with brother, sis, and dad

rezniki, dyadya valya, itd

like in many other cultures going to visit relatives encompases extensive dining. At the very least you will be invited to tea with cakes and pastries, at most you'll be served a full meal. As many homes you will visit in a day as many meals you will have to eat. The food is awesome but after hours and hours of eating it could prove fatal to ones figure. :) And of course to claim that you are not hungry is to offend the hostess. After awhile you learn a few tricks -- take small portions, invent allergies etc. :)

the streets, the people, and ohhh sooo many churches...

:) visiting my cousins and nethews... two boys were adorable, most of the shots are done by them from under the dinner table, thus the random floor shots... :)

one of the true highlights of this trip... one morning on a whim i decided to go back to my old school to see if my very first teacher was there...
not only was she still teaching at the school i also found out that my best friend at that time also teaches math there... what a pleasant surprise!
after an overflow of mooshy-warm feelings, the reality of teachers in Russia today settled in. To say that they are underpaid and that the schools are underfunded is to say nothing at all... and the sheer sence of hopelessness and pity was trully overwhelming.

=) this is when my cousin came to visit with his granma, his gfriend, his son (my godson) soooo, here we go again, more pictures taken by kids :)