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.