Day: October 25, 2010

Come to Russia you can Read Some of the Signs!

While drinking my morning cup of coffee here in Moscow, Russia. I was thinking about what use to stop me from traveling to other countries in the past. When you are in America or where ever you live, you have a comfort zone around you. What I mean by that is – The world around you is familiar to you!

I use to think that I would never travel somewhere that I could not speak the language or that other countries would not be safe. I am here to tell you that those and many other reasons are not good reasons to not travel.

I traveled extensively in America and I want to say that a lot of the world is as safe if not more so than America. Just be smart just like you do back home in a strange situation.

Not speaking the language is a hindrance but really not a trip stopper. I have discovered that most places in this world have English signs for important places and sites to see. If all you do is travel to Europe then you really will have no problems at all. In Moscow, Russia all the new signs being put up are dual language. They have the Cyrillic letters and English letters on the signs. I was noticing that our street signs at our new home in Russia are all dual language…

Besides in a few days you will be saying: Spasibo for thanks, da for yes and Het (net) for no and sound like a Russian in no time.

You know that you fit in when someone actually asks you for directions. 🙂

So traveling is cool…

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

Maslenitsa 2010 in Russia! (Yummy and Fun!)

Maslenitsa 2010 will take place between February 8 and February 14. This is a pre lent festival. So as Russian traditions are observed and people eat their fill of blini (Pancakes) the festivals help to bid farewell to winter. The idea is to dispel the cold with symbols of spring other words: Pancakes with their round shape and yellowish color represents the sun and an effigy (Man of Straw) is burned to welcome warmer weather. Other activities, like group fist fights (Ouch), sledding, and troika rides, are traditional Maslenitsa activities.

So look at the week of expectations!

Monday is called “a meeting”. With the first pancake it is tradition to give to beggars for them to mention the poor dead.

Tuesday is called “zaigrysh” (games). On this day, the morning begins with a funny game.

Wednesday is called “gourmand” (A gourmand is a person who takes great pleasure in food.) On this day, the hostess act on saying: “What is in the oven, First of all delicacies, of course, pancakes.” On this day Mother in-laws invite Son in-laws to eat pancakes.

Thursday – “razguliay”. On this day begins Maslenitsa full strength. As well as helping to drive winter away and bring the sun into play again. Example to do this, like riding horses clockwise around the village.

Friday – “Teschin evening” (Inlaws). Son in-law invites Mother in-law and treat them pancakes.

Saturday, the “zolovkiny chat” Sister in-law invites female relatives of her husband. If the husband’s sisters were married, the daughter of guests invited and their unmarried friends. But if the sister was already married, she invited relatives married. Bride daughter had bestowed their gifts zolovok.

On Sunday the last day of Maslenitsa is called “Forgiveness Sunday”. On this day, you should apologize to all relatives and friends for all the resentment, thus relieved of their sins before Lent. Also on the last day of Pancake week, you burn a man of straw – the symbol of winter. The ashes of the man of straw fly all over the fields – for a rich summer harvest.”

I now just love Russian pancakes (At first I had reservations about a Russian pancake) and this week is great because I will be making pancakes for almost every meal…

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

Russia: Gazprom Is Huge!

Gazprom: New Home! (not built yet!)
from PH “Kommersant”
OAO Gazprom has become the third largest company in the world by market capitalization. Gazprom stock gained 5.34 percent on the MICEX on May 8, raising the monopoly’s market value to $348 billion and knocking the Chinese cellular communications operator China Mobile, worth $341 billion, out of third place in the world ranking. According to Reuters, the American company ExxonMobil occupies first place on that list at $476 billion, and Petrochina is in second place with $447 billion.
Windows to Russia!

Russia: Credit Crises Managment in Ukraine!

Hello,

I was drinking my second cup of coffee today and was thinking about the snow outside. Then my eyes caught this tidbit of information about how to handle the credit crises….

Petr Kostenko, a former Ukranian city official and ex-mayoral candidate from Kharkov, Ukraine, borrowed a few thousand dollars in a local bank to buy a Range Rover, but ‘forgot’ to pay back. After a few insistent reminders from the bank debt collecting department he came to the branch to solve the problem, but didn’t manage to get his credit refinanced. Moreover, after the visit he found his expensive car blocked, with all four tires punctured. To get out of the bank’s car park, he had to run over a car that belonged to the branch.

On his next visit, according to Mr Kostenko, for fear of sustaining more damage to his precious vehicle, he arrived on a reconditioned APC purchased at an army sale. The personnel carrier was disarmed and officially registered with local traffic police. The spectacular arrival, though, was not appreciated by the bank workers. They told the extravagant ex-official to finally pay what he owed, and in the other branch – the one that actually worked with private clients. (Link)

My question is where can I get one of these that is street legal?

That would be fun and safe.

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

Windows to Russia!

Russian Tunnel: What A Great Idea!


Russia has a proposition for the USA. Russia has the plans drawn up for the longest tunnel in the world a whopping 64 miles long. To be built in the Bering Strait, between Russia and Alaska. Not for the faint of heart, the tunnel will take from 10-15 years to build at a cost of $10-12 billion.

It’s a Russian plan, and they’ll be presenting their project to the U.S. approval to connect to Alaska. The tunnel will be huge, it will containing a highway, railroad, and pipeline for transporting oil.

I feel that this is a very important issue. If the USA wants to better the relationship with Russia then this is one way to realize future harmony with Russia.

The interesting fact is, that with the completion of this tunnel, you could literally drive around the world by car!

Now we just need a tunnel to Australia! :)))

Posted by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Windows to Russia!

Windows to Russia: Talks About Iran Today!

With the ability given back to me to get to various news sites again! I have had a “heyday” so to speak!

One of my favorite subjects that I bring up once in a while is Iran. I found this video on a previously blocked site for me. This is a good video in that it shows a speech by the Iranian President and if you really look in the background you will see an unbelievable amount of people and I do mean an unbelievable amount of people…

Russia has been showing some irritation at Iran lately and so has China but I really think that relationships are stronger than what everyone thinks and or wishes in the Western world. Russia has already been deep into Iran’s nuclear situation and a Russian (built) Nuclear Power Plant is due to go on line soon!

“2010 is the year of Bushehr,” (Iran’s Nuclear Power Plant) Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko told reporters after a cabinet meeting in Moscow. So as you can see the Russian interests are deep in Iran!

I found the above video interesting and it gave me a new view point about the situation in Iran…

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

PS: I found this video below and you may be very surprised when you watch it…

Darn that was cool. I want to go to Iran now… Hey Svet!
Windows to Russia!

Windows to Russia will be in Kiev, Ukraine…

Dnepr river in Kiev
Dnepr river in Kiev, Ukraine…

The time flows like water in a fast stream. It is time again to make a trip to Ukraine and get another visa…

Sveta is going with me this time. It has been awhile since she has gone to Kiev with me and we decided to make a vacation of this trip. It will be fun and we have train tickets bought and a Hotel reserved. So this will not be a mad dash to Ukraine and return next day type of trip…

I look forward to the train rides and have many articles on train trips to Kiev. Something about a train trip that helps put the world in proper perspective… 🙂

This time my sweetie will be with me and that will make this an extra special trip…

Kyle and Svetlana

Try These Articles From Windows to Russia While We Are Gone…

This Was a Great Article! All Gone…

Hi,

I found this web blog the other day. The young man(Sebastian) who writes it is very talented, He has what I call a Heart and Soul.

http://sebastians-soapbox.blogspot.com/2007/06/if-world-were-village-of-100-people.html

I just wanted to pass it on, It made me think!

What about you?

Dead Link Blog Gone! Sorry!

Kyle Keeton

Windows to Russia!

I Personally Simply Hate Spam Comments…

Windows to Russia has been protected from:

514,854 spam comments…

This spam blocker account is only two months old. I intentionally started again from scratch with a new account after Windows to Russia was being destroyed by the server attack a few months ago…

I am using two spam systems and still have some get through. The only thing I find bad is that I actually have stopped some legit comments. I try to find them but I have found myself looking through hundreds of comments a day and if I go anywhere for a few days the number of comments backed up is astounding…

I have created a monster!

I hope he did not eat your legit comment! 🙂

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Windows to Russia!
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The Old Lady From the Past…

Sveta was in a hurry today. She had to run to get to her train and that was still a 20 minute run from our flat. I had to walk the dog still, before I got on with my excursions for the day…

Now Boza does not like being left behind by Sveta. But I can not move as fast as I use to because of many injuries from past experiences. Since Boza is on a leash he is limited to my pace. That is OK with him except at the times that Sveta has to run to the train or bus station…

It was during this Boza trying to pull daddy faster times, that Boza and I came upon a very very very old lady…

She was trying to cross the road and was having a bad time of doing that. Boza and I came up beside her and I extended my arm for her to grab. Then we proceeded to cross the road at a snails pace… 🙂

When we got to the other side she looked at me and reached into her pocket. Out of her pocket she pulled a tiny pamphlet that I recognized immediately…

The picture above is the picture on the pamphlet. I have seen it a thousand times in my life. It is from the Watch Tower Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses)…

Now normally I can be a real bear with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They have a bad track record with me in America. I will not go into details but it extends from multiples of issues and the least of those issues is from one of the Jehovah’s Witnesses men trying to force his way into my house thinking that there was only a young lady in the house at the time. That turned out poorly for the guy…

But I regress at this point and lets get back on track to the present…

I took the pamphlet from the old lady and she started to rattle about God and Glory and the Great Name. I looked at her while she was talking and realized that she had to be in her 90’s and getting older by the second…

I looked into her eyes and saw the long ago American that was still hidden down deep inside those eyes…

I then said in English, “How long have you been in Russia?” She hesitated in her rattling about God. I could see the gears turning in her head trying to assimilate what I just said. Then the spark came into her eyes and she said in a ancient cracking voice, “I know you…”

She then almost fell down and I grabbed her by the arm to steady her. She then said something to the effect about how she never thanked me. How that she was never able to thank me because she was debriefed and told to stay quiet. She said that she went home to America after that and decided on staying away from America the rest of her life. She left and never looked back…

The very old lady turned and walked away and never looked back. She was running as fast as her old legs would let her. I could feel her fear of what she knew about me and the past. I did not have time to tell her that life has mellowed me. She was too busy still running again from the past…

I then took Boza and we continued our walk. I turned several times and looked at the escaping Old Lady. I then dredged up memories that I had pushed aside…

Lets have a memory flashback: Once a long time ago. I was in another country. I had come upon a woman around late 50’s year old. She was in a bad place at a very bad time in the history of the American war machine. She was a government employee that had been taken as a hostage. She was not important nor vital and she should have been left to her own accords because she had messed up and gotten herself in a pickle. I ignored direct orders and did what I did best. Besides ignore orders. 🙂 This incident is one of several that shaped my future and thinking’s in life…

To make a very long story short. She was brought back to safety and I never knew what happened to her after that. Until today…

The world has become a small place indeed…

This was the subject of my thinking’s this morning. I then had a flood of memories and the least of which was that I have outlived the age that my dad and his three brothers had lived to. Funny how somethings trigger certain memories. The very old lady from America handing out pamphlets from the Watch Tower publications, took me back to my past and future at the same time…

It seems that I remember someone telling me once that we all run from something. It is just that we all have different way of running from that something. Some drink, some do drugs, some run and some etc. Yes we all do run from something. We just never seem to figure it out. Sometimes I wonder what I am running from?

Now I have a pamphlet that will go into my collection of memories. It will be the thank you, that took thirty years in coming…

God does work in strange ways…

Windows to Russia!