Typical Russian Summer Part 2: The Best Childhood Memories

July 15

Today is your first sleepover! Your friend’s parents went away on some serious business and left you in charge of the apartment. You take your spacious backpack and meet your friend near the grocery store to stock up with the most terrible, according to all adults, food and drinks – like cheese popcorn that gives the microwave that one-of-a-kind smell for weeks, sour gummy worms that hurt your tongue, and, of course, the good old soda pop. When the clock strikes midnight, you swear not to fall asleep all night long, and turn on a horror movie. Half an hour later, too scared to watch it, you come up with something more relaxing, and start a pillow fight, jumping on the parents’ vast bed. You tell each other your most closely-held secrets and go to the balcony to gaze at the empty street. The city is quiet. Watching the sunrise, you decide to shut your eyes just for a second and immediately fall asleep till noon, just like your mate.

July 27

Your family is heading to the Black Sea! You’ve been there only once, two years ago, and those were days to remember: you divided your time between swimming in the pool and in the vast salty waters, not to mention riding the waves. You think you could live like this all year, on an ice cream diet – but laying on the hot stones for two weeks is fine too. For now, though, you’ve only finished packing the chaos of hats, swimming suits, and bags, and you’re all heading out to the train station. Yes, you’re going by train, and although your parents are not fond of it, you take this hot and furious two-day-long journey as another adventure that lets you see new towns, meet new people, and work on your balancing skills as you try not to fall from the upper bed in your sleeper compartment.

August 10

You’re finally back from the sea, tanned and with sun-bleached hair, resembling a bronze statue, proudly wearing a shell necklace, and feeling glamorous if a little odd by the small-town fashion standards. Your father takes you boat rafting, something you’d only seen on TV. Once you arrive at the launch spot, it takes you 15 minutes to inflate the rubber boat and you push that pump with all your might. The boat is flexible and you feel the rubber bottom bending under your weight. At first, it’s a little bit scary as the river is fast, and your dad maneuvers around the rocks and sticks at quite a high pace, so you’re hardly taking in the views. At one spot you finally slow down, and it’s so still around you that you hear nothing but the water rumbling. Going ashore, you eat sandwiches your mom thoughtfully made for you and then drive home tired from all the screaming, paddling, and exploring, but filled to the brim with new experiences you can’t wait to share.

August 15 

Another visit to the dacha! You’re sent here with an honorable mission – you have to mercilessly consume the harvest. Your family went mushroom picking, so you’re left alone, running around the garden trying to pay attention to every fruit tree and every bush, and after 20 minutes of this inspection, your stomach is already full. Behind the shed, you accidentally find lovely kittens and play with them till it gets dark. As a charitable act, you pick a bucket of apples so later you can make a delicious apple pie altogether, and eat it with ice cream!

August 31

It’s rainy and windy, you pensively look out of the window. Yesterday, you bought new stationery and a backpack, but it’s still hard to believe the summer is almost over. It’s not a tragedy, because you’ve done much more than you planned for these three months, it just seems weird they couldn’t last forever. You go to bed a little bit earlier: time to get back to the routine. Tomorrow you’ll meet your friends in the school’s courtyard again, and everything will be the same except all of you will be dressed in the school uniform. You’ll go to school, have fun, and wait for another summer to come and bring more new experiences and unforgettable adventures.