Steve is in Amurgrad this week and asked me to fill in for him. I’m not sure what he is doing there. He wasn’t clear in his message. Maybe he didn’t know himself. I can’t find Amurgrad on the map, it’s like it doesn’t even exist.
Anyway, we were able to visit my father-in-law’s dacha this weekend. In spite of all the rain we’ve been having. The penguins loved it. Penelope did a pirouette, and they all played “follow the leader,” which prompted my daughter to ask if they were in a political party. I told her it was a children’s game. I think she was trying to be funny but am not entirely sure. See the penguins in action below!
A “dacha” is a Russian garden spot. Many families have them. They are generally small, but large enough to grow Corn, flowers, zucchini, raspberries, green herbs, cabbage, and other plants. For some, it’s used to supplement their food supply; others sell what they grow. Either way, it gets the family out of the house on the weekend and doing something healthy.
The gardens are also used for cookouts. Our family garden has a one room, wood hut with a closet for gardening tools, an outhouse and a shower where the water has to be transported to a bucket 8 feet off the ground.
I don’t know when Steve will be back, but he said something about August 28th being a deadline of some sort. In the meantime, check out “The Treasure of Nikolai Nikolaevich.”
If you want to know more about Russia, check out these links. If you have comments or questions, leave them below. Thanks so much for reading!
Do Svidanya!
Shad