This is Tanya our handler in Petropavlovsk. Tanya was a no nonsense woman who’s job it was to take care of all our needs, translate for us and generally get us in and out as quickly as possible. She didn’t take any crap from the fuel guys and barely put up with my attempts at humor. The look of impatient tolerance in the picture is as close as we could get to a smile. The women in Russia are the most beautiful women in the world. Walking down the street is defiantly a hazardous undertaking, what with all the tongue tripping that goes on. But they have one flaw, they never smile. Maybe it’s because they live in Siberia or maybe it’s because all the men dress like…like…well, Russians. I met a beautiful Russian woman in Reykjavik last year and I asked her about it and she said “What’s there to smile about? That’s the problem with you Americans. You are always smiling for no reason.” What she said of course made me smile.
Or maybe it’s their teeth…
No, dat’s dem English Broads.