612 Days

It is our 612th day since our move to Russia.  My "date counter" app I originally downloaded to count down the days until our move served it's original purpose, and since the day of our move, rather than deleting it, it now counts up.  Occasionally, I like to check the number of days, and then say, "Ryan, guess how many days we've been in Russia."  I love to hear his guess, and then see the look of surprise when I tell him a much higher number.

In honor of Day 612, I have been PACKING for my trip back to the States.  Nothing celebrates living in Russia better than packing for a trip.  :)  Seriously, in honor of our home in Novorossiysk, I shall share a few pictures...

Taken at dusk, one day last week.  I love the tall, climbing clouds.  

Good Morning!!
Seriously, I would love to see this every morning when I pull up the blinds.
I saw pictures two other expat wives took of this exact morning.  They live on a higher floor, so you could also see the sun's reflection on the water, beautiful.

This was actually taken 10 minutes ago.

 In case you are feeling extra studious, here is the always reliable, mind filling, wealth of knowledge, Wikipedia (funny, funny), to teach you a bit more about the city we reside in..... :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novorossiysk

FYI Novorossiysk has 12 sister cities, one being Gainesville, Florida.  Who knew?  

This new piece of knowledge, started me on a lengthy search of United States sister cities.  

This time tomorrow, I will be in Moscow, reunited with Ryan.  If I had to guess, I will probably either be doing my "happy dance" in honor of our trip, or complaining about how cold I am (winter temperatures are already creeping into the Moscow area). Either way, I will be with Ryan, so I must pack.  Inspired by the Russian Matryoshka dolls, I usually "nest" my luggage when I return to the States, then when I return to Russia, I "unnest" them and I have two suitcases to fill with all my purchases.  This time, I need only one suitcase because Ryan and I will be purchasing two new pieces of luggage for an upcoming vacation with VERY specific luggage restrictions.  No fear though, my huge purple suitcase will be joining me on this trip.  She has not made a trip for quite some time, and when I finally pulled her down from the closet shelf, I thought to myself, "shoot.....I could totally fit in there."  At the same time, I was also thinking, "gosh......I hope that's big enough."  The camera was already out, so.....

A nice mirror view of the suitcase and our gym room which always turns into my packing room before trips.  

I tried to think of a way to curl up in the suitcase, but the 10 second self-timer doesn't leave much time for cramming and curling.
Plus, the metal support bars are not the most comfortable.
  

 Packing is always a conflicting array of emotions.  I hate the actual packing process, and the worries about not forgetting something, or packing too much, but the knowledge of knowing that I am going on a trip just puts a little extra "pep in my step" and a smile on my face.

*In case you were wondering, the purple suitcase is NO WHERE near full.  I take as little as I possibly can home, and allow myself tons of room to bring all my new purchases back to Russia.  T-2 days until my toes hit American soil, and the shopping begins.....

Chopped

With our upcoming trip to the States, Ryan and I inevitably ventured to the topic of food.  It seems every expat daydreams about returning to the States and partaking in the long awaited, comfort meal, food, or restaurant.  I am pretty positive Ryan may stop at the Taco Bell immediately upon leaving Bush Airport in Houston (we did during our April trip).  Luckily, I fulfilled my craving (twice) of Pumpkin Spice Latte during my last trip through Moscow, so I may take a day or two before I stop at a Starbucks.  Ok, that's a lie, I will stop at Starbucks immediately after leaving O'Hare.  

But when it ultimately comes down to it, I do not have many foods/restaurants I crave.  I have been thinking about it, Kashi cereal, sweet potatoes with applesauce, and normal tasting milk ranks pretty high on my list (hint, hint Mom).  In terms of food, I guess the thing I miss most is Food Network television shows (stop laughing), specifically Chopped.  With the weather being cold, and the fireplace hopefully ready for the season (hint, hint Dad) I will snuggle up to some new episodes. 

The past couple weeks, between Ryan's return from Moscow, and his recent departure to Kazakhstan, I cooked up my own culinary challenges.  Since I am the only contestant, and the judge is my husband, it's a win-win situation!  I have yet to be Chopped...

Round One: Dessert
Who doesn't love dessert?
Chocolate cake.  

What makes dessert even better?
Adding berries soaked in Brandy to the top of your chocolate cake and ice cream.  

The challenge ingredient.  Ryan found this at the grocery store and wanted me to buy it.
My response, "Ryan, I don't need chocolate ricotta.  What will I make?"  
His response, "I don't know, but you'll think of something, and it'll be good."

    

Round Two: Breakfast
Coffee with donut.  

Finally found a donut pan!  First time making apple donuts.
I earned extra points from the judge, when he was awoken Saturday morning by the inviting smell of fresh donuts.  

Round Three: Dinner
Challenge "ingredient" Smoker Bag.
Recent find at the grocery store.
Stubb's was brought from the States. 

If only the camera could capture aromas.
Barbecue Chicken

 

Final Round: Comfort Meal
Homemade tomato soup with Prosciutto, Basil, Pesto Grilled Mozzarella Sandwich
My personal favorite.

I know the "Rounds" do not coincide with the show (appetizer, entree, and dessert), nor did all the rounds take place in a single day, but as I mentioned earlier, I am the only contestant, and coincidentally the director and producer, so I make the rules. 

Beatrice and Eleanor

Today, Ryan set off for another business trip to Kazakhstan.  After a wonderful, long weekend, I was especially saddened to see him go.  What makes for a wonderful weekend in Russia?  Allow me to paint the picture, 7+ hours, snuggled up on the couch, lunch, snacks, drinks, dinner, popcorn, M&Ms, fireplace turned on, cozy blanket, and......wait for it....... Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures.  Yes, you read correctly, I, Virginia Lee, watched (and effectively awarded myself "Wife of the Year" Award) Raiders of the Last Ark, Temple of Doom, and Last Crusade.  Ryan was stunned that I had never (to my recollection) seen any of the Indiana Jones movies.  We decided to pass on the fourth movie, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Ryan is not a huge fan, and I was reaching, if not already surpassed my movie watching limit.  I have no desire to hear the Indiana Jones intro music for a long, very long, long time......

Refocus.....

Ryan left today, I stayed in Novorossiysk (absolutely no desire to visit Kazakhstan), but as always, Ryan had his two companions (Beatrice and Eleanor) along for the journey.  If you do not know them already, Beatrice is his Blackberry, Eleanor is his laptop. Since they are his ever present companions, I named each.  I chose female names because that way I can make entertaining comments about his "other women" (strictly a joke, I have absolutely no worries of Ryan with other women).  I chose the names based on the modest, unsexy sounding image Beatrice and Eleanor exude  (no offense to any ladies named either Beatrice or Eleanor).  The names lighten the mood when you are able to say:

"Beatrice is flashing again!"

(when the little red light flashes to show a new message)  

"Eleanor is not invited to Italy."

(though she did end up joining us)

Last week, Ryan came home for lunch and announced, "Eleanor died today."  I stifled my excitement thinking no computer until he goes back to the United States, I was OH, SO WRONG.  He had already been issued a replacement.  He asked if I was going to give his new computer a new name.  I loved Eleanor so much, I decided to stick with it,  "What about Eleanor 2.0?"  "It may be newer, but it's nothing fancier, more like 1.1" was Ryan's response.  So the ladies remain Beatrice and Eleanor (1.1)....

Ryan on the ferry in Indonesia, with Beatrice and Eleanor...

Beatrice may always be present, but she does prove herself very helpful.  I especially love her Google map (now that I know how to use it), and in Italy, when my camera was packed away, and I did not want to get it out, she was a very good photographer....

So many Smart Cars in Rome.  Ryan and I particularly enjoyed this clever twist on parallel parking.  Two thumbs up for thinking outside the box, and getting that last available parking space.  

On the train from Rome to Naples....Ryan's first experience with Italian coffee.
The true espresso shot.  (Notice Eleanor in the picture, but I will give Ryan credit, Eleanor only came out of the backpack during our train rides, his email sync time).
A gentleman sitting next to us on our train from Rome to Venice provided me with a new term, "computer widow."  He saw Ryan working on his computer, then looked at me, "So, you're a computer widow?"  The man and his wife, and Ryan and I all had a good laugh.

I have never seen sexier female cops, than in Naples.  When we first arrived at our hotel, we were walking into the lobby as these two officers were leaving.
At the same time, Ryan and I both whispered to each other, "Someone must have been awfully naughty." Referencing the fact that they were strippers, dressed as police officers.
To our surprise, we saw them actually out patrolling the street near our hotel.
My response, "Hmmm, so they're actually officers.  I guess I was wrong."

Ryan, Beatrice and Eleanor are currently in transit to Kazakhstan.  I wish the three of them safe travels. It is a very short trip, Ryan and I reunite Friday, in Moscow!  I leave for Moscow Friday, and on Saturday we fly to the wonderfully comfortable, English speaking, shopping galore, always my favorite country, United States of America!!!!   

The incredibly insightful treat...

I have a big sweet tooth with a tremendous craving for, among other things, chocolate.  Daily, I put forth a strong effort to restrain my cravings.  Russia does a fair share of restricting my choices, the available baked goods are nothing to write home about, which leads me to baking my own sweet treats.  One treat I allow myself daily (proclaiming it's for the antioxidants, as a way to refer to it as healthy) is a piece of Dove Dark Chocolate.  I don't remember the exact month I stumbled upon these treats, but they have been present in our apartment for quite some time.  I prefer the Dark Chocolate, Ryan prefers the Milk Chocolate with Toffee pieces.

By now you are probably saying to yourself, why are you blogging about chocolate?  We all know you love chocolate, as well as any other normal woman.  The Dove Promises, like the ones sold in the United States contain little, insightful messages inside.  What makes them even more incredible, is that they are written in Russian.  So......if I want my daily dose of "promise" along with the antioxidants, my American mind is forced to translate.  It's a workout for the mind.

For a few weeks I saved my wrappers, piling them away, telling myself I would translate them.  A few of the messages I was actually able to translate completely while enjoying my chocolate, the rest I understood a portion of the message, but needed to seek the assistance of the Russian dictionary.

Consider this your largest Russian lesson to date.  Enjoy "reading" the actual message on the wrapper, and then reading the English translation.  One message, in particular was incredibly on par with the events of that particular day.  Also, I have not eaten a Dove Promise from the United States for an extended period of time, but I do not remember the messages being as long as the Russian versions.  I chose a few of my "favorites" pertaining to our current life experiences, or that just bring a smile to my face.

The incredibly insightful treat....

Give yourself a day, free of care...

Don't hurry with an answer, begin by sorting out your feelings...

Do not fear to take a step, the game is worth the candles....
More commonly known phrase "The gains are worth the risk."

This week you will be successful in everything.....

Hurry up, otherwise you may miss the most interesting things.....

Soon, something pleasant and unexpected will happen.....

It's a good time for pondering what you will do in the future.....

The day I left for Moscow, before our trip to Italy, I ate this chocolate!
Gather your bags, soon you will go on a nice journey.....

Try to give more time to that, which makes you happy....

It's the small things in our daily lives that can bring a smile to our face.  Not only does chocolate make me smile, but also the message each treat provides.  Maybe I will celebrate today, and have an extra piece, I wonder what message waits inside.....

Speaking of things that make me happy, I must make a correction to my previous post concerning Halloween.  I mentioned that I was saddened by the lack of trick-or-treaters, BUT that evening, after posting, we had two groups of trick-or-treaters ring our doorbell!!!!!!  The first group was a trio of Russian girls, dressed in all black with black whiskers drawn on their faces.  They may have been the ones trick-or-treating but I think I may have been more excited!  I grabbed a few suckers we had, and some of our Dove chocolates to give them.  Later in the evening, our doorbell rang again, this time it was two of the children from our Chevron team.  I was so excited to have trick-or-treaters!!!  It was also an insightful experience, while dropping my candy into their containers, I glanced inside and noticed they had collected, among other things, chestnuts, figs, candy, and roubles (Russian money).  Either they caught families off guard, or Russian families have yet to fully learn the guidelines of Halloween trick-or-treating.....

Happy Halloween!

Though I may not be able to participate in passing out candy to all the adorable trick-or-treaters, and Ryan and I are not attending any Halloween parties dressed in costume, I would like to pass along a Happy Halloween to everyone reading our blog.

It seems, each year in Russia brings about more Western "comforts."  Do not get me wrong, there are many comforts I desperately miss while abroad (my list would fill pages), but rather than dwell on the list, and things I cannot change, I will celebrate the small things that made this Halloween.....happy.

I mentioned this last year, and again earlier this year, I desperately wanted to find carve-able pumpkins.  I missed the opportunity last year, but I was determined to succeed.  Success was on the menu, I found a small, white pumpkin at the local market (success #1) and then stumbled upon Halloween pumpkins in our nearby grocery store (success #2).  Bear with me a moment as I ramble about a theory I have:

I do not know how grocery store "ordering" takes place.  I like to think there is a person in charge of ordering all items that stock the shelves.  It also brings me joy to think that this designated person flips through a grocery store "catalog" choosing various items.  With that said, I believe the "orderer" at our nearby grocery store, flips through the catalog and thinks to himself "I wonder what crazy things an American, expat wife would buy?"  He then proceeds to order those items, stock the shelves, and sit back to be delightfully entertained when I walk in, spot the new item, then proceed to let out small cheers, occasionally breaking into a "happy dance" and buy up a large portion of the stock.  

Case in point, Halloween pumpkins.......

Rambling complete; I believe this theory is correct because from my discussions with local Russians, Halloween is not a popular "holiday" (though it is growing) and last year, while questioning my Russian teacher about where I may locate a carve-able pumpkin, she shrugged her shoulders and said she didn't believe there were any.  So, the pumpkins were not purchased for the general population, but rather for the entertaining reactions of expats walking into the store.  Regardless, it brought me great joy (and I am pretty positive, the nearby employee who witnessed my reaction was greatly entertained). 

Our Western, commercialized pumpkin and our Russian pumpkin. 

Saturday, Ryan and I carved our pumpkins,  They are small but mighty.  I was afraid upon first cut we would find mold, or some other nastiness inside, but they were great.  Their small size made cleaning and carving quite difficult.  We prevailed and were handsomely rewarded.  I was so excited to have pumpkins sitting in our window!

Ryan was going to challenge the commercialized pumpkin. 

I wanted to carve the Russian pumpkin.
Russian lesson.... pumpkin - тыква

Tiniest pumpkins.
Both of us had to throw away our "lids."
After cleaning the pumpkins, the lids fell through the openings. 

Finished products!

Ryan chose a bat.
Bat - летучая мышь
(literally means, flying mouse)

I chose ghosts because of the white pumpkin.
I also decided to carve ghosts around the entire pumpkin.
Ghost - привидение

And, since every American holiday includes food of some sort, Halloween being no exception with the plethora of candy purchases.  With the lack of trick-or-treaters, we do not have large amounts of candy sitting around, but we did incorporate Halloween treats.

During his trip to Houston, in September Ryan surprised me (though I shouldn't have been) with bringing these back!  Ryan LOVES his Oreos.  

Since I didn't join Ryan in Houston.....insert sad face and a sigh..... I resorted to a homemade Halloween treat.  
Sweet pumpkin seeds.  

Since I can't help myself, I made a treat for the office....hypnotizing Russian tastebuds one treat at a time.  I heard from Ryan, and an email from my friend at the office, the puppy chow was a big hit.  

To everyone celebrating Halloween with costumes, parties, and trick-or-treaters feel free to share pictures and stories, I will live vicariously through you!

What were popular costumes?

What was the best costume?

What was the cutest trick-or-treater dressed as?

And please have a piece of Halloween candy for me!

Lagoons and Islands

Our last full day in Italy was spent venturing around the surrounding lagoons and islands (link to photo album) of Venice.  We boarded a small, wooden boat and set off.  The tour made a stop at a small, quiet island where St. Francis of Assisi built a church.  Friars still live on the island and provide tours.  Not only was this a wonderful experience, but I was also an interesting coincidence, Ryan always wears a necklace with the image of St. Francis of Assisi.  The Friar that showed us around was very surprised and pleased when Ryan showed him the necklace.

We continued on, and made our way to Burano Island, famous for the lace makers and Murano Island, famous for the glassblowing.  Both islands were filled with colorful buildings.

The extremely low bridges make the game of "Duck" so much more extreme and necessary. 

Later in the day, Ryan and I returned to Murano Island to tour the Murano Glass Workshop.  It was incredible to watch a man work the the fire-hot glass, and create a vase in minutes, and then a fish.  I particularly enjoyed the tour, not only for the skill in the artwork, but the warmth coming from the ovens (a nice contrast to the cooler, damp weather outside).

Finally, on our last day, we found the mask store I had heard so much about.  We did not take the class on the history of Venetian masks, or make our own masks, but we did enjoy trying on various kinds.  We learned that the masks became popular as a way for the upper class to conceal their identity when participating in public gambling matches, or other less proper activities.   I was surprised how heavy some masks were, or the necessity small nose holes could make for breathing while the wearing the mask.

Definitely needed nose holes (not simply painted), was nearly impossible to breath with the mask on. 

Tough man, suggested he start wearing this to his meetings. 

And, all good things must come to an end.  Our day ended with another lovely dinner, and yet another brave culinary experience of local cuisine.  As Ryan said, I was a "big-girl" and order the mussel soup, which was probably one of my most favorite choices of the trip, AND Venice's trademark cuttlefish.  The shocking black color actually has very little flavor.  I was an extremely dainty eater and avoided black-stained teeth.

Perfect ending to our last night in Italy.....gelato. 

The following morning we boarded a taxi boat and were off to the airport.  It was saddening to say good-bye, but I know (fingers severely crossed) we will venture back to Italy in the future.

A very early flight allowed us to watch the sun rise during our ride to the airport.  

A Venetian water highway.

An unusual first, arriving at an airport arrivals, on a boat.
One nice thing, no crazy traffic officers whistling, and hustling people along. 

Ciao...