"P" is for Pskov

When thinking about “P” (Ewww….. ;0) I originally planned for “P” to stand for Putin (Vladimir, that is). But I was talking to someone about the region switch and it hit me- duh- what would be more relevant to Baby Deetz than their hometown? So…. “P” is for Pskov!
This beautiful, ancient city sits on the north-western portion of Russia only 12 miles from Estonia on the Velikaya River. The population and size (for you locals) is almost exactly the size of Spartanburg County- Over 200,000 people in 40 square miles. We are kind of like “sister cities” if you think about it. However, there is no mall, McDonalds, or Target! I checked. You can check out their official website at http://www.pskovgorod.ru/ It’s a beautiful place. It looks simple and peaceful.
The name of the city, originally spelled "Pleskov" or "the town of purling waters". Its was first mentioned in 903, when Price Igor of Kiev married a local peasant, St. Olga. She was a brilliant woman and maybe I can fit her into the alphabet sometime down the road. “Pskovians” think of their wedding day as Pskov's birthday and they recently celebrated their 1100th Anniversary! Wow!
In the 1200’s the city was captured by Teutonic knights. Sergei Eisenstein made a movie about the siege in 1938 (not on NetFlicks). For Russia, Pskov was a bridge to Europe. For Europe, it was a western outpost of Russia and subject of numerous attacks throughout the history. In the 15th century alone, Pskov withstood 26 sieges! Poland forces tried to attack the city 31 times and the battles were mostly defended by townspeople. I like to think about the spirit of the people that must live there. Don’t you think that type fighting for your country and your freedom would make you strong, independent, and a force to be reckoned with? The Krom (See “K” is for Kremlin, people!) was described as “impregnable”. A local school of icon-painting flourished and local masons were considered the best in Russia. Many styles of Russian architecture was first introduced in Pskov. They accomplished all of that while defending their land on a constant basis.
Modern machines and warfare proved the Krom could crumble. During World War I Pskov was occupied by Estonia and Germany. World War II, the Krom was ineffective against heavy artillery and bomb blasts. The whole town was essentially leveled. The town, the Krom, and Trinity Cathedral has been built and re-built many times over the course of history- however some portions of the original wall (built in the 1100s) still remains. Picturesque churches from the 15th and 16th century still line the countryside.
The famous Russian poet, Pushkin, is buried in the “Holy Mountains” near his family estate. Other famous “Pskovians” include NHL and Russian hockey legend Sergei Fedorov, chemist Konstantin Luzyanin, the first female academician/mathematician Sophia Kowalevskaya, and Miss Universe 2002- Oksana Fedorova.

“O” is for Ovcharka

Another cute Russian animal for your viewing pleasure- I know how much y’all loved the dwarf hamsters! It was a little slim pickings on the “O” alphabet choices.

The South Russian Ovcharka, a.k.a. South Russian Sheepdog, dates back to Slavic Russian regions in the B.C. era. They were known as 'Russian Shepherd' or 'Russian wolf-killers' in ancient times and in the 1700’s they were named “royal pets” because the elite often kept them in quantity. To the left are Ovcharka puppies...(Everybody all together: "Awwweeee!" )

Here are some fun facts:
-The thick woolly coat is described as “self cleaning”. Even when the weather is dirty and rainy, the coats will be bright white when dried. (Alex and Annie take note!)
-It is possible to spin and knit the hair. This craft was popular in Imperial Russia, and the knitting was used as a form of medical treatment for arthritis. (I’m not sure if they mean the act of knitting helped your joints or the hair was believed to have some sort of medicinal purpose. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any “Imperial Dog Hair Weavers” to ask.)
-Ovcharka’s definitely have wolves as direct ancestors. A South Russian Ovcharka skull is built almost identical to wolf’s.
-After a Ovcharka completed a herding mission (sometimes driving up to 8,000 sheep at a time across treacherous terrain with journeys lasting up to two years) the dogs were kept wherever their final destination ended. The Ovcharka were then bred with other dogs and different breeds branched out from the Ovcharka breed.
-War often threatened to end the breed line. During the Royal Revolution kennels were plundered and the dogs were stolen or killed. It is told that many of the kidnapped dogs were so loyal to their families that they were ultimately shot because they “revolted” against their unlawful owners. During World War II the breed was nearly destroyed when bombs leveled the most successful breeding kennels (owned by the Falz-Fein family). When the country was trying to recover from both wars, lots of dogs died because of a lack of medication and food. The breed has regained some ground and 100 Ovcharkas were shown in dog shows this year.

Ta-Da!

Tonight was my "final exam" night in cake class, course II. Yes, this was as much work as it looks like. But it sure is pretty. I knew it was a major accomplishment when Chad took a picture of the cake with his phone. Then to top it all off I made three dozen cookies for my little side business at the firm- Deetzie's Treatsies is officially in sugar shock tonight. I am going to go brush my teeth (and floss) ;0)

“N” is for Nesting Dolls

I know we’ve previously discussed by love for these wonderful little guys….but they are worthy of a second mention. In Russia nesting dolls are called “Matryoshkas” The word Matryoshkas are from the old Russian female name of “Matryona” which is Latin for mother. The dolls are a symbol of femininity and fertility.
I think I like them because it’s the wonderful idea of opening a gift to find another gift tucked inside….and another….and another.
I have seen giant dolls that have close to 25 pieces tucked inside. Most of the dolls have at least 5 and a minimum of 3. (Two dolls don’t really nest, they just hang out together, really…) The first doll is customarily a woman and the dolls inside can be of any gender. The final doll is the “baby” and it doesn’t open. In one of my sets, the baby is smaller than an apple seed! Let me tell you…dusting is always a challenge with nesting dolls. That’s one of the reasons why I’ve given up dusting.
Matryoshkas date from 1890, I think the wooden ones were the common folks answer to the elaborate Faberge egg some say they were inspired by a Japanese design. The first dolls (pictured on the left) were carved by Vasiliy Zvezdochkin and painted by Sergei Maliutin at the Children’s Education Workshop in Abramtsevo. In 1900, the wife of Savva Mamontov, displayed the dolls at the World Fair in Paris and the toy earned a bronze medal. A fad was born! And I’m so glad- I love those things!
Matryoshkas follow a theme. Some are fun, some are odd. Some feature animals, landscapes, or some even depict political leaders. I favor the elaborate fancy ones with a unique picture on each doll (of course those are the REALLY expensive ones!) You can often see the Russian political dolls too. Newer versions start with Dmitry Medvedev and then follow with Vladimir Putin, Boris Yeltsin, Mikhail Gorbachev, Joseph Stalin and then Vladimir Lenin.
I’ve found some favorites for you to take a peak at! When I pack my bags for Russia I am going to go back and read this blog to remind me to save PLENTY of room in my suitcase for nesting dolls!

"M" is for Moscow

Ahhh...Moscow. On our second trip to Russia (the one to bring Baby Deetz home) we will travel from Pskov to Moscow before we are allowed to return home. We know we must stay at least 4 business days there to process paperwork (visas, passports). Some fun facts for you:
1- Moscow is ranked #3 as the World's most expensive cities to live in. Expect to pay $1,500 USD for a two room apartment. Not 2 BEDrooms, just rooms. And we thought living in Florida was expensive!
2-10.5 million people call it home, however, the city only encompasses 417 square miles. Most people live in tiny flats and many have "dachas" or cottages outside the city.
3- It was founded in 1174.
4-Moscow has more billionaires than any other city- 74.
5- You can see St. Basil's (iconic onion dome church) Red Square (where you can see the embalmed Lenin), THE Kremlin, the GUM (mega-shopping center), the Arbat (an artsy city within the city buzzing with art, cafes, and street performers) Stalin's "Seven Sisters Skyscrapers, and the tallest freestanding tower in the World, "Ostankino" at 1,772 feet.

Update....

I know the alphabet has been taking up some time, but I just wanted to give you an update concerning the adoption and life in general.

-Chad and the youth group are home from New Orleans. It was a very successful Mission Trip. Good things. For the city and for our group. He took 76 people down there, ran two bible schools for kids in the community and had a construction work crew as well. My dad drove up from Florida and went on the trip too. He is a jack of all trades and our youth kids love "Pop". Of course, we do too.

-I've been going to Course II cake decorating. Every week we learn how to make different kinds of flowers and trims. This Monday is our "final exam" We are making a basket weave cake and putting all these flowers I've been slaving over onto the top. Can't wait to show you the finished project.

-Brittany bought a kitten. I've never been around cats, so it freaks me out a little with it's spasms. But it's very cute and I think it's name is Jasper Cullen. She's changed it like 50 times.

-I'm in a BUNCO club and Brittany and I hosted the festivities at our house. Everybody chips in a dollar and if you roll the last BUNCO of the night you win the money! We'll I won the $13 dollars at the end of the night. This morning I was walking the dogs and noticed our neighbor's were having a garage sale. They have two small kids- so I ran inside, brushed my teeth and threw on some clothes. Look what I got for baby Deetz- an exersaucer and MORE BOOKS! I have a feeling the exersaucer is going to be too small for them, but for $10 it was a steal and looks brand new. If they are too big- I'll just consign it at the church kids sale later. But guess how much everything cost all together? $13! What a deal.

-We received a letter stating that our cable was sent to Moscow and it had our Russian "case number" on it. In two weeks we need to send an e-mail to the consulate and confirm that it was received.

-Anya sent us an e-mail with a few more details. She said that the agency has personally received "two very quick referals" from Pskov and right now things are running very smoothly there. Denise (our documents manager) has sent us the Pskov documents in Word format so that we can start redoing some of the Pskov specific forms. What we have done for St. Petersburg was enough to "get us registered" and on the list for a baby. Before we travel we will just need to have the other forms completed and registered. When we travel as well there will be several things that we need to do in Pskov that we didn't need to do in St. Pete, such as get a doctor to examine us here and confirm that we are in good health. We will still need to be examined over there as well before an "8 doctor panel". I guess it won't be that bad redoing everything. At least I'll have something to do while I wait.

Stay tuned for "M" it's in the works.

"L" is for Love

"From Russia With Love" that is.....

I love this movie. Thus the name of the blog plus someone I love already lives in Russia! I thought I was being original when I thought of the name, only to realize that there are hundreds of other blogs on different sites and even on this site with slight variations. But enough about our namesake- Onto the movie! I adore Sean Connery. He will always be James Bond to me. Chad identifies more with Roger Moore, but that is all just personal preference in our house. We are a house divided on that issue. In 1963 “From Russia With Love” was released and has grossed $79 million dollars since then. It is celebrated as one of the BEST Bond movies ever. I agree.

It has all the “Russian” clichés- Cold, Icy nights, a Soviet encryption machine called "Lektor" that will “irrevocably unbalance the world order”, KGB agents, wild gypsies, a train ride pseudo “Trans-Siberian”, an infiltrated Soviet consulate, and a sultry Russian love interest named “Tatiana Romanova” to boot. These pictures only fuel our fire of Russian mystique and intrigue.

But what does Russia have to do with “From Russia With Love”? It’s very funny to me actually. Sean Connery is Scottish, the character playing the Russian love interest; Miss Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) is Italian. The film was taped everywhere but Russia- mostly in Turkey and in Scotland, Switzerland, Venice and London as well! But here are some interesting little nuggets I found:
-In Life Magazine, President JFK lists the original book “From Russia With Love” by Ian Fleming as one of his Top Ten Books.
-The crime syndicate was called “SPECTRE” and curiously resembled SMERSH (the real life undercover agency in Russia at the time) but the films directors, Broccoli and Saltzman, wanted to avoid “controversial political overtones”. Right.
-SPECTRE training grounds for its agents were modeled after the movie “Spartacus”
-The scene where Bond returns to his hotel room to find Tatiana in his bed is the “official screen test” for future Bond wannabes and the potential leading ladies!
-Author, Ian Fleming, is rumored to have a cameo in the film. He is wearing Grey pants and a white sweater and waiting to board the train in the train scene.
-They painted white rats with cocoa powder for one of the scenes because it was illegal to film with “wild rats”
- The opening chess match is a reenactment of Boris Spassky's victory over David Bronstein in 1960.

Hard Knocks on the scene:
-The Bond Girl in this film, Daniela Bianchi, took English lessons to play the role. In the end, they dubbed her voice with another woman for the entire film.
- Bond’s alley in the film, Kerim Bey, portrayed by Pedro Armendariz, was diagnosed with terminal cancer during the filming. They moved the filming location to London so that he could be more comfortable and he worked as much as possible, though in horrible physical pain. He killed himself before the filming could be completed and a stunt double completed his role.
-While scouting locations in Scotland the climactic boat chase, the helicopter crashed into the water with Art Director Michael White and a cameraman aboard. The craft sank into 40–50 feet of water, but all escaped with minor injuries.
- Bond Girl Bianchi’s driver fell asleep behind the wheel driving to the set and filming was delayed two weeks to allow her lovely face to heal from all the bruising.
-After the crew was nearly arrested trying to procure a helicopter, they decided to go with a miniature radio operated model instead.

After it’s all said and done- I “LOVE” from Russia With Love!