of the stroller. We played chase and he loved trying to escape into the forest. Normally he isn't allowed to run around, but since I was there, I kept an eye on him. He fell several times and looked at the dirt on his hands, he showed me and said "Foo." The walk was about an hour long, which was nice. I could've kept walking. We went back to their apartment and Alex was fed and changed. Then it was time for more playing. He enjoys soccer and cars. He is a natural destroyer and takes pleasure in toy car crashes and throwing things where he knows they will make a racket. Later that day we had dinner at my grandma's. We had lots of leftovers from the barbecue, and green borscht called "Shi" made with boiled egg whites and greens eaten hot and mixed with sour cream or yogurt.
Today was extremely fun and entertaining, but hot; around 30 degrees Celsius. I forgot my sunglasses and hat so I was squinting the whole time. We took a trip to the city of Borovsk, founded in the 1350's. The name Borovsk has the word boar in it. Wilderness around Russian cities and towns have very few wild animals, but they do have boars. Did you know if you let a pig into the forest it will go wild, grow hair and tusks, and be super aggressive? The city has many cottages built by wealthy Moscow businessmen who go to their dachas to relax. Summer houses are very popular here.
In the outskirts of the city is a placed called Etno-Mir, which translates to Ethnic World, built by people from Moscow. The area is surrounded by forest. The forest in the area was cleared to make room for all the things. Not too hilly, it has exhibits from cultures around the world, but mainly shows some of the ethnic culture of the early settlers in and around Russia.
The place has one main building with souvenir shops, a cafe, and then a big hall with different rooms created to represent many different nationalities and cultures. Some of them include Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Brazil, India, Central Asia, Southeastern Asia, China, Japan, Korea, North America, and several more. Much of the place is still under construction because the place is new, but still open to visitors. Inside the different rooms are master classes, including pottery from Iraq and origami from Japan, and bead making in India. The rooms were furnished with furniture from the culture as well as from more ancient times.
After leaving the main building, we came across many log cabins representing the different sorts of tribes that settled around Russia. The main differences between these sets of log houses were the placement of the fireplaces and style of the roofs. In the center of the whole area was a big building where they bake the pottery. The pottery is made by master potters and is taken very seriously. One of the houses was a music house. The person inside their invited us in and we sat down and listened to him play different sorts of wind and string instruments from the ancient times. The coolest part was that he makes the instruments themselves out of wood. He had a mic setup with effects and a very awesome Passport speaker. I recorded some of the songs and explanations on my phone.
In every area of the park there were scarecrows. I took pictures of several of them. Next we came upon lots of other log cabins and from Belarus and Ukraine. I found out that this Ethnic World park also serves as a hotel. And people come from all over Russia to live in the cabins of their ancestors. These cabins and fantastic because you stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. The air is fresh and it is an awesome escape from the busyness of city life. In this area they bake bread on a daily basis in classical slavic ovens. We had some piroshki with jam and powdered sugar on top (towards the end of the trip) and it was the best baked good I have ever had. We came across some Siberian huts and Indian teepees as well. The huts had very few bugs and flies because they used reindeer fur which is apparently a natural insect repellent.
Some of the other activities included shooting bows and arrows, throwing spears and axes, climbing into a watchtower/house, and looking at a bunch of awesome huskies in a shelter. They keep them for breeding and for show. On the trip back we took a shorter but more scenic route with less cops and more S turns. It was a very awesome day. In the car I couldn't stop smiling, and that hasn't happened in a long time. Once I got home I got back to searching for a house and was very tired.
Pictures: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150331251155041.389519.507325040
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Day 6
Today was a fairly quiet day in Kaluga. On Sunday, most people leave for their Dachas, so the streets were not so busy and there were not many people walking around. We went to the Dacha to, because my parents haven't been there since they built the gazebo. We also celebrated my aunt's mother's birthday and the second day of marriage for my cousin. We cooked salmon, beef, and chicken on the barbecue pit. I chopped the wood for the fire. I didn't notice this last time, but there were bushes full of fruit, black currant, red currant, raspberries, and wild strawberries. The strawberries were tiny, but out of all the fruit they were my favorite. It was amazing how good they tasted. Everything they sell in the stores is crap compared to fruit fresh off the branches. They also had cucumbers growing in a barrel. When we picked them, they were covered in sharp little hairs. I was told that it was a different sort of cucumber. We ate the dinner and talked. I had a few Miller beer's, brewed here in the city. A lot of the food was from the wedding yesterday, including the liquor. I wasn't hungover at all, which was surprising. We stayed there from 2:00 pm till 8:00 pm and then I went home to grandma's. My sister stayed with Ira and Ilya and played with Alex, their son. Later on they came back to grandma's with a cake and we talked about when my mom was a kid, and vacationing to America.
Pretty quiet today, till tomorrow!
Peace
Pretty quiet today, till tomorrow!
Peace
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Day 5
Wedding day was upon us today. It was quite eventful and very Russian/Armenian. I haven't been to many weddings, but the ones with my family in Russia and the bomb diggity yea. They really went all out this year. Since we still adhere to our Armenian Roots, we represent the age old traditions to the fullest. It just wouldn't be the same without them. The wedding had about 50 people in total, so it wasn't the biggest but it was really great. 3 photographers and one cameraman captured all the action, as well as me with my Iphone taking amateur pics, some candid, some posed. I mainly just waited for the pros to ask the people to pose and then snapped my photos (fotki)
It went a little something like this. We gathered at my Uncle's place and adorned the vehicles in ribbons to mimic the Armenian flag. Red blue orange. They were attached to the hood of car, it looked good. Then, we took the caravan to the bride's place, the older women got out and danced the Armenian dance, don't know what it's called. They basically put hatchapuri (cheesy flaky bread) over their heads all wrapped up nice and twirled around while the Peugeot 308 played Armenian music. They danced behind the car all the way to the front door of her apartment building. The younger women took the trays into the apartment. Then we all piled into the stairwell and made our way up to the top. Once at her house, we drank the bubbly and listened to some toasts given by Sergey's parents for Yulia's mother and grandmother. After some sweet treats we proceeded back down.
My sister and I got to sit in the stretch hummer. That was a first for me. There was plenty of champagne for all of us to last the whole trip. It is tradition in the city to visit landmarks. Interestingly, there were about 80 wedding going on at the same time in the city, and this happens on a weekly basis. We traveled around, got out at different places and took pictures. A lot of the time we waited around for the bride and groom to do their thing with the photographers. Then, as we were leaving the park and the church, there was a downpour and everyone got soaked. Pretty bad, but at that point no one cared. Plus, rain when beginning a trip, including a new life being married, is good luck in Russia. Once the pictures were done, it was time to head over to the restaurant. It was definitely a swanky place, with a children's playground, a stage outside and inside for music and dancing, and a full bar. This wedding was different than before because the bride and groom had a ceremony, with similar words to become man and wife, spoken by the host. Religion didn't play a big part in their wedding, except for entering the church to light candles during the traveling around the city. Following the outside ceremony, we had dinner and all the events that they had planned. These included two famous artists singing live (no band), toasts by the close relatives, and the exhibitions of the three things a man must do in his life: plant a tree, build a house, and have children. For the house, they built one out pre-cut and painted cardboard, it took them 37 seconds. For the plant, they were supposed mix some special gravel and water together and it should have sprouted something spontaneously, but it didn't work, so they planted a small plant. Lastly, they made children. This was accomplished by taking two of Sergey's best friends, and having a competition to see who can dress them up as a boy and girl the fastest. They had pacifiers, bibs, and diapers. Then they got out two baby toilets and ran around the hall collecting money from the guests, as per tradition, to see who the people at the wedding want as the couple's first child. Of course, I threw in money for the boy, and the boy won, by 2,000 rubles, which is about $60. They collected in total 13,000 rubles which equals $464. Pretty great haul for just a game.
I danceed quite a bit, both slow and Armenian dancing. I won't go into details about how that is done, but I danced with my cousin Ira and all the guests joined hands and made a circle around us while we danced. It was awesome. I love my family. I also danced with a girl named Lena. She's cute. ;)
For food we ate a variety of salads once again, grilled salmon, shishkabob, satsivi, baklazshan, and other tasty Russian/Armenian things. There was a lot of drinking going on, as their should be when you celebrate a couple's wedding.
We ended with a five cakes, a chocolate fountain, and tea and coffee. Then we watched a video of people interviewed on the street about what they think of two pictures of my cousin and his wife. Finally there was a photo montage of them playing out different scenes. At the very end we said our goodbyes and lit sparklers for them.
It was a great wedding with beautiful people and beautiful tradition. The only thing that could've made it better was some cooler air. It got pretty hot being all dressed up, eating, and drinking with 50 other people.
Tomorrow is a new day for them, to start their life together with the wishes and hopes of all their loved ones. They will be traveling to the black sea in Anatolia for an all inclusive vacation getaway honeymoon. I know they will have a blast. Their hard work is over for now, until they get back. Then it is off to making babies and money. Good luck to them both. I know they love each other with everything they can give. I'm happy for them.
The grandma's say they can't wait for my wedding. I sure can. Haha.
Peace
It went a little something like this. We gathered at my Uncle's place and adorned the vehicles in ribbons to mimic the Armenian flag. Red blue orange. They were attached to the hood of car, it looked good. Then, we took the caravan to the bride's place, the older women got out and danced the Armenian dance, don't know what it's called. They basically put hatchapuri (cheesy flaky bread) over their heads all wrapped up nice and twirled around while the Peugeot 308 played Armenian music. They danced behind the car all the way to the front door of her apartment building. The younger women took the trays into the apartment. Then we all piled into the stairwell and made our way up to the top. Once at her house, we drank the bubbly and listened to some toasts given by Sergey's parents for Yulia's mother and grandmother. After some sweet treats we proceeded back down.
My sister and I got to sit in the stretch hummer. That was a first for me. There was plenty of champagne for all of us to last the whole trip. It is tradition in the city to visit landmarks. Interestingly, there were about 80 wedding going on at the same time in the city, and this happens on a weekly basis. We traveled around, got out at different places and took pictures. A lot of the time we waited around for the bride and groom to do their thing with the photographers. Then, as we were leaving the park and the church, there was a downpour and everyone got soaked. Pretty bad, but at that point no one cared. Plus, rain when beginning a trip, including a new life being married, is good luck in Russia. Once the pictures were done, it was time to head over to the restaurant. It was definitely a swanky place, with a children's playground, a stage outside and inside for music and dancing, and a full bar. This wedding was different than before because the bride and groom had a ceremony, with similar words to become man and wife, spoken by the host. Religion didn't play a big part in their wedding, except for entering the church to light candles during the traveling around the city. Following the outside ceremony, we had dinner and all the events that they had planned. These included two famous artists singing live (no band), toasts by the close relatives, and the exhibitions of the three things a man must do in his life: plant a tree, build a house, and have children. For the house, they built one out pre-cut and painted cardboard, it took them 37 seconds. For the plant, they were supposed mix some special gravel and water together and it should have sprouted something spontaneously, but it didn't work, so they planted a small plant. Lastly, they made children. This was accomplished by taking two of Sergey's best friends, and having a competition to see who can dress them up as a boy and girl the fastest. They had pacifiers, bibs, and diapers. Then they got out two baby toilets and ran around the hall collecting money from the guests, as per tradition, to see who the people at the wedding want as the couple's first child. Of course, I threw in money for the boy, and the boy won, by 2,000 rubles, which is about $60. They collected in total 13,000 rubles which equals $464. Pretty great haul for just a game.
I danceed quite a bit, both slow and Armenian dancing. I won't go into details about how that is done, but I danced with my cousin Ira and all the guests joined hands and made a circle around us while we danced. It was awesome. I love my family. I also danced with a girl named Lena. She's cute. ;)
For food we ate a variety of salads once again, grilled salmon, shishkabob, satsivi, baklazshan, and other tasty Russian/Armenian things. There was a lot of drinking going on, as their should be when you celebrate a couple's wedding.
We ended with a five cakes, a chocolate fountain, and tea and coffee. Then we watched a video of people interviewed on the street about what they think of two pictures of my cousin and his wife. Finally there was a photo montage of them playing out different scenes. At the very end we said our goodbyes and lit sparklers for them.
It was a great wedding with beautiful people and beautiful tradition. The only thing that could've made it better was some cooler air. It got pretty hot being all dressed up, eating, and drinking with 50 other people.
Tomorrow is a new day for them, to start their life together with the wishes and hopes of all their loved ones. They will be traveling to the black sea in Anatolia for an all inclusive vacation getaway honeymoon. I know they will have a blast. Their hard work is over for now, until they get back. Then it is off to making babies and money. Good luck to them both. I know they love each other with everything they can give. I'm happy for them.
The grandma's say they can't wait for my wedding. I sure can. Haha.
Peace
Friday, July 8, 2011
Day 4
It's the day before the wedding and people have started to arrive from out of town. I spent most of the day with Ilya, my cousin's husband. We drove around doing some errands and then picked up my sister and cousin to walk around the city. We ate at a drive through McDonald's called MacAuto, pretty sweet and the McFresh chicken was great. I hadn't had McDonald's since the last time I was here. During our walk we stopped by the space museum and there were rockets from the soviet era. Underneath the newest rocket there is a little greek style stage where some young people had improv comedy going on. Quite a few people were out and about today. It was Family Day today.
Sasha, Ira's and Ilya's son, was a little sick today, so he stayed home to get well. We played so much with all his toys. I gave him my Iphone and he was playing with the front facing camera, he realized what it was used for and spent a whole lot of time messing around.
Gotta get up early so it's a short blog today.
Cheers
Sasha, Ira's and Ilya's son, was a little sick today, so he stayed home to get well. We played so much with all his toys. I gave him my Iphone and he was playing with the front facing camera, he realized what it was used for and spent a whole lot of time messing around.
Gotta get up early so it's a short blog today.
Cheers
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Day 3
Today was a very fun day, but it didn't start out too well. Both my parents were sick as dogs and we had to visit the cemetery to say hello to our loved ones that had passed away. My dad was sick to his stomach and my mom had a headache. She checked her blood pressure but it was 127/74, pretty normal. I and my sister, on the other hand, were feeling pretty awesome, ready to meet the day.
The cemetery was outside of the city. We drove maybe 15 minutes to get to it. There were many people buried there, both young and old, but mostly old I'm sure. We have buried there my Grandfather Rachik, my great grandmother Esqui, and my second Aunt Karina. The cemeteries in Russia allow you to buy plots of land, gate it off, and decorate it however you wish. My uncle took care of the arrangements and there is space for other members of our immediate family. It is an inevitable truth that the old will pass on and they can rest assured that they will rest in peace. My uncle visits the cemetery every week to clean the land and wash the gravestones. He replaces the flowers and has the grass around the area mowed as well. It is a duty that is passed on from generation to generation. I haven't had any experience with death in America, but from what I know Americans don't visit the graves of dead relatives every week. Perhaps it's because the cemetery actually takes care of the area itself. If we didn't take care of the area here in Russia, it would get overgrown with weeds and would be swallowed up in a forgotten mess. Also, if you forget where the person lies, you have to petition the government for the files that say where the person is. I guess it is illegal to just give out that information to whoever asks.
Following that little trip, we came and ate at my Uncle's place. Finally my nephew was awake and I got to play with him. He is one and a half and is super awesome to interact with. Child development is a beautiful thing. He understand what you are saying and can babble words in Russian back to you when you ask him or tell him. Of course there is the usual "net" and "da." He laughs so freely and enjoys every little bit of attention he can get. Destroying things is his specialty though, and he knows you don't want him to do it, but he gives you this evil smile and then slowly does it anyway. He likes to fight and push and horse around just like baby boy should. I could imagine myself with a babe like that. I wouldn't want to do any work whatsoever, just play with him and teach him stuff. I should marry rich and just hang out with my kid all day. Bahaha. marriage. Like I said before, I am years away from that.
Next we went to the billiards club where they had both 9 footers and 12 foot tables, for traditional and Russian billiards. Since I play on a regular, I thoroughly schooled them at 8 ball, we didn't play 9. They serve alcohol and lots of food. It is a smoke friendly place too. Russians are smokers lol. We switched over to Russian billiards after an hour. The point of the game is to hit any ball off any other ball and make it into any hole. You break with a yellow ball and all the other ones are white. If you make it you keep going, until you made a majority of the balls in, then you win. The catch is that the balls are practically the same size and the holes, so the chances of making a ball in at random are nil, and you have to be super accurate to even stand a chance. I quickly made 5 balls in and then started to falter as the table cleared and the distance between the balls increased. My cousin Sergey beat me by 1 ball. I'll get better though. I plan on coming back.
Later that night we went back and talked tech with my uncle. He is quite tech savvy with a small computer devoted to the living room that is hooked up to the internet and his 120 hz 42 inch LG television. The internet here is so good. They get download speeds of 500 kbps during the day and 1,100 kbps during the night. They have a city wide local intranet where they can transfer files between each other in different buildings. The internet provider Beeline has different types of media available for download. Pretty sweet stuff.
Allright dudes and dudettes, till tomorrow, dosvedanya.
Pics here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150327030530041.388135.507325040
The cemetery was outside of the city. We drove maybe 15 minutes to get to it. There were many people buried there, both young and old, but mostly old I'm sure. We have buried there my Grandfather Rachik, my great grandmother Esqui, and my second Aunt Karina. The cemeteries in Russia allow you to buy plots of land, gate it off, and decorate it however you wish. My uncle took care of the arrangements and there is space for other members of our immediate family. It is an inevitable truth that the old will pass on and they can rest assured that they will rest in peace. My uncle visits the cemetery every week to clean the land and wash the gravestones. He replaces the flowers and has the grass around the area mowed as well. It is a duty that is passed on from generation to generation. I haven't had any experience with death in America, but from what I know Americans don't visit the graves of dead relatives every week. Perhaps it's because the cemetery actually takes care of the area itself. If we didn't take care of the area here in Russia, it would get overgrown with weeds and would be swallowed up in a forgotten mess. Also, if you forget where the person lies, you have to petition the government for the files that say where the person is. I guess it is illegal to just give out that information to whoever asks.
Following that little trip, we came and ate at my Uncle's place. Finally my nephew was awake and I got to play with him. He is one and a half and is super awesome to interact with. Child development is a beautiful thing. He understand what you are saying and can babble words in Russian back to you when you ask him or tell him. Of course there is the usual "net" and "da." He laughs so freely and enjoys every little bit of attention he can get. Destroying things is his specialty though, and he knows you don't want him to do it, but he gives you this evil smile and then slowly does it anyway. He likes to fight and push and horse around just like baby boy should. I could imagine myself with a babe like that. I wouldn't want to do any work whatsoever, just play with him and teach him stuff. I should marry rich and just hang out with my kid all day. Bahaha. marriage. Like I said before, I am years away from that.
Next we went to the billiards club where they had both 9 footers and 12 foot tables, for traditional and Russian billiards. Since I play on a regular, I thoroughly schooled them at 8 ball, we didn't play 9. They serve alcohol and lots of food. It is a smoke friendly place too. Russians are smokers lol. We switched over to Russian billiards after an hour. The point of the game is to hit any ball off any other ball and make it into any hole. You break with a yellow ball and all the other ones are white. If you make it you keep going, until you made a majority of the balls in, then you win. The catch is that the balls are practically the same size and the holes, so the chances of making a ball in at random are nil, and you have to be super accurate to even stand a chance. I quickly made 5 balls in and then started to falter as the table cleared and the distance between the balls increased. My cousin Sergey beat me by 1 ball. I'll get better though. I plan on coming back.
Later that night we went back and talked tech with my uncle. He is quite tech savvy with a small computer devoted to the living room that is hooked up to the internet and his 120 hz 42 inch LG television. The internet here is so good. They get download speeds of 500 kbps during the day and 1,100 kbps during the night. They have a city wide local intranet where they can transfer files between each other in different buildings. The internet provider Beeline has different types of media available for download. Pretty sweet stuff.
Allright dudes and dudettes, till tomorrow, dosvedanya.
Pics here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150327030530041.388135.507325040
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Day 2
Today, my 21 year old cousin Sergey, yes his name is the same as my uncle, was officially married by the state to his beautiful wife, Yulia. She took his last name and is now Yulia Agadjanova. Congratulations to them both!
I woke up at 12:00 pm, showered, shaved, and ate a small breakfast consisting of bread, bologna, and some sort of cheese called brinza (don't know the translation). I was told yesterday that we would be celebrating at the Dacha (summer house) with the newlyweds and all their friends so I kept my food intake before the party to a minimum. It was also Yulia's (Julie's) 22nd birthday. I was a little hungover but exercise, water, and a cup of coffee did the trick. Still slightly jet-lagged, I did several sets of two-knuckle pushups, stretched, then showered, and was wide awake; ready to meet the day. The exercise was also meant to pump up the muscles, I can't go to them gym here so I have to work out the old-fashioned way without machines. Haha. Plus, I had to look good for the ladies ;).
My sister and I got picked up at 2:00 pm, while my mother and father were trying to figure out words on a Russian game show to win 14,000 rubles. That is about $500. Of course, like with any game show, they didn't end up winning (because my uncle and cousin told them is was all a shame) but they did guess the right words. We went over to their place, picked up food for the outing from the newlyweds apartment, and went over to my Uncle's apartment to download their wedding slideshow, drink tea, and try out some of the Xbox games. Interestingly, Ninja Gaiden 2 works, but Forza 3 doesn't. The NTSC system is messed up. Also things in Russia are so much more expensive, for example, Xbox games are $100 and the Iphone 4g costs $1000. The Ipad costs even more. Ridiculous! But I digress.
We head over to the Dacha which is owned by my aunt's parents. My uncle started grilling up some salmon and tomatoes and we started to decorate the gazebo. Guys wore party hats and fake ties, while the girls wore ribbons in their hair. After he finished grilling the fish, which requires expertise, he left and the guests started to arrive. We drank tequila and vodka and whiskey, and ate so many salads. The toasts came one after the other, all for our newlywed loved ones and Yulia. Even I said a toast, in my broken Russian. I actually think I speak well, but apparently it wasn't good enough for one of the guests and he said "You're better off just saying it in English." I had none of that and finished my toast in Russian and that was that. Toasts are a must and people actually hold off from drinking until someone says a few words. No one ever toasts in America the way they toast in here. It means a lot here and I respect that. As should you! The thing about drinking in Russia is that it never comes without food, so I don't get sick or terribly drunk when I drink. The food slows down the metabolism of the alcohol, or so I like to think, so that the effects of the EtOH are never too strong to handle. It was a great time with lots of catching up and fun. Russians are quite sarcastic and politically incorrect, which provides a very free and exciting atmosphere. Never a dull moment with our group of friends. We proceeded the picnic outing by cooking up some beef shishkabob on skewers courtesy of our friend Sergey (yes another one), but he goes by the nickname Suber. Following beer and vodka, we had cake and sweets with tea and coffee and jokes. Can't go without the jokes at the dinner table. It seems that everyone is predisposed to make light of anything they can, and they do it well. No one is upset or gets their feelings hurt by anything anyone says, and I like that a lot. No one here is sensitive and expects everyone else to just brush the jokes off, because we kid because we love. "I kid I kid." Many young people here are married with children, but I feel like I'm far away from that life.
Tomorrow we are going to play Russian billiards. The difference is that the holes are smaller, and the way to win is to get as many balls in as you can, you don't have to call anything or be stripes are solids. LOL.
Pictures available at: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150326026585041.387807.507325040
Till tomorrow, Peace.
I woke up at 12:00 pm, showered, shaved, and ate a small breakfast consisting of bread, bologna, and some sort of cheese called brinza (don't know the translation). I was told yesterday that we would be celebrating at the Dacha (summer house) with the newlyweds and all their friends so I kept my food intake before the party to a minimum. It was also Yulia's (Julie's) 22nd birthday. I was a little hungover but exercise, water, and a cup of coffee did the trick. Still slightly jet-lagged, I did several sets of two-knuckle pushups, stretched, then showered, and was wide awake; ready to meet the day. The exercise was also meant to pump up the muscles, I can't go to them gym here so I have to work out the old-fashioned way without machines. Haha. Plus, I had to look good for the ladies ;).
My sister and I got picked up at 2:00 pm, while my mother and father were trying to figure out words on a Russian game show to win 14,000 rubles. That is about $500. Of course, like with any game show, they didn't end up winning (because my uncle and cousin told them is was all a shame) but they did guess the right words. We went over to their place, picked up food for the outing from the newlyweds apartment, and went over to my Uncle's apartment to download their wedding slideshow, drink tea, and try out some of the Xbox games. Interestingly, Ninja Gaiden 2 works, but Forza 3 doesn't. The NTSC system is messed up. Also things in Russia are so much more expensive, for example, Xbox games are $100 and the Iphone 4g costs $1000. The Ipad costs even more. Ridiculous! But I digress.
We head over to the Dacha which is owned by my aunt's parents. My uncle started grilling up some salmon and tomatoes and we started to decorate the gazebo. Guys wore party hats and fake ties, while the girls wore ribbons in their hair. After he finished grilling the fish, which requires expertise, he left and the guests started to arrive. We drank tequila and vodka and whiskey, and ate so many salads. The toasts came one after the other, all for our newlywed loved ones and Yulia. Even I said a toast, in my broken Russian. I actually think I speak well, but apparently it wasn't good enough for one of the guests and he said "You're better off just saying it in English." I had none of that and finished my toast in Russian and that was that. Toasts are a must and people actually hold off from drinking until someone says a few words. No one ever toasts in America the way they toast in here. It means a lot here and I respect that. As should you! The thing about drinking in Russia is that it never comes without food, so I don't get sick or terribly drunk when I drink. The food slows down the metabolism of the alcohol, or so I like to think, so that the effects of the EtOH are never too strong to handle. It was a great time with lots of catching up and fun. Russians are quite sarcastic and politically incorrect, which provides a very free and exciting atmosphere. Never a dull moment with our group of friends. We proceeded the picnic outing by cooking up some beef shishkabob on skewers courtesy of our friend Sergey (yes another one), but he goes by the nickname Suber. Following beer and vodka, we had cake and sweets with tea and coffee and jokes. Can't go without the jokes at the dinner table. It seems that everyone is predisposed to make light of anything they can, and they do it well. No one is upset or gets their feelings hurt by anything anyone says, and I like that a lot. No one here is sensitive and expects everyone else to just brush the jokes off, because we kid because we love. "I kid I kid." Many young people here are married with children, but I feel like I'm far away from that life.
Tomorrow we are going to play Russian billiards. The difference is that the holes are smaller, and the way to win is to get as many balls in as you can, you don't have to call anything or be stripes are solids. LOL.
Pictures available at: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150326026585041.387807.507325040
Till tomorrow, Peace.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Day 1
I arrived in Domodedovo airport around 1:30 pm (UTC +3:00) with a super-fast flight on Singapore airlines. My uncle Sergey met us and we loaded up the transport van/taxi with our luggage and off we went. The trip to Kaluga, which usually takes 2 and a half hours, now took 5 and a half hours because of a turned around 18 wheeler on a two lane highway. The propka (traffic jam) caused a massive amount of casualties by way of loss of gas. Luckily we were not part of that group and made it safely into the city. After unloading our luggage, the festivities began with my uncle and his wife, my grandma, her sister, a family friend, my cousins and their significant others (husband for the woman and soon to be wife for the man). My younger cousin, who is also named Sergey, is getting married to Yulia (Julie is acceptable I think). My grandmother on my mother's side Rema is turning 75. In addition, it is my aunt's mother's birthday and also Julie's birthday today, July 6th. The wedding is on the 9th so we don't have too much longer to wait. The dinner consisted of a variety of salads, including my favorite salad olivia, made of finely chopped vegetables and bologna, mixed together with mayonnaise, pepper, salt, and served cold. The hot dish was dolmas which are grape leaves wrapped around beef mixed with rice and boiled. They were very tasty. We drank Nemiroff vodka shots chased with sprite or iced tea. We finished the dinner with tea and an awesome drunk cherry cake glazed with chocolate. Everything was amazingly well prepared by my grandmother. We proceeded with handing out gifts and saying goodbye for the night. I got my cousin an Xbox Kinect and he said it worked great.
Seeing our family in Russia is very important to myself and the rest of us that live in America. After all, I was born here (not technically but its ok) and I believe strongly in keeping strong ties with my roots. Outside of my parents and sister, they are the next closest relative's I have and if anything ever happens it is them to whom I will turn. My uncle Sergey on my mother's side is such a powerful influence despite being so far away. He puts much faith in my success in America and I know that he cares about me just as much as my parents do. I see him as another father figure and know that he can teach me many things about life. Russian life is very different from life in the states and the mentality of the people here is of a different sort. I'll have to expand on this later, but I am definitely lucky to be a part of both worlds and to have experiences that transcend one single culture. I transfer my knowledge from one place to another and am able to color my life with valuable experiences learning how people live and perceive the world outside of the U.S..
Oh yea, and Russian women are so damn sexy (gotta take pics, but some of you already know). Tomorrow we are going to the dacha (summer house.) to barbecue and drink! I'm so ready!
Pictures: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150325247870041.387492.507325040 sorry that they are still untagged, I'll get on that later but now its 2:28 a.m. and time for sleep. See ya tomorrow.
Seeing our family in Russia is very important to myself and the rest of us that live in America. After all, I was born here (not technically but its ok) and I believe strongly in keeping strong ties with my roots. Outside of my parents and sister, they are the next closest relative's I have and if anything ever happens it is them to whom I will turn. My uncle Sergey on my mother's side is such a powerful influence despite being so far away. He puts much faith in my success in America and I know that he cares about me just as much as my parents do. I see him as another father figure and know that he can teach me many things about life. Russian life is very different from life in the states and the mentality of the people here is of a different sort. I'll have to expand on this later, but I am definitely lucky to be a part of both worlds and to have experiences that transcend one single culture. I transfer my knowledge from one place to another and am able to color my life with valuable experiences learning how people live and perceive the world outside of the U.S..
Oh yea, and Russian women are so damn sexy (gotta take pics, but some of you already know). Tomorrow we are going to the dacha (summer house.) to barbecue and drink! I'm so ready!
Pictures: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150325247870041.387492.507325040 sorry that they are still untagged, I'll get on that later but now its 2:28 a.m. and time for sleep. See ya tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)