Happy Birthday, Eli!

May 18, 2009

Eli and I had been talking about how we love how Russian some people make things sound--even lists of foods, so for Eli's birthday, I sent him a text saying (in Russian), "I wish to you happiness, love, all the best, apples, pelmeni..." For birthdays and other occassions, Russians always wish something for you--good health, love, etc. Hilarious. We often will just walk up to each other and say, "Yabloka (apples), pelmeni" in a very Russian way.

Acia and I bought him a cake and I wrote out 25 in candles. We got some people from our office and went down to legal and sang him Happy Birthday. Then we all came back for cake. After work, we decided to go walk down old Arbat. Ran into someone I had met the day before at church, who Acia used to date. Kind of funny. We talked to him for awhile, then set off to find a restaurant.

We were walking down the street and I saw a sign that said, "Taras Bulba." And I said something about it--that's one of my Gogol stories I bought. Turned out is was a Ukrainian Restaraunt, so in honor of Eli and his Ukrainian, we decided to eat there. I loved the way it was decorated, and the hostess and waitresses were all dressed in traditional Ukrainian costumes! The Borscht was amazing, as was the bread they brought out. We also ate these little patties made of shredded potatoes and carrots, eggs, flour, and sugar. They were really good!

We then went down to the train station to buy our tickets to St. Petersburg, but decided to wait because we heard they have really cheap plane tickets online. Such a fun day! And we decided we will celebrate my half birthday and Acia's quarter birthday. Mine on May 30, and hers on June 5th when we're in St. Petersburg!