Dinner

I decided to cook something new tonight. I don't usually follow any recipes, I like to improvise. I found a piece of fish and a flower-shaped pumpkin in the fridge and here comes the dinner :)))

A conversation with Konstantin Bronzit

Konstantin Bronzit is a famous animation film director ("lavatory love story" - oscar nominated film). I got a chance to visit him in Saint Petersburg at Melnitsa studio couple days ago. I showed him my thesis film "Unhinged" and received his critique. Oh my god... now I do understand why there are not so many female directors. We had a 2-hour conversation (mostly him talking) and I left his studio suffering cruel mental hit. And I needed 2 days to recover. There is no doubt that the information he gave me is very valuable but there is no definite answer if it effected me in a proper way. Hope so...
Here is his pic:

If I were...

If I were a 7-year-old kid I would definitely give up on all my stupid ideas of becoming a test-pilot or an astronaut and I would become a figure skater. Today I went to skate and it's been years since I skated and I saw all these little cute kids skating crazy awesome, doing very difficult elements and jumps... OMG, I wish I were 7-year-old and I would start all over.
And good statistics - today I fell only once, and only because I got cut by one crazy infant.

Face-to-face conversation

Facebook video calling is rolling out. It also has a new group-chat feature, allowing users to have a conversation with multiple people at the same time.

It would be good and fun if we can see and chat with each other face-to-face virtually at least once a year or more. Hope the group-chat feature includes video chat but not just "Audio chat." I got to check it out.

Countryside

It was a wonderful Saturday July 9th. Me and my mom visited our family friend Eleonora. She has a beautiful house in a countryside. And coincidentally it was their village's anniversary. Although, i like hanging out with my favorite grannies, i'm not a big fun of spending all the time like that. Fortunately, Eleonora's sons Denis and Max and their friend Andrew came to visit her as well :). Her older son Denis is 36-38 and youngest one is 30. They are nice. Denis has 4 kids already, and Max has 2 kids. Denis is very fun - he is a big boss and he likes to manage all people in all aspects even if we just making dinner or having a walk. He is pedantic in a good way, everything should be according to his rules and the whole family wouldn't even dare to abandon them. He gave us extreme high speed ride with many sharp turns in his cute motor boat. We watched the entertainment program arranged by village residents. They were singing, declaring poems, dancing and etc. It was impressive that there were some people who dedicated their time to prepare all these things. Everything was very simple and very cute. I attached some pics. And then we had wonderful barbecue made by Andrew - mmmm, so tasty.

Yesterday

As the days run past me, I am beginning to prepare myself for the BIG CHANGE. Everyone asks me how I feel about leaving, and I give some half-ass response like 'yeah, I'm excited'. I can't even begin to explain to them the enormity of this change that is just around the corner. There is no way I can define my feelings in a word or a sentence, or in a simple black and white way. I feel that most people see it as moving from the 'first world' to the 'third world', which is so not how I see it. I cannot wait to be back in the family, the house, the city, where I spent 22 years of my life - to be reacquainted with the old, and be introduced to all the new in New Delhi.

This is from the statement of purpose I wrote as a part of my grad school application - "It is only when one is suspended outside one’s environment that one begins to understand oneself. I seek to detach myself from the strong cultural roots of my country in order to have a deeper understanding of their influence on me."

I feel that these two sentences really capture what I had intended to do - to learn more about myself as an individual - and even though there is no end to this pursuit, I know that I have surpassed my own expectations. I have gained experiences, friends, knowledge, discovered a lot about myself, acquired basic cooking skills, and so much more! I am grateful for this journey, and now its time to go back :)

Yesterday I woke up and realized there was no food in my refrigerator. I headed out in search of good food and this is what I found - homemade Indian style Fish Fry, with rice, lentils, and spinach. So good!

After the amazing meal, I watched this -

What I really wanted to watch was this -

 

And this is the end of my update.

Historical Trips

Washington DC - my second trip to here after 4 years of staying in this country. My first trip was the first month I came to united states of america after deciding to have higher education. The reason I felt Washington DC was very different this time not because I was with my parents but because I experienced and appreciated the spirit of independence, justice, braveness, and brotherhood throughout those years.

Rainbow and a Dry Sun

Yesterday we were caught by very strong thunderstorm and we had to run almost one kilometer back home without umbrella and today it was very hot and dry like in a desert. Me and my mom went to cemetery to visit grandpa and dad and we walked 45 min one way. It was killing dry, dusty and hot. Now my knee is killing me, dang it. During such hot summer it's hardly believable that we have very cold winter here.

Yaroslavl dancing fountains

Almost every evening me, my sister-in-low and my nephew are having a walk along the river. Here is one very beautiful spot on our river bank. It called "Arrow" and it was reconstructed last year for 1000 anniversary.

Great Spirit

After mom left NY, I still did the same things that we usually did when she was here last few days. She introduced a Taiwanese tv drama to me. I watched the drama together with her after works. Today is the third day after mom left. I watched the drama alone from 9pm to 11:30pm. It sounds really crazy and I should've spent such long time watching it. However, I have to say, it is a rally good and inspiring drama. Taiwanese great spirit got remembered and honored. Please learn Chinese/Taiwanese and watch the drama. They speak Chinese and Taiwanese those two languages, just as most of the families in Taiwan. I would be more than happy to teach you both Chinese and Taiwanese. Sorry the drama doesn't have English translation yet. I will be happy to help with any translation if you need!

You can watch the drama- 草山春晖 online!

I love you!

<3 <3 <3

रेगुलर TITLE

WHY THE TITLES OF MY POSTS ARE IN "HELL_I_DON'T_KNOW_WHAT_IS_THAT_LANGUAGE"?

रुस्सियन Passport

Today I was buying a SIM card for my iphone and a salesgirl was doubting that I gave her my own passport. Same thing happened to me at the Passport Control in the Russian Airport. They looked at my passport picture and did not recognize me! I hope that's all about my hair, or did I get to old since then?
btw, my iphone still doesn't work here despite all my efforts to unlock it. Still trying...

Birthday wishes for dear Beryl... Part 1

My Armenian Neighbourhood

The city of calcutta once had a population of over 5000 Armenians. The sharp-featured, fair-skinned Armenians worked in the coal and jute industries of Calcutta much before the Marwadis and the  British arrived back in the 14th century. Today, very few remain in the city. This is the story of a neighborhood which also upholds the diversity that Calcutta as a city has to offer. The film traces the stories of a few Armenian individuals and families and takes a look at how this minority is trying hard to keep their culture alive among the younger generations.

duration 27 min | category documentary | language english

Director
Samimitra Das is a student of Direction & Screenplay Writing in the Satyajit Ray Film  & Television  Institute, Kolkatta.

माय तूर्ण तो से हियर वे go

I have no idea why my blogger did that thing to me in the title of my post. It should say: "Now it is my turn to say here we go, girls". Please watch this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbND0b6TwJw

jogging

the other Yaroslavl specificity: I was running today on the bank of Volga river and all young people were looking at me as I were from Mars. Apparently, jogging is still being considering as something weird for Yaroslavl residents.
I also met my old friends today. They got married a long time ago and I was a maid of honor. They have a cute 9 month old baby Lisa. They said she gets scared of strangers, but fortunately she took me easy. I was surprise, cause I thought that it would be difficult for me to get along with babies. Although my nephew likes me too (at least I think so). Should I work at the preschool then? Maybe I will be good at it...
And I have changed my hair color again, I hope it won't fall out soon because of my often color experiments...
Random pics from home:

Gayane, I saw this woman and thought of you and your cool boots :)

Here It Is, Girls!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2CWFVYYXOU

Meet Russia

New sheremetyevo airport, looks much better than it was before. Huge traffic everywhere in Moscow, NYC traffic seems not serious compare to this one. Air is not fresh, made me dizzy. Train wasnt bad - I was in a 4-seat section with 3 very loudly snoring men. People are nice - they let me use their phone and they helped me with my heavy luggage. Lots of slang. I have not notice any changes in my hometown on my way from the train station to home.

First White Night at home

Mi first night at home (it's been more than 2 years). It's so bright! You can easily read without an artificial light. I woke up at 3am and couldn't fall asleep again. It also seems that I traveled back in time - nothing has changed in my mom's house, it's just became older and more crowded. My nephew is a tiny little ginger thing, makes everyone speak funny. Food is awesome, omg... My mom baked pirogues and a cake for me. I will get fat. For now im lost in time and i want to switch myself to a sleeping mode.

Let's not go away?

It's really hard and getting harder to experience leaving.
It's also not easy to not move forward, maybe.

Let's not go away?



-b