For my darling Papa
We live; not as we wish to, but as we can
blini: yeast dough crepe-like pancakes
Comsomols: young communists
dacha: summer house
electrichka: short-distance train
Khrushchyobi: residential tenement-style buildings built during the Khrushchev era
koshmar: nightmare
matryoshkas: nesting dolls
metro: subway
pelmeni: Russian meat dumplings
perestroika: rebuilding
Pioneers: pre-Communists
Pozhalusta: Please
Prospekt: Avenue
Shepelevo: sheh-peh-LYO-voh
Shosse: highway
solyanka: a thick meat soup
Ulitsa: street
Zakuski: hot and cold appetizers