For starters, I think it's important to let everyone know that despite my terrible concerns yesterday that my legs would explode, they in fact did not. Hooray for small miracles! On that note though, my left ankle still feels like it might at any moment though.. so boo for that((( Although I had an excellent day today, I'm afraid it wasn't terribly noteworthy. Since it was Easter and Petr stayed with his family last night I woke up about 11 to a totally silent flat .. so quiet it was almost awkward. I spent an hour or two cleaning up since Katya was coming over, and got finished with vacuuming just in time to grab a shower before Petr showed up around 14.00 or so. Katya called to let us know she would be in about 18.30, which gave us just enough time to get to the grocery and pick up some more bread and cheese before her arrival. I had just cleaned out the fridge and decided that what we had wasn't quite up to par for visitors.
So we got some black bread and some fresh goat cheese with 2 bottles of wine, Medoc and Bordeaux, and got back just before Katya arrived. Petr went down to meet her and I set the table and was just setting the plates as she walked in. I have to say first that I was shocked to learn that she had 3 children and that 2 of them were about my age. I honestly wouldn't have guessed she was older than 35 at most. If all Russian women age this well, it's no wonder they're considered the most beautiful in the world!
Petr got out his accordion because Katya loves it when he plays and sings, and so he regaled us with a fantastic performance for about 2.5 hours or so as we drank wine and ate cheese and bread. It may not sound like much, and I have to admit that understood very little of what he sang, but the joy in her eyes and the magnificence of his voice and playing were more than enough to make the evening the best Easter on record. I had an excellent time and couldn't thank either of them enough for the fantastic time; I can't imagine anywhere I would rather have been. I have to admit that as an American, I had a stereotype about accordions... that they were geeky and annoying. Not the case. The evening was terribly lovely, and the music was phenomenal. It only could have been better if I had a lovely lady with me to hold while we enjoyed the lovely music together. Maybe soon? =P
A few random observations... money is an interesting object here. The conversion is roughly 30 rubles to 1 dollar.... so 1 ruble is basically equivalent to 3 cents.. and each ruble is broken up into 100 kopecks. So each kopeck is basically equal to .03 pennies. Granted that the most common denomination seems to be 10 kopecks, you'd still have to collect 10 of them to make 3 pennies and it takes 1.66 to ride the bus, so you'd have to collect 60 of them to even take the bus. They're basically worthless, and I've only seen signs where people bother asking for them in Аптека (pharmacies). It seems to me that they're basically less useful than pennies, and I've seen more than a few people leaving stores sorting out the rubles from the kopecks and just throwing the kopecks on the ground.
Also, apparently this country hasn't discovered leashes yet. Animals don't wander far and if you see a pet without an owner, you'll see them wander around the corner shortly. Animals seem to always stay very close to their master and my best bet is that animals realize as well as humans do that this is Russia. If they wander too far and get lost, they know they're screwed. Additionally, it's interesting to see the different dynamic men and women have here. As I've said before, it's a country where you have to be on your guard, and it seems .. at least to me .. that since women here still behave like women, they still need men (unlike in America where it seems like women wish desperately that they WERE men and try their hardest to act like them) I don't in any way attribute this to women however, so don't get pissed off at me. I do think it has a lot to do with the feminist movement that arose during WWII when women started working though. Men came home and the women were doing all the work. I think the general thought process in the US was, if the women are going to do the work, why should we have to bother with it? In short, I think men got lazy, and eventually it became more and more normal for the woman to do everything. That being said, I think men really need to step up to the plate. In Russia, men are still men, and so women have the luxury of still being women.
I don't mean to say that women are incapable of defending themselves here, but it seems to me like men play a much more vital role in society still. Here, it is still a man's job to protect his family. When you see a family walking down the street, I couldn't help but notice they always stay pretty close to the father. Children don't wander too far off, and although most people don't have pets as large as dogs, the families that do have dogs ... well, the dogs don't wander too far off either.
We headed back to the market to buy some more wine for tomorrow evening since we're having more company over, and when I offered to cook, I was interested to hear that this was silly because they were women, it is not our job to cook. I know he meant it as a joke, but I've heard more than a few women say that on Women's Day men cook for the women in their lives to make up for the 364 days of the year that they don't.. and so I am forced to realize that for the most part in Russia, that this isn't really a joke. It's funny, but in Russia, more often than not, it seems to be true.
That aside, I'm looking forward to tomorrow! I'm going to be going to Katya's house to tutor her youngest son, and if her family is anywhere near as pleasant as she is, I'm sure I will have an excellent morning! Planning to work with Sasha in the evening, and I will need to make time to call a business about a job vacancy as well. They were advertising for a fluent English speaker to deal with they American and Western European clients, and I just may fit the bill :)
Today was the last day of my first week in Russia, and I can only hope that the remainder of my time goes as smoothly! I hope everyone has an excellent Easter! Take care, all! До завтра!
So we got some black bread and some fresh goat cheese with 2 bottles of wine, Medoc and Bordeaux, and got back just before Katya arrived. Petr went down to meet her and I set the table and was just setting the plates as she walked in. I have to say first that I was shocked to learn that she had 3 children and that 2 of them were about my age. I honestly wouldn't have guessed she was older than 35 at most. If all Russian women age this well, it's no wonder they're considered the most beautiful in the world!
Petr got out his accordion because Katya loves it when he plays and sings, and so he regaled us with a fantastic performance for about 2.5 hours or so as we drank wine and ate cheese and bread. It may not sound like much, and I have to admit that understood very little of what he sang, but the joy in her eyes and the magnificence of his voice and playing were more than enough to make the evening the best Easter on record. I had an excellent time and couldn't thank either of them enough for the fantastic time; I can't imagine anywhere I would rather have been. I have to admit that as an American, I had a stereotype about accordions... that they were geeky and annoying. Not the case. The evening was terribly lovely, and the music was phenomenal. It only could have been better if I had a lovely lady with me to hold while we enjoyed the lovely music together. Maybe soon? =P
A few random observations... money is an interesting object here. The conversion is roughly 30 rubles to 1 dollar.... so 1 ruble is basically equivalent to 3 cents.. and each ruble is broken up into 100 kopecks. So each kopeck is basically equal to .03 pennies. Granted that the most common denomination seems to be 10 kopecks, you'd still have to collect 10 of them to make 3 pennies and it takes 1.66 to ride the bus, so you'd have to collect 60 of them to even take the bus. They're basically worthless, and I've only seen signs where people bother asking for them in Аптека (pharmacies). It seems to me that they're basically less useful than pennies, and I've seen more than a few people leaving stores sorting out the rubles from the kopecks and just throwing the kopecks on the ground.
Also, apparently this country hasn't discovered leashes yet. Animals don't wander far and if you see a pet without an owner, you'll see them wander around the corner shortly. Animals seem to always stay very close to their master and my best bet is that animals realize as well as humans do that this is Russia. If they wander too far and get lost, they know they're screwed. Additionally, it's interesting to see the different dynamic men and women have here. As I've said before, it's a country where you have to be on your guard, and it seems .. at least to me .. that since women here still behave like women, they still need men (unlike in America where it seems like women wish desperately that they WERE men and try their hardest to act like them) I don't in any way attribute this to women however, so don't get pissed off at me. I do think it has a lot to do with the feminist movement that arose during WWII when women started working though. Men came home and the women were doing all the work. I think the general thought process in the US was, if the women are going to do the work, why should we have to bother with it? In short, I think men got lazy, and eventually it became more and more normal for the woman to do everything. That being said, I think men really need to step up to the plate. In Russia, men are still men, and so women have the luxury of still being women.
I don't mean to say that women are incapable of defending themselves here, but it seems to me like men play a much more vital role in society still. Here, it is still a man's job to protect his family. When you see a family walking down the street, I couldn't help but notice they always stay pretty close to the father. Children don't wander too far off, and although most people don't have pets as large as dogs, the families that do have dogs ... well, the dogs don't wander too far off either.
We headed back to the market to buy some more wine for tomorrow evening since we're having more company over, and when I offered to cook, I was interested to hear that this was silly because they were women, it is not our job to cook. I know he meant it as a joke, but I've heard more than a few women say that on Women's Day men cook for the women in their lives to make up for the 364 days of the year that they don't.. and so I am forced to realize that for the most part in Russia, that this isn't really a joke. It's funny, but in Russia, more often than not, it seems to be true.
That aside, I'm looking forward to tomorrow! I'm going to be going to Katya's house to tutor her youngest son, and if her family is anywhere near as pleasant as she is, I'm sure I will have an excellent morning! Planning to work with Sasha in the evening, and I will need to make time to call a business about a job vacancy as well. They were advertising for a fluent English speaker to deal with they American and Western European clients, and I just may fit the bill :)
Today was the last day of my first week in Russia, and I can only hope that the remainder of my time goes as smoothly! I hope everyone has an excellent Easter! Take care, all! До завтра!
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