An Afternoon with a Russian Family

A panorama of Orsk from the Television Station hilltop

I was thrilled Saturday to have the opportunity to have dinner with a Russian family in their home.  Nadezhda Tusina, an English Professor whom I work with at the Institute, and her family showed me warm Russian hospitality as they spent the afternoon showing me the sights of Orsk and opening their home to me with a delicious home cooked dinner!

At my request, we stopped for some photos on the bridge over the Ural River which is the border between Asia and Europe.  As strange as it may seem, the Ural was actually frozen over on the Asian side of the river, but there was no ice on the European side - believe it or not!

The next stop was at the oldest church in the city, located on the highest hill, and built on the site of the original fortress which dates back to 1735.  The old part of the Orsk is located on the Asian side of the river.  It wasn't until World War II (The Great Patriotic Was, as they call it) that the European side to the city was built as factories in larger cities, in danger of being bombed by the Nazis, were relocated to this remote location.  Since there was no service going on in the church at the time of our visit, I was able to take photographs.

A view of the newer and more industrial part of the city from the high hill where
the television broadcasting station is located

Andrei in his office 

It was very interesting to visit the business of Andrei, Nadezhda's husband.  He is the owner of an automotive supply store in Orsk which sells tires, rims, automotive parts, and performs automotive services.  Andrei drives a newer Ford that was manufactured in Germany.  He laughed when he found out that the American drives an older (1999) Japanese car!  He gave me an oil additive treatment for my car, Suprotech, which is manufactured in St. Petersburg, Russia, and according to him will keep my car going for another hundred years!  This is a great time of year for his business, as everybody is buying snow tires for the change of seasons.

Mounting customers' snow tires for the upcoming winter

There is just a whisp of snow on the ground now, but everybody is taking this as a sign to get ready
for the coming winter weather.

The snow tires have little studs that look like rivets to give better traction on winter roads.

Our next stop was at the community bath house/sauna, closed on Saturdays, but the Babushka was there selling "vyenik", bundles of birch and oak twigs.  A bather in the sauna dips them in boiling water for 10 seconds and then slaps his/her bare skin with them in the sauna.  There are different types of bundles, some with dried blossoms and some without.  Each type gives a different fragrance.  The oak bundles have coarser leaves and offer a more stimulating experience than the birch.  While she initially protested that she did not want her photo taken, Nadezhda told me that she would be bragging to her friends about her "American experience" for weeks to come!  Click on the link below to hear an audio program about Russian bath house culture and history.

 Russian "banya" or bath house culture audio program

By this time, we were all ready for dinner, so we went to the family's apartment to spend the rest of the afternoon.  They have a beautiful, spacious apartment which is modern and very comfortable.  The large kitchen has a stainless steel refrigerator and up to date appliances.  Nadezhda is a fantastic cook and set a table fit for a king!  She made four different salads, and for the main course, home made pelmeni, a Russian dumpling that is stuffed with three kinds of meat.  It was delicious!

Daughter "Marcia" also speaks beautiful English and recently competed in an English poetry contest in school.  I coached her for an hour one afternoon before the competition.  She feels like she performed well, and is eager to get the results of the contest at school tomorrow.  Their son, Vova (the nickname for Vladimir), is also learning English and eventually got up the courage to try it out with me by asking, "What city are you from?"  As you can see here, you don't really need snow or ice to be ready for a hockey game!  The family has invited me to go to a hockey game with them in early December.  I gladly accepted!

Russian Weddings

Saturdays are the most popular day of the week for weddings in Russia, so I decided to take my camera with me on my walk to the gym, and sure enough, I got lucky!  These newlyweds were observing some Russian wedding traditions.  After the civil ceremony, the bride and groom take a tour of the city which lasts several hours.  They visit the historic landmarks of the city and stop at important monuments to take photos.  The groom is supposed to carry the bride over seven bridges in the city, and they are to place a padlock on one of them and throw the key in the river.  This ensures that the couple will have many happy, and harmonious years of wedded bliss together! 



Carrying the bride across a bridge





A popular bridge with newlyweds!




Flowers at the World War II memorial left by the brides and grooms.