Nevell would totally be in his element. Gold teeth are trendy here. So trendy - the more you have, the better. Like, why not have your entire row of front teeth coated in gold. Oh yeah. Gold teeth.
It’s pretty cool though. It’s something I could never imagine doing. For those that don’t know, I’ve had a dodgy front tooth since I was in kindergarten due to a trampoline incident and I recently got a metal rod jammed into my jaw and a fake porcelain tooth glued on to the metal rod to replace it. I’m quite vain – I don’t wear make up and I don’t go to too much effort with my hair but I like to look nice, so it’s been a bit of adjustment having a tooth that’s not exactly the same as the one they pulled out (it was pretty sick). They did a good job – no one notices (except me) and the dentist said when he finished ‘oh, shit, that’s the best looking one I’ve done’. I’m grateful it’s not the worst because I still hate it. Nevermind.
I am now eternally grateful that I didn’t have to have gold plastered on the tooth to keep it longer, because that would have been MUCH more of an adjustment.
I used to work on a drill rig logging coal core. I might have to do it again when I get back to Australia but that’s another story. Work was pretty hard so whenever I got some downtime, it was pretty good. When it rains, it’s too dangerous to be walking around a drill rig because the pad (the site that the rig is on) is cleared land that gets boggy and slippery – it’s too much of a HSE hazard. So when it was pissing down in the morning while I was working that job, I knew I wouldn’t have to get up and go to work. It lit some firecrackers inside me and I always had a little party in my mind, knowing I could stay at home and rest.
This morning I woke up to a party – there was some massive thunder and lightning followed by some heavy rainfall. It’s the best thing to wake up to I reckon. I stayed in bed for a while and eventually got up to a cooked breakfast of a cinnamon scroll and scrambled eggs with bacon. Russia just gets better every day. I washed up and hopped back in to bed to continue reading my book. My kindle’s got a workout lately. I love it so much! I’m reading ‘The Plantation’. It’s a nice change from the cheap, short crappy books I’ve been reading of late. It’s not going to win a major literary award for it’s tricky words and twisty plot, but it’s a good read and I’m enjoying it!
I don’t want to waste it so I’ve been breaking up my reading time with walks and so-on. Lystvianka is swanky. So swanky they have a proper timber path up the side of the hill that meanders around and has signs with the trees that you’re looking at, like an arboretum. The tree names are written in Russian and also in Latin which means I can kind of make some association with what it’s related to. If only I had taken more forestry courses (the lecturers would only give me credits for my work; geology and environmental lecturers would give me high distinctions so I thought ‘bugger you guys and bugger forestry, I’m sticking to the good marks’. In hindsight it was probably me just being crap at forestry. hah.).
I wandered along the road and stopped at the beach – sat and just sucked in the fresh air and beautiful (albeit overcast and foggy) day. There is a fish market about 1km from our homestay and I walked past again on my way home. One guy asked me if I wanted a shishlik (kebab) and I didn’t want one but I said yes anyway. Best decision ever! Man, that pig tasted GOOD! I haven’t had much protein lately (no fridges, lots of processed meat that I don’t like, more expensive etc) so eating a massive kebab stick of pork was a big ask but it was worth it. YUM. It was also really cool. I ordered my kebab, went and paid, got my kebab, got my change and the shop guy had given me a choco-pie. How nice! I sat and ate and they wanted to know if I was American. I always internally sigh a little bit of relief – American’s are standard in this neck of the woods and although I know they’re treated with respect, Australia is that bit more exotic and kangaroos always get a good laugh. So no, I told them I was not American and they sat and chatted. There were three guys. One with a whole row of gold front teeth, one cooking the kebabs and the shopkeeper who had definitely at one stage had his upper lip cut open and then sewn back together.
Below: me at the beach of Lake Baikal, a limo stopped to pick up some smoked fish, the kebab cooker with the YUM stuff
Between the four of us (and then five, when Sarah turned up), we had a great time! Gold tooth guy was very keen to learn english numbers 1-10 and then 100-1000. He also wanted to know ‘sit down’ and ‘stand’, and practiced by pulling the kebab guy out of the shop and making him obey his commands of ‘sit down’ and ‘stand’. I nearly wet myself when he was doing that – is was SO funny to watch! Gold tooth guy was pretty keen on me which always makes things easier and more fun. He helped me find some ice creams and now we’ve got a date for 7pm tonight - we’ll be going back for dinner, mainly because it’s the cheapest food around.
They took their turns chatting to us (well, kind of) and laughing and sharing their smoked fish with us. It was one of those ‘ahhhh, this is what it’s all about!’ moments. Just relaxing and great.
An afternoon of goodies. The Limnology Museum is not very exciting. It’s a lovely grand building with a basic aquarium downstairs – with nerpa seals and endemic fish. The seals have nothing in the water except themselves, the poor things must be so bored. The are very fat little things with two flipper like tails with five finger bones in each that expand and contract to help them swim. There’s a little bit of a museum upstairs with rocks and some stuffed animals and a lot of dead fish in jars.
Rather disappointed in the museum (250rubles for about 30mins entertainment), we wandered down the street. It’s a long street. I think by the time we got to the end it would have been about 7km. There were markets along the way where I got about 1kg of tiny wincy little delicious blueberries (note to self: don’t eat too many at a time, they make you sick!). We bought a donut thing and ate it on the beach with the rest of the tourists. Below: me and a mermaid; Sarah on the ‘beach’.
We’d arranged our dinner date for 7pm. We were late and he got up us for it – I laughed a lot. We’d tried to understand each other all afternoon and we’d set 7pm, we were late and he was proving that he understood us by giving us shit that we were late! It was great. I said no to another pork skewer as I wasn’t very hungry and had some great fried rice stuff. The three blokes sat with us and talked. We talked about his brother, my family, the cost of Mercedes Benz vehicles in Russia compared to Australia, my wage and the cost of living in Australia, the cost of flights to Australia, whether we had boyfriends or not, what car we drive in Australia (they tried to make us drive their ute to prove it; I was not about to ruin some man’s vehicle!), how much an Audi costs and a few other things. They wanted to know why I don’t drive an Audi in Australia and I said the money – they’re too expensive. They told me I should find a boyfriend to pay for the car. I said I’d need three boyfriends to pay for an Audi in Australia and they erupted in laughter. They have the most beautiful, genuine and infectious smile I’ve seen for a long time. THEN the joke continued when gold tooth guy told me I should get three boyfriends, make them buy me an Audi and then give them the flick!
Left: the shisklik chef; Gold Tooth; Shopkeeper
The shop keeper guy said he’d move to Australia to marry me.
We taught them a few more English words. Gold Tooth wanted to take us to see Tajikistan (where he’s from). I’d LOVE to see Tajikistan. Unfortunately, it’s not the ideal place to holiday at the moment and… just, no.
