Shameless

... 1/7 of this nesting doll ...

I am pretty well shameless when it comes to asking for what I want. Even though I know Rebecca loathes shopping, I asked her to buy me 2 kinds of matrushkas when she was in Russia. I know. I know. I was there myself and should have bought them ... and I did buy some. But obviously, not enough for I needed two more: a traditional one with either landscape scenes, or one painted with the stories of traditional folk tales.

... exquisite face detail ...

Her hosts took her to the bazaar by the church, the bazaar that we were told not to go to by the cruise line. This bazaar is infamous as a place where pick pockets target trusting tourists, so the cruise line was right to give that warning. However, Rebecca's hosts were the ones who knew that this would be the place to get what she was looking for ... and they had the added cultural knowledge to know when the price was too high and when it was fair.

"4000 rubbles? You must be joking. I don't think so. 3000? Yes. "

... details of the sledding scene on the body of the doll...

Rebecca's friends tried to talk her into purchasing a beautiful Fabergé egg, or at least a copy of one.  "You don't want matrushkas", they coaxed.

I know that the Fabergé egg should appeal to me, but how fun is it to sit with a grandchild and look at one of those eggs.

Boring.  Open, close.  Open, close.

I like the imagined joy of playing house -- just a child and me and the nesting dolls.

Much  happiness! Open, close and talk about what each one is thinking, where they are going, what they will be doing next.

 ...10 Russian leaders as nesting dolls ...

My dreams of happiness have run into a snag with the second matrushka she purchased for me. After lining them up on the table, I realized I can't identify all of the leaders.

"Marx?", I asked Rebecca, pointing to one of them.

"No Arta. Remember, he is German. Marx is not a choice."

We have spent considerable time, looking for pictures of Russian leaders on the internet, trying to figure out who is whom, a task that it would seem requires more than an undergraduate degree in music.

See Rebeca's forthcoming blog on this matter as we ask for help.

Arta