i need a holiday!!!
jumping into opthalmomology right after TB is T.I.R.I.N.G!!!
though i did have a 2 & 1/2 day break though..
in the wild..really really..
actually its all thanks to my TB patient..who happened to be kind enuff to invite me n treasure over to his new cottage in the wild wild taiga..after refusing so many offers, i finally found the time to go the day after finishing my TB exam..unfortunately, treasure hadn’t completed her exam and thus refused to follow me..initially, i thought, what the hell, jus go alone..then thanks to emmy, who gave me all the right reasons to not venture alone, i decided to drag along karthikesh..everyone else rejected my offer..sad sad..
so anyways, we set out on friday evening and reached the cottage by dusk..had dinner, got a tour around the cottage and the garden..headed to the neighbours where we had more dinner..then back again for a huge mug of warm milk freshly milked 10mins ago..oh yeah, it was WARM..chit chatted, or rather, listened to chit chat and responded now and then..and off to bed at 2am..
lemme tell ya about the cottage :
there are 2 main rooms in the whole cottage : a living room and a bedroom..the living room had this dinner table, the sink and a cupboard with the cooking utensils coupled with an electric stove, the russian pechka or chimney-cum-oven, a tv and a bed. the bedroom had 4 beds altogether and another pechka..then there was like a staircase and a porch leading up to the house..the cottage is attached to a garage, which is larger than the house itself and was piled roof high with firewood for the winter. and then there was the toilet. it was just a tiny cubicle in the garage, roughly 1.5×1.5..there was the toilet seat, and then there was the hole..the hole houses all the droppings that ever dropped there..it stank alright and the sound that you hear as your pee falls on those shit-mole-mountain..huhuhu..i was so tempted to put up these pics on facebook but then, i wud have never heard the end of it..i’m so the disgusting arent i?? well, at least i didnt have to go lookin for a shady tree to relieve myself while freezing my butt off..and thanks be to god who made my GIT so effective that everything gets absorbed maximally so that i had to use the toilet minimally..
- whoopsie daisy
hua hua hua..
run run run to the bathroom..
the next day, we were supposed to go hunting ducks..but i was just so drop dead tired, i couldnt pick myself off the bed..so i just lay there listening to the hunter shooting away behind house..there’s a lake there and there just happened to be a flock of wild ducks lazing about..got up at about 10am, where i was made a nice breakfast : some russian porridge which tasted quite excellent really, hard boiled egg, fresh milk, tea, bread with homemade cheese and butter and slices of kolbasa..yummy..hung around for a bit, absorbing the nature, then set out to go hunting at about 1130am..drove around into the forest, to those numerous lakes littered all around..
we ran outta luck though, and there were no ducks to be shot..so we resorted to shooting bottles instead..and i have to tell ya, the hunter is excellent sniper material..he shot a bottle which we threw into the air and DAMN!!! he was EXCELLENT!!! then i had a round at the shotgun - and i shot the bottle too, at my very first attempt, earning me the nicknames terrorist, killer and sniper..
we headed home after 2 hours, to where a meal waited for us at the neighbours..it was the duck soup from the morning hunt, with bread, kolbasa, tomato salad and fruit..oh, and raw eggs..
i have to mention here in this small interval, that booze is the national drink in russia..and throughout my stay here, i drank like 50ml of plain water maybe..the rest of it was : cognac, red wine, white wine, tea, samagonka which is russian homemade alcohol and milk.. it was OBLIGATORY to have a drink with everyone cos they consider it as an insult if u dont..so i ended up drinking to the motherland, the safari, the duck, the foreigners, more safari, to me, to happiness and to safari again..needless to say, i drank more alcohol in those 3 days than i have ever had in my entire life..and thats quite a lot..
now back to the raw egg - you had to chip the bottom, peel off some shell, add a lil’ bit o’ salt and mix it, inside the shell..then u take a huge gasp of air, and try to gulp it all in one go, then finish off by taking a swig of samagonka..it was tasteless actually, except for the salt, and it didnt smell at all..
then later that night, we went to the train station to pick up yuri’s brother in law and his wife..then all of us headed to the club located in a sanatorium..it was quite cool - there was this deejay who sang along to his guitar, he even dedicated a song to us, in english!! then there was this old couple who were ballroom dancing for every song, a hyperactive couple with the craziest moves u have ever seen, dancing oblivious to the world watching them, a guy in blue who was simply shaking along with the same moves while the rest just stuck to their seats by the wall chatting..i was one of ‘em - pardon me but i dunno how to dance..
we were then joined by yuri’s friends : alexander alexanderovich aka san sanovish (dun ask me how), captain “alex” alexei and his daddy, who were all hunters btw..then we got into the car and went to their meeting spot by a russian bannya - thats like a sauna..had more tea and wine and samagonka while chatting and laughing about..took a few pics, i got 3 flowers from one of them, cut especially for me, cheh!!!
right about 12midnight, we said our farewells and went back home, only to be joined by the neighbours for some supper and more samagonka..then we went outside for stargazing..it was ink-dark and dreadfully still - you could hear your heart beating in your ears!!! oh and the night sky!!! how could i ever explain what i saw..it was simply black velvet littered with glitter - in all my stargazing nights, never have i ever seen such a beautiful sight..when we finally went to bed, it was 2am..
the next day, sunday, woke up at 9am..had breakfast..then set about preparing to cook kurma and rice for the newfound friends..the others prepared a pork shashlik which was scrumptious!!! more food, more samagonka, more fun and laughter before the clock struck 6 and it was time to head home..
it was sad to leave..i had so much fun and laughed til my cheeks hurt..i made new friends..i went hunting..i shot a shotgun!! and brought back a duck wing and 2 bullets : one casing and a live bullet..i had the greatest experience..and i made everyone else jealous..HUAHUAHUA…
my favourite shot : me, yuri, dmitri, ira, san sanovich aka BFG, karthik, alex and daddy..
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