Windows to Russia

Merry Orthodox Christmas!

Orthodox Christmas

I was drinking my cup of coffee and started to think about the Russian Orthodox Christmas. In Russia this is the actual Christmas. The 6th of January is Christmas Eve and the 7th is Russian Orthodox Christmas…

I get confused by all these holidays this time of the year. I just accept them and be happy that we have so many times to celebrate. By the way, Santa Clause (Ded Moroz), does not deliver presents at this Real Orthodox Christmas…

Is There A Santa Claus in Russia? (Audio)

Oh, by the way, here are the Russian holidays in a table…

Have a bunch of nice holidays…

WtR

https://youtu.be/cYi8HdPlszM

Russians encountered “colossal challenges” in 2021 but managed to cope with them through staying united, President Vladimir Putin said in his traditional New Year address to the nation. Here are the key points from his speech.

1. There is “hope for a pleasant change” in 2022…

2. Russians came out on top because they stayed united, Putin says…

3. Supporting “older people and families with children, who are the future of Russia”

4. Russia protected its interests and security…

Source: Putin reviews 2021 in longest-ever New Year address — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union

Like I say all the time, “Reminds me of the USA in my childhood”…

WtR

Remember when you just had to be a millionaire?

Well, now you gotta be a billionaire!

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world’s richest people. Details about the calculations are provided in the net worth analysis on each billionaire’s profile page. The figures are updated at the close of every trading day in New York.

Source: Bloomberg Billionaires Index

The system is broken and very very unfair at this point…

When a burger cost $100 each at the restaurant? These people will never notice!

But we will….and they will be the only ones eating a burger of real beef…

Can you say Entomophagy?

Where’s the bug burgers?

WtR

С новым годом (you say: S novym godom) and or Happy New Year and it really is 2022…

Regardless how you say it where you live?

Have a Happy New Year and be safe…

Svetochka and Kyle
WtR

Now I get the second shot in the middle of January (16th) and then I get the official QR code that allows me to get anywhere and everywhere in Russia. It has not been an easy issue, as it is for Russians to get, since I am an American….yet it is possible and all okay…

Our Covid-19 world we live in now!

This is my second vaccine session with Sputnik V and today I feel really good after a few days of off-key feeling from the vaccine. That is expected and checking antibodies is next on the list and getting the QR code done. Then, eye doctor, stomach/intestines doctor and have someone look at my neck spinal area…

Gonna be a busy New Year during January for me…

Been running slight fever, feeling slightly off-key from Covid-19 vaccine…

Got my second Covid-19 Vaccine – “Sputnik V”

So for information for anyone/everyone who cares at all about vaccine in Russia?

Yes, as a foreigner in Russia, you can get vaccinated and official QR code…

WtR

And hot tea and even plain hot water when it gets that cold!

It was in the New Year of 2016 that Boza and I was dug in at the Tiny Russian Village and 2017 was getting ready to come in with a wicked cold snap….windchill down to -62 C…

Bring in the New Year and cold…

We saw -35 C that New Year and the wind was worse than predicted and it did hit -62 and yes, it was memorable….Boza decided that staying snuggled next to me under a blanket was the best resort to survival….burned wood 24 hours, heat lamps in the light sockets, two space heaters going and six layers of clothes and a doggy that kept me warm…

Those were the good days my friend….as the days are still good now!

WtR

Yes, I wanna go outside! But Grumpy cat does not!

Update: Much better today (12/30/2021) and will finally walk again with Svetochka for about an hour outside. Arm swelled, joints hurt, grouchy (er), and all normal for a vaccine shot. Thus, it works and that is as it should be…

****

Same as first time and hopefully today I will start feeling a bit sprucer than yesterday. Every joint hurts and I just wanna crawl in a hole to sleep a bit…

Mild flu feeling…

Yes that is what the Sputnik V vaccine does to me and by tomorrow I will be back to normal…

The worst thing is that my Svetochka won’t let me go outside and play!

WtR

Got my second Covid-19 Vaccine – “Sputnik V”

I was drinking my morning cup of coffee & thinking about food traditions for the New Year! You see I just realized that The New Year is right around the corner. It is the 27th of December today…

In America; There is a Southern saying that dictates eating habits in the Southern United States’ at New Year’s:

“Eat poor on New Year’s, eat fat the rest of the year.”

A traditional Southern New Year’s meal includes ham, cornbread, black-eyed peas and collard greens. Both black-eyed peas and collard greens are considered especially lucky additions to the dinner table. Black-eyed peas are thought to bring wealth because they look like little coins, in addition to the fact that they swell when cooked — a sure sign of prosperity. Collard greens are considered lucky because they are green, like greenbacks — money!

This is the food we ate at New Years when I was growing up and I passed this on to my kids!

I am not sure about all Russian traditions but I hear information that helps…

“Presently we will go to the kitchen on 31 Dec. The table should be packed with dishes. No space for any more. This is an indication that we have faith in – How New Year is praised, all the year will be along these lines. So individuals attempt to put all conceivable and outlandish on the table. We cook generally speaking around 8-10 distinct servings of mixed greens, diverse sandwiches, many kinds of jelly. The fundamental dish is potatoes and meat (it very well may be youthful pig, or chicken, or turkey, or goose). The thought is…”

“Eat great and the entire year will be great! Eat helpless then the entire year will be poor!”

What do you have for New Years food traditions?

Maybe it is time to start thinking about that meal?

WtR

Yummy Recipes For the Russian New Year…

Single dose bottle instead of five dose bottle now!

Took more effort than the first time, yet Svetochka found the place and we got it done today. Should have been done last weekend, but I had a fever and noway would they vaccine me with that….nice new doctors office and this time we had to pay 1600 Rubles ($22 give or take a few pennies)….no free lunch for us foreigners this time around…

Worth it for the best vaccine in the world against Covid-19….link below to info on Sputnik V…

TO LEARN MORE PLEASE VISIT SPUTNIKVACCINE.COM

And the mother research and production company link below…

The National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology named after Honorary Academician N.F. Gamaleya of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, founded in 1891, is one of the world’s leading research institutes in its area. The center possesses a unique collection of viruses, and has its own vaccine production line. The N.F. Gamaleya Center has successfully engineered and registered two vaccines for the Ebola fever using adenovirus vectors.

Source: N. F. Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology

And links to my first time I went to get vaccine…

My trip to my Russian Vaccine Quietus! (Covid-19)

Final Sputnik V vaccine shot…

Darn still alive after all this!

WtR

Russia has started the ground work for another pipeline to China through Mongolia….it was kicked started officially when Putin and Xi just met recently…

“The project of cross-border pipeline construction over the territory of Mongolia from Russia to China is considered in practice. The work is in progress and it is progressing successfully,” Putin said. This gas pipeline “can be the extension of the Russia’s Power of Siberia-2 pipeline,” the head of state said.

Source: Feasibility study for pipeline to China via Mongolia to be ready in coming weeks — Putin – Business & Economy – TASS

Yes, The “Power of Siberia 2” It is my understanding that the gas fields are the same ones that supply the “NORD Stream 2”. Oops, Europe! Better get it while you can? China wants it…

Seems like Irony is at play here, if the EU gas ends up in China?

Russia will make better and much more stable profits selling gas to China than to the EU…

Let the EU freeze and as I say, “Look East Russia, look East!”

Mongolia says, “Oh, those transit fees for Gas are sweet indeed!”

WtR