Masha introduced me to a close friend from her university.

And the more I learned about Dasha and her background the more I was impressed at her goodness and strength.

She’s about to turn 22 and her family comes from very modest means.   And if you’ve read my earlier post about the life of a typical Russian Girl.. then try to imagine a step below that on the Russian economic standard of living and you might start to understand a few things.   I really don’t want to get into too much detail but lets just say that where she comes from having running water in your home is not taken for granted.

24 year old Anna Sharevich is another eye opening example of intellectual talent from the FSU.

Normally I always enjoy showcasing ladies like her in order to dis spell the various stereotypes that exists about Russian women.

But I must admit the image of a chess playing Russian beauty saying “checkmate” is one stereotype I don’t mind promoting at all. ;)

Too Bad the Russians don’t celebrate Halloween like we do in the States.

I really do miss going to the costume parties and seeing everyone bringing out their alter-ego’s for one day out of the year.

When I talk about our Halloween traditions to Russian people they love the idea but think it’s a bit crazy. They ask me if even “serious” Government and Official People dress up in costumes on this day. I tell them that for the most part yes.

Well summer is over and the cold weather is beginning to inch.

When you live here, you really have a serious appreciation for good weather when it comes to the precious few months of the year.

This is the time to remember the warm weather and the feeling of a bright sun shine on your skin.

Or it's time to think about how beautiful the girls are here to look for when they are in full glory in the summer.

Because of this I decided to dig into the archives and have some pictures that hopefully will make you feel the sun, too.

Someday ..

I hope all you are lucky enough to be invited to the humble but loving home of a Russian woman and her family.

It will be really time, "You'll never forget."

So let me go back in time a little and share with you that "I will never forget."

On the first evening of my arrival in Siberia, I was invited to attend his mother's house in our beautiful Inessa's for dinner.

I’m happy to announce that our lovely friend Masha has returned. She’s looking forward to communicating with all of us again with her interesting insights and charming commentary. I

I am pleased to announce that our beloved friend Mary came back.

She is looking forward to communicating with us all again with her interesting ideas and fascinating commentary.

It's great that her wonderful personality back.

Not to mention her ability to grace this blog with such sublime beauty.

You can give her a friendly hello.

At the same time, here are some long awaited pictures to see ...

This Saturday .. March 8 gentlemen.

Make sure you congratulate every Russian woman or CIS lady that you know and just tell her the following ..

"Greetings and Happy woman!"

(Warning notices sincere joy and satisfaction that comes back to you with something as simple as that.)

OK this is at least to begin with.

Now, virtually tradition usually men volunteered to do cooking and cleaning for one day with gentle doses of flowers, gifts or dinner date in a nice restaurant.

Our lovely Maria was kind enough to share some of the photos of his girlfriend with us.

I'm sure you'll enjoy them as I have.

Russia is one of the few countries in the world where the number of abortions more than the number of live births.

For example, in 2001, 1.32 million children were born in Russia and 1.8 million abortions were performed.

These figures are especially tragic, given that Russia is facing a disastrous demographic crisis with the United Nations estimates that Russia could lose more than half of its population by 2050.

One oddity of the United States and living in Russia is a full day and night difference in attitudes toward abortion. In the United States seems to have real political militancy on both sides of the issue.

But in Russia there is ZERO public debate on this issue.

Olga new friend of ours who also happens to be a fitness nut.

(Should not we all be so ..)

She recently completed her university, where she studied English language and it is ready to see what the real world is like. In addition to the 4-day week routine of fitness, you can also see that she is a real rag to a cat .. (not all of us ..)

Mary introduced her to me, and I thought it was a very sweet girl, so I asked her to share some of her photos for us all to enjoy.