Hiiiii everyone. Hope the weekend has been good. I’ll pick up where I left off with Friday.
On Friday, our task at work was to extract and analyze our RNA to see if it had degraded (hopefully not) and to see if we could go ahead and sequence the RNA the following week. We followed protocol after protocol, and I was able to do a lot. Katya and I had a great assembly line going. By the end of the day, we finally got our results and lo and behold we still had RNA! Some of it was dirty (not so good), but hey, at least we hadn’t just wasted 3 days on trying to obtain obsolete RNA. Ура!
After work, I told my friend Julie that I would meet her for dinner. Julie is actually one of Susan’s friends (Susan from abroad), who I met on her visit St. Petersburg in the Fall. I obviously hadn’t made a huge/deep connection with her (we had only met that once), but I knew that she was still living in Moscow so I contacted her. (She’s been here 9 months and about to go back to America next week.) I’m so happy I reached out! We met at Park Kultyri Metro, and from there went to find a place to eat. Since it was POURING, we stopped at the first place we found, which happened to be a sandwich place. We chatted and caught up – it was nice to feel like we had similar experiences in that we both came to Moscow alone and didn’t know anyone etc. Good to share stories.
We had been sitting there maybe an hour, when an older man sits down nearby. At the time, we were talking about different places in the USA (and of course talking in English), and upon hearing us, he asked us if we’re from the USA. I’m always wary of strangers (especially in Russia), so I kind of just nodded and turned away. But then he mentioned that he lived in America for 10 years… so that got our attention. Anyways, the three of us end up talking for almost an hour! He has a crazy amazing life and had so many stories. Apparently, he’s an executive chef, and moves to different locations almost every year. He’s lived in London, Paris, Istanbul, St. Petersburg, Austria, Pakistan, China, Dubai, Vienna, Turkey, NYC, LA, Boston, Moscow…. And that was only half of the ones he MENTIONED. There’s probably been dozens others.
Anyways, it just sounded like an incredible life…. Traveling, staying in nice hotels (since he caters a lot too), eating good food (hello chef)… What more could you ever want in life? Now he has a wife and child, so I think he’s starting to realize this part of his life is soon coming to a close; you can’t just leave your child 6 months at a time. He also speaks so many languages. In just the hour we were talking, he spoke English, Russian, German (with Julie), and a Muslim language. It was so interesting to talk with him.
We were talking about traveling and why it’s so important, etc, and he said something in regards to the fact that people are often stuck in their own ways. It’s not about not having time to learn new cultures/languages or even laziness….. it’s about opening yourself up to a new life and a new mindset. People don’t do that. He said that when he was in Pakistan, he saw children brainwashed from birth to like certain ideas, to not like certain ideas, to have these sets of rules, to know what this is, to do this every day, etc. They are taught how to think and how to act not only from their parents or inherited genes, but also from society. I don’t think America is much different. Maybe guns aren’t thrown at children, but kids are still taught what to think and HOW to think. This is a huge problem. Traveling opens your eyes to be able to think through different lenses. And maybe not even “think” through a different lens, but BE that lens.
He made some comment that of course “Russia” and “USA” don’t get along…. But that’s all political bullshit! Go to Russia! Meet the people! Live there! Eat the food, study the language, be the culture… We talk in countries as if they are these faraway ideologies, but WITHIN countries, there are real people. So many conflicts could be resolved with such simple and elementary solutions. Sigh.
Anyways. It was great talking. He advised us to do the work we love, but to also make money so that you can do OTHER things you love. He also somehow knew I was Irish…. He said I could almost pass for “Slavic” but not for “Russian” since my eyes were too lively. I guess I am not the closed off Russian soul, am I? L
After a while, Julie and I left. She had invited me to go to a bar with some of her friends, so I agreed (not in a place to deny friendship), and off we went. I had a White Russian, and we sat and chatted, and waited for her two friends to come. It was nice talking (one was Russian), and eventually I went home via metro.
The next day was Saturday! I got up around 10am in order to meet Balaban and the family to go to the aquapark. I explained what an aquapark is when I was abroad in Petersburg, but just to reiterate, an aquapark is an indoor waterpark with huge slides, other water games, a lazy river, a pool with ocean waves, places to eat, etc. etc. The aquapark in Petersburg was even complete with a full Banya! This one was a little smaller, but still really nice.
We all had a great time in the water. I was mostly hanging with Dasha and Katya and we were going on all the slides and yelling and having just so much fun! I'm so sad that they're going to live with their biological father now for 3 months. It's fun hanging out with kids that age (especially girls) since I was exactly like them and am able to relate to them. We were at the park maybe 4 or 5 hours (we all ate food too), and then left.
Balaban had also invited me back to their house to learn how to make borcht. SO we did that, and I wrote down all the steps and ingredients. When I get back to the US, I want to make borcht for everyone! So please find me and let's cook weeeee!
After cooking, chatting, eating, and tea (duh), the girls and I went for a walk to a park. The park was equipped with rides and roller coasters for kids, and when the girls found the trampoline, they quickly jumped to it (pun intended). I mostly people-watched and took videos of the girls. They loved the videos and asked that I send them via Viber later that day. Afterwards they asked that we go watch a 5D "horror" clip (obviously the horror part was not my choices). Luckily, the movie wasn't scary at all, and it was cool to be in a little black box theater the three of us, getting water sprayed on us, and getting shaken around. There was also wind, 3D glasses, and supposedly Dasha felt something grab her legs. We were all laughing and screaming, it was great. On the way home, I learned how to ride a Doska! I had never seen one before, but they look kind of like a skateboard but instead of 2 wheels on each side, there was 1. With the help of the girls, I was actually able to ride it. Turning was difficult, but hey, who needs turning anyway?
One interesting thing on the way back happened... We were just talking, and somehow marriage came up. I asked both of them if they wanted to get married, and they both said no! I was surprised they answered this way, since I know there is still a lot of pressure on women in Russia to get married and have a family. They asked if I had a boyfriend, and I answered "yes," and then they wanted to hear the story and see a picture, etc. It was cute; I felt like an older sister. I miss my real sissy poo! (HAIIIIII KRISTIN).
I honestly can't emphasize enough how lovely and caring the family is. They did NOT have to do nearly as much as they have done for me; to say that they've gone above and beyond would be an understatement. I'm so happy to have met them and to have had the conversations and shared experiences that we did. When I finally left them in the evening, I hugged everyone, and we bid our goodbyes. It's sad how life brings people together for such short amounts of time.
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