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.

oh, the places you'll go

so, obviously I've fallen off the blogging bandwagon lately. I'd blame it on "the holidays," but the truth is that I've been obsessively writing and writing and writing this silly "novel" of mine, because when I love doing something, well, I love doing it. Nonstop.

anyway, I am currently at the airport, much too sleepy (despite being heavily caffeinated, which truthfully in my case means zilch because coffee for some strange reason puts me to sleep) to novel-write, and I am thinking about this conversation that I had with my boyfriend a few days ago. I'm so fortunate to have been born into a family that considers travel so important, a priority, even, and sometimes I don't appreciate all the places I've been. Which is dumb, because I certainly should. One time, my uncle in France told us that if there is one thing worth spending money on, it is travel. I agree wholeheartedly.

via

so far in my (relatively short) life, I've been to: the United States, Costa Rica, Israel, Turkey, Greece, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, England, Spain, France, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Cuba, the Bahamas, and Nicaragua, I think (do an emergency landing in Jamaica and reaching my hand into Lebanon count?). But there's so many places I'd still love to visit! Especially: Russia (despite the fact that I'm incredibly bitter about the new anti-US adoption law, considering I've been wanting to adopt a Russian child for, oh, I don't know, a good ten years), Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Morocco, Italy, Romania, Egypt (I mean, if shit ever calms down), India, and South Africa, to name a few.

basically, I want to travel the world. Because experiences mean more than material things, wouldn't you agree?

in other news, since I've been "gone," I've been thinking about: how the idea of arming schoolteachers is the dumbest, saddest, and most dangerous thing I've ever heard in my life (also: how it seems like an absolute no-brainer that there needs to be some serious gun control. This is coming from someone whose family was personally affected years ago in a civilian gun-related incident); how I need to study for the GREs and look into MFA programs I'd be interested in; how I am excited about the new direction my life is going in; how I still do not understand what the fiscal cliff means (I'm kind of stupid); how I am avoiding thinking about how much I miss Simba because I might cry; how much I hate airports and New York City (sorry, I'm not sorry).

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/whatever else you might celebrate!