Monday, October 7, 2013

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

3 comments:

  1. Yay!! Finally a pic of your host family! It's fun for me to finally put a face to these people who you are living with and they are caring for you these four months in St Pete's! The birthday party looks like fun, even if in a cramped space! I hope to see a huge blog post about Moscow soon! Love you!!

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  2. Maegan, The dessert pictured in your post looks like an ice cream cone with some kind of filling. Did it taste like those waffle cones in the US? Also what kind of tea did your host Grandma serve? Was it a herbal tea or the regular tea? How are the class room lessons going? getting easier I hope. Love Grandma Rogers

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    Replies
    1. It was like a waffle cone with a creamy-sugar filling. Yum!

      Lessons are going good! They are getting easier as I figure out what works best.

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