The Great Freeze - Part 8

So now we are getting down to the last days of our trip. I know that some of you are asking where Norway is and when am I going to get to that part but unfortunately we were not able to make it there on this trip. The flight situation in and out of Minsk in terrible. If you are luck there is one flight out to where you want to go each day. There are usually stops, large layovers, and a possibility of the flight getting cancelled. To add to that our flight home was still out of Stockholm so we had to get back there which isn't really that easy either. In the end because Belarus wouldn't let me extend my visa two days so that Igor and I could travel to Sweden together, I got to add another destination to my trip but that will come later.

After the baptism we stayed in Minsk another day and then headed back to Zaslonova. Aunt Zena and Uncle Vasil came and we had another banya. All the ladies got in this time, which is rare since Igor's mom almost never joins in. Every time I am in the sauna with aunt Zena it is always eventful. I don’t know why but it is. This was no different although slightly more painful. When I am in the sauna I usually like the contrast between the hot steam and dowsing myself in cold water. However, when you are in the sauna with a bunch of Russian women they don't let you make it very very hot and they don't let you poor ice water over your head (lame). I did try but was yelled at. Not sure what they said but I got the message. I did however manage to pour scalding hot water on myself. My shoulder hurt for the rest of the night but it ended up being fine the next day so it wasn't quite as bad as I initially thought. Just to clarify this has nothing to do with Zena expect that she was there.

We got to see the school participate and crush everyone else in a mountaineering competition. I got a bunch of good pictures of the kids. Igor even got to help out with the event.

The competitors

pretty cool slide, hu?

The course

Allena (she won everything)

Kyril (he is the best, by far he was almost 2 minutes faster than everyone else)

Igor assisting one of the coaches who decided to run the course

Allena and Kyril are far and away the best climbers out there. Not only that but they are involved in everything. Kyril is a really good goalie for the school team. They both play basketball, and volleyball. All these kids are just fantastically motivated. I would like to note that there really were not many parents there even though it was on a weekend. Also, the kids here have an opportunity to come and do sports at the school ever evening. No one has to come and no one gets left out. Not even the old farts like Igor and I who come just to play and have a good time. How cool is that. What a great way to get kids to really want to participate.

After the competition we had to go to the village because it was -22F and the dog was freezing and Igor's grandmother needed help bring more wood in the house because it was so cold. So we went and Igor finished chopping that whole pile of wood. I helped for a little while but then got too cold and went back inside to snuggle up on the over with the cat.

The next day Igor and I said goodbye to his mom and dad, took the train to Orsha where is mom's sister and his grandmother live.

saying goodbye

Goodbye Zaslonova

 It is only a 10 minutes walk from the train station in Orsha to Igor's grandmothers house but let me tell you that was one of the longest 10 minutes i have ever spent anywhere. It was brutally cold, windy and after dark.  Being Belarus they had shut the heater off in the train about halfway through our 3-4 hour trip, not to mention the fact that the doors on the train don't close all the way. So we were already cold by the time that we stepped off the train. Then walking out in the snow and wind. I thought that my toes might actually get frost bite if we were out there much longer. There was not sweater relief than walking into the Igor's grandmothers house taking off my frozen boots and sticking my feet inches from the open flame stove in the kitchen. ahhhhhh so good!!! It did take a good 20 minutes to thaw my poor feet but they did thaw and there was no damage done.

before the train got cold

We spent the night at Aunt Vala's house across town. It was warmer and if you remember from the summer neither grandmother has an in door toilet....so the choice was a no brainer, although I will say that Igor had to point this out to me...I blame the cold, it made my mind all fuzzy. The next morning we took the train back Minsk since I was leaving on Monday for Vilnius, Lithuania (remember Belarus wouldn't let me add two days to my visa).

At Orsha Grandmother's

The train ride to Minsk was much warmer and yes they kept the heater on the whole time. Igor's brother picked us up. Igor had made plans to see one of his old college buddies that evening so Vasil and I dropped him off and then got lost trying to get out of the maze of apartment complexes where we had left Igor. Vasil ended up have to reverse down and extremely narrow "street" where there was barely enough room for one car to fit through. He did such an excellent job, I was really impressed. We did eventually make it back and I had dinner with Marina and Vasil while we waited for Igor.

In the morning Igor escorted me to my train which was pretty packed. Strangely they did not have a luggage area for people to store their large bags so they were just laid out mucking up the center aisle. But anyway. Igor got on the train with me, made sure I had the right seat and that everything was ok. Then he got off and waited right by my window until the train slowly pulled away running  along side until the train accelerated. And that was the last I saw of Igor until I met him at the airport 2 days later.

My train ride was uneventful. I didn't have any problem with the boarder agents, unlike the guy next to me who was from Oslo who had his bag searched and they asked him lots of questions. Turns out he spoke English and so we chatted for a bit on the last 30 minutes from that point of the train ride until we arrived in Vilnius.