Anna and her parents
We had already met her father once when he was dropping her off at our apartment. He is a colonel for the police department and has always lived in Karaganda. Her mother is a kindergarten teacher, and has been for many, many years. Anna and her father picked us up at 5pm, and we first stopped at the church that they attend which is Russian Orthodox. There was a mass going on, though people seem to wander in and out constantly. There were no pews and everyone was standing. It was amazing – all in-laid wood and paintings on the ceiling. Kind of hard to describe but, very moving and a great experience. I don’t know anything about the Russian Orthodox religion, though it seemed very close to Catholicism. Anna explained that the former Soviet Union did not allow Catholics and would even tear down the churches if they found them. So – there must be a difference between the Russian Orthodox and Catholics!
Russian Orthodox Church
Their home was in a nice neighborhood of large homes. In Karaganda, we have seen thousands of apartment buildings, but very few single-family homes. They explained that in the late 1980s, the Soviet Union gave the land and money to start building the homes in their neighborhood, and when the USSR crumbled, all of the building stopped. Kazakhstan went through very hard economic times and building did not resume until the late 1990s.
Anna's home
We were met by two kitties, running to meet us in the snow – they let us know that they were ready to go inside where it was warmer. They were two girls. Moosa (sp?) and Emma, apparently Anna’s mom loves kitties! Also, they have a BIG dog that apparently came with the house. Jessica the Caucasian Shepard! We got to see her, but they were worried she may be a little aggressive, so we did not get to pet her.
Dave and Moosa
Dinner was fantastic! Anna’s parents are Ukrainian, so all of the food was traditional Ukrainian and Russian. Everything was made from scratch by her mother. We started with a first course of soup - Borscht, which was delicious. Beef and beets and other vegetables – mmmm. Second course was a sort of meat dumpling. Not a dumpling as in chicken and dumplings, but more like dim sum. Then we had about four different traditional salads. I will have Anna write the names down for us so I can look them up when we get home. Dessert was crepes with homemade jams and honey, candies and tea. Wow – I could get used to this! Some of you know, I am not very adventurous when it comes to food and usually prefer plain things – but everything was so delicious and I have a new appreciation for Russian cuisine.
The men had lots of vodka shots, which are followed by eating pickled mushrooms and pickles! Dave said the tastes really complemented one another. The women drank a pink drink, which Anna said was cognac and cranberry – very strong and sweet and good!
The big event of the evening was when Anna’s father asked if Dave had ever seen a traditional Kazak gown. Anna ran upstairs and came down with a beautiful gown and hat as a gift for Dave! The picture below is hysterical – look at that grin! I can’t believe how gracious and hospitable Anna’s parents were to us. We are the only American family they have ever met and (obviously) the first to have dinner in their home. I hope that if we said anything stupid, Anna translated it into something more palatable!
Dave and Anna's father
We are both still floored by what a great night we had. We are praying that Anna will come visit us this summer when she returns to the US. She will be going back to New York City, but I would love to get her a plane ticket to Atlanta for at least a long weekend.
