One of the things we want to do is keep some Russian culture in Elena's life, and we've been on the lookout for ways to do that. As I alluded to before, we'll occasionally swing by one of the Russian delis here in SE Michigan and pick up some Russian food. We even bought a couple music CDs there. It's not necessarily the food that's important here - although it is fun picking up little meat pies or imported candy - but more that we're trying to maintain a habit of going to a place that's identifiably Russian, a place that is a sort of link to Elena's earlier life.
We also all went to see the Fabergé show at the DIA. Elena, being three and all, was somewhat unimpressed by the collection of fiddly little gold and enamel Czarist doodads. But that's OK; pointing out pictures of people and objects from Moscow or St. Petersburg relates other things in the world to Elena's own story. What she liked better was going to the PuppetArt Theatre. The theatre puts on a variety of shows based on folktales; two of them (Kolobok and Firebird) are based on Russian stories. Elena loved them - not because they're Russian, but because of the puppets. And that's OK, too.
We're also subscribing to Russian Life magazine. The magazine's bimonthly, and contains a mix of short news and entertainment headlines with longer articles that delve into history, culture, and tourism. The mix makes for an interesting read, with broad coverage of current events (as broadly as you can get in a bimonthly, at least) and a narrow focus on specific subjects in each issue. Elena's still a little young to read a 5000-word article on the Napoleonic War, but by the time she is, we'll have it ready.
We also all went to see the Fabergé show at the DIA. Elena, being three and all, was somewhat unimpressed by the collection of fiddly little gold and enamel Czarist doodads. But that's OK; pointing out pictures of people and objects from Moscow or St. Petersburg relates other things in the world to Elena's own story. What she liked better was going to the PuppetArt Theatre. The theatre puts on a variety of shows based on folktales; two of them (Kolobok and Firebird) are based on Russian stories. Elena loved them - not because they're Russian, but because of the puppets. And that's OK, too.
We're also subscribing to Russian Life magazine. The magazine's bimonthly, and contains a mix of short news and entertainment headlines with longer articles that delve into history, culture, and tourism. The mix makes for an interesting read, with broad coverage of current events (as broadly as you can get in a bimonthly, at least) and a narrow focus on specific subjects in each issue. Elena's still a little young to read a 5000-word article on the Napoleonic War, but by the time she is, we'll have it ready.
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