Sunday, May 29, 2005

Tying things up at the end...

We had up until this week a soap opera which everybody here was in love with. Tne soap was called “Clone”, a Brazilian product about several families, some Muslims and some Christians and one young man who is in fact a clone of another character. All of us were so into the problems of Lucas and Leo, cloner and clonee. And also who would end up with Zhadi the beauty from Morocco, whether or not Mel would come to grips with her drug addictions, would her baby be ok and whether or not Zhandee her unbelievably abused boyfriend would suffer nervous collapse from her. And also 20 or so other characters and their problems.

But after three hundred episodes it ended and now we are without. That 7pm time spot, four nights a week will never be the same.

But it was interesting how they tied up all of the loose ends making it all seem as though there was some reason to the whole of it all along. That final hour of the show was very cool and satisfying, even the bit about the ride on the magic horse.
So I thought I would take a moment and tie up some loose ends here. No, thisis not the end of the blog, or of me. But because of several factors, I thought I would at least make an update.

Tatyana is at home with Anya, trying to make the house livable and with some interesting results. As a for instance, she recently painted the front door gray, a color she chose because she had some left over from a cabinet she had painted. All of this work is because Babushka has moved out and has gone to her new Apartment. Tatyana has been wanting to clean things up for years and this is has been her first chance. But the gray color choice seems to have made out place fell like a prison because the color makes the door look like steel and the extra paint makes it almost impossible ton open. But in general I am thinking all is ok and that she is most enjoying this time with our new daughter.

Egor has finished school for the summer and is looking forward to chess camp. Chess camp is a three-week day camp where he will have the game, plus football and play time with the other players. Egor did not finish school this year with such remarkable grades but in the end he was better than the previous year and so there is something to this. But he is a friendly boy and he likes to laugh and enjoys his time when he is with his friends.

But as a side note, I have been hearing that my give straff/don’t hit theory is being practiced now by several families around us. Who knows how that managed to get going; I didn’t think the locals read my blog and so it was probably Egor telling his friends about it. I hope this works well for them. I know I am certainly happier with this and I find I like Egor a little better when his mind is active.

Our bureaucratic deal
got stalled by slow movement in Brest, or so the excuse went, And so we are looking at next Tuesday for resumption and next Friday being the day we will be free to go on to the last leg. We did indeed go through the process I had mentioned previously. My morning ride came to nothing because the woman was not in her office, and so we did the bus bike second leg with Tanya holding Anya in her lap in the afternoon. Our bureaucrat, really a very nice woman, explained about the bog down in Brest and assured us that we can still be on time if we conclude our deal this Tuesday nd sh also gave us permission to go ahead to the next step in advance and so we are already done but for the ride up there on Tuesday. Good deal.

The bike school is still in business and our my man Andre Snitco is preparing for an invitation only ride at a state meet in a couple of weeks. This kid is really great and it is kind of interesting to see the face of Max, who had previously enjoyed his status as the best rider in the club. All of the other boys had always adjusted to Max and he had always enjoyed the privilege of having fist choice of any new parts we might get. But Andre is perhaps the real thing, and this invitation has really been a hit for Max. I hope he takes it well and uses it to spur himself on. In my opinion this is all he could do, but still it is hard not to feel some sympathy for the guy. But then again, that’s bike racing isn’t it?

At the dacha, the cold and rain have finally abated and so the potatoes are finally coming in. They are coming but they are slow and the field is still too wet to soften the land around the new leaves. I am going to have to wait until next week. I think they will be OK, but you know it would have been better if the new roots could start to grow in the softest ground possible and all of that rain has the ground packed like concrete. However, our beans are all coming in like gang busters, the onions and garlic are great and we even will have lots of melons this year from what I see under our little nursery greenhouse where the seeds were started.

Yevgheni is still being Yevgheni only now he is directing his political savvy towards me in what could only be described as a pro-alcohol campaign. I have gotten this the last few times I went up there, direct arguments from some of the village drunks sarcastically asking me to buy them some wine or vodka. Well, what can I do? I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam. “No,” I said yesterday while preparing for our return bike trip with Egor. I was speaking to a drunk who was squatting by a fence and squinting at me against the sun. He had just asked me to give him the money for a bottle of cheap wine. “We are drinking strawberry pop and a cookie. Maybe you think cigarettes and wine is a better way for a 10-year-old boy to prepare for a 13 mile bike trip, but I am thinking this is a better way. And by the way,” I added “boys need good role models and your language and the way you are carrying yourself at the moment are much appreciated.” Did that hit home? I doubt it. But Egor laughed so it was at least worth that.

The new book is… is. I am homing to be able to start making some real headway starting next week. This last six weeks have been really remarkable and with the settling down of the bureaucratic deal, maybe there will be the peace to really get some good work in. Maybe.

And me, well, I am feeling healthy and a little burned by the sun. Gardening will do that to you. As will family life. I have a lot of things left to do in order to have a chance to try and find some money, but i am doing them and that’s all there is to it. I mean, it is like Max’s deal: What else can I do?

And so basically, this is the news from here. Probably this was not the most interesting blog I have ever written, but you know, it filled the bureaucratic gap so that is ok too. I mean, I am in Belarus aren’t I? Might as well start acting like it.

Contact me by writing to
beinghad_mail@yahoo.com
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More soon…

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