I've been to Udmurtia and I know I'm cool

Let me educate you first. I doubt you know where Udmurtia is. First, hop on a plane and fly to Moscow. Then board a train heading towards Siberia and China. After about 16-18 hours, depending on whether you took to fast one or the one that stops in every single village, you'll end up in Udmurtia, west of the Ural mountains.
The view from the train is far from promising. Though I have to say that the surroundings around any train track in the world are probably not the up-market areas.

This modern little kettle provided us with hot water for tea in the train.

Public transportation in Glazov, northern Udmurtia. The view is from my hotel window. The hotel was clean, didn't see any little critters. The bathroom was a relief after the experience on the train.
Beautiful old buildings in Glazov. Unfortunately rundown.
This little chap in front of the railway station is pointing the way to the nearest liquor store. The locals were proud of the Kalashnikov vodka. Tasted like at the dentist's, blaah.
Major effort was put into renovating this orthodox church.

This is what one was apparently supposed to use to scrub the toilet bowl on the train. I did my best to keep my legs crossed to avoid going there.

I wanted to send really touristy postcards from Glazov, but apparently they don't get that many tourist since I couldn't find any.

An extremely interesting trip, professionally and culturally. Would I go again (it's in my job description so I don't have that much of a choice)? Yes, definately. The food was great, there was plenty, our hosts were nice, professionally very educating. The only down side is really the bathrooms....

Accidents may happen

Risto got a kick bike a week after school started. Theoretically it's the boys', but Risto uses is the most. Jaakko is quite good with it, but on October 1st he went down a steep hill, couldn't turn and went straight to the road. Luckily no cars and he was wearing his helmet.

Maybe the reason was the wheel. After 1.5 months it looked more like a triangle.

Boys

I am a mother of three boys. And I'm sure life in a house with only girls is sooooo different and (correct me if I'm wrong... .which I probably am!) and so much more easy.

You see because:

Girls do not call their mother an idiot (or stupid), don't make everybody aware of the fact that there is wind coming out of their bodily orifices, don't fight 22/7 (yes, there is about 2hrs of peace in an all-male household on a good day...), don't make artificial farts using their palms and armpits (oh, this is an artform), don't urinate standing up and messing up the whole bathroom, don't roll up their filthy socks in tight little balls and hide them, wear out their bicycle tires in a month so that you can poke your finger through them.
Instead these pretty pink mini-females sit quietly reading books, playing with their dolls, help around the house, make their mother a cup of tea (green tea and mint, please!!), admire the flowers in the garden and don't pick them and say only nice things never yelling.

I'd like to trade for a day and then return to my wild family!

Since I love these boys from the bottom of my heart!

Babysitter

The last two days of work before starting my summer vacation the boys had a babysitter. My cousin had volunteered to babysit and I gave him a call a couple of weeks before the D-day. Matti has seen the boys a few times, the boys like him and he is great with kids. And a male babysitter is a nice change for them. Matti plays in two bands, writes the music and sings, too. With black dreadlocks (which he has now cut), tattoos and a black beard he's not the typical babysitter!

After the first day I told Matti to be honest and tell me if he didn't want to come the next day, but he said that despite being a lot of work it was fun, too. But he'll stick to his day-job as a musician than become a professional babysitter, I guess....

Jaakko had asked Matti if he has family. Matti lives by himself, but told Jaakko that he has his parents and siblings with their families. But Jaakko was worried and told Matti that he could come and live with us so he wouldn't have to be alone. Matti had asked Jaakko, if he should move to the guest house, but Jaakko had replied:"No, no, you can sleep upstairs with Mom and Dad. They have three pillows in their bed!"

In the evening Jaakko wanted to discuss this with me. He was still quite concerned that Matti lives alone and said that he really should move in with us. "But he can't live alone. What if he dies.....?" I tried to convince Jaakko that Matti won't be dying any time soon and he's apparently quite happy living by himself, but he's always welcome to come over for a visit, evening tea etc. I told this to Matti, too.

Male anatomy

A couple of nights ago Jaakko walked out of the bathroom naked fiddling his private parts. Suddenly his face lightened up and he told me excitedly:"Mom, I have TWO testicles!!!"

No pictures.