Since we struck out with the fishing boat yesterday, we
thought we'd try a surprise attack out at the lighthouse
this morning. We arrived at sunrise but nobody was up at the
house. We walked out to the lighthouse and took some photos.
When we returned, we saw Valentina on her way to the radio
room to call in the local weather conditions to the
meteorological institute which they must do every three
hours. I wasn't sure how she would react to our showing up
unannounced a day early, but was relieved that she was actually pleased to see us. She called in the necessary
statistics, but wouldn't let me take any photographs of her
while she was dressed in her old house dress. She told us to
take a walk and come back in half an hour while she changed
and put on some makeup.When we got back she was wearing a black blouse trimmed in lace and pressed jeans. Her face was dabbed with blush and she had put on some lipstick. The rest of the day was spent with her and Vasily, and later their daughter Luda joined us. Late in the afternoon Vasily insisted that Lisa and I go out on the water in his row boat. When we returned from our tour, two men dressed in military uniforms were speaking to Valentina and Vasily. We were introduced and then the men quickly left. At first I didn't think anything of it, as I assumed that they were friends of Vasily who had stopped by to say hello. Then I noticed that Valentina had become very agitated.
It seems that during
one of her radio calls she reported that two American journalists had stopped by and apparently the local
authorities had come out to investigate. Vasily and Luda
weren't nearly as concerned by this official visit, and made
fun of Valentina who was still visibly shaken. "I'm just following
the rules" she said dutifully, "we are supposed to report
any strangers that show up here", and stormed off. She
avoided us for the rest of the afternoon while we sat on the
porch talking to Vasily, Luda and their neighbors, Vasily's brother's family.
By early evening a huge samovar of tea and a bottle of homemade spirits appeared on the porch. Lisa pulled out some pictures of her family and everyone gathered around to take a look. This piqued Valentina's interest, who had been around but had been avoiding any direct contact. Soon we were all one happy family again.
Valentina's struggle between wanting to be our friends on the one hand and distrusting us on the other is typical of many of the older people we have met thus far. More than in Moscow or St.Petersburg, the Russian Far East remains a fairly conservative region.
In the end, we were back in her good graces. We
exchanged good-byes and were about half way up the stairs
leading from their house to the dirt road above, when we heard her say in the distance, "You know, I'm actually
kind of sorry to see them go".
Tried to arrange a ride up North towards Khabarovsk with a Russian trucker. It looks like it may be possible but the trucking company wasn't sure if they would have a truck leaving on Monday. We will have to call in the morning.
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