Whatever Olga Wants, Olga Gets!

Anelya was full of smiles this morning, which now seems to be the routine. She was very playful for the full hour and this time, instead of getting fussy when she was hungry, she reached for me and came in for a snuggle. She stayed snuggling for a good 5 minutes and then decided to stick her whole hand in my mouth and keep it there. That's about the extent of our visit today. Here are some pictures. She was very happy today, but somehow we didn't manage to get any good pictures.

You talkin' to me?

Mommy if you don't zip it, I will stuff it!

She would not take her hand out of my mouth.

But she was definitely game for some snuggling and reached up

for me a nuzzled into me for several minutes.

This is the first time she has been the initiator of snuggling.

As I mentioned yesterday, Olga informed us that we would miss our afternoon visits with our children because she was taking us into the woods for a shish kabob BBQ. I don't think any of us had any idea what a production this would be. We got there around 1:30p.m. to the site of what ended up being a sports camp for children where Olga's son is in hockey camp for 2 weeks. We arrived, not knowing what to expect and spread out our blankets on the ground. It was announced that we would be broken up into teams and that we would "engage in program". Oh my do we miss Danile's translation skills...

While we were preparing to "engage in program", Olga was deep in conversation with Pasha. Very exciting. Olga is this commanding presence who dominates the energy of any situation she is in. Nobody says "no" to Olga. In fact, I would be surprised if Olga's own mother says "No" to Olga. She basically tells us what's what and we click our heels and salute. And BOY did we have to jump through some hoops today to get my baby. HAHAHA. It was so fun though.

In the middle of engaging in program, Olga barked at us to come along and hurry, it was time to play soccer. Mom was like, "Holy crap, Andrea, I am not playing soccer." I explained that only the men would have to play. We trenched in our sandals down the planks that covered the muddy path, turned right at the vicious Kazakh Chiuaua and then dredged through the prickly grass to get to the soccer field, where the camp kids were playing a game. Basically, the men played against the kids. The kids SMOKED the men. The result of which will be our next Russian Proverb, as soon as we can walk again.

Here is a picture of Olga and her disciples walking in a line.

When we got back from the soccer game, we arrived at a lovely oasis of a set table with more food than you can imagine. It was such a charming display of hospitality... and then came Olga with the bottle of vodka. DUN DUN DUN... So, half of the table declined the vodka, which is fine, but all of the Americans cannot decline the vodka, I know this from living in Russia. So, we decided that for the love of Anelya, along with Tammy and Bob, we would take one for the team.

We thought we had been good sports and this would satisfy Olga. Oh no. No way. She made us drink another one. Basically, I was stuffing lamb, chicken and bread down our faces to make sure we didn't get wasted. Mom and I lost it we were laughing so hard. I cannot quite explain to you how hilarious it was to watch my mother, deep in the forest of Kazakhstan, pounding vodka shots at the order of my lawyer. Now that is what I call diplomacy (or stupidty, you choose).

Here we are after 2 vodka shots realizing that we are screwed.

Olga, my lawyer, is on the left. Don't let the outfit fool you.

Girlfriend knows how to work the system! We're so lucky to have her!

She's a glamour queen to say the least!

Make it stop!

The sober and smart half of the table

As we continued to stuff our faces, a huge thunderstorm made it's way towards us and, much to my mother's delight, we all (about 25 of us) squished into a banya, or a sauna house. Excellent. Now this is a good way to get to know people. While we were in there, I was informed by Olga that we would do another shot. My mother is such a trooper. I said, "Ok Olga, but this is it, seriously. I'm about to have a baby." She started laughing and then all of these men shuffled in and one of them held a toast. He welcomed us to Kazakhstan and said that we have come here for our children and that they stay there in Kazakhstan because of their children, that we have a lot in common. He wished us wonderful luck in health, wealth, family, and everything and may we surround ourselves and our children with wonderful people, at which point Olga looked at me and said, "Wonderful people, like him, Andrea" and gave me suggestive eyebrows. I then realized my lawyer was trying to set me up in Kazakhstan. REALLY? How is this my life. LOL.

So, Mom, Bob, Tammy and I are pretty much spent, there's a thunderstorm outside and we are being held prisoner in a sauna playing Love Connection. Here's how we were feeling at this point:

The rain stopped and Pasha beckoned me to come take a picture of his masterful shish kabob skills. And then the dreaded, but inevitable event... Mom had to pee. Oh God. Well, Bob graciously checked out the bathroom before any of the women had to go and basically gave us a report of "Nyet Spacibo" or no thanks. So, here we are, sloshed in the woods of Kazakhstan, looking for a tree to pee behind. Yeah, you heard me. Mom and I peeing behind a tree in Kazakhstan. It doesn't get any better than this, people and we want credit!

So, after all of this, Tammy started to get panicky and looked at me and said, "We have to get out of here." After about another 45 minutes, we were informed that they would take us home, but only in one car, so there would be two shifts. Mom and I were in shift two, which meant we still had about 1.5 hours left of this. Much to our delight, we found the most amazing Kazakh culinary invention yet, the mash potato filled donut. Amy Broberg, I swear you would pack your bags and move here this afternoon. You have to pee behind a tree, but the reward is that you get to eat mashed potatoes wrapped in deep fried dough. I mean if something can suck up vodka, it is this.

Well, we get invited to sit at the next round of food, with Olga's group of 15 friends. I tell Mom and Mary Lou we HAVE to sit with them and eat a little something or we are being rude, but I firmly told them no more vodka for any of us. They did not push that issue. We ended up having a very nice hour at the table with them. They asked us many questions and invited Mom, the oldest person there, to hold a speech. Any of you who know my mother understand just how HILARIOUS this is because my mother hates to speak in front of people, but she did it. It's a Kazakh and Russian tradition. I took a video of the speech and will post it asap.

After a while, I was asked to make a toast. They had mentioned how very serious we were, that Mom was like a politician, so I toasted them saying, "we are so well behaved tonight because we are in Kazakhstan on very serious business. I want to end up in court for one reason and that is my baby, you guys I think could help be wind up in court for a while other set of reasons." They loved that and we toasted, with juice.

FINALLY, our ride came back and we were on our way back to the city. I have a splitting headache and Mom has been in bed since 7:30, but we have totally represented and participated. I really cannot even tell you how hysterical this day has been. It was a complete blast and a complete nightmare all in one. I seriously cannot believe how amazing my mother was today. Nazdarovaya! Cheers! (never again, by the way)