Well it is official I did get engaged to Inna on my trip. There was nothing for me to think about really. No awkward moments and hard to believe that she was even better in person.
I mostly went Native and it was real interesting. I did go to the Moscow Troop Water Circus which was amazing. I also went to her parents village, and won them over in no time flat. It helped that he was retired Army and was a tank specialist. That was the same as my grandpa who was with Patton in WWII.
He took me fishing and that was funny, there was nothing short of 40 people scattered around a small pond. I quickly realized they were drinking with lines in the water and no fishing.
They would make sure that if a fish was caught, a guy that did not have one got it. This way he would not get in trouble with his wife.
He loved the fact I knew my way around a farm and that the no outdoor plumbing did not phase me. The sad part of the conversation was convincing her parents that her son was in fact coming with her. It took about 20 minutes to convince them of that fact. They just could not believe that a man would be willing to raise another man's child.
Not impressed at all with the way the men acted. I was in the park with her son, keeping my mouth shut as I was told. There was group after group of guys in the park in the early afternoon, drinking and smashing bottles where the kids were playing.
Pensioners trying to find bottles for cash and trash everywhere. It is sad that you know it does not need to be this way, but there is little you can do to change it. I got Inna in big trouble when I made meals for her and her son.
She was lecturing all day and I thought I was helping lol. Well her son told Baba about all the great food I was making and then a call must have been made to Inna. She was told that such a fine man should not be making meals. I told her to tell Mama I am French, and we do cook for women.
I told her that I had respected all their culture and I was sharing mine. That seemed to stop all the yelling at Inna for being a bad hostess. Her Mom was truly worried my Mom would think she was a bad cook.
My Russian was getting better and better. It was funny that I was blending in better than I thought.
I got them enrolled in an intensive English program and her English is pretty good. I got yelled at big time for leaving a towel on the floor. I had no idea what she was saying for about 5 minutes and it did not help I started laughing when I did figure it out.
I had left it there on purpose, just wanted to see if she was on best behavior or not. Clearly she was being herself. I should have taped the conversation and had it translated. I am sure there were some great words to add to my vocab.
I know it is not the standard trip report, but I was meeting my friends best friend. So this was a different set of circumstances. I had not trust issues to deal with. We both knew what my friends had and wanted the same thing.
I was real proud of myself, I could go to the market and not pay highest price and then find my way around pretty well. I am just going to keep working on my language skills and the boards were a huge help.
Feel free to ask any questions.
