Windows to Russia

A train in Russia is not a train with out steaming hot water and a constant supply of tea. I have seen Russians tolerate trains that are -30 below zero, +40 above zero and they tolerate drunks, smokers and loud mouths, but when the car we ride in does not have hot water for hot tea! Then that is riot time and Sveta will lead the riot…

Russian Railways report that their passengers drank nearly 3 million liters of tea this year. This most vital passenger drink was served in over 14 million classical 200ml glasses. This volume is enough to satisfy the population of 3 cities the size of St. Petersburg or one larger city like Moscow. Over 20 million sugar packets with a complete weight of over two hundred tons were emptied into this quantity of tea. All in all, Russian long-distance trains can carry over 54 million passengers a year…

This picture to the left is where you get hot water on a train (samovar) and the picture on the top right is how it is served. Classical Russian tea glass…

Something that the world just does not talk enough about is Russians and tea. The world likes to mention Russians and vodka, but what the world ignores is that Russians drink more tea than vodka any day. In fact I see Russians show mood change and actually get ill from not enough hot tea to drink. Russians drink hot tea like we in America drink hot coffee, plus add the way we (Americans) drink cold beverages on top of the coffee. Russians do not hardly drink any cold beverages at all. It is considered bad for you and your health to drink a beverage with ice in it…

Even after 5 years in Russia I still miss ice, once in a while. The other day I had a diet coke (called cola light) from McDonald’s and it had ice in it. I enjoyed crunching the ice (?) except there was only two small cubes of ice in the cup. That is Russia for you…

So if you travel a train in Russia and you do not like hot tea or hot coffee then you could be in trouble, because that is just about all they serve…

Or do as we do and bring your own cups, tea, coffee, chicory, water and diet cola…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

PS: The last train ride we took, I watched a young guy about 25 years old get up every hour and a half and get a cup of hot tea. He even had his alarm set on his phone to wake him up. This went on the complete 15 hour trip. Unless he ate a meal and then he drank two or three glasses of hot tea…

PSS: I think of the  of the 20 million sugar packets that are used on the trains, I found 1 million of them in Sveta’s purse. Her purse is stuffed with sugar packets from all the train rides…

A new metro station, the world’s deepest, will be opened in downtown St. Petersburg, Russia. (?) The new station is called Admiralteiskaya and lies over 100 meters (330ft) below the surface…

Looks like this has been a long and hard project that had many obstacles in its way to completion. So for three decades this station, even though the need was great for its existence, was delayed time and time again for reasons of cash flow to old museums located on the surface…

Finally all that has become the past and now the deepest station in the world will open its doors this week… (Dec. 28th, 2011)

Of course several places claim the deepest metro station in the world…

Ukraine claims deepest station in the world (105.5 metres) is “Arsenalnaya” (“Arsenal”) in Kiev (1960). “Arsenalnaya” (“Arsenalna”, “Arsenal”) is a station on Kiev Metro’s Line 1. The station was opened along with the first stage and is currently the deepest station in the world (105.5 metres). This attributed to Kiev’s geography where the high bank of the Dnieper River rises above the rest of the city…

or

According to the unofficial information, the depth of the station “Puhung” (“Revitalization”) in the Pyongyang Metro is 120 meters. However, as you can understand, it’s very difficult to verify this information…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

PS: Now I can vouch that the Ukraine station is really deep, since I use that station all the time…

While I personally do not call this a Russian recipe. (I do not say that too loud here in Russia though.) They (Russians) seem to think that all food started in Russia and if you have served it before and are not Russian, you just copied it from the Russians…

I have to attest that I have seen this recipe at many restaurants and such in Russia and Russians love their cauliflower made this way. I am starting to see a pattern in Russian food and what I see goes like this: Food is (has) not always (been) plentiful and what you do have as food has got to be nutritious and simple. High calories are a main stay in foods and that seems to be in line with my thinking’s. Portions are not big and what you do eat has to be enough to survive on, until the next meal, if it comes. You also have to make do with what you personally have on hand and raise / grow…

So lets make Crumbled Cauliflower from the basic that you would have on hand at home…

Ingredients:

1 fresh cauliflower (about 450g) broken or cut up into small pieces…
Salt for boiling purposes…
8 tbsp. + Butter for frying…
2 Eggs, lightly beaten until even colored…
70g Fresh Breadcrumbs very finely crumbled…

Instructions:

1. Bring a large sauce pan of salted water to a boil…

2. Add cauliflower to the salted boiling water, return to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered, for 10-15 minutes until slightly tender. Drain very well and pat dry with kitchen paper. Cauliflower should be rubbery…

3. Melt the butter and oil in a large frying skillet. Dip the cauliflower pieces first in the beaten eggs and then in the breadcrumbs, if not covered well repeat the process…

4. Then saute in the hot butter for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown, adding more butter as needed.

5. Serve immediately as they are really yummy and so simple to make and serves around 4 people. Be prepared though, your family will munch these up as fast as you fry them…

So that is how you make Crumbed Cauliflower a Russian way and style…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

Gotta love it and right now the Western press is having a cow over what Russia has just done. I have always said that it is a example of the pot calling the kettle black and now the kettle struck back. I mean the Western press is flat out screaming. There are hundreds of articles demeaning Russia about this report they put out and it looks like the report is mainly centered on America and Europe…

Criticizing the United States for double standards, Russia said President Barack Obama had failed to shut the military prison at Guantanamo Bay and accused the White House of sheltering officials and CIA operatives from prosecution…

The Foreign Ministry’s report “On the situation with human rights in a host of world states,” follows China’s example in highlighting U.S. failings in an attempt to counter U.S. State Department criticism of domestic human rights abuses…

“The situation in the United States is far from the ideals proclaimed by Washington,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a 63-page report posted on its www.mid.ru Web site. “The main unresolved problem is the odious prison in Guantanamo Bay.”

“The White House and the Justice Department shelter from prosecution CIA operatives and highly placed officials who are responsible for mass and flagrant breaches of human rights,” it said…

Every year since 1976, the U.S. Department of State has published a detailed report on the state of human rights in the world, often with scathing analyses of abuses in China and Russia…

Washington scolded Russia for “governmental and societal human rights problems and abuses during the year” in its report published in April…

Russia also criticized European Union countries for the treatment of religious minorities and Britain in particular for breaching human rights in the wake of August’s riots…

The report focused on the United States and European countries, mentioning China only once and then in passing…

I think that this is a good start and that is the same thing that I thought about it when China did the same thing earlier in the year. It is time that the East started to fire back at the West and as long as the Western world plays abusive games let the all members play the same game…

I have to laugh at the response that is happening from the West. They really dislike having someone point out their flaws and tell the world about them…

Of course this is just the start of the end and it is going to get rough at one point in the future…

But as my grandma would have said, “Sauce for a Goose is Sauce for a Gander!”

Sorry America but the world is just not gonna look the other way anymore and if you keep it up, then expect the world to start pushing back harder…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

PS: I always say, “Look in the mirror first and fix what you see wrong there before criticizing others!” Looks like Russia and China are tired of being criticized by hypocrites…

How about a Russian tea recipe that I have had for years and years. My grandma use to make this tea and she would say that it had healing properties. It was good for a large get together and would keep the cold bugs at bay…

I am not sure about how good it worked at keeping the cold bugs at bay but I do know that it was a favorite on a cold Winter night and I remember that a shot of whiskey made grandpa happier when he got his cup of tea…

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar
Rind of 1 orange
5 cups water
8 whole cloves
juice of 1 lemon
juice of 4 oranges
1 1/2 tablespoons (black or green – according to your beliefs) tea
8 cups boiling water

Fix:

1. Boil together in a sauce pan for 3 to 4 minutes, the sugar, 8 cloves, one orange rind, and the 5 cups of water… (Makes syrup!)

2. Strain and lets cool the liquid…

3. Place the tea leaves in an enamel or ceramic tea pot and pour over them the 8 cups of freshly boiled water…

4. Steep or let sit for 3 to 5 minutes. Then Strain the tea leaves out of the liquid… (Use tea bags and forget the straining!)

5. Pour hot tea back into a cleaned tea pot and add the syrup (from step number 1) and fruit juices. Keep hot until ready to serve…

6. Put tea kettle back on stove at a very low temperature. Do not boil anything at this point. Boiling will ruin the flavor…

7. Serves 20 to 25 small cups of delicious tea…

This tea makes a great hot toddy if you add a shot of whiskey for the adults and the children love the flavor of the tea as it is. It will warm all those souls that are visiting for the Holidays…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

PS: I do not know how Russian this is, but we called it Russian tea and always enjoyed it at the holidays after a good day at sledding in the countryside. I added green tea to the list because Russians are very fond of green tea and as Sveta would say, “That is just right!”

Russia’s political life dominated world headlines in December, with the parliamentary election and its aftermath firmly in the spotlight. But what is the country’s direction in its international policy going to be like?

­RT spoke to Aleksey Pushkov, the newly-appointed chairman of the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee, about prospective changes that might be expected in Russia’s foreign policy.

Speaking of the future shape of the country’s foreign policy, Pushkov particularly pointed out that before anything else is should meet the expectations of the Russian population, and, according to the diplomat, his previous career in television gave him a clear image of what these expectations are.
­Russian parliamentary elections and international reaction

­The parliamentary elections that took place in Russia on December 4 have invoked heavy criticism from abroad over numerous cases of alleged fraud. The head of the State Duma’s body on international affairs believes that the Russian parliament can simply ignore this reaction.

“The response has already been given by President Medvedev in Brussels. He basically stated that the opinion of the European parliament is not important for Russia – Russia is not a member of the European Union,” he told RT. “This is a consolidated position of the Russian parliament [too]. Whatever requirements and requests the opposition parties may have, they would like it to be a domestic procedure. The opposition parties in the parliament, even those who insist that there were violations in the Russian elections, do not support the declaration of the European Parliament and the statement which was made by [the US Secretary of State] Hillary Clinton. They regard it also as a domestic affair.”

The diplomat also added that all Russian political parties that are presented in the State Duma have recognized the elections legitimate and attended the first session of the parliament.
­US-Russia “reset”

­Aleksey Pushkov believes that it is time “to reset the reset”.

“The reason is not just [the parliamentary] elections [in Russia] and the American reaction to these elections. I think that there is crisis of a reset policy,” he said. “A number of contradictions have accumulated since [Hillary Clinton offered to press a reset button to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during their meeting in February 2009]. And the biggest contradiction is the US ABM [Anti-Ballistic Missile] system in Europe.”

Aleksey Pushkov refers to Dmitry Medvedev’s tough statement on this matter, in which the Russian president mentioned a number of countermeasures that Russia may take if American anti-missile system is placed in Europe without taking Russia’s concerns into account.

“I think that this answer was well thought over and was not just a knee-jerk reaction or some kind of impulsive statement,” he pointed out.

The diplomat also reminds that Russia has come up with a plan which could provide for a compromise between the two sides on this complicated issue, but this plan has been rejected by NATO.

“Recently, we have heard from the [US] State Department that the United States would not allow Russia to have a veto power over US plans of ABM deployment in Europe, that Russia will not be able to change the plan itself and the schedule. Basically, this was a ‘no’…to Medvedev’s offer to resume negotiations,” was his conclusion.
­Presidential elections in Russia and USA

­Speaking of the forthcoming presidential elections of 2012 in the United States and Russia, Aleksey Pushkov noted that these elections are more likely to have a negative effect on bilateral relations.

“[Presidential elections] always have impact on bilateral relations, especially such complicated relations as the relations between Russia and the United States. And my feeling is that these elections will not be an exception, and the effect will be negative,” he said.

“[Republicans] are accusing Obama of being too soft on Russia…What kind of reset can we have in these conditions? The administration will have to be sensitive to these attacks, they cannot just, you know, pay no attention, for these are election times,” Pushkov explained. “So I think we are in for a very hard year in Russia-US relations. I think that in Russia too, there is a lot of disappointment with the reset.”

“All this state of reset between Moscow and Washington is extremely fragile. So I’m not very optimistic about the prospects of the reset in the electoral year both in the United States and Russia,” the chairman of the International Affairs Committee concluded.

Russia Today RT: Source –

Sveta and I just got back from Ukraine and we had a great time spending Christmas there. One of the things that I like to do is to keep people abreast of any changes by the border guards as I travel. There was a change this time and it was on the Russian side. The Russians had new electronic gadgets to record and scan electronic passports now. Not just one or two of them but all of the border guards I saw had these new devises. The devises were a walkies-talkie, PDA, scanner and who knows what all in one devise. They even had a camouflage case to cover them with…

I know why they are doing this and it makes sense when the rest of the world, including Russia, are going to electronic passports. I have had a electronic passport since my last one was stolen several years ago and the USA replaced it with a scannable version…

It looks like Russia is finally getting closer to having a electronic database on people as they cross the border. They do not have it yet but they are working on it. They still carry a huge book to look up names in and check if you are on a not wanted list in Russia. Sometimes they have to call and have another book brought and they check two books against your name. Looks like sometime in the future Russia will have all that on electronics…

But all in all, crossing the border by train into Ukraine is easy and quick. I never have any issues (Knock on wood please!) and have gotten to know many of the border guards and they are really good people…

So nothing very exciting about a border controls this time. New toys and such is the extent of it all…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

That is what I was thinking after this trip to Ukraine. After some of the things that are being done by the Western world in Ukraine and Russia lately. I can only say, “Go Away – I like it here in Russia and Ukraine…”

Sveta and I came upon a political area in downtown Kiev, Ukraine. At first it was interesting but then when I saw the British instigators and then the American instigators had themselves a little political party going on. I was very upset at what was happening. Then to top it all off I watched people walk up to an American staffed tent and get a protest sign and cash (in dollars) to carry that sign around Kiev…

I also saw that much of the signage was in English around these political tents and why, but why would Ukrainians need English signs to pass on their political agenda. The answer is simple they don’t! Only for the Western press do we need to have English signs predominately displayed…

The outer edge of the tent area was in Russian and Ukraine signage but as soon as you entered inside the tent area the signs became English…

Also the Western press in Ukraine as in Russia is laced with lies and deceits that have nothing to do with reality. Well I guess only if your reality is spreading hate and deceit then would it be correct…

Sveta was so excited when she first saw the tents because she automatically assumed that they were selling Christmas stuff and we could find a good deal. I said sweetie, “We are in Kiev Ukraine and those tents are for political agendas. I know because I spend a lot of time in Kiev.” After we crossed the street, Sveta was disappointed in that she wanted to shop at a market. Then she is the one who pointed out as to all the English signs everywhere. That is when I snapped pictures as silently as I could and caught several non Ukraine’s playing around in the political arena. It was at this time that I watched a huge truck unload into one of the English signed tents a whole bunch of Chinese cell phones in the boxes. We are talking about thousands of them. I snapped a picture through the tent opening. No – they are not setting up a cell phone shop but they are going to give them away…

So as usual all you have to do is walk around Kiev and the Western world will scream at you how bad Ukraine is. This time, luckily very few were listening around Ukraine, but when you are paid to do nothing but spread lies and discontent like it seems to be so common now in this side of the world, by Western idiots. Then sooner or later you come upon enough people who will listen…

The bottom line is that I like it here on this side of the world. I do not want to see things change because America and Britain keep pissing off the Eastern countries. It looks more and more like I will be forced to make a decision for the future, because Sveta is my sweetie and having to leave her behind in Russia while I get removed because I am part of a country that can not keep its nose out of other countries business, is not on my agenda…

So: Go Away – I like it here in Russia and Ukraine…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

Looks like someone has not been paid yet by America…

Lets look at some e-mails I got about the protest in Russia:

I am a Russian women, protests are legitimate, we want Russia to become like USA ,with free market and more liberal values.

I want more immigration and more and more Russians can marry a non Russian mostly a black.

Russia must become multicultural society and lesbians and gays must be elected into Duma.

I want orthodox church to be removed and synagogue must be built in its place.

I want to see Russian society embracing Jewish values and wall-street firms will open their banks in Russia, with huge oil and gas wealth.

Russia has to invite more people and more immigrants, more interracial, gay, lesbian marriage.

We must become like western country and enjoy, and consume as much as possible.

Ben bernake must be elected as chairman of Russian central bank.

We can make Russia into another USA, I want to see Russia turning into Las Vegas casinos, pole dancers, every where.

Finally Russian women are hot, you can have some pleasure with all of us.

In terms that you simple mind can understand: We Want – NOT!

=========================

First, when I looked at the footage’s shown on the Western media, I didn’t pay much attention at the presence of “communists”. Because, this is the last thing I would expect to see — they not only nothing to do with those like Prokhorov, Kasparov, Nemtsov (the New Russians, who stole what Communists created), but, they suppose to be fierce ideological enemies…

But, then, to my big surprise I noticed those “suppose to be communist” slogans some protesters were carrying. And that made my day! Then, I started to pay attention on details and, I will tell you, it is much more entertaining (the protest) than I thought. No wonder it gathered so big crowd. By the way, by just looking at the crowd, I estimate only about 30-40% of those who are “protesting” (by their own will or because they have to) and the rest — random Muscovite’s who were just attracted by noise and colors of the demonstration. If you noticed many of them carry the shopping bags — probably were going to the market and were lost

Anyway, I am sure that, those “communists” among protesters — just actors playing their role in this spectacle (whoever is behind it). The funny part of it — it seems, the “screen writers” didn’t even bother to look at the demonstration of the real Communists in Russia, because, the slogans look out of contexts and, therefore, just stupid and inappropriate. More like those “Russians” in the Hollywood movies whom even I cannot understand when they speak their “native” language.

Apart, of course, from the fact, that there are no those familiar patterns which every demonstrations of the Communists exhibit. For example, I didn’t see the “old” guys behind those banners with slogans. It was a group relatively young guys vigorously carrying the Soviet flags. Or, why so few of them? Normally, the Communists go in big groups. Also, why they are in the middle — to create impression that they are the core part of this show?

That raises the question — For whom those “communists” were shown? To Russians? Something is telling me that it is not the case.

=======================

You, Russian people protesting out there and asking for fair elections, you should have lived for a few years in the USA, “the champion of democracy in the world”. That would have straightened you up in no time… and would have made you realize you have far more freedom in Russia than in the USA…

=========================

Talking about March of 2012… I think, it would be funny, if on March 1st, Putin would load the “opposition forces” (Prokhorov, Kasparov, Nemtsov, Navalny and their supporters) on the cattle wagons and send them to the East Siberia to cool down and contemplate for some time on the questions — If the elections were fair? And, who is the King?

But, I think the Neocons do not have a sense of humor and might misinterpret that Putin’s gesture of good will. Though, I could understand them — they pumped some money in those guys and expect some return. So, it is not really humorous matter for them…

=========================

It it such a coincidence….

America is loosing influence, going bankrupt, kiil its citizens, has 50% of it people living under the povrety level, hates Putin BUT  it is in Russia that people wants things to change….bla bla bla..yes CIA is behind this. End of story. Rrussia has a great futur but the west is anger and does not want to fall down on it knee alone. This is only mass media manipulation. PUTIN is Russia’s future. In Putin we trust. Silent majority does not walk into this trap! CIA get a real job!

I send you picture – Hillary should pay what she owes they are waiting….

=========================

Their guy doesn’t win and they cry “foul” and commit anarchy. Some things never change.

=========================

That is all of them plus the one photo I was sent. The Russians are not near as vocal as the Americans when it comes to a blog in English but I was pleased with these expressions. I think I saw a couple of them on comments also on other sites. Tomorrow when I have everything back in line after the Ukraine trip we are going to talk about these English signs everywhere in all of these protests. They were all over Ukraine just as they are in Russia…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

Hello Everyone,

Sveta and I are in the Kiev train station as I write this. We got our business done and Sveta and I spent last night tripping the lights fantastic in Kiev, Ukraine…

I will make this short and sweet but add a few pictures to show the New Year lights in Kiev…

Oh and I want to thank everyone for the record days while we have been gone this time. The site rocked off the charts and it looks like the new host has been able to handle the load with no problem…

Sveta and I wish everyone a happy holiday and we will be back in Russia Monday. I have some good stories to tell and there is an interesting political situation going on in Ukraine right now…

Kyle and Sveta…
Windows to Russia!