Russia.. Finally

Well I finally arrived in Russia. I have been here for about a week and a half. We will be going home again around Dec 8th but we are stopping for a brief long due honeymoon in Vegas for the NFR. After finally getting over the jet lag (it was bad- it takes about a week for your body to adjust to the almost 12 hour difference) I have been out with Gary several times riding through the cattle. It is amazing the vast amount of untouched land here. You would really have to be here to believe the beauty of the land. This area was completely flattened by a tank battle during WWII so everything that is now here has been rebuild. There are massive "forests" and in these forests the trees are all in straight rows as they had to be replanted after the war. Also, the villages and the village people seem to have never changed after they were re-established in the late 1940's. The old "Babuskas" (grandmas) still wear the same attire as they did in 1945. There are no cars in the small villages. Everyone walks, rides bikes or rides some sort of contraption that motates them from one place to the next. I would like to get some pics of these "vehicles"... some are rototillers with a seat and wagon hooked on. Some are old side car motorcycles but you usually see 3 to 4 people on these. The horse and cart is still a major mode of transportation in many villages. Below are some pics I took in the last few days riding through cattle.

This pic is of the frost and fog we had this morning. It still hasnt let up. It has actually gotten worse as the day wore on. I thought this line of trees in the middle of the pasture looked beautiful in the fog and frost.

This is gate opens up into a pasture where Gary has about 2000 head of bred heifers and a few bulls.

This "pond" is actually a crater left by a bomb explosion in WWII. Beautiful but you feel a sense of reverence as huge battles were fought on this land we are now ranching on and you know that lives were lost on the very ground you stand upon.

The village of Uzha. These people live very simply. A comminity well and they still have the collective or community gardens. You will see the Babuskas walking at night and in the morning with their pail on their way to get their water for the day.

And We Shall Call This Our Home..

 

This is our home is Russia. Gary said they just barely got the fence in and planted some trees in our yard.

My amazing husband saddling a Russian horse

 

 

Hay in the field. They do both round and square bales there as well. Our ranch is more industrialized than many places in Russia where they still gather up their hay with a horse, wagon and pitch fork.

 

 

 This is a roping dummy that the Russians made so that Gary can help them to learn to rope. This wasn't quite the design he had drawn up for them but it will work to start out.

A Helping Hand

Gary said the other night, he and two other Americans were headed home. The two others were ahead of him in the road a ways and as he came around a corner, he saw them carrying what appeared to be an unconscious older gentleman. Behind him was an older woman screaming wildly, carring a bicycle wheel. One could only assume that the man had been hit while on his bicycle. Gary said that there are zero traffic laws there and most people just drive, ride, walk wherever they feel like. Anyway, Gary stopped to help. Turns out that the man had NOT been hit on his bike. He was extremely drunk and had passed out in the middle of the road. The screaming woman behind him was his wife, angry at him for being drunk and not getting himself home. The bicycle wheel? Apparently some treasure she had found on the walk home.  They did eventually get the drunk man and his screaming wife home. Turns out, the Veterinarian had seen the man earlier and had moved him from the middle of the road and propped him up against a road sign as he wasn't quite sure what to do with him. Gary has stories like this every day.. There is most definatley not a lack of excitement in Mglin, Russia.

A little bit the same, alot different..

Gary is doing very well in Russia. He is loving it. He says its as close to the cowboy way of life as it existed 150 years as we will ever get. Alot of things are different there and he says there are a few things from home that he is really missing - like his Coors beer. While there are several Russian beers there, the only thing "American" he has been able to locate is Budweiser. He says they do not sell it in cans, only big bottles and that it is not kept cold. Just sits out in the heat. Below are a few things he has been purchasing and using --

One of the staples of bachelor cooking... chicken nuggets. When he got them, he said they LOOKED like chicken nuggets (and there is that cute little chicken on the box) and he really hoped that is what they tasted like!!

 

I thought this was bread but he says it is a YUMMY smoked cheese!

 

Bottled water and something familiar - LAYS Sour Cream and Onion Chips

 

The middle one is Toilet Cleaner. He said its the best ever.. he squirted it in before he went to bed and in the morning it was so clean and he didnt have to scrub!

 

I think he has probably been living on these more than he is willing to admit :)

 

Gary has made it!!

Finally!! At 12:30 our time I received an email from Gary saying he had made it! He flew out yesterday morning at 8:30 and after an 11 hr van ride he has made it!

Russia Bound

After over two months of bureaucratic bull****, Gary is finally headed to Russia!! His flight departs SLC tomorrow morning. After a 3 hr layover at JFK, he will board an Aerofloot plane headed to Russia. That flight lasts apprx 9 hours. After landing in Moscow, he will have to take a 9 hour van ride to get to the ranch. Long trip!!!

What to expect..

Most of our family and friends are curious as to what we will find when we get to Russia.. I borrowed some pics from another American family who is living on a ranch adjacent to where we will be living...



This family is doing their potato harvest.




Villagers doing their hay harvest



The ranch houses - ours will be similar to these.



The Russian Countryside. A sign like this (with the red line) means you are leaving the village. This sign reads Vetlevka.


Scenic Russian Country side

Getting ready!!

Gary will be leaving next Friday for Russia. Now that it is so close, everything is getting very real. Getting all the passports and visas gathered as been a nightmare! And now we are dealing with the issue of getting all the necessary equipment and stuff over there to live!! Think its horrible packing to move? Try packing so move overseas - keep in mind, whatever we take has to fly on a airplane!! That means saddles, horse tack, etc. Argh.. Will just be happy to get there!!