Day 38 ~ Village and Home Again

9. August ~ Last Day at the Village

Today was a fun day! I slept in again and for breakfast we had these really good muffin things. They reminded me a lot of the equivalent of English muffins at home, but they were filled in the center. There were three kinds, berries, potatoes, and cheese. Before eating them Olga insisted on putting loads of melted butter on them. It was very good, and potato was my favorite.

I spent most of the day outside watching what Olga was doing. Last night she had started cutting grass and today she was finishing. I offered to help my raking up the cut grass but of course she never wants me to help. While I was out thought Olga found this really neat looking caterpillar so I was entertained for quite a while watching it. You’ll have to see the pictures I took; it had really cool looking markings on it.

I came in a little bit and did some reading and jut relaxed. Over the weekend I finally finished My Stroke of Insight, great book, I recommend it! Anyways, once Olga was finished with grass cutting we got ready and went back home.

The ride home didn’t seem as long or as bumpy but Shira was not amused. She was really unhappy and jumpy the whole time, even hissed at the car a few times. Beesha was fine, sitting in the back seat. On the way back Olga’s Aunt and Uncle came with us, they’re the ones that live a few buildings over from Olga. I had walked to their place last week when her brother was helping them remodel their flooring. At the time I didn’t realize the relation. On the ride home I was thinking about how much time I have left here. I am really going to miss Russia, I wish I could come back again to the village, I wish I could do many more things again!

I really enjoyed the village. Just being able to sit and relax and hear the birds, chickens, dogs, cats and everything was great. Having the nice sunshine and warm breeze, the smell of freshly cut grass or the overriding smell of smoke from a wood burning stove was really nice. I enjoyed it all and knew I would miss it the minute we all left.

I remember noticing how many people were riding their bikes, families outside, children playing and just how many people were outside and just doing whatever in the village. There were lots of random dogs here and there running around and I don’t know if they were strays or not. Overall the environment was just very different from anything I would expect to see at home, and it was nice to know that people still ride their bikes to get around, and walk everywhere and spend so much time outside doing daily activities.

Another thing that impressed me is that every house in the village seemed to have its own fenced in area where the people would be growing their own crops, be it vegetables or fruits. I understand being in the village you have to be able to sustain some of your own goods, but again it was just neat to see. It seems that the people are very capable of making it on their own, know how to cook and take care of preparing and preserving and growing food. I wish I knew how, it makes me want to have a large garden. I understand even more so now when Stas said that the Russian people have survived for years, and would be very able to get themselves through a crisis.

Another thought, some of the houses in the village look so worn and I realize they are probably very old and it makes me wonder, how well do these houses fair in the wintertime. I noticed in our house there was a woodstove in the middle of the house, but other than that, I really wonder how people survive. Obviously, they manage but some of the places look like they could use fixing up. I know that as an outsider it’s easy for me to say that, and maybe I shouldn’t think that way but it’s a thought. Overall, the look and feel of the country is something very wonderful in itself, perhaps I shouldn’t be thinking of how it needs fixing, but that it’s quite perfect as it is.

When we got home Olga and I spent the night relaxing. We were both really tired. For dinner Olga made mushrooms and potatoes! I was excited; she had never prepared me wild mushrooms before. Apparently she picked them in the village. Anyways, they were sautéed with lots of butter in the frying pan and it tasted soo good.

I don’t know what type of mushrooms they were but they tasted very different from any other mushroom I’ve ever had before. I can’t really describe how they tasted, but they were great!

After dinner we relaxed more and the news happened to come on. Olga brought my attention to a story based out of NYC. Apparently they mentioned a crash with a helicopter and a small plane in NYC where 9 people died. This is the only time I’ve heard anything about America or the US on the news since I’ve been here so that was interesting. Olga doesn’t watch the television or news to much, and I haven’t really missed it.

Olga and I were headed to bed early, back to work tomorrow for both of us!

Love, Sasha.

Picture Link: Russia ~ Day 37, 38 ~ Village and the Banya!