mother russia

so.

21 years after my parents hired a former Soviet nanny (she was Ukrainian, I believe?) to take care of baby me, 15-or-so years after I loved The Fiddler on the Roof (I was an odd child with odd interests, okay?), 12 years after I became strangely obsessed with Russian gymnasts, 5 years after my first trip to Eastern Europe, one year after I discovered the wonder that is vodka (okay, one year, MY ASS, but I am not about to admit to underage drinking on a public blog), and countless years after I started begging my dad to take me to Russia...it seems that I am finally going this summer!

I don't want to jinx anything, but...ahh! I am so excited. And lucky. But mostly, excited.

you see, there are two nationalities of people that I have absolutely nothing to do with, ethnically or culturally, that totally fascinate me. These are: {1} Greeks, and {2} Russians. I've been to Greece a thousand times (okay, five) because I have the best father in the world who really values travel and loves the Greeks too, but I've never been to Russia. But I love Russians! Particularly the Russian prostitutes that walk the street corners in Tel Aviv (no, I am not trying to be an asshole that stereotypes people, and I am well aware that prostitutes in Israel -- and elsewhere -- are of course not exclusively Russian, and I think sex trafficking is a nasty nasty thing...I am just saying that my sister and I may or may not have saved a Russian hooker's business card we found the second to last time we went to Israel. And on a completely unrelated note, isn't it hilarious that prostitution is legal in the "holy" land?).

anyway, the point of this post is: I am finally going to Russia! And everyone knows I love Russia and will someday adopt a Russian child (or not...), so this is the greatest thing ever.

oh, and if a redneck happens to stumble across my blog, I just want to make it extra clear that: {1} I promise I am not a Communist (in fact Cuba is the most depressing place I have ever been to), {2} I also promise I am not a Russian spy, although that would be cool, and {3} (this one is mostly for non-rednecks but rather for people informed about the world) although I usually don't quite care about politics, I think most of Russia's internal and foreign political affairs are absolutely atrocious (i.e. human rights abuses, inequality, no freedom of press, invading Georgia even though I don't really remember what that was about, etc.).

p.s. the other day I learned that during World War II, many Soviet POWs were sent to labor camps in Siberia upon their return to the USSR, because according to Soviet law, one was supposed to fight to the death and never surrender. So, basically, Stalin considered Soviet POWs traitors and accused them of collaborating with the Nazis, which is like the most depressing thing I've ever heard. Those poor people were screwed either way.

sometimes the world really sucks.

also, I am a nerd.