OT: Back From The Black Sea

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

 

Just got back last night .. put my Angel on the plane for Russia this

morning .. and miss her already. She will continue her university

studies in a couple of weeks. She called a couple of hours ago from

Moscow. As difficult as life is for folks there now that the Soviet

Union has collapsed .. they still love their country very much .. she

said she kissed the ground as soon as she arrived in the home land.

 

Also amazing it is how much similarity there is between the Russian and

American way of thinking and phrasing those thoughts. Angel speaks

English as well as most Americans .. but she is self taught. Some of

her phrases are identical to those in America but they are direct

translations from the Russian language.

 

Twas a great trip .. Cakraz is a nice fishing village in rolling green

hills .. our balcony of the hotel we stayed in was approximately fifty

meters from the sea .. the sound of waves continued through the night.

 

Cost was .. a bit less than $49 per night and this included two meals a

day .. a great breakfast of coffee, tea, homemade jams and jellies,

village butter, lots of breads, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, white cheese,

black and green olives, yoghourt, watermelon and cantaloupe. Dinner was

a choice of chicken, beef or fish .. naturally we took the plate piled

high with fresh whiting and a monstrous salad .. followed by lotsa fresh

fruits and Turkish sweets.

 

Rode horseback a bit .. told the hotel I wanted horses so they had some

villagers bring them in from 3 hours away .. cost was even less than the

hotel and the villagers were glad to get the cash money. Most of them

in that area are subsistence farmers/fishermen. Had a couple of late

night watermelon seed spitting contests .. great fun that is after a few

toddies .. ;-). There was a disco on the hill and music drifted down to

the hotel so we danced in the surf at midnight and laughed a lot.

 

Angelica had never seen the sea .. when we topped the mountain and the

town of Amasra and the sea became visible .. she got out of the car and

sat and stared for a few minutes with a smile on her face. :-) When we

got suited up she charged into the sea like a bull. We got great tans

and to heck with the dangers .. its nice. ;-)

 

I miss her a lot .. but life must move on. She'll be back some time

next year and we'll pick up what's left then. Meantime .. we have some

very beautiful memories we can hang on to. Angel has nicknamed me the

Dreammaker. I could say the same for her. :-)

 

I posted a few photos in the list photo section of Oils & Herbs.

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com