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.
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