Happy Birthday AH and America!

July 4, 2007

Happy Birthday America! Happy Birthday American Home! 231 years for the ‘old’ country! 15 years for the American Home! Everyone knows how to say Americanskaya Dom! The celebration started at 4:00 in the afternoon. So I’ll put it into chronological order below.

I had a fried egg for zaftrak (that’s breakfast for you non-Russian speakers). We had discussed the making of scrambled, but Olesya reverted to what she knew how to do best. Still good. The eggs are sold in the продукты store (that’s products) without being refrigerated! So when you cook an egg here, it will be cooked well done all the time!

Today we traveled to Gus-Krystalnaya, a center for producing crystal and glassware. The factory tour was fascinating with all the colors and shapes produced. I watched a glazier make a small heart shape pendant with a happy face on it. More souvenir stores than I needed, but the goal here is to help the Russian economy.

Lunch was the usual salad, soup, meat and potatoes. But when they brought the dessert out I balked. It was very similar to what Konstantin ordered for me three years ago – sneerg (snow). When your brain and taste buds are thinking chocolate, sweet, ice cream, you don’t want to flood your mouth with sour cream with prunes stuffed with nuts. So I left that dessert for another brave soul.

We toured a crystal museum that had once been a small cathedral. When converting it, they took off the domes and crosses on top (steeples) and changed some of the outward appearance. I didn’t even know that it was a cathedral until I saw the layout of the inside. Nice crystal; too bad for the church!

We returned by 4:00 for the BIG celebration at the American Home! Tents, tables of food, an Emcee, singers, bands, folk dancers, drinks of all kinds, games, prizes – the American Home celebrated with panache! Ron Pope was ‘immortalized’ by the staff of the American Home. Ron returned the favor, praising his staff as the best in the world! Galya and Alexei Antonen were astonishing hosts all evening! What great dancers they are together! The rain threatened and then poured and then died away for a wonderful evening of festivities! We sang Happy Birthday to the American Home, which was first dedicated on July 4th, 1992! What a success it has been to further the ties between our two countries!