A Lunch Date with Putin

First, I have expanded my list of things I miss: Coffee, my mom, free bathrooms (you know about those ones), I also really miss coffee TO-GO, this does not exist. And I miss American speedlimits, there are zero speed limits here, and SIDEWALKS. My Russian mama asked me what I missed, and I very emphatically said: Ya skuchaio po trabuaru!! I miss sidewalks!!! And she just cracked up.

I love making my host mom laugh. I say the weirdest things sometimes.
For example, she asked me about Barack Obama. "Do you like Barack Obama? Tell me what you think about him as a president and as a person." I explained that I do like him, I am not a fanatic, but I like him well enough. I also explained that I think he has/had a lot of potential, but he hasn't done enough to take advantage of his potential. I also said, I find him very interesting as a person, and would love to meet him. So then of course, I asked her about Putin, and she said a lot of stuff I did not understand a WORD of, but she did say that at times she is ashamed of him. But, she added, not as ashamed as she was of Yeltsin, which I told her was very understandable. (If you don't know why she would be ashamed of Yeltsin, read this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/341959.stm)
And then we talked about Putin for a while, and she told me that its difficult to live somewhere where the people are not expected to know or be a part of political affairs. I asked her about Medvedev and she said that she didn't dislike him, she likes him just fine, and that he's just a regular guy, there's not much to like OR dislike. Which I found FASCINATING, and totally true now that I think about it.
She asked me what I thought of Putin, and I told her, in complete honesty, that he scares me, but that I am absolutely intrigued by him.
"Why are you scared of him??" She said, starting to laugh.
This I could not explain well in Russia, so I said rather elementarily "He is strong, and cunning, and harpoons whales, and fly fishes, and judo fights, and rides horses and fights fires and he was in the KGB!"
She laughed again and nodded.
But I followed that up with "However, I would still love to have lunch with him someday."
"Does he know that??" She asked me.
I laughed loudly, and said, sheepishly "Nooo..."
She grinned and looked around the room, "Now he does!!" she said.
And my eyes just got reallllllllly big and I darted my eyes at the corner she had looked at with the vent in it.
Then we BOTH just laughed until we cried. Little did I know, all I had to do is say I wanted lunch with him out loud in Russia, and he'll know ;) God, my Russian mama is HILARIOUS. I am so lucky.


Also, gin and tonic in a CAN. SO SO SO SO SO good! And SO CHEAP. Like less then 2 dollars.
Anddddd even better than gin and tonic in a can? GIN AND GRAPEFRUIT in a can!!!
I'm never going back to America, this place rocks, I can survive a few sidewalks for this fantasy.

Kak Obyichna Chmok Chmok,
Vasha Taan Taan