дедушка's birthday

Definition of my дедушка ("deyedooshka") --- loves his cigarettes, loves his balcony on which he smokes his cigarettes, was a musician when he was younger, looks adorable in his robe & house slippers, sometimes comes home drunk, is very hospitable, slow-moving, and all around pure Russian.

My host grandpa is such a nice old man. The only slight problem I've had with him is when I sometimes smell his breath as he talks to me. In those moments of my restrained breathing (I'm not exaggerating here), I wonder if marching myself right then and there down to the grocery store to purchase breath mints--mouthwash--something!--would be rude.

Anyway! Two weekends ago it was my host grandpa's birthday. We had a celebration in their apartment with my host family coming over, and my host mom's brother and family as well. I didn't think that we could fit that many people into such a small space, but alas, it happened. And here are the pictures (my apologies to the fact that I didn't take a ton.)

Our tiny dining room table was extended & pulled away from the wall,

to be used to the top of it's abilities. It's the truth when I

say that we fit seven adults in this small kitchen! If you think your

family gatherings are cramped, come to Russia for perspective.

Here you can see my host grandma preparing for guests arrival,

and, as usual, my host grandpa smoking on the balcony.

Beautiful set up! While in a foreign country you have to

throw your "pickiness" with food completely out of the

window. While I did enjoy some of the food here, I had to work

through the "fishy" dishes.

 

You can see on the table that they had their shot glasses

all ready to go. They were taking shots throughout our

meal, and yes, I joined in with my apple juice.

The coveted picture!

From left to right -- Maxim (my host brother),

Anton (my host dad), Sveta (my host mom) holding

Tonya (my host sister), my babushka & deyedooshka,

Veronica (my host mom's niece), then my host mom's

sister-in-law and brother (sorry to say I have

forgotten their names!)

My host grandma, Alexandra, made these delicious

and slightly addicting desserts. They were so good! Here is me

enjoying them with some tea.

 



If tea and homemade desserts aren't exciting enough, guess what! -- I just got back from a weekend trip in Moscow, folks! My experience with that and pictures of the trip will be on their way shortly.

Love you all,
Maegan