С Днём Защитнка Отечество or Happy Protectors of our Fatherland Day!

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In Russia, there are two holidays, akin to Mother’s and Father’s Day. March 8th is like Mother’s Day, except that it is for all women… all women. March 8th is International Women’s Day. (I’m looking forward to this holiday) February 25th is the day for men, obviously akin to Father’s Day, although it really could apply to either men or women. February 24th is “Protectors of our Fatherland” Day. Why fatherland and not motherland, I’m not quite sure, but generally men receive some kind of gift and are congratuled.

I spent Protectors of our Fatherland Day with an old friend, Nadia Arikova. Last year when I was in Gorno-Altai, my mom and I lived with a wonderful woman named Nadia. She fed us, took care of a visa registration discrepancy for us, and exposed us to the ancient Altai culture (including gifts for me, my mom, brother, sister and father). She was really an excellent host. She also took us to her friend’s birthday party (I know I’ve told some of you the story of several hours and more than several shots of Russian vodka…), to her dacha to see the beautiful mountains of Altai, and to our first real Russian banya. I should also mention that none of the other dentists on the trip got to experience anything like this, so she really went out of her way to give us a sampling of Russian culture.

Nadia also has a true appreciation for nature, the ancient civilization of the Altai, and life in general. We even made friends with her adorable fluffy mutt of a dog, Monya. It is with great sadness that I report that Monya met an untimely death. She was hit by a car this January. Monya (and Buffy) remain the only small fluffy “cutsey” dogs that I have ever really gotten along with. Sorry small fluffy dog owners of the world, I respect and like your pets, I just don’t feel a kinship with them.

Anyway, on Feb. 24th, Nadia picked me up from downtown Biysk. She also had a Rotarian exchange student with her, a girl from Oregon. Together we went to a Rotarian event—a car race… on snow and ice. Somewhere on the edge of Biysk there is a car-racing track that is functional even in winter. The Rotarian Clubs of Biysk, Barnaul and Gorno-Altai all gathered with their (quite nice) cars. We snacked on cheese, kolbasi and cognac, then took a spin during the practice run.

For the next few hours, different members from the different Rotarian Clubs raced their cars around the racecourse, trying to get the best speed. It was interesting to watch, but it was quite windy, so I spent a lot of time inside Nadia’s car chatting with the exchange student from Oregon. I have to give her a lot of credit. When she arrived in Russia, she knew maybe three words, and now she understands a lot of Russian. Furthermore, it was evident that she didn’t even want to speak English. Period. No English, even with a fellow American. To go that long without speaking can be difficult, but it definitely helps you learn a language faster. I wish I could have the same immersion experience again, but alas, it is my job to speak English, and generally detrimental for me to speak English with my students.

After everyone had had the opportunity to race, we went to the best restaurant I’ve been to in Russia so far (granted that I haven’t been to many). The restaurant is called “Cherry” (no translation necessary) and was very nicely decorated with stylish black, white, and shiny patterned flowers. The bathrooms were exceptional, and the menu was quite large. I won’t say that the chicken I ate was the best thing ever, but it was very tasty. For dessert we had excellent poppy blini (think poppy seed filled crepes) with an apple glaze. Yummy. Definitely the best dessert in Russia so far, just don’t take a drug test. Dessert as an opiate or… Dessert—the opiate?

After lunch/dinner we tried to go to a museum in Biysk (a different one from the one I have pictures of in the Biysk entry), but it was closed because of the holiday, so we showed the exchange student a few of the pretty old buildings in Old Biysk. We even went into Upensky Cathedral (see pics in the Biysk entry). There was a religious service going on and I must say that the church had the best church choir. Ever. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing was actually live. I wish I had had a recording device of some sort. One of my main goals is to go to the church before I leave and record a bit of them. The voices were perfect and eerie. Intonation and tone are a thing of the past. This music was pure emotion, perfect and complete. It really was awe-inspiring. Enough said.

After that, I returned home and relaxed a bit. For dinner we had a real feast. Sasha made Sashlik (roasted/grilled meat) and the Shashlik was piled on top of lettuce and had sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. Plus we had a very nice Carmenere. I will remember the Day of Our Protectors of Our Fatherland as a day of exceptional food.

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Comments

[Sandra]

I remember the story of the warm vodka shots...which I thought was just silly until I tried it. :-)