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Tom asked Lena to take a new photo of us... here is one of the poses you can see two others on the photo blog.

www.sharpmomphotos.blogspot.com

another Russian holiday!

We watched a great movie tonight with Alexei, Lena and her brother Slavic. They came by to tell us about how church was today. We were being lazy "heathens" (as one of my Aunts would say) and didn't go. Everybody needs a day off now and then!

Spencer baked a cake for his Father's Day gift to Tom. All I had to do was make the frosting! I never made frosting until moving here. But, when you cannot go to the market and just buy a jar you 'do what yah gotta do!'

Nathan made lunch and took a special trip out of the house to purchase a card for his dad. Only somehow between home and the store he got it in his head that today was Tom's birthday and not Father's Day. He came home with a very funny birthday card for his Dad.

Remember where we live? This is Russia and Father's Day is not celebrated here. When Alexei came over he told us that today is a holiday... Day of Medicine. Seriously, there is a Day of Knowledge and Day for Teachers and so on. Today is Medicine Day.

Happy Day of Medicine!

Saturday in Krasnodar

Spencer went to hang out in our old neighborhood. He stopped by to say hello to Iris and JB. I think a few of you have actually spoken with JB. He gave you our phone number!

Tom went to his AA meeting and got some photos taken. I think he may add them to his powerpoint presentation for America. It was great that all the attendees were open to having their photo taken.

Nathan and I went shopping over at City Center. I wanted to purchase some frozen food for the guys while I am gone next week. I leave for Anapa on the Black Sea on Tuesday and we will be back Thursday afternoon. The women of the BLTC are going there for our retreat. It will be my first experience at a Woman's Retreat in Russian. I will most likely stick close to Lena. She is good at explaining things using words I already know! We have women coming from Uzbekastan, Dagestan and Nalchick. I think there will only be about 6 of us who are native English speakers.

the joy of cigarettes

Yesterday, Spencer and I went out to do some shopping. We left early in the morning and the first thing we saw at the bus stop was:

three guys smoking cigarettes and sharing a beer for breakfast!

yes, three men one bottle.


Then around noon we saw:

a woman enjoying a milkshake and a cigarette for lunch.

I cannot imagine what that shake tasted like!


As we were headed to the tram stop we saw Spencer's favorite:

a man riding a bicycle and smoking a cigarette.

Spencer's comment was "now, that's multi-tasking!"


Coming from California the sight of someone smoking just strikes us as odd. After all, in California, there are places where you cannot even smoke outdoors (like the beach) and in your own home (like some condos).

World Cup Fever!

Tom has been tuning in as well! Sports are easy to understand in any language!

Russian Soccer Fans Will Play Truant to Watch World Cup Matches
MosNews


25 percent of Russian soccer fans admitted to pollsters in the run-up to the World Cup that they were set to leave their work desks earlier than usual so as not to be late for television broadcasts from Germany. 4 percent said they would call in sick and remain at home, while another 5 percent said they would take days off, a survey held by a human resources web portal EuropeTalent.com has revealed. If Russia had qualified for the finals, the Vedomosti daily newspaper suggested, the situation would have been different. “You have to respect the wishes of your employees if you want them to stay loyal to you,” notes Ruslan Nikiforov, partner at AMT Consulting Group. Nikiforov says he has allowed his subordinates to watch TV, listen to radio reports from German football arenas and check related news reports on the web. To prevent their staff from skipping work, many companies, including Deutsche Bank and J.P. Morgan Chase, had television screens installed on the premises. InFocus installed large monitors in halls and elevators. Executives hope that broadcasts will not reflect on their subordinates’ performance.

Why do Americans eat so much corn?

Lena and Alexei came over for dinner tonight. Alexei made me realize that I still cook like an American. Tom prepared the chicken breasts while I did a potato & cheese dish. To go along with that I made corn and green beans. Each of the vegetable dishes were separate. I guess they have had dinner with other Americans who also separate the veggies! Lena said that most Russians would mix the veggies into some type of salad. Corn is usually served in a crab salad that is quite popular.

After everyone was served and we started to eat Alexei asked "why do Americans eat so much corn?" Tom asked him "why do Russians eat so much cabbage?" the answer to both questions is simple. Because it is available! We talked about how many different states in America that corn is grown in. And we talked about cabbages being plentiful here.

After dinner we watched a bit of the World Cup soccer game. Spain was playing Ukraine. Ukraine lost but Lena was ok with that!

Unexpected Visitors

I never thought about how the people who drop by unexpectedly might feel... until yesterday.

Yesterday, as I was on my home from the restaurant with Joyce, I had to make an unexpected pit stop at Charles and Betty's. I know I should have gone at the restaurant but I thought I could make it home. It was pretty embarrassing for a woman my age to knock on someone's door and ask to use to the restroom! It's not like I had a small child to cover for me!

Anyway, Charles and Betty have a lovely home. And the next time we have an unexpected visitor I am sure I will be much more understanding!

If you order it will it come?

I got up early yesterday and ordered the water... but, yesterday was a holiday. We are still waiting! When I called to ask her what happened she said that they worked a short day due to the holiday. Yesterday was Russian Independence Day. The school was closed and transportation was slow throughout the city.

I went out to lunch with Joyce B. we ate at Al-Hatib. It is a nice little cafe. It was fun spending time with Joyce. For those of you in/or from California Joyce is from Beaumont. Soon Joyce will be on her way to London. Possibly to work there. We hope it all falls into place for her!

Our friends Bill and Judi were able to get their visas renewed with no problems. Now they are having a two week vacation with the kids in Helsinki, Finland. It was an answer to prayer that everything worked out for them. Our family remembers all too well being stuck in Odessa, Ukraine for a month. Bill and Judi didn't want to do that with four kids!

Ordering water

We only drink filtered water here. It is really not a big deal. We did it in California too. I don't think we have had water from a tap since leaving Kansas. I remember the water in Kansas being fresh and sweet... and then in California it had a color!

We found a service that we can call and they deliver to our apartment. It seems so much easier to let someone else climb the four flights of stairs. Right now we are going through two 19 liter bottles a week. We use it for cooking and for drinking.

In talking to Lena's brother Slavic he says that the water here in Krasnodar is not good because it comes from the Kuban River. And the pipes that it travels through are not very good. Many Russians only drink it after it has been boiled or filtered. We have heard of people who have developed kidney stones from the chemicals in the water here.

Carbonated drinks like Pepsi or Fanta are called "sweet water". You can order water "with" or "without" gas.

toe up crocheted socks & a movie!

Joyce B. came over today and we watched her DVD of The Best of Will Farrell. I guess you have to be an SNL fan to appreciate the humor. But, no matter what we watch with Joyce it's a hoot!

She was amazed that as I was watching I made a sock. I found this very simple pattern http://www.graftonfibers.com/socks.htm on the internet and thought I would give it a try.

I finished the mate while watching Harry Potter. Just another lazy Saturday afternoon.

Tom went off to his AA meeting. Spencer was spending the day with Andrew. His family leaves tomorrow. Nathan was reading a Stephen King book.

Spencer and Tom got home around the same time this evening. The buses were not running very smoothly. Spencer and Andrew rode two different buses that didn't finish the route. Tom waited longer than usual and actually walked part of the way to find a better bus stop. Both he and Spencer have reports of seeing many drunk people out tonight. Tom said the conductor on the bus was totally wasted... the conductor is not the driver. The conductor just sells the tickets to the passengers when they get on. 

Arboose

Ar-boose is Russian for watermelon. We found a great one today. Or I should say Tom did. There is a vendor down at our market that he likes a lot. It was a good size and very sweet. Lena says the best watermelons will come a little later when they are bigger. The one we had today was just a little guy!

Spencer came home all worn out. He didn't even make it over to Andrew's for his regular Friday visit. I got a text message from Judi saying she missed him. He is one of her extra kids! Spencer said the family he worked for had a big patio area that he swept completely clean in front and in back of the house. He was happy to have made some money. Knowing Spencer he is saving it for his time in Moscow.

We got a package of books today. It was great to read a new book. I read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I enjoyed it a great deal. It was a fast read. I finished it while Tom and Nathan were watching Blade Runner.

Nathan went over to the post office with Olya's passport. At first they told him "no!". But, Olya called over there and straightened them out! Don't mess up the plans of a pregnant woman... she was not going over there no matter what they said. They finally conceded and gave the package to Nathan. I doubt Olya will go to the post office anytime soon. Hopefully, the gals over there will get used to seeing one of our guys picking up packages!

Who wants to be a millionaire?

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is not just an American show. We stumbled across it a few weeks ago. And now it is a Sunday evening highlight. Because the questions & answers are printed on the screen we can play along. In Russian the title is кто хочет стать миллионаром?
Which would be pronounced Ktoh khochet stat millionarom. The highest prize is 3 million rubles...according to today's rate that is $111,104.83.

One of the teachers at school Madina, also watches the show. She enjoys playing along as well. At the end of the show they ask a question for the audience. If you are the first to phone in with the right answer you will win a prize. If we win we'll let you know!

Raining night and day!

It rained fairly hard last night and just stopped raining about a half hour ago. Lena is here cleaning ( she took over to give Olya a break in the final months of her pregnancy).

Nathan seems to have slept in as he is still in his room... When Lena peeked in there to see if she could clean his room she found Brownie asleep near Nathan's feet. Tom went in to look and wanted a photo. By the time I took a look it woke Brownie up. Photo op was lost! I led Brownie back to her kennel. And will tell Nathan when he wakes up about his visitor.

Spencer went off to school. He is so faithful to get up and make himself breakfast and a lunch and ride across town on his own. In California he never rode on public transportation alone. Here, even the smallest of children can be seen riding the bus to school on their own. They are shown the route once. After that they are expected to do it themselves. It is not that hard. Usually the conductor knows where the child needs to get off and makes sure it happens. Spencer said he doesn't get asked to show his bus pass most days. The conductor knows that he has one so why bother walking all the way over there to see it!

Tom told me that he and Tim had lunch at the American Diner yesterday. Tom was happy that he got a cheeseburger. They guys have all been there and speak highly of it. Maybe we will head there for Father's Day. It is not a holiday here so it shouldn't be overwhelmed with people.


We do have another Russian holiday coming up on Monday. It is like their independence day. That means we will not have school on Monday. Long weekends are always nice.

Wednesday Blahs

Today was my last class with Judi H. Her family is leaving for Helsinki a week earlier than they had planned. We pray that their visa renewal goes smoothly and that everything gets done in time for Bill to make it to Moscow on the date he is scheduled to be there.

Kathy and Mike have left and will soon be living in Kazakstan.

Yesterday, Andrew arrived and saved the day! He brought over two kilos of strawberries. Tom, Spencer and Andrew made an assembly line and got the berries cleaned and ready. We have 12 jars of jam put away. They are wrapped in my winter coat and are still cooling down under the kitchen table. Lena says it is best if they are allowed to cool down over a three day period. I touched one of the jars this morning and it was still warm!

Today we enjoyed bacon courtesy of Tim of Joy. Tom and Tim had lunch together today and Tim brought the bacon over as a gift! Nathan sent Tim home with a gift for TJ. He has been enjoying playing gameboy games and Nathan had the game Nintendogs that he was no longer playing and thought it would be perfect for TJ.

Today's sighting:
The big kids (teens) on the playground were playing soccer. The little kids were playing volleyball. The little ones could barely get the ball over the net. But, they seemed to be having fun trying!!!

end of the strawberry line

We have been searching for strawberries today.

We looked all over in our region for strawberries and everyone was sold out! We kept being told maybe later this evening after more have been picked. Spencer's friend Andrew found some for us over in his area. So he will bring them over.

It is jam making time here. Lena was going to help us today with our first batch. I have 4 kilograms of sugar. I have the pectin. But no berries yet. We have been saving jars all year. So we are all set... just waiting for Andrew to arrive. He will be Mr. Hero when he gets here.

rug cleaning

The other day as I was looking out our kitchen window I got to see a man cleaning a rug. This is not an unusual occurence... this job is done by men or women. What made this so interesting is the strap he is using to beat the rug with. Most of the people we watch use a broom handle or some type of stick. This guy was "beating the tar" out of this rug. The rug stayed outside for a few days before he came back to get it. A few dogs enjoyed the shade it provided for their naps! 

Russian Diplomat Killed, 4 Abducted in Iraq

Russian Diplomat Killed, 4 Abducted in Iraq
Created: 03.06.2006 16:53 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 16:53 MSK
document.write(get_ago(1149339217)); , 18 hours 14 minutes ago
MosNews


One Russian diplomat was killed and four diplomatic employees were abducted in the Iraqi capital on Saturday, the Associated Press reported quoting a Russian Embassy official in Baghdad.“Yes, I can confirm this. One diplomat killed, four employees kidnapped. That’s all I can say. No commentary,” the official, contacted by telephone from Moscow, told The Associated Press. He refused to give his name or provide any further details.Police in Baghdad said witnesses at the scene told them that gunmen opened fire on a car that belonged to the Russians in west Baghdad’s upscale Mansour district.Interior Ministry Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohamedawi said one person was killed in the incident.

German food from Kansas

The other night when we had dinner with Joy she was talking about a time when she was in Marion, Kansas. Tim's family is from there and they were having a family reunion.

She remembered eating bierochs. It has been a long time since Tom and I had them! Tom was saying we don't need a recipe because we know exactly what is in them. Cabbage, cooked ground beef (onions, if you like) and they are wrapped in bread dough and baked. Simple!

I found a premade bread dough that is for crescent rolls and it worked great. Cut the dough into squares and fill with cabbage and meat mixture. Serve with sour cream.

We want the boys to get in touch with their Kansas roots. Remembering this recipe was a great step in that direction!

cocktails!

I am sure you are wondering why I am talking about cocktails....

In Russian the word means "shake" as in milkshake! We are enjoying having a blender and all the fresh fruit there is here to make a shake or a smoothie with. For those of you in California think: Jamba Juice! For those in the midwest think: Orange Julius!

YUM!

Tom made a strawberry smoothie for Lena yesterday. Fresh strawberries, vanilla ice cream and multi-fruit juice. She loved it. She was excited because she and Alexei just got a blender and she was not sure what to do with it! Now she knows exactly what she wants to do.

Strawberries have gotten very cheap now. So Lena and I are planning to make jam on Monday. We will also prepare some for freezing. Hopefully, I will be here for raspberry season too. I would love to get some raspberry jam made this year!

Hannah and Nathan are twins!

We had dinner with Joy, TJ and Hannah. We hadn't spent time with them in over a year. TJ wanted to make sure that Nathan and Spencer REALLY lived here. So he asked his mom again just before we arrived at their home.

After dinner the four of them were running through the house playing with toy guns.

TJ is 7. Hannah is 5. Spencer is 16 and Nathan will be 19 in a few months.

At one point Joy noticed that TJ was wearing a Buzz LightYear arm band and she mentioned it to us. Tom noticed that Spencer had one on too. When the kids were questioned about it we found out that it signified Spencer and TJ being on the same team. Nathan said that he and Hannah were on the "not glasses" team. Hannah said very excitedly "Nathan and I are twins!". We also found out from Hannah that their team's secret hiding place was.... in the closet. Don't tell Spencer and TJ!