.

.
.

Friday, June 1, 2012

weekend reflection: Buranovskiye Babushki


Buranovskiye Babushki are a group of "grannies" from Udmurtia, a republic between the Kama and Vyatka rivers in Russia. In March, they won the Russian national final against several stars including the former Eurovision winner Dima Bilan, and they came second in their attempt to conquer Europe with their unique style in the Eurovision Sing Contest.

They are a folk from from the village of Buranovo in Russia. The eldest is 76.

I have a 6 year old Russian student. We are neighbours and sometimes we walk together. I talk to her, and we use body language. She smiles and flashes her whole set of gold teeth. N tells me Grandma has gone home and he was sure she would be watching.

If Engelbert Humperdinck was placed 25, these grannies must be really good. I only watched the news.

This Russian granny bottle was given to me. It is I think a vodka bottle. I took my other set of dolls to school. I can't take this to school because 1: It is a vodka bottle, 2: it is made of glass.
http://weekendreflection.blogspot.com
I first came across a set of Russian dolls at my very good friend Owlyn's house. When I saw this set in Sentosa Singapore, in a Tourist shop in Asian Village, I knew I must have it. There was only one set, and I was so pleased to have it.
Owlyn had been with me through thick and thin. She uplifted me during my most difficult times of my life. My mum and my son's death, both premature ones.
A matryoshka doll, a Babushka doll or a Russian nested doll, also called a stacking doll, is a set of dolls of decreasing sizes placed one inside the other. 
My Somalian student sold me a set of Arabian dolls. I didn't have the heart to say, but they are not Russian. When I gave the students a choice, they always choose the grannies.

3 comments:

Ash said...

Interesting! And very nice to learn something new!

Reader Wil said...

I saw the Russian grannies. They were really funny and quite refreshing compared to all the beautiful sexy girls with glittering dressen and w ho looked all the same. All songs looked also the same tune. Sorry it was boring. I remember the days that Britain won or France. The Netherlands won three times. These songs were easy to sing for the public.
Ireland had some great songs and Israel as well. I remember those melodies well. And don't forget Abba!
Nowadays the Eurosong Festival is disappointing!

Jim said...

Great post. :)