Friday, January 13, 2006
Dinner With the Russians
Last night my Uncle Edu was in town from California (he literally lives in the OC!) and so my mom and brothers and I met up at Moran's for a long, large dinner with plenty of liquor.
Edu is completely Americanized as well as a very successful businessman here in the States. He also speaks good Russin and, apart from the relatives who literally came here off a boat (like my mom), has a great link to Russia. He knows where all the cousins and aunts and uncles live, visits and writes them regurally and, in true Russia fashion, is always generous.
In a way I feel sorry for the waitress who had our table because we were there for over four hours, talking and drinking. (At times we were quite loud.)Usually a visit like this would take place at someone's house, so we could stretch out with the food and the liquor. Since neither Andrew nor I could really accomdate four people comfortably in our studio apartments, Moran's it was.
Last night's dinner made me realize my New Year's resolution: To learn Russian. It's a sad state of affairs when I have relatives in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk and yet I can't even write a letter or an e-mail to them. So, learning Russian it is...
I know I said last year that I would learn Russian. Since I spent 2005 becoming a better tap dancer, like I said I would, I think it's time to move on to the next challenge.
Nazdrovia!
By the way, La Madre is a total quote machine. At dinner she had two gems. For greatest effect these need to be read out loud, in a Russian accent:
[I sat down at the table and I didn't have a drink. I said I needed to think about what I wanted.]
La Madre: (worried) Why won't you drink? Are you in AAA?
*****
[My brother Andrew was talking about sharing some of the old photos from Russia, etc., with the rest of the family]
Andrew: (who is a very tech-savvy guy) All those photos you have, you should burn them onto a CD.
La Madre: Burn them? Are you crazy?!?!
