Russia 2019 (29) UGLICH - Country Home Visit

Next we took a short bus ride just outside of town to a home-hosted visit. Unlike our fancy new buses in Moscow, this was pretty old and raggedy, but did the job.


Our host Mikhail (on right) did not speak English. So we were accompanied by translator Vladimir, an English teacher during the school year.

The home was neat and tidy and surrounded by a tall red privacy fence. It took 15 years to build and the family has lived here 8 years. They never had a mortgage. Mikhail bought the run-down house from an "old lady" and rebuilt it himself, except electric and plumbing which he hired out.

As we entered the front yard, the house cat gave us a warm welcome.

We were invited into a dining room with a large table and surrounding chairs. This was in the location that would normally be the living room back at our home. In front of us was a table full of Russian "appetizers." They included homemade dill pickle spears, tomatoes and cucumbers (from their garden), brown bread, yummy homemade apple torte, bottled water, and tea.

Then our host Mikhail got down to business and offered some homemade vodka. That's what the ship called it; Mike calls it moonshine as it is made of only water, yeast, and sugar. Mike and I took three tastes. It went down hard, but at the moment it seemed like the right thing to do. We did not want to be rude!!

Here Mikhail shows off his still.

Then his wife Ylema (on the left) came in to talk about country life in Russia. We applauded her graciousness and full table. She seemed quite timid, but happy. The translator asked our questions and then answered back to us.


The couple has been married 34 years. Mikhail has worked in agriculture, as a cook, and currently in the emergency services department. They have two sons of 30 and 33 years old, who work jobs in manufacturing, shop assistant, taxi driver, and also for emergency services.

They have five grandsons from 1-12 years old. Some English is taught to all children. One grandchild was taking his final education placement and eligibility for "scholarships" test that very day. They were quite worried for him. 

After the Q&A, a visitor from our group (far left in photo) spontaneously sang a traditional Russian song in her native language of Vietnamese. Her voice was absolutely beautiful and brought a wee tear to my eye. It was so unexpected and touching.

Then we took a stroll to the backyard garden. On the way, we got a peek into some of the other rooms of the house. We did not see the three bedrooms upstairs or any bathrooms.

This fireplace was in the dining room where we communed.

All the conveniences of home in the kitchen.

Looked like this room had been added on after the original building and was a lounge / living room. I didn't see a TV anywhere.

Only thing in this room was the wardrobe.

We were amazed by the backyard garden. It had a little bit of everything.

There were lots of colorful flowers and veggies growing, even this early in the year.

Fruit trees and grape vines.

Bee hives.

A pen with ducks, chickens, and roosters.

Even a little koi pond.

Lots of cutsie gewgaws around like these, the honey bear sitting near the bee hives, and the ceramic mushrooms under the fruit tree.

My friend Jerolyn (who visited Russia 16 times) gave me a little hint. She suggested I take a token gift for the wife, as they generally get little attention on these visits. So I took a bar of fancy French-milled, rose-infused soap (similar to this).

When I offered it to her, she was stunned and not sure what it was. I rubbed it on my arm trying to simulate washing. Then she understood, but was not sure whether to take it. It didn't take long though for a smile to appear and she graciously took the humble gift with many spasibos (thank yous) and bows.