Trip is post-poned

As you may have guessed from the title of this post - Adam's trip to Russia is now officially cancelled. The letter was exported from Russia on October 24th and that's where the trail ends. It is probably on a row boat somewhere in the middle of Atlatic.... ehhh. Even if the invitation arrives today, there will be no time for the visa to get processed and mailed back to WI by December 6th. We are a bit bummed out. Maybe it is "year 2008" thing? I don't know. We'll get another invitation in the works after the Christmas holidays.

Invitation for Adam

Guess what? We finally got Adam's invitation to Russia approved! I got it in my hands on Saturday, October 18th, and dropped it off in the mail on Monday, the 20th. The invitation is only good through December 16th.

When mailing the invitation, I just assumed that they'll put it through Air Mail as always. Also, assuming that I probably should be able to track the letter's location, I should send it "registered" mail. After getting the receipt, I realized the letter was sent surface mail... you know, via Titanic. The post office clerk refused to do anything about it - kind of expected over here. Few days later, I asked the clerk if she can track the letter's location, since it was "registered." She said that the tracking number is only good for when the letter never arrives to its destination :) Fabulous! Finally, it dawned on me to see if the Russian mail system has a website (you just never know), they do! So, dear post office clerk, FYI - you can track the letter on that site.

We are really hoping for Adam to get the invitation early November, so he can process his Russian visitor's visa through the Seattle consulate and head over to Russia in December. Keep your fingers crossed!

Russia: In the Land

Thought some may be interested in a short multimedia feature from James Hill of The New York Times. This 4.5 minute narrated slide presentation talks about and shows how people live in the farming areas of the country. Great pictures, great narration, great content all around.

Chocolate butter

The other day I was in a grocery store and saw... chocolate butter! Little you know, the childhood memories just flooded my mind. Remember when you were a child you thought that the most delicious thing in the world was corn dogs or hotdogs and mac-n-cheese? Well, it's kind of like that. Butter is generally a high priced item in a grocery store. Well, add chocolate to it, and it nearly doubles in price! :) So my mom reserved to buying it to about once a year for special occasions. Chocolate butter is basically really good, creamy butter blended with dark cocoa powder and sugar. You serve it on a slice of bread or on a toast - I mind you, you don't just rub it into your toast, you SLATHER it on you toast! Now that I'm thinking of it, it's like having chocolate frosting... yum. I wonder if it still tastes just as good as during the childhood.

The Department of State Decision

Drum roll... On monday, both Adam and I saw that the Department of State issued their recommendation not to approve the waiver of the 2-year home residency requirement. It is a very disappointing and unfair decision for a lot of people. At the same time, it is somewhat liberating to be done with the uncertainty of the "will they or will they not" decision. From now on, we are counting the 18 months until I am able to return to the U.S. (that is how much I have left from the 2 years). Adam had filed his paperwork and this should allow PLENTY of time for the USCIS (former INS) to process it. In other words, don't be sad and get busy planning a fun "welcome back" party for the Spring of 2010!

Online Article

First off, sorry for not posting. I have been slacking a little bit lately with the blog - there is a lot to write about, but there is also a lot of excuses why it doesn't happen.... Now to the topic.

One of the more regular online news sources about Russia that I read is The Moscow Times. They are one of the few independent newspapers, are rather objective and are published in English. The only drawback to their online editions is that you cannot access past articles unless there is a subscription. So in today's edition they featured an article about separation of wealth in the country... If you were here (in Russia), you would see examples of that every day and at some point you get so used to it, you stop paying attention (sad, isn't it?). So, just in case you are reading this post past the article's availability online through the newspaper, here is a link to the PDF file I created.

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

The other day mom and I were walking through the shops and something caught my eye - envelopes for making wishes (about that a little later). I forgot how superstitious the Russians are. When I was growing up, we beleived in bad luck brought by black cats, broken or cracked mirrors, having to return home because you forgot something (retracing your steps), spilling salt, celebrating something ahead of its due date, sitting on a corner of a table, and many, many more.

So now I feel like people took it to a new level over the last 10 years - there are a lot of eastern cultures inspired items people buy and gift each other for good luck, such as special envelopes that make your wishes put inside of them come true, little ceramic statues of "7 gods of happiness" that bring you... happiness (see example one of them here), replica of chinese coins which guarantee you'll always have money in your wallet, miniature egyptian pyramids that reduce harmful energy of computer screens and television, etc. I asked mom if people really believe in all of that, which she answered by pulling out three chinese coins tied with a red string from her wallet - apparently the same coins that my sister carries in hers. It will be interesting to see what the next waive will bring.

I'm online!

I am finally hooked up to the internet! Expect to see more posts and updates in the next day or two. Let me tell you, there is plenty to write about and I'll try to post pictures when I can. Glad to be back online, that sure makes the world whole a lot smaller...