Kazan — summer 2012

On the way home from Sabantui we stopped at the store for some groceries. Here's what we bought.

In the upper left and far right are some bags with fruit. Then there is a bag of dried bread slices, which are called sukharí. So what do you think is in the blue bag? Ice cream. You can't tell from this angle, but there is a perfect cylinder of ice cream in this plastic bag. This type is called plombir, their fattiest ice cream. More power to them! I'll eat as much fat as I can get my hands on.

Russian/Tatar hospitality is amazing. They never stop feeding you. Although we had just been to sabantui, they immediately put on tea and set the table with the following goodies.

Let's see... the loaf of sliced bread you will recognize, as well as the cups of tea. The glass bowels hold three types of varenye, syrupy jam, which from left to right were made of blueberries, currants, and cherries. The yellow stuff above that is chak-chak, a Tatar desert made of flower and honey, very sticky and sweet.

And then they added some store-bought strawberries, which are decent but not nearly as good as the ones from their garden, and some ham to make open-face sandwiches with the bread. All those things together make a standard Russian/Tatar snack for visitors. Americans, learn a lesson here. That's how to treat a guest.

Lastly, here are Flyura and I. This is one excellent woman. Smart, hospital, hard working. But more than that, she and her husband have founded a very harmonious family. There is a general kindness and politeness to each other that I don't see everywhere, and they have an easy-going friendliness that shows they actually enjoy each other's company.

The biggest compliment my friend Tom gives is to say that someone is the salt of the earth. Flyura and her husband Oleg are part of the salt of the earth.

PS. Crud. I don't think I got a picture of Oleg. Guess I'll have to go back...