May 26: We're at Granma's

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I let Darina drive me to her apartment in the beautiful city of Ufa. Darina was a fulltime employee who took care of her mother and her 8 year old son. There in her apartment was her mother and her son eager to greet me. Tehy gave me some Russian dishes to try when I got a bit hungry. They had prepared sliced potatoes and a special Russian soup called Borsh. I got to talk with the young boy and we ended up talking about school and translations for Russian and English words. Still struggling to speak in Russian, I managed to hold a conversation with everyone without many problems, just sometimes. When it was time to go to bed, it was already 12:00 AM and it was time to go to sleep. Since there were only 2 mattresses and the 4 of us, I was paired with Darina's mother. Soon we were all asleep in a nick of time.



At 5 in the morning, I used the bath to wash up and used the opportunity to wash my hair. It was pretty oiled up and I dont think I could handle it any more. Sieze the moment they say. I spend 10 minutes in the bath before I had to go. I was going with Darina's mother to Maigaza, a small but beautiful village where my Grandmother Liza lives. Since Darina would not come with us, we had to go by taxi.



On the way, we picked up my Aunt Lara and my cousin Sonia from another airport in Ufa and we headed off to our little Maigaza. I got to talk with Sonia, learning she is now a 9 year old girl who takes after her father, and will be going to 5th grade soon. I listened to music and tried to sleep. If you are the kind of person who can't sleep when it's daytime, then welcome aboard.



A couple of hours later, we made it to Maigaza, and was immediately bombarded by all sorts of relatives. It was still morning when I came and I had meet my grandmother Liza, my great uncle Yuri, and many more relatives. My grandmother Liza cooked steak especially for this day, and meat is not cheap in this region of the world. I drank tea from the popular tea brand Princess Hyupa with many relatives, and shared my violin skill and stories with them all. By the end of the day, had to bid goodbye to everyone who had come to meet me. It was a nice day to meet everyone and I'm glad I get to meet my relatives face to face.



These two months here will be like a adventure. A girl within close reach to some of Russia's most beautiful landscapes.

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