Latest Comments
In response to: What a cutie!
Wait a minute, Don. I thought I was the cutest girl on the planet???
Don responds: But you’re already taken!
In response to: Last minutes in Kazan
Fun tune. link didn’t work for me here is alt.
Don responds: I just checked the link. Still seems to be working.
In response to: Funniest line of the summer
That is great! :)
In response to: Heading back home
Gross, but we’ve missed you in the Mother Land. :) Hot Dry breezes await!
In response to: Amanda, institute, exams, families, family, fat back
Summer vacation is over, time to come back to the heat and friends. Oh, and that other job :)
In response to: Amanda, institute, exams, families, family, fat back
I was attending a borsch “master class” with a neighbor, Natasha. She introduced me to сало… referring to it as the “Ukrainian narcotic.” After trying it, I completely understand!
In response to: Medicated tootsie rolls
I liked it when I was a kid, but when i learned what it is made of, i could not eat it ever again
In response to: Soccer match
Good for you. To my surprise, I just watched the Russia/Brazil Volleyball final. Russia was incredible!
In response to: Observatory
Last night was the peek of the Perseid shower. Since it always reminds me of you I’m sorry you didn’t go later for a late dinner and late night picnic.
In response to: Soccer match
I’m on the DL about sports, but I love football and can tolerate Baseball, but soccer is one step above Golf in my view :) I’m so American it’s tragic, but the good news is people under 30 in the US esp. in the PNW love soccer, play soccer at a much higher rate than Football and away higher rate then Basketball. So, in another 50 years I think the US will catch up with the rest of the world, and we’ll have at last, a true world sport. Good thing I won’t be around for it :) Sadly I love sports, as long as other people are playing them. Much like art every activity needs its viewers!
In response to: Tatar/Russian cooking class
I just have to comment about the modernizations in the former Soviet Union. (Even “the former Soviet Union” phrase itself seems out dated) I just can’t get over how modern things have become with consumer goods and services; things that I couldn’t dream of in 1988 would ever arrive. To see a Russian professional kitchen tricked out like Bobby Flay, to see the Russian TV’s version of “America’s Got Talent” to click into a Russian radio talk show stream and hear the casual talk you’d never hear back in Soviet days (the hosts jocularly ripping on the French stereotypes, for example). I wonder what are the reflections on the Soviet days? The 30 and younger crowd probably are greatly separated from the 40 and up. But, that’s just speculation. I don’t know.
Don responds: You are precisely correct. The under-30s have a great lack of knowledge about the Soviet period. Very soon the younger people (under-20s) won’t have a clear memory of the economic crises of the 90s. They also have an almost complete lack of fear as well, which of course is an excellent development.
In response to: Flashback
Is that snow painted on like Santa’s Castle? I know they do that at the North Pole in Alaska. it’s not very attractive in summer :)
And my, how you’ve … Filled out :)
Don responds: Nah, those are just white roofs.
Yup, I’m now a standard fat American. Time to get back on the stair master.
In response to: Tatar/Russian cooking class
More Salad, is that a seasonal thing?
Don responds: Green salads are not a major item in Russia. “Salad” often means a bunch of chopped boiled meat bound together with mayo.
In response to: Okay, okay, I admit it
Oh La La, and china? WHAT? Do you get a “Big Breakfast” or do they serve something more local. I figure with WFI those places would be packed with Americans.
Don responds: Nope, I just had coffee.
The menu is quite American at McDonald’s, with a few quirks, like the shrimp wrap.
In response to: Shoes
Oh no, they are now all the rage, in leather and in shiny plastic. mostly Black but, colors are arrving. Eveyrone wants to be tall.
In response to: Old new
Glad to see Hyundai is spending my money well :)
In response to: Musical memories
And if I remember correctly.. last summer was loaded with music from P!nk :) I make very short playlists that I just play on repeat whenever I’m walking/riding around.. which I’m sure is setting me up for a similar effect.
In response to: Flashback
Now I’m scratching my head. My trip was with Del Phillips the summer of 1988. Leningrad, Novgorod, Moscow. I swear you were my roommate, but then I can’t remember… Wait, that guy from Tucson who when by the nick name Shalom was also on the trip as well. You introduced me to him. Or am I just dreaming things?
Don responds: My error: you are right. I was part of the trip with Del in 1988. And it would make sense that we were roommates; you would have been one of the few people whose judgment I would have trusted enough to room with.
