Jul 12, 2005 21:11
Like I said before, I'm still not accustomed to the dollar to ruble exchange rate. It turns out that the thirty rubles a minute adds up to about a penny a minute. Not too bad a price for internet access for a country where the tap-water is considered unfit for drinking.
The trip has been going fairly well and surprisingly my Dad found people who remember my Great Uncle and Aunt. Nobody directly related to us is alive though, not in this town anyway. My Dad had the address of the house where my Grandfather lived here in Pinsk so Dad and I visited the house and an old man lived there who was the brother-in-law of my great Aunt. The old man took us to an weed infested grave where my Great Aunt, Great Uncle, and second cousin are burried with only iorn crosses as their markers. No name plates, just the iorn crosses. My great Aunt dosen't even have the iorn cross on her grave because she was the last of them to die and she had basically no family left to pay for a grave marker.
After all that nonsense the next day my Father and I were invited out by the old man's son, who's about my Dad's age and was partially raised by my Great Aunt. The guys name was Vladamish and he took us around Pinsk telling us about various monuments and buildings. Afterward we were invited over to his house for dinner where I was basically force fed. I've been force fed many times thusfar on the trip. Everywhere I go it's "Eat, Eat, your so thin, eat...." So I eat so as to not be rude. It's really fantastic food though. Ummmmm.
I'll write more later. My Dad is pacing back and forth in the internet cafe but he insists on never leaving me alone for a minute because he's affraid that I'll be kid-napped or get lost or something... I wish I had a blackberry or some other portable devise with internet access.