Dinner Guests

Last night we had dinner at the home of Ulia and her family. The father, Slava, cooked shashlik out on the 'barbie', thus underscoring my theory that outdoor grilling is an inherently male event. His shashlik rocked. The table was covered in food as we'd seen at the birthday party. I wondered how the drinking would go when Slava broke the seal on the vodka, but it was mainly used for making a mercifully small number of toasts. It was very clear that they had gone out of their way to present us with a feast. Being hospitable folk, they encouraged us to eat tons of it. We happily obliged and really paid the price for it today with overexpanded stomachs.

Ulia's translation skills were wonderful, so we're hoping to connect her with our translator to see if that could prove mutually beneficial for a job. Conversation ranged from sharing family photo albums to life in Dallas to life under Soviet rule to music to work. Slava has four jobs currently which really put in perspective how tough life must be for the middle class here in Taraz. When I told him about my work, he mentioned that he and some of his associates had talked about putting together something like an ISP that might be able to offer Internet voice (VoIP) services. I told him we would definitely be interested in helping out.

When we found out that Karina, the middle daughter, and Slava both play guitar, I had to hear them play. They pulled out a guitar that I would assume is Russian, brand named "Western." Slava strummed out a few chords. Then they wanted to hear what I could play for them. The action was pretty high which made playing a task. I used a credit card as a pick and played a few songs, including "House of the Rising Sun." It wasn't Eminem or Linkin Park, so they didn't recognize it. Karina took a turn and sang beautifully with her two sisters. Throughout the whole evening, Zhenya, the youngest daughter, drew wonderful pictures of birds. Her skill was really pretty amazing for being only 7 yrs old. We also found out that she stays up til 10 p.m. on schoolnights and 2 - 3 a.m. on the weekend watching MTV and horror movies, amongst other things. I was blown away that she didn't get nightmares or have trouble getting up in the morning.

The house, while being described by Slava as "not rich," seemed very roomy to us. As with nearly all of the private houses we've seen, they have a wall surrounding their property with a very heavy metal door to allow in cars or guests. Once inside, they have a nice main house, a few covered patio areas, a garage, an addition that Slava built, a large garden (tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.) with multiple fruit trees (apple, apricot), berry bushes and a walnut tree, a chicken coop, a dog run complete with German shepherd, and a variety of storage sheds.

Through talking about our driver Medet and translator Vera, we found out that Slava's relative Marlin went to school with Medet. This just confirms that Medet truly knows EVERYONE in Taraz. The guy is amazing. We also found out that Marlin's wife Natasha, who led so many additional toasts at our table at the birthday party, "doesn't drink." We pressed this point and Ulia confirmed that Natasha would raise her glass but didn't actually drink. So, it would appear we fell for the oldest trick in the Russian book. Silly Americanskis!