a winter sports extravaganza
Well, if I hadn’t taken proper advantage of the Russian winter, I made up for it these past few days. Wednesday was a state holiday: Defenders of the Fatherland Day. Once upon a time on a February 23rd far, far away, the Red Army was founded. The moment is now commemorated in a sort of men’s holiday to balance out the celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8. So all men get gifts and cards and congratulations, even if they’ve never served in the military.
So to make a short story long, we had the day off on Wednesday. Alina didn’t have class, Sasha didn’t have school and of course the archive was closed (when is it ever open, I ask you?). What do Russians do when its -15 and a holiday? Do they sit inside and watch TV like normal people? No. When Marina came in on Wednesday morning from work, she announced that it was a bonafide Russian winter day – sunny and ass cold. We had decided earlier that week that we would go to Krestovskii Island to the park and rent Finnish sleds, or sani. Finnish sleds are, well, interesting. They are made of two long runners, on top of which is mounted a seat. One person can sit in comfort, while the other person pushes the sled. We rented two and took turns. Quite fun. And it can also be a workout when you decide to race and you’re pushing another grown adult in front of you. Needless to say, Alina, Marina and I all took turns pushing Sasha, who weighs considerably less.
The park was packed with people on sani, on cross country skis, and people just out for a holiday stroll in the cold. On the island are several palaces left over from Catherine the Great’s favorites, whom she gifted with elaborate homes. The island has been mostly protected from development, but around the metro they are starting to build apartment buildings and other such developments that look to ruin an otherwise idyllic park. Shame.
Marina had convinced me to bring along my snow shoes (“for entertainment” she said) and after we turned in the sleds, everyone took a turn on them, walking along the frozen creek. Sasha actually took quite a liking to them and didn’t want to take them off. Then we went to the winter amusement park where I actually wrote down an ice slide on an inflated innertube. In retrospect, not a good thing for my back.
Thursday and Friday were full on work days, and I’m happy to say I got a lot done. That’s an unusual thing these days because of various bureaucratic obstacles that keep popping up. Oh well. I keep plugging along.
Today I went snowboarding with Alina, who’s quite a serious snowboarder. Boy was that fun….and painful. My butt is once again reminded of the trauma it suffered during my ill fated plummet from a tree in the middle of the woods.
Snowboarding is rough, but lots of fun. Much more interesting than skiing, as memory serves (it’s been 15+ years since I’ve been skiing, actually). First of all, it is easier on the knees in that because your legs are both attached to a board, they can’t splay out in opposite, dangerous directions. Their movement is somewhat limited. The rest of your body, however, can go in whatever direction you happen to fall. I spent a lot of time on my butt, trying to stand up, falling down, and trying to scoot side to side before I had any concept of aim and direction. Imagine me, scooting myself and a snowboard sideways along a hill. I also did several somersaults, forward and backward. Unintentionally.
Alina says I have a natural sense for it because early on I successful executed a helicopter maneuver, where I turned 360 degrees. The fact that I achieved this completely accidentally because I couldn’t control the board did not seem to be an issue. After two hours of crashing to the ground with various parts of my body, I called it quits and headed in for a beer. Mmm….beer. Tomorrow is Alina’s birthday, so we began the celebration a little bit early. Tomorrow there will be a huge, nastoiashchii Russian party at the apartment. Should be interesting.
In the meantime, I want to sleep so bad it hurts.
****Addendum - I wrote this earlier, but only got around to posting it now!
Alina had her party, which was overflowing with people and with Russian salads made with either fish or mayonaise. Sometimes both. It was fun. I didn't get drunk and I'm glad, my body can't put up with that stuff anymore. Alina did though and boy did she feel like ass the next day. Poor thing.
My visa is currently unregistered and I'm a big fat illegal resident right now, so I have to go take care of that.
