Gratuitous Photo Saturday

It's a sight to warm a man's heart ... a pretty girl holding a shot of vodka. The Russian and I and a few of our old classmates got together for an evening of dining and dancing ... and drinking ... at a local russian restaurant. If you ever wanted to bring a smile to the face of a russian girl "trapped" in Germany, just take her to a russian restaurant ... if you can find one. There used to be a half-dozen or so in the Frankfurt area, but many of them have shuttered. As of late, I have only found two. My young russian friends have never been to any while here, so for them it was a much welcomed taste of home.

One of the girls almost cried while reading the menu. The three of them took turns reading the menu items aloud followed by a judgement as to whether or not a certain dish was authentic russian. However there was some disagreement on one dish, which one of the russians claimed was a national dish while the two others declared that it was not. At which point a bit of inter-regional rivalry ensued, with comments flying about Siberians and people from the Caucuses and points farther east. It makes one wonder how the Soviet Union stayed together for seventy years.

Nothing that a little vodka couldn't fix. Put enough vodka into the mix and they become fast friends again. Oddly enough, the restaurant didn't have russian vodka, so we had to settle for Absolut. As you can see, the results were not marred by that slight faux pas. Hey, I could not resist ... the title of this post is Gratuitous Photo Saturday, after all.

That's The Russian on the right. She looks downright fat compared to The Other Russian, and believe me, it is not because The Russian has a few pounds too many. The Other Russian is really thin, but nonetheless quite pretty and a natural blonde, unlike The Russian. I hadn't seen The Other Russian for a couple of months ... for those of you who may have read earlier posts, The Other Russian is the one who said she wanted to marry me so she could stay in Germany. Well, she didn't need me since she got a student visa, but she still dances with me, and, in this case, with The Russian herself despite her Siberian views of people from the Caucuses.

Actually, the fact that The Other Russian wanted to dance with me, especially the slow dances, seemed to bother the Russian. Up to this point The Russian and I have only been dance partners to techno and a little hip-hop, but she grabbed me for a few slow dances which is completely out of her character, and she made them very close for the benefit of our friends back at the table.

Then, on our return to the table after the second dance, she announced to the group, who have always wondered what kind of relationship we are having since we spend a lot of time together without them, that she and I are taking Salsa dance lessons ... which is something we have discussed doing but haven't actually started because, despite having the Partnerin's blessing (the Partnerin hates dancing but I rather like it), Salsa dancing is possibly more intimate than I dare to be with The Russian.

A man has to know his limits.