Leaving on a Jet Plane..I don't know when I'll be back again

[ecr844]

What’s there to say it was a pristine day, 90F, not a cloud in the sky. It was hot enough to wish there was a breeze to quell the heat a little bit and evaporate some of the building perspiration. All in all it was a perfect day to fly and definately the start to what my gut says will be an adventure.

I’ve always loved flying, and I enjoy traveling.

Nostalgia…

Soloing for the first time in a Cessna Skyhawk…

The exhilaration of flitting about NOE at 200 knots in a pave hawk . Dodging power lines and other obstacles real or simulated. Your feet hang out the door you’ve got some air circulating about. The fast rope down is usually guaranteed to bring a bit of adrenaline to the party.

Memories of huffing down O2 from an O2 cylinder while standing on the ramp of a C-130 watching the a team of quiet professionals go through their prejump checks and gearing up for a show and tell HAHO jump at 25,000'.

There are just some things that always stick with you. As a Russka I know and who always seems to make me laugh says “I’ll save this on my internal  memory card…” whilst pointing to her head. :^)

No matter what happens I know it’s going to be an adventure….



Disclaimer::: It should be noted that all of the opinions, observations, prejudices, observations, etc.. Are my own. Names , faces and some information has been changed to protect the guilty, and innocent (though they are of a decidedly small minority here ). I welcome constructive criticism, and observations, opinions, etc... Any thought you have of flaming or anything of that vein, please don't waste your time or mine. As always and with everything else Your Mileage May Vary.  All grammar and spelling mistakes are my own, please no lectures.  I am writing this in hopes to help others learn from my experiences, and or not to repeat my mistakes. This is an ongoing story and I will do my best to keep it up to date. I just haven't decided how much about which parts I'm going to share... I'll do my best not to disappoint y'all on the action parts though...This trip I took a number of calculated risks. As with any risk it sometimes may not pay off. I ask the peanut gallery to wait until the TR is complete before pitching in with chiding and opinion on various points. Thanks in advance.
Buckle up boys and girls and enjoy the ride.
 

[ecr844]

- Click here and press play

    It’s no secret things didn’t end well for me last time. I don’t think it was ‘anyone’s fault’ but it happened as life often does. So I did what I could to recover get my head on straight and go on my way towards finding happiness.. For those who are interested my two previous TR’s which I’ve shared about 2 of my trips can be found here on the forum.

     I knew it would take some time and I had a few things I knew would be important and a small amount of experience to back me up. I set about using a variety of methods free, agency, domestic dating, whatever. I was determined to keep an open mind and ready to ‘go with the flow’.

   Whilst keeping one stick in the home fires I found and joined one of the smaller agencies with a good reputation. I’ve found them to be honest and above board in all my dealings with them thus far. They’re making money for sure but hey that’s what they’re in business for so I can’t say I blame them for trying.

   Whilst juggling prospects and dating ‘domestically’ but a wide variety of ladies RW, AW, CW LW, women from all over really. I continued to keep my international options open as well.

   I wrote to 4 women and over time 3 of those ladies were weeded out. Things were going well with the last remaining lady. She was unbeknownst to me until just before she came working on getting a tourist visa to the US.

     While this was going on I was doing my due diligence and planning to hop on a plane to visit her in Belarus. I got in touch with Ed from the forum here and started to pick his brain and see what he would charge to tag along and be my translator. I think Ed is a good guy, so I while we talked I asked him about how much he would charge me to come along and what expected expenses, level of service would be, etc…

     Now good bad or indifferent the jist of the outcome of that conversation was this. Pretty much he said he wasn’t all that interested in going and proceeded to switch to making a sales pitch about 86’ing the BY lady I had been talking to and  paying him to start from scratch. Then we would take a trip together to Siberia or somewhere else where ever we found someone was. Frankly I wasn’t having any of that at this point and told him if things didn’t work out in my current situation I would consider it. Additionally the numbers I was being quoted would have required a significant amount of upfront and short term capital I didn’t have while juggling a variety of women, corresponding, dating, traveling, and living life…. 

     The BY lady was successful in getting aUS visa and we met in Chicago. I met her, her sister, and entire family. Some vague details can be found on this forum if one looks for them. In short, she was honest, genuine, and a great lady but we just weren’t a ‘good match’ and this was something we were only able to determine after spending time together. Things were fine in letters, on the phone and via IM-webcam. It happens…

     After things didn’t work out with her I was back to juggling an on and off again relationship with a Lithuanian woman who had commitment issues. Had new possibilities with a polish woman and one Russka. Things didn’t work out with the Polish lady. The Lithuanians visa was about up and she wasn’t ready to settle down and the Russka broke things off as she had plans to travel for the summer.

     While this was going on I was introduced to a lady that wasn’t listed with any agency but the person that made the introduction thought we would be a good match so it was off to the races once again..

[ecr844]

Once again it was time to delve into correspondence. So the e-mails begun with a translator in the middle. I made an offer to jump on a plane about a month in and see if there was something definitely there in person. That was met with a solid NYET and a it's too soon response.

So the writing continued. Going into the 4th month the hints about a trip and questions started popping up. we discussed it and decided some English lessons were in order first so that we could communicate a little bit as her English ability was essentially 0.

Time moved on and we talked about the best time for my trip. We set a date and I went and got tickets, and started getting squared away with visas, my due diligence and all the fun the pre-trip furor entails.

I was lucky enough to be able to get some assistance and details from a few helpful members here and their advice was immeasurable helpful. I hope to repay the favor someday.

[ecr844]

I was able to find a great deal on airfare and bought my tickets fairly early. My itinerary was not the most desirable but all in all I saved myself about a grand doing it that way.

I was going to be flying from BOS-->JFK-->SVO2--><ground transfer> to SVO1--->MSQ.

I arranged for a car and driver to pick me up in Minsk and I wasn't worried about the transfer to SVO-1 in anything except the time sense as I only had 3 hrs to make the connection....

No worries.....<knock on wood>...

So I had hoped

[ecr844]

You start your morning with a nice cool breeze blowing through your window. You hear the patter of rain drops outside and the klickty-clack of RW heels on pavement. A bird chirps.....The sky is dark and cloudy and it's +25C.


   The rain slows and stops as the morning clears to party cloudy and sunny. The humidity has gone from 100% to a wicked huge drop to a steady 99%. The temps rise to +30. I'd be god damned Fu  :censored: ing surprised if I didn't close my eyes and open them again to find myself in the middle of the rain forest. Pinch...nope still  the FSU.


It's   HOT     and  :censored: STICKY


Picture if you will an open field next to indoor ice skating arena. In the middle of the field is a large tent outside ringed by fencing, carnival rides, trailers and a ticket kiosk. a Cyrillic sign points out the obvious to Dorothy. She's at the Circus and not in Kansas anymore.... Well, Kansas does occasionally turn into a circus but I digress..


Sure tickets to the circus. Your dyev is all about it and it does sound like a great idea...YESTERDAY. You know when you thought to yourself that "Hey,. they probably hold these things in the cool of the evening and not in a sweltering oven of a tent in 99% fu :censored: ng humidity at +30...nah they wouldn't do that. They've done this before that would just be plain foolish.....Maybe they even have like ya know...Fans and stuff to get the air moving...Ya, they probably have that all set up, these are smart and ingenious people..No worries."

Apparently that only occurred to me on the day of that the likely hood of any of that is null and and definately did not occur to the Gypsy's running the joint.


Cost of 2 tickets to the local city circus: 42,000 BYR.
Cost of 4 cold small drinks that were obviously significantly padded to add to the profit margin 10,000 BYR.
Cost of a hand oriental style fan so your RW can fan herself and be cool 3,0000 BYR.
Her bemused look while you get to sit there and suffer: Free...with a bonus smile you are the man after all.
Cost to have the pleasure of using the outhouse-porta potty and 2 squares of TP 500 BYR.
Cost to sit down inside that oven designed to bake the tolerance out of you whilst you watch some poor malnourished an obviously abused animals  and a few humans perform for your semi-conscious enjoyment whilst your RW watches with a smile and relaxed enjoyment along with 150 other of her fellow FSU folks......













PRICELESS......

[ecr844]

One thing that forums and the ability to compare notes with others as well as some experiences in country and with the culture will give you is an opportunity. You have the means and a measure by which to learn and the opportunity to be able to measure and judge your unique situation against what you and others have experienced.

These venues give you the opportunity to be able to take a step back and listen to your own advice and solicit it from others.

No matter what happens even if things don't go the way you'd hoped or expected there is always that potential someone else maybe able to learn from your mistakes and or your situation. Remember not to squander your opportunities as they may prove useful to helping you learn and progress in life.


My mistake is not listening to my gut, and certainly not listening to my instincts. A few other mistakes, were allowing myself to make excuses for someone else when their behavior speaks for itself.  What did I do right? You'll need to stay tuned to find that out.


Once again boys and girls...Listen, and pay attention to the verbal and non-verbal cues someone gives you. Manage your expectations down to a realistic level, and when you see warning signs, do be smart enough to heed them lest you careen off that cliff which is just up the road.

If you're able to do that the future possibilities will remain endless and the story just may have a happy ending. Ignore the obvious and not so obvious and your destined to end up a wrecked mess at the bottom of the ravine.

More to come...Blanks will be filled in and questions answered when I'm back from my FSU roller coaster ride.

[ecr844]

While communicating with my lady she always came across as a bit reserved but 100% legit. Having encountered this before it seemed as though things would turn around once we met in person and things were more ‘real’ for her. I spoke to her English teacher and a few other folks who knew both of us and they said ‘Don’t worry she’s excited and really interested and things will turn around when you’re together.’

I got prepared and loaded my luggage with gifts for her and her family. We had shared quite a bit about our families and daily lives and so I wanted to show her that some thought and effort went into their selection and also that just as her family is important to her they would be important to me in our relationship.

So on a bright sunny picture perfect morning I set out to the airport with my luggage and high hopes for my trip. I left a bit early went into Boston and had lunch at one of my favorite low key spots and also for a last minute bite of a favorite that I new I wouldn’t be able to get in the FSU.

I arrived at Logan early for my flight about 2 hours early and breezed through my domestic check in at Jet Blue. My bags were a tad overweight but with a smile and a nod the check in lady said with a wink whilst pointing at the scale.

“It seems our scale is off today and of course your bag weighs only 50 lbs, sir.”

She tagged it and I was off to security. Once again TSA and the screening were a joke. I could also tell the day shift was in as there were a bunch of Southie Irish guys manning this particular check point. We exchanged some witty banter and after assuring them my passport was valid and I wouldn’t be illegal until at least tomorrow I was through security in less than 2 mins. Unintentionally I had contraband on me that I forgotten to stow in my checked baggage that never got picked up. No worries though…

So I made my way to the gate, and while staring out the big windows on this beautiful day and getting a good look at Winthrop and Chelsea I developed a bit of --Nostalgia--- .


*Note I had some great pictures from Logan on this day but it appears that I accidentally deleted them from my memory card and or they went missing in a file transfer that will be discussed later in an installment*

 The time passed quickly and the flight to JFK was surprising full I got to chatting with a smoking hot Norwegian girl who was on her way home for the summer and who was a student at BU. If I had known what I would in a few weeks I would have been sure to get her number and made plans to spend some serious quality time with her in the fall when she got back to town. I had serious thoughts about the debaucherous acts which would undoubtedly ensue from such a meeting but I digress.

The flight was basically uneventful and with a nice tail wind we were on final approach in 38 mins. To JFK.

I was a little concerned about the ease of getting to the sky train to make my inter-terminal transfer at JFK. It turned out it was fairly easy and a matter of along walk and negotiation of skyways, elevators and escalators. All in all the transfer took about 20 mins. tops and was easier than I expected it to be and to do. All in all things were going unusually well for me and my pal Mr. Murphy had yet to make his presence known
Once into JFK terminal one the fun began. This was really where I expected problems to start in my trip. I had been tracking SU316’s flight data and OTP for the last few weeks and they’d been leaving 1-3hrs late daily. The problem with that is I had only 3 hours to make my SVO 2-1 transfer which would be cutting tight.
So I negotiated my way to the Aeroflot check in counter and wound up behind an attractive petite Asian girl who was waiting in line. At the ‘end’ of the line were two private security contractors from some random ‘rent a cop’ firm. Undoubtedly contracted by either the airline or the airport to augment ‘security’.

These to ‘gentleman’ who were engaged in a ‘union meeting’  and clearly not paying attention. A few of the counters opened up and one of the Aeroflot people said ‘Can I help the next person please’. The girl in front of me didn’t hear that so I spoke up and let her know she was all set to go. This apparently prompted me for ‘immediate random screening’. For those who may or may not know these ‘rent a cops have about as much authority and utility as a roll of toilet paper.

So one of them asked me for my passport and I was not in the mood to deal with delays so I just handed it over. He starts leafing through and studiously studying my Russian visa and trying to read the Cyrillic. At which time another check in spot opened up and I asked for my passport back so I could go and get checked in.

 50 cents response was “I’m not done with it yet.” Having no patience for his self-importance and as I knew his supervisor was standing next to him in a suit I looked at him and nicely asked one more time for my passport back. He refused again saying he wasn’t done yet.

So I decided I would bust his balls right back. I actually new some fairly well placed folks at the PAPD and DHS at JFK including one of the supervisory special agents and air marshal there. I even had plans to try to have coffee with one of them on my way through so I wasn’t terribly concerned about whatever damage 50 cents clone would try to do to my travel plans. So I looked at him and with a straight face said; “ You had plenty of time to ‘screen’ me while you were having your union meeting and chatting for the 15 minutes I was in line. Now you’ve had your shot to take a look at my passport and I’d like it back. If you truly want to do your job of course we’ll go up to the red area and you’ll run CEJIS, NCIC, and III on me and you’ll find your wasting both of our time. But hey, we’ll I’m waiting perhaps you could explain to me what exactly a III check would show you and how that’s important to your function as an “$8/hr donut munching rent a cop who has no real authority? I’ll be happy to discuss this with you as when you  fu :censored: up your job, people like me go to work.”
His supervisor looked at him and said, “Give him his passport back. Looked at me and said have a nice day sir.” I went through the check in, at Aeroflot without a hitch and to my dismay forgot to arrange for an exit row seat. Once again it was through security which was a breeze. Once through security I took out my phone and made a call to my pal that I was clear and asked if he was still good for a meet. We met at one of the kiosks and he took me through the back to the day room. We had coffee, some laughs, and general BS chit chat, caught up on some gossip and had some time to kill.

Originally my flight was supposed to depart from gate 8, after 45 mins they swapped it to gate 7. I watched the status board in the office and when we got to about 30 mins before my flight was supposed to leave I bid goodbye to my friend and went off to the gate. When I arrived it was a Turkish Air flight on the board and no sign of Aeroflot. Since the board reflected that flight would be leaving at 2000, and mine was scheduled to leave at 1900, I went and asked if there they knew where Aeroflot had been moved to. The gate agent was kind enough to make a call and I found out it was again moved to gate 2 in a different part of the terminal. So off I went to gate 2. 

Once I got there I found a mix of Russians and folks from various South American locales. There was an Aero Mexico flight there going to Mexico city and they were a little late boarding. On the plus side I was surrounded by contrast. I was sitting by the check in desk and on one side of me was a very nice Abuela who spoke decent English for being the tender age of 80, and on the other were a bunch of Argentinian girls who were all smoking hot and about 23 and well dressed. One of them also spoke decent English so we had a few minutes of banter before they left to board.

[ecr844]

Shortly thereafter I saw an Aerflot A330-300 taxi up to the gate and dock with the sky way. This particular A330 had an interesting name and I hoped it was indeed a sign or even an omen.





(For those who can't seem to read the name on the side of the plane as a result of infirmary, old age, or language abilities it was named the F Tyutchev )

Finally the Aeroflot gate agent showed up and started setting up. I could tell the natives were getting restless and the throng of Russians were getting ready to elbow and push their way to the front of the line started shuffling. Now who shows up to check passports and boarding passes but my pal the rent a cop from earlier 50 cent.

They started to announce boarding and knowing the cabal of Russians would momentarily turn into a cabal of jackals I made sure I was right up front and in 50 cents face. He smiled and asked for my passport and I smiled and handed him my boarding pass. He asked for my passport again and I asked him if he had memory problems and had forgotten that he had already checked it just a short time earlier.
He smiled and said passport please. So having had enough of his over inflated self importance I pulled out my black berry selected the appropriate speed dial for one of the PAPD captains I know and showed it to him. I asked him if he would like to remain employed and if he would like to speak to the captain right now or would he prefer a Fed? I then took and punched in my pal the air marshals number and asked if 50 cent knew who he was and whether he would like to talk to him instead? 50 cents response was “Go, but your better be careful as your going to get yourself in trouble.” So as  gesture of thanks I smiled and walked away.

We boarded the flight a half hour early and once I got settled in my seat I found myself elbow to elbow with a rather plump and quite drunk RM of about 62. He reeked of Vodka. I could only hope that he’d fall asleep for most of the flight.

Finally after 45 minutes of sitting on the plane thankfully with AC running and kept at a reasonable temperature we left the gate and began to taxi. (Below are some pics from the taxi way. Since we have a number of Aussies here I decided to pander a little and show them the 'Spirit of Australia' lives on even in NYC)






When all was said and done we didn’t make the active and take off until 2030 or so and that meant we were an hour and a half behind…. Not good and I had images of my connection time evaporating in real time.

The flight was long, arduous and tortuous. Although all the seats even in cattle class had their own AVOD set up it seems that there were a lot of babies on the flight. For the 4 Russian couples in my cabin it seemed that one of the babies was destined to scream for the duration of the flight. The other thing that mde the flight rough was the flight crew nixed the AC completely and made the cabin a cool +28C. I can only presume it was to try to make sure it was warm enough ‘for the babies.’ Repeated requests throughout the flight by Russians and those speaking English to add some AC to the mix were met with a Nyet and a very small glass of water. We all sweltered and suffered our way through the remaining 10 hr flight. The cacophony of babies crying only increased as time went on.

[ecr844]

We made it outside of Moscow about 10 mins early then an announcement was made by our intrepid AC (pilot in charge). It seems SVO wasn’t ready for us yet and we needed to hold the pattern for a half hour. Now about 2 and ½ hrs of my connection had gone down the drain. I had made a plan B and called a friend in Moscow and we set up a meet if I got stuck as I would have to wait 7 hrs for the next flight to Minsk.
Before I left as part of my trip preparations I had a world capable smart phone and I sent myself up on an international plan. Unlimited data anywhere in the world would cost me a $40/mo flat charge. The per minute coat was $4-6/min depending on location. Text ran $0.50 a piece send and receive.

 We deplaned and I made my way to passport control. I have never liked SVO and this trip merely reinforced that dislike. The cattle began their stampede and everyone rushed to passport control and got in line. Apparently some of the intrepid Russians (about a dozen) decided they didn’t need to wait in line as they had ‘transit and short connections’. We;; welcome to the club Ivan,. and Sveta’s. Mine was now down to 45 mins at best. The first few folks who cut the line no one said much. When the throng tried to do it there was a bunch of swearing in a mixture of English and Russian which caused half the offenders to retreat to the back of the line. The Immigration girl was a smoking hot blonde and about 2 minutes in front of her she smiled and said in her sexy accent ‘Velcome to Royssia!’ off I went to collect my baggage. It appeared there was also at least 2 other flights which landed fairly close to mine.

This meant it took over an hour for the ground crew to unload our luggage. By the time I collected my bags and went through customs My connecting flight had left. So I went and found the Aeroflot transit desk, checked in there and was directed to the Aeroflot Irregular passengers desk on the second floor. I waited in line there for about 20 mins and got rebooked on the 2200 flight (the last one) out of SVO1 for free and got a ‘rich gesture’ of a 500r voucher which was only good at the workers cafeterias on the 4th floor. Since I had all my luggage and there was no elevator I started making calls…

I called my Moscow friend to let them know I would indeed be in Moscow an ‘extra 7 hours’ and were they still available to get together? They replied they were and we set a met on the second floor of SVO as they didn’t feel we had enough time to go in town and make the connection. I then called my the agency to let them know that Aeroflot had FUBAR’d my connection and I wouldn’t be in Minsk until 2240. I wanted to let them know because they had a driver that was supposed to meet me and also my lady was supposed to be with him. I had the rivers cell and tried to reach him without success. I then called my ladies mobile to let her know what was going on and that I was going to be late and not to worry. I had arranged beforehand that she be picked up so she could meet me at the airport in Minsk.
     However, interestingly enough when I called her she said she was still in Vitebsk in a shop. I tried to ask her why she wasn’t in Minsk and she said she would meet me at my hotel. She told me to call her when I got in town.

All the requisite calls made and emails exchanged and followed up on from the flight I set off to exchange some cash. Made a quick exchange at about 30R:1USD and went and had a cappuccino not far away. I sat down in an outside booth and not long after 2 MVD guys swung by the register and also got some cappuccinos and sat down in the next booth over. Cops and troops are mostly the same the world over. They have relatively similar mentalities and although there are some exceptions they are generally decent people. I don’t know maybe I just have a different outlook associating with them on a regular basis.
We got to talking and one of the spoke decent English. They asked about my trip and I said I flew Aeroflot and they were late. They laughed and said “Eta Royssia, Aeroflot is always late.”
We talked for a bit and one of them had relatives in PA and they seemed like good guys. They finished their coffee and wished me luck. After a flurry of SMS exchanges with my Moscow friend they got there about 45 mins later. I gave them the gifts I had brought for them and we decided to grab a bite to eat at TGI Fridays.

While getting ready to be seated my companion saw some friends that she hadn’t seen for a while and went to socialize. I hung out got some water and menus and worked out what I was going to have. About a half hour later my companion came back and sat down. We talked and ordered our meals.  I decided to try a burger and my pal got soup and a salad. The burger cost about 60 bucks and was utterly overcooked and destroyed to the point of having 0 flavor. If there hadn’t been any bourbon sauce or bacon on it with chees it would have been inedible. Since I had been flying and in airports for about 16 hrs. at that point I decided not to make the effort to complain. It was hot and it did resemble food after all.

We then began our trek to see if Aeroflot had a transfer bus as listed on it’s website. A quick stop at the Aeroflot counter confirmed their website was indeed wrong and there was no longer a transfer bus to Terminal 1 from Terminal F. We were told there was indeed a bus at the aeroexpress terminal so we set off on a jaunt through the empty and Terminal E and to the Aero express terminal. Down a floor to the elevator only once again to discover that the schedule posted for Aero Express transfers were also wrong. Luckily there was another in about 15 mins. We boarded a bus that quickly became packed with commuters fresh off the train and departed to SVO 1.

[ecr844]

The Aero express bus was an unmarked white ‘greyhound’ style bus. It was packed and while we traveled back in time to what was state of the art 1956 we got off a short walk from the terminal entrance. There appeared to be very little going on and there were a bunch of people from my Aeroflot flight and a United flight that was also delayed in the terminal. My pal went and asked the security people which windows Belavia would be using and was told to wait, there would be no check in for a while and no I couldn’t go through security until they Belavia people showed up at the desk.

So we grabbed a seat and talked for about a half hour until 2000 or so when people started congregating at the Belavia desk and a girl showed up. As I approached security my friend had a chuckle and predicted I would unceremoniously get my ball busted here. I wasn't so sure.

So I went to security and as I approached there was a tall thin extremely dour Russian security services and immigration officer there. He kept shooting me dirty looks. This guy had a scowl to beat even the fiercest of Russian scowls. He had one of those absolutely dour looks that guy might have if he had a 3 day sex fest with a porn star at age 18 and then never successfully bedded a woman again. Seriously..it was that bad. As soon as I approached to hand my passport and ticket info-boarding passes over to the security lady he swooped in to grab my papers.

I had an ominous feeling but as I knew my stuff was good to go I figured some more scowling and hemming and hawing over my passport wouldn’t hurt anyone. After a few minutes of scrutiny he unceremoniously handed my passport back and stormed off looking even more disappointed. I made my way to the ticket counter and got in line.

There were also a bunch of families on this flight and one poor guy had about 10 suitcases with him. I can’t imagine the baggage overages United whacked him with to get there. One of the other families had what looked like to be a rambunctious 5 yo with them. The Rm father had fashioned a torso retrain and leash system which he held onto while his son tried as hard as he could to run all asunder around the terminal. In the background I waved good bye to my Moscow friend and went on my way.

Once again check in was a breeze and it was off to the second floor to the boarding gate.
On the second floor I had an hour to wait and so I catnapped in the chair and managed to get a quick picture. By this point I was starting to get tired and wanted to just get there. I was approaching the ‘numb’ stage and lacked the necessary caffeinating and or adrenaline boosting stimuli to make things more exciting.

Shortly we made the trip to the bus for the transfer to the tired and haggard Belavia 737-400. No pics of the flight or plane as I frankly didn’t care at that point. On the plane which was half full I got to sit next to a young RM who spoke a little English. One of the troika of sexy stewardesses on this flight came by and started yammering at me in rapid fire Russian. I had no idea what she was going on about but I guess she had decided my carry on was unsuitable for the bin and needed to be checked. The RM essentially told her off (noted by the swear words I was able to pick up as he responded to her), and that I didn’t need to do anything as I spoke English and to get lost. There were two other RM across the aisle and they ganged up on her.

Over the hour flight the 3 of us were fast friends and we had some funny conversation in English all in all they seemed like decent guys all were married and had families and were working through the FSU in their jobs. They were going home to see their wives for their week off.

All in all the flight went smooth and we sailed directly into Minsk without a hitch.

[ecr844]

While waiting for my flight to leave at SVO 1 I got a call from the agency. They said that because their guy had to wait an extra 7 hours for me it was going to cost me an additional $200.00 (beyond the $350.00 I had already paid for the RT transfer). At that point I was like “Whatever” and if worst came to worst I had a backup in place and only needed to make a phone call to get that in action.
Once we arrived in Minsk we were stuffed in a small bus and driven to the terminal. I made my way to immigration and waited in line. By that time it was 2240 and the night shift guy and girl said citizens first so they took all the citizens and with those who didn’t need a visa and with only the most cursory of exams sent them on their way. After that there were about 6 of us left. There was one guy without a visa that should have had one who they took aside and started giving the 9th degree to. After that there was some cryptic calls over the radio and a plain clothes (looked like an intel or CI guy) came by and started in on the wayward passenger. They took him to the back where I’m sure he was shown all the hospitality By has to offer. I was next and the Immigration guy spoke good English and after a quick look at my passport we chatted. He said I needed to fill out an immigration card but that since he knew the belavia stewardesses on that flight were lazy and it was the last flight of the day he’s take care of it.

A series of authoritative stamps and a smile later I was on my way. There was no one working at the mandatory gvt insurance desk so I was left wondering if my registration would become a bureaucratic nightmare and headache.

Customs was unmanned so even if I had something to declare I guess it didn’t matter as they were probably sleeping somewhere off in the back.
A quick walk through and I saw my driver waiting for me with a sign looking as tired as I was. We went out to his Puegot and started the 3 hr drive to Vitebsk. The ride was smooth, without traffic other than tractor trailers and the occasional Mercedes cruising by at 100MPH. I arrived at my hotel at about 0300 the next morning. We went inside and the clerk said ‘passport in the morning, handed me my key and it was off to bed for some much needed rest.

[ecr844]

When a man stands in the midst of his own noise, in the midst of his own surf of plans and projects, then he is apt also to see quiet, magical beings gliding past him and to long for their happiness and seclusion: women.  He almost thinks that his better self dwells there among the women, and that in these quiet regions even the loudest surf turns into deathly quiet, and life itself into a dream about life.  Yet!  Yet!  Noble enthusiast, even on the most beautiful sailboat there is a lot of noise, and unfortunately much small and petty noise.  The magic and the most powerful effect of women is, in philosophical language, action at a distance, actio in distans: but this requires first of all and above all - distance.

     The hotel was nicer than expected as was the room. I quickly did some basic unpacking and got set up a little for tomorrow. I vaguely recalled a phone call from the translator who said she and my lady would meet me in the morning at 11am. I opened the windows for some air
When I finally laid down I went to sleep immediately. I was awoken in at 8am with the sun in my eyes which easily penetrated the curtains and the sounds of daily life here drifted through the open window.

I awoke at about 0730 and I made my way downstairs handed over my passport and was directed to the hotel restaurant which had a free breakfast included in the cost of my room each morning. There was no mention of money which was unexpected and the lady actually had a smile. The lobby area was nice and I was off downstairs to find the hotel ‘restaurant’.
Again it was a better than expected spread. They had real milk, real butter bread, hard boiled eggs, Tongue slices, ham, an assortment of fresh fruit and vegetables and Blini and friend eggs and or an omelet cooked to order. They had the typical FSU powdered faux juice, and of course chai with sugar.

That first morning the hotel must have had a special breakfast planned by a group as there was live music being performed by a local artist who was quite good. Not my favorite genre but you could tell he had real talent. I actually lingered abit to relax and just enjoy the music. I really began to have high hopes this trip would go better than expected.

After breakfast it was off to get ready for my first face to face meeting with my lady. I had brought some gifts and broke a few out for today. After that the waiting game began. Patience is a virtue they say. However it’s one I’ve been working hard to acquire throughout life and although I’ve made some progress I’m still not where I would like to be. I did this trip as a WOVO. I had every indication and all signs pointed to the fact this lady was sincere and that things would go well. So I came and decided to be generous, thoughtful, and do all I could to show I serious and begin a serious pursuit.

Finally we met and my lady looked exactly as I expected and as her photos and letters portrayed. We exchanged pleasantries and a hug and I got introduced to the translator. One thing that struck me as odd was she never asked about my trip, how I was or anything more personal than a basic ‘hello’.

The translator Olga would prove herself to be exceedingly competent and professional as well as fluent in multiple languages. My lady said she’d like to use the translator for the day. I passed the translator her fee ($50.00, I actually gave her a C note but I knew I would be using her again so it wasn’t a big deal. If she absconded with the cash I knew how to get it back.) and off we went into the city.

*Note: I am including costs for reference and not necessarily as a means of placing importance on price. Although there was a lot of information to be gleaned by paying attention to how someone else will spend your money.*

We first went to exchange some money and then we went to MTS where my lady used her passport to help me get a local SIM card for my phone. Then it was off on a walk to some nearby ‘sights’. Here are some pictures.

[ecr844]

While walking around the amphitheater and Slavinski bazzar district we did a bit of talking about various things through the translator and we took a moment to sit on a bench in the shade and relax.

That’s when I was caught surprised. We had been discussing our proposed plans for the day and then my lady let out with a little something unexpected. She said that later on in the evening – the translator she wanted to take me to her home and meet her whole family. I was more than a little surprised as I hadn’t expected that for at least a few days. All in all I thought that perhaps that this was a very good sign. I told her that was wonderful and I’d love to go and meet her family and that before we went I had to swing by my room and get the gifts I brought for her family and some for her. She said great and the translator made a suggestion that we take a trip to the top of the clock tower and see the city from up high…

Here are some pictures.












After that I asked if we could swing by and pick up a local SIM card for my world phone. She said sure and off we went a few blocks later we swung into MTS. She used her passport to get the SIM card and I paid the bill and the cost of the card. The translator asked how long I would be there and I told her and she recommended I  put about 30,000 BYR on my number as we weren’t sure how much I would be using it and sending texts, etc.. All in all I went to the cashier and the total was 36,000 BYR. Even now 13 days in I still have plenty of credit left on my SIM card but admittedly I haven’t been using it much.

After that my lady got a series of phone calls from her family and she then said we should go to the hotel, pick up the stuff I needed to get and then we would go to her home.

After a quick stop at the hotel. I got the gifts I had brought and then we took a stroll to the park and sat on a bench. I then showed my lady and explained the gifts I had brought to her which were for her family. The reason I did this is because for whatever reason she didn’t want the translator around and so if there were any questions they had I wanted her to be forearmed to answer them as best as she could.

Once that was done, we swung by the Arena dessert store and got a torte to bring to her home as well. Then she and the translator went back and forth for a few minutes while I stood there like a pack mule loaded down with bags and gifts. After their exchange the translator explained to me they were discussing plans for the next day and that my lady wanted to meet at 1315 in the afternoon at the hotel and that we would be going to take a trip to Ilya Repin’s dacha-museum not far outside of the city. (It was about 20 mins drive to Zdrawneva, Belarus). I suggested a taxi as I had no desire to show up the first time meeting the parents with a destroyed torte from carrying it on what would invariably be a couple of klicks walk over who knows what kind of terrain.

We said goodbye to the translator and then waited for the taxi to show. The cab showed up after a few minutes and it was off to meet the parents. Admittedly I was a little nervous and hoped things would go well as I knew this was an important step and her family was important to her.

It was a short drive and the cab fare was about 9,000 BYR. We had arrived at a typical soviet style apartment block and it turns out she lived not far from my hotel. We went inside and I was warmly greeted by her mom and dad. We went and sat in the living room and began to get to know one another over the next hour or so. Teas was offered and then before I knew it dad disappeared and came back with some Belorussian ‘sparkling wine’ they called champagne. It wasn’t bad and me her mom and my lady all had some with our torte. Dad declined and sat back in his chair.

Things seemed to be going very well and we talked in a mixture of English and Russian and my lady did her best translating as best she could when necessary. Then my lady started making hurried calls on her cell phone and having short demanding conversations with the person on the other end. I asked her if everything was all right and she said she was just calling her sister and that she was leaving work and supposed to be home awhile ago. When she called her just now, her sister was with some friends.

Apparently that was not the correct response and so some sisterly love ensured via telephone. The essence of it in Russian was “Sis, get your ass home now, I have a guest I’d like you to meet and you’re not here.” About 5 calls later sis came home and we were introduced.

You know someone really needs to take a moment to open there big trap and warn me when the sister is going to be a lot more attractive than the lady I’m seeing. It helps to dampen the response a little and that way I can prepare myself to make the appropriate conscious response corrections. I was able to do that successfully but still. The courtesy of a warning would have been nice. I mean in strolls a tall leggy dirty blond girl on 6 inch heels in a short skirt and with a body to die for… I could clearly tell she had a lot of her mom’s genetic traits and was a bit more ‘adventurous’ as I got to know her.

Now the conversation continued and I was waiting for a cue from my lady as to when would be a good time to give the gifts. After about 45 mins with no sign in site and noting that it was getting late, and it would be approaching the time to politely make my exit. I decided to hand out the gifts I had brought.

What did they get. Well a general not all inclusive list is as follows:
Mom got flowers, a 750ml bottle of vintage Veuve Cliquot La Grande Dame Champagne (I was told before my trip that both her and my lady love champagne), and she got a 2.5oz bottle of Fantasia de Fleurs by Creed.

Her sister is in Medical school and in my limited exposure to Russian health care I had previously noticed even the senior physicians had lacked some of the better stethoscopes and that most were using some sub par dual lumen Sprague-Rappaport designs. So since her sister had a goal of becoming an anesthesiologist, I picked her up a Littmann Cardiology III series scope which is one of the best that you can get. There is a more expensive electronic model but I wasn’t confident it would be able to stand up over time or that her sister would be able to easily find replacement batteries, do the online firmware updates, etc…


27 inch (69cm) Cardiology III Stethoscope, Black Plated Chest piece and Ear tubes, Black Tube.

Dad got a S&W SWAT folding knife with a one handed speed opening mechanism and a pocket clip. I knew from a lot of firsthand experience it was a quality knife and one which would be a faithful endlessly useful companion for years to come. The second gift he got was a GUESS tank style men’s stainless steel chronometer watch. It was hefty, thick and stylish and I hoped he’d like it.



I also managed to get him a rare bottle opener challenge coin. There are only 200 of these in existence and pretty much the only way to get one was from someone in the unit.

My lady got a bottle of (a 750 ml bottle) to complement the 375ml bottle she’d gotten earlier, flowers, an number of local items from my area, a Sterling silver locket and some other very nice and personally picked items including some Creed perfume, etc….  

Everyone seemed to really like their gifts and seemed very appreciative, and like they genuinely liked everything. I knew Dad liked his stuff because the watch immediately went on his wrist and he began fiddling with his knife with a big smile on his face. Every time I saw him after that the watch was always on and the knife was in his pocket. Even one time when we ran into him spontaneously on the street.  

After a short time later it was starting to get late so my lady suggested perhaps it was time to call it a night. I exchanged pleasantries with her family and she walked me back to my hotel.
Once back at my hotel she said ‘goodbye, I’ll see you tomorrow.’ And strode off before I even had the chance to offer to call a cab for her to go home….

It had been a long hot day and I was starting to feel some of the effects of jet lag, so I hopped in the shower and went off to sleep with high hopes for the rest of my trip.

[ecr844]

Here are some more pics of the Slavinsky Bazaar area

[Gylden]

Interesting TR, like the writting style, but I can't see your pics, can anyone see them?

[ecr844]

Some clock tower shots

[ecr844]

Interesting TR, like the writting style, but I can't see your pics, can anyone see them?

If it's a widespread issue I'll go back through and relink the hotlinked pics from a different location

[ecr844]

Here's a Hallmark moment.


In BY the women are so plentiful parade come in packs and parade around in columns. All you have to do is just pick one.... :nod:  Wish you were here!

[ecr844]

While making use of my wonderful vacation locale and out and about in the city I took a stroll through Victory Square here. While standing waiting for the signal to change with a bunch of people I see these two school girls. They looked to be about sophomore in high school age.

Next thing I know they're chatting and one of them was wearing a jean jacket and it had a lump that started moving! So I got to wondering what kind of Chernobyl induced mutation might be lurking in there. Then after we crossed the street and entered into the square the culprit stuck a nose out for a wiggle.

[ecr844]

Now after getting over the shock of possible mobile Chernobyl genetic mutations  and all sorts of other horrors I couldn't help but notice that over that week there was a whole lot of military activity in the last week. There have been a lot of troops and MVD people roaming the city and there was even a company of Belorussian Spetznaz roaming the streets with maps in pairs. I figured they were doing recon and contingency planning for the Slavinsky Bazzar what with the big man coming here and all it seemed like a typical dictators 'advance planning regime'. Then they seemed to disappear from the streets except for the odd one here or there with a chick or a friend out for a walk or a bite to eat. Interestingly enough there weren't many drinking even 'off duty'.

An armored column rolled down main street a few days ago and I heard them and caught the tail end. Yesterday I was sitting in the hotel lounge doing some work and posting some of my TR when I heard the roar of turbines and the thwack-thwack of rotors.

I figured just an overflight and they'd be gone, you know training mission or the like. Turns out they stuck around and flying about 200 feet AGL for awhile. That piqued my curiosity and so I went outside to take a look there were about 6 MI-24 HIND gunships and 2 MI-8 HIPs in formation doing wagon wheels¹ around the city. There was also a smaller helicopter a MI-2 'Hoplite'. They went right over the hotel and there were feet hanging out the cargo door. I figured someone was about to have a real bad day if they were going after them. That is a lot of firepower and those gunships are flying tanks.

Then they flew off......


Veerrrry Interesting............

We know that pygmy dictators tend to be paranoid  and hold onto power through a variety of tactics. It does matter if they are Ping Pong Il , Cholo Chavez, or LLLLLLuuuukkkkkaaashenko.... When overt shows of force are out and on display in tightly controlled dictatorships then you can't help but wonder if your locale doesn't have the impending penchant to turn into down town Beirut circa 1982.

More in a future update!


* 1.) Wagon wheel is a gunship and or airsupport tactic used by various countries and more notably in this instance a Soviet helicopter gunship tactic which was used extensively in Afghanistan. Corroborating source

These nap-of-the-earth tactics are a significant change from those employed in 1979-80. Hind crews then showed little fear of the opposition, attacking with machine guns, 57-mm rockets, or cluster and high-explosive 250-kg bombs normally during diving attacks from a 1000-meter altitude. After the firing pass, they would break away in a sharp evasive turn or terrain-hugging flight before repositioning for another firing pass. The Soviets used these tactics with several Hinds in a circular pattern, similar to the American "wagon wheel" used in Vietnam. Such tactics may still be used in some parts of Afghanistan, but by and large they have been changed.

Reportedly, new tactics that use scout helicopters for target acquisition have been adopted for both attack helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. These scouts are usually Hinds (or, in some cases, Mi-8 Hips) rather than smaller, lighter helicopters. Normally, they stay high, out of range of the target, giving crews a better field of view while directing attacks. This tactic may become standard in future Soviet conflicts.15

Current reports say the Hind now begins an attack run 7000 to 8000 meters from the target, running in at low altitude and then rising 20 to 100 meters in altitude to fire. Firing usually commences at maximum range, and mutual support is emphasized. One tactic that has endured the war has been to send one helicopter in at high altitude to draw enemy fire, while wingmen remain low, behind a ridge, ready to attack anyone who opens fire.16

The Soviets are also using helicopters in mass formations (a standard Soviet tactic). Reports have helicopters in packs of four and six, hovering, firing their rockets and machine guns, circling, hunting, and then swooping down and firing again.17
While the Hind is the primary attack helicopter being used in Afghanistan, the Soviets have also made extensive use of the big multi-purpose Mi-8 Hip in several different capacities. One of the major missions of the Hip is to serve as the main troop carriers.18 In this role, the Hip is enhanced by its ability to provide its own fire support/suppression with 57-mm rocket pods.19 The Hip has also been used for aerial minelaying, which the Soviets have found is a good way to reinforce a defensive perimeter quickly. Furthermore, the Hip has been used as a heavily armed attack helicopter to complement the Hind.20 As with the Hind, the Soviets have found problems with the Hip. These have come primarily in the areas of its exposed fuel system (a major hazard to crews in case of a crash), short rotor life, lack of engine quick-change capability, poor engine performance, and inadequate trim control. The engine and trim problems result from the low-density air conditions found in the high, mountainous terrain of Afghanistan, which force the engine to work harder and make hovering difficult.21

The Mi-4 Hound has also been employed in the war, often in concert with the Hind. Many helicopter airstrikes start with two Mi-4 Hounds, which attack with unguided rockets and machine gun fire, followed by four Hinds, which continue the strike with rockets and cannon. While the Hinds attack, the Hounds circle, ejecting heat decoy flares at regular intervals, apparently in an effort to protect the helicopters from hand-held SA-7s. The Hounds also have been reported to hover near villages being shelled, perhaps acting as air controllers for ground-based artillery.22

One other type of helicopter that the Soviets are using in Afghanistan is the big Mi-6 Hook. It has been used extensively to provide heavy lift support for Soviet forces.23

Observers report that Soviet helicopter roles in the war have varied from dropping Soviet parachutists, antipersonnel mines, bombs, and leaflets to providing close air support for Soviet armor. Yet, while significant tactical changes have occurred, the broad picture of Soviet Frontal Aviation tactics in Afghanistan has remained largely unchanged. Trends and concepts observed prior to the war have been reinforced. The Hips still carry troops for air mobile assaults and provide suppression; the Hind remains the Soviets' primary source of airborne firepower.24

[facetrock]

Very good report but I cant see the pics either.

[ecr844]

Let's take a moment and reflect on what a true life long partnership can look like while you ponder what you've read. At this point . I'll allow the local Babuska to entertain you with a view of how she 'helps' her husband count his money to pay for their bus fare.



or perhaps have a lovers rendezvous with your someone special in the local square by the fountain.





Wait..Hold on. This wouldn't be the FSU without the threat of forced labor. You wouldn't believe it. Lukashenko actually had the 'brass' to call my mobile and say I need to get my Amerikainets popka out to the collective to earn my keep. I'll I need to do is look up and my ride is already here.



While I go work with some hoes, and in the interim I hope you'll stand by, and wait with patience and perhaps some quiet reflection on your own search and success.

[ecr844]

A solid night’s sleep will do wonders for you and I knew I was still catching up as I don’t even remember falling asleep. I was however awoken to the sound of birds chirping and the sun in streaming into my room remaining undefeated by the closed curtains at 0500. There was also the clickty-clack sound of RW heels pounding down the pavement as folks began their day. Two RM talking spiritedly in the courtyard outside my window and of course the birds were singing.

Since it was early and I was wide awake I decided to go online, follow up on emails and do some work at my second job. I was sure I had emails piling up on that and doubly so because I wasn’t taking calls.

I logged on the forum did a little reading, sent some personal emails and killed off some work. I left to take a break and get some breakfast. As I walked across the lobby to the door to go downstairs to the restaurant I was flagged down by the lady at the front desk. She handed me my passport which appeared to be registered, smiled and said enjoy your breakfast. Hey, I have no idea what bureaucratic magic they worked but whatever it was is just fine with me. For all I know they had their own proverbial 'rubber stamp'.

After breakfast I went back to work and closed up what I needed to address. I then went back to my room to get ready for the day. I wasn’t thrilled about being up so early on vacation but hey, you gotta roll with the punches sometimes. Afterwards I decided to get the lay of the land since I had plenty of time before I needed to meet with my lady. I did find it a bit odd that she couldn’t be bothered to meet sooner as she wasn’t working and had taken time off and we had been planning this trip for some time. But I put that aside and went out exploring.

 I was really starting to like this city. Maybe it’s because I was on vacation and hadn’t been reduced to the tedious nature of day to day life but there seems to be a relaxing flow to life here. First off there were women of all shapes and sizes dress appropriately like women and with a mix of fashions. There was a definite smorgasbord of ladies to please a variety of palettes. There was definitely a showing of short skirts and the high heels that many of the visually motivated creatures we as men enjoy a looking at. I found a park nearby, Marc Chagall’s exhibit hall, the local classical music conservatory school for the performing arts. I browsed through the central market and a flower shop. I picked out some roses and made my purchase and then I was off to exchange some money for the day.

By this time it was nearly lunch so I ducked in a local Vesta market and got some fruit and water for a snack. Then I waited for my lady to arrive in the hotel lobby. She came wearing a zip up terry cloth sweatshirt and jeans and ½” heals. We exchanged an unaffectionate and polite ‘hello’ and made small talk while we waited for the translator to show up. I gave her her daily rose (sometimes more than one), and got a smile.

Time ticked by and after a check of my watch it appeared the translator was 15 mins late. About 5 minutes later my lady got a call on her cell and exchanged a short series of unintelligible rapid fire Russian with whoever was on the other end. Then she turned to me and said “Ve go meet Olga now.” (out terp.) I wasn’t thrilled but off we went on a fast paced half klick jaunt to meet Olga by one of the parks and not far from the clock tower.

A quick hello and I gave her the money for her fee and we flagged a taxi down and were off to lya’s dacha.
Not far outside of the city limits it got to be rural pretty quick. There is some seriously beautiful ‘country’ here and we passed a number of smaller villages which had their own mini orchards and every house had a garden.

We passed some farms and then out the middle of nowhere out pots a fog of smog from a factory belching god know what out of its smoke stacks. A quick inquiry let me know that it was a ‘fertilizer factory’. I tried to use this time to get my lady talking as it was something she seemed to do very little of. I asked a variety of questions, told some jokes and tried to get the conversation flowing. None of it worked. A few more minutes and we arrived at the museum, and the interpreter had a rapid fire exchange with the cabbie. We got out and I was expecting to have to fork over a deposit or pay the cost of the ride. Then the interpreter said, “not now, he’s going to wait for us. We’ll be here maybe an hour tops.”

A picture of the factory


I replied “Alright, that’s fine with me.” and off we went down a dirt road. We rounded a bend and there stood a narrow 3 story wooden house and a ‘guard shack’ which mostly consisted of a gvt. cop hanging out and rocking in a rocking chair on the porch all day. It looked like it was a  ‘real tough gig’….

We went into the house and just outside the door were cloth-canvas combination shoe covers which were mandatory to wear inside the house. A quick 26,000BYR later and we were off inside the house. Of course there was no photography allowed inside. We also acquired an employee who didn’t have anything helpful to say and mostly watched this wayward foreigner like a hawk to make sure I didn’t do anything dangerous like take a picture of the lithograph and photocopied pictures of Ilya’s work. However some things like some of the furniture and silverware, the samovar, and other pieces looked to be authentic <We weren’t allowed to touch and or look for makers marks and other ‘clues’ which would have answered the authenticity question>.

As we roamed around the house I brought up such subjects as art, history, interests, period architecture, etc.., as a means to stimulate conversation. The answers I got in return were ‘I don’t know, I don’t know anything about that. No, I’m not interested. I don’t want to talk about that.’ Yet, when we were together my lady would regularly take phone calls on her mobile and she seemed to have no problem talking to them and seemed to ‘lighten up’ quite a bit.

All in all the terp and I were able to converse on a variety of subjects, but my lady, she remained essentially silent. She clearly enjoyed herself and said she liked the place and found it ‘relaxing’. She wanted to take some pictures together and of the grounds and here are a few.
















Some of the above shots were taken form a ‘widows peek’ style set up on the top floor of the house.
  After we finished walking around we made our way to the cab and off we went back into town. Again during the ride back I tried to initiate conversation but was again met with the same answers so the interpreter, the cabbie and I had a 3 way exchange.

On the ride back I asked if anyone is hungry and my lady and the terp started an exchange in Russian that I didn’t care to follow. What came out of it was that my lady wanted dessert and not lunch. That was fine with me so I asked where they wanted to go. The terp said I have an idea, we can go to one of the nicer places here and that way you’ll know where it is and what to expect.

The nice place turned out to be the nicest restraint I’ve found here and it’s named ‘Da Vinci’ it is supposed to be an Italian place but it’s in reality more like a continental European place with a lot of ingredient substitutions to make palatable to the Belarussian palate at inflated prices. Perhaps a better name for the cuisine style would be Belo-Euro fusion.

The desserts and were well executed and it was clear that it had been done by a pastry chef with foreign training, and the wait staff was also excellent and in line with western standards of what one would expect of such a place. The interior had high ceilings with wainscoting and other accents, the floor was what appeared to be ‘Corian’ faux marble type and there were a number of other interior design accents which completed the look. When we were finished with dessert and drinks the bill came to 80,000BYR.

While we were leaving a discussion ensued between my lady and the interpreter. My lady decided she didn’t want the terp around and that she would like her and I to go to her home and visit with some of her friends and family. I had no issue with that so the interpreter left and we walked to the local grocery store, I bought a variety of things for the visit and off we went to her home.

I met some of her friends and was essentially bored as they had a lot to talk about. 4 hours later it was evening and my lady said she was getting tired. Taking the hint it was time to go me, my lady and her friend walked to my hotel.

A quick ‘have a good night see you tomorrow at 1300 later’ and she and her friend were off and I was on my own. We had made plans to meet at my hotel. I wasn’t thrilled but the signs were starting to stack up. I ignored my instinct and decided to play the patience card with her and see what would happen as time went on and test her a bit more.

It was still rather early about 2000, and since my lady didn’t want to hang around or go out I decided I would. So I went off to a local café and discovered they served one of my favorite beers Krusovice Chornay Imperial (They had it ‘cool’ and on tap :^) ). I sat at the bar and relaxed, slowly drank my beer and conversed with 3 RM and the bartender there in a mixture of Russian, English, hand gestures, and laughs. The RM were young one younger than me and the other 2 about the same age as me. All were ‘business men,’ and appeared to have a decent amount of money.

Before I knew it the RM next to me offered to buy me a round. So I accepted and we continued to have fun talk and watch football on the satellite feed showing on the wide screen LCD set up in the bar.

   I finished my drink, and they theirs and I bought the next round for them. This continued and by the time it was the next guys turn to buy I switched to Sprite and let them get hammered. It was a good time. About 0100 I bid adieu to my new ‘pals’ and off I went to get some sleep with a smile after having a relaxing evening.

Here’s a pic of the restaurant and incidentally they have very good brauts in there if you ever end up going.

[ecr844]

These forums propagate all sorts of 'conventional wisdom' about dress like this, do that, westerners are all XYZ.., etc.. So I want to take a moment and give some of my TR space to the Belorussian Ministry of Anti-FSU Stereotypes. More specifically from the Information for Westerners Directorate. The director Anton Iknoyadon'tcareovich would like you to see and read the following short Public Service Announcement from the Belorussian Ministry of Anti-FSU Stereotypes. More specifically from the Information for Westerners Directorate. The director Anton Iknoyadon'tcareovich asked that he be allowed to show an example that fat, fashion unconscious people are indeed present and readily able to be seen through out the area.



Also please note that there are FSUM who are also readily and easily found to be wearing shorts, sunglasses, wife beaters and sandals with socks and or polo shirts..  ( Seems this isn't a North American only tourist trait any longer.

Thanks for your time and the Belorussian Ministry of Anti-FSU Stereotypes Information for Westerners Directorate Welcomes your calls at +375 00 99 132 05 89. Please ignore our angry receptionist, she doesn't like foreigners much. Just ask for director Anton Iknoyadon'tcareovich after the click and when you hear the dial tone.

[ecr844]

Here’s where the chronology of events will get a bit ‘wonky’. Mostly due to my failure to write down or keep track of what I did on which day. I’ll do the best I can though.

The next day I woke early again as was now becoming my usual routine. I went down to the lobby, pulled out the PC and set off to work and to do some casual internet browsing while waiting for the restaurant to open.

At about 0730 I meandered down to the restaurant and was joined shortly by 3 Italian guys who had driven to town together to visit ‘sexy sluts’ <These were their words in English with a few other adjectives in Italian thrown in.> and proceeded to regale each other with their conquests of the previous evening. Including ones who was telling a “Marcel30” style story of having a night of passion with a woman who was a mom and had her son sleeping feet away; whom they woke up with their passion. Apparently that was something that this Dago found particularly impressive and demonstrative of his manly skills and thus decided to share with all asunder the details of his deed.  

Other than the spirited conversation in Italian and English being had at the next table breakfast was good as always.
I decided to go out and about and do some tourist style things in the city. I swung through the attractions all of which were utterly unforgettable. I’d been seeing signs for the ‘Zoo park’ all week and decided to take a stroll over there. They place was closed so I made my way back to the bank to change some cash, buy the daily rose, and to my room to get ready for the day and meet my lady.


She was prompt and on time when we met and today was no exception. She said she wanted to go for a walk and go to the ‘Zoo park.” I said all right, and off we went.

I figured it was a fruitless endeavor but went along anyway. It turns out that as is typical of the FSU, they opened at whatever time they damn well felt like it and were now ‘open’ when we strolled down the lane to the entrance.


Frankly this place is probably typical of seedy third world ‘zoos’ and of how animals are kept and treated in various locales. If there was an ASPCA here or PETA they’d be organizing riots and wide spread disarray to bring attention to the plight of these animals.

After paying the babushka at the gate a cool 16,000BYR for entry we were off to wonder the grounds they had some foul running loose and it looked a lot like a basic ‘petting zoo’ for kids with some other more exotic animals on display.
They had a coyote or wolf caged in a medium sized cage with a concrete floor. The animal was hurting from running in circles on that floor as he was both obviously limping, the pads of his feet were all scarred and he had warn a figure 8 path into the concrete from his constant running back and forth. It was quite sad really.

Here are some pictures.



































After roaming the grounds and taking some pictures we went into some of the ‘exhibit huts’ to see what lie inside. They had a rabbit house with chickens and also some other different types of fowl. A reptile house and a monkey house. There were signs around about not petting the animals and how there was no pictures allowed but I observed the other Byelorussians promptly ignoring them. I followed suit. I was immediately lectured and hit with a flurry of rapid fire Russglish from my lady telling me not to do that again in a less than nice tone.

I promptly rewarded her polite response by ignoring her ;^) I pet the bunnies, and all sorts of animals. I even made friends with a horse who had a lot of whip scars and marks from being obviously abused. I had an apple with he and I decided he deserved a snack so I gave it to him. Again I was met with a flurry of Russian about how I was stupid and not to do that. The steed didn’t seem to mind though :^)





After we finished it was off to go out in the city and get some lunch with a less than thrilled RW. ;^)
I think it even pissed her off more I had made sure to bring antibacterial hand wipes and an alcohol based hand cleaner with me that day.

We had lunch in victory square which consisted of Freedom fries, and pizza with soda from the Arena Pizza there. The pizza was certainly different but not as heavy with the mayo sauce they like here in the FSU which was nice. The chicken pickled cabbage, mushrooms, and cheese to go on top of it completed an interesting gastronomic ensemble. While we were at lunch the terp called my GF and said she had an idea of a place we could all go to. She said she would pick us up at 12 tomorrow at the hotel in her car (a 2010 Chevy sedan). After that we ran some errands, did a lot of walking and went to meet some of her friends out at a local watering hole. 150,000BYR later (for everyone’s food and drinks there were 4 people) we were finished. This time things went alittle better with her pals and we all communicated in a mixture of Russian and English. I was walked to my hotel I got a hug and a ‘see you tomorrow.’

The next day the morning was essentially the same as the one before except instead of Italians there were 4 UK business men who were driving back from St Pete and had stayed at the hotel for the night. They were decent guys and we had some entertaining conversation about their road trip back from Russia and across Europe.

Once again, met my lady and the terp. We hopped in her car and rode out to a place about 25 mins drive outside the city. The terp claimed it was Lukashenko’s favorite place to go on holiday and relax. Again, this drive was essentially the same as the last and all attempts at stimulating conversation on any number of subjects were met with little to no response or short answers which revealed nothing. Some of her other responses were 'I have no interest in any of that. I don't know about that i just work and go home watch some TV and sleep, that's it..."

I’ll only be posting a few pictures of the pace but it was very nice. They also had hunting excursions, hiking and biking trails. You can rent roller blades, bikes and on the lake they have paddle boats made for midgets and rowboats. This day they weren’t renting anything out.









So after we arrived and went for a short walk on grounds I asked the ladies if they were hungry. They said they were and we went off to the hotel restaurant.

The restaurant and hotel were very nice and the décor appeared to be very ‘upscale’ I was just picturing the prices we would encounter at a presidential retreat. The waitress was well dressed and again very professional. We had a typical Belorussian meal and the prices were actually far lower than I had previously feared. It was a good time. After that it was off to wander the grounds again and we had a bit of meaningful discussion that afternoon. It would turn out to be short lived. Then it started to rain so we decided to leave. Back to the car and during the ride back we discussed my ladies plans for her birthday which was coming up. She decided she had plans for most of the day and would get together in the evening. Once back in the city my lady said she wanted some dessert and didn’t feel like supper so they decided they wanted to go back to ‘Da Vinci’ to make have desert and that way we could make reservations for her birthday.



While eating dessert and discussing where we would sit and what time we should arrive (as they would be playing live music on the night of her birthday), my lady let it be known she ‘needed’ a nice dress and shoes for her birthday night out.
We made plans to go out the next day and meet at 1300 to go shopping. We parted ways with the terp and made plans to meet again in a few days with her and perhaps go back to Lukashenko’s resort and do some rollerblading or go out on the lake in a boat. A hug later and a good night we parted ways. I had some plans to test her a bit the next day and see how things went. I was also curious to see how she would spend my money and her shopping habits as she worked very hard at a low paying job and was by no measure of the imagination well off.