Slava

In my house, we have six family members, but it usually seems to be around 7 or 8 most of the time because of the guests that come over; and I don’t necessarily mean come over for dinner.. One time, we had a family friend from Kaliningrad come over to stay for an entire summer. Our guest’s name was Slava. Slava came to America on a foreign exchange program and his goal that summer was to have as much fun and make as much money as possible. He immediately started partying and looking for jobs. Slava wasn’t exactly what a parent would call an “ideal influence” because, although he was 20, he loved to drink alcohol a lot (It’s legal in Russia at that age). Kaliningrad is an enclave of Russia and Slava fit the Russian drinking stereotype quite well. Once he found a job at the local McDonalds, he started going out at night with his colleagues. My parents, who were devastated at how this “adult” acted and behaved were shocked and devastated at how someone from such an intelligent family could be so.. well.. unintelligent… I, personally, had a great time that summer introducing Slava to my friends and I honestly think that despite the hardships he faced in a brand new country, he loved being in America that summer more than he ever did in his home country.