October 27, 2010 12:03pm Yakutsk time…
Well, the family picked up Grandma Faye at the airport at 5:30 am today. She flew in from Novosibirsk to be here for the birthday celebrations. Grandfather Visalia will be flying in from Moscow tomorrow. There are currently 12 people living in this 3 bedroom apartment. The sleeping quarters aren’t as much of a challenge as the living space when everyone is up and around.
One advantage to having all of us in one apartment is that Malcolm is constantly entertained. As soon as he is finished socializing with one family member, another one is close by. He is also infatuated with baby Olga, Vera’s 3 months old baby. She is my very first niece and Malcolm’s cousin. Any time she sounds uncomfortable, Malcolm is right there to help get her smiling again.
Malcolm has also been interacting with his great-great Grandmother Polya. She is 98 years old and spends most of her time in her bed these days. Malcolm sets up an altar and performs Russian Orthodox Church service for her every day. She loves every second of it. (I’ll post video soon)
It did snow a little bit overnight, so the city looks a little whiter this morning. Hopefully, the clouds rolling in means that it will snow again today. The cold seems a little more worthwhile if there’s snow to go along with it.
Victor and I went to the gym today. I had a pretty good workout. I was feeling pretty weak, having not worked out for nearly a month.
I will try to put together a couple more clips of activities with the family and outings. We really haven’t had many outings besides the trips to the airport. I will also be sure to post clips from Olga’s birthday party this weekend.
Next week I plan to get in some Judo/Sambo workouts. I will post some video on that as well…(unless I’m getting beat up!)
Sounds incredible! Can you describe the apartment?
ReplyDeleteThis apartment building was built in the 80s at the end of the communist era. All of the apartments built up to that time were built pretty much the same as well as furnished the same. There is a funny Russian movie call "Irony of Fate" about a guy who gets drunk and ends up in an apartment in Leningrad that is just like his apartment in Moscow. Much to his surprise, the woman owner comes home to find him there passed out drunk in her bed. Anyway, it turns into a romantic comedy. Good example of the typical Russian apartments though. I'll post video soon of ours.
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