Page 288 - The Mirror of My Soul. Vol. 1

Nicolai Levashov. The Mirror of My Soul. Vol. 1. Born in the USSR

our truth, our real life in the complete sense of the word. But voluntarily or not, we had

to “come down” from the “sky”, so dear to our hearts, and be engaged in earthly matters.

Somewhere in the middle of July we decided to go to Lithuania to visit Svetlana’s
parents and her son, whom I had not seen yet. I could not stay very long, but I succeeded
in scraping up several days. We departed from Moscow at about 6 o'clock in the evening
and, when we drove out to the Minsk highway, I pressed the gas pedal and did not release
it until we arrived to Alitus, a little town, where Svetlana’s family lived. My Mercedes
had an automatic gear-box, but there was no cruise control and because I pressed the gas
pedal continuously the muscles of my right foot began to ache unendurably, and
sometimes I had to press the pedal with my left foot.

At the same time we rushed with maximum speed, where it was possible and
where it was not. The greater part of the time our car travelled at 220 km/hour, including
at night, when it was almost impossible to see the road. I got out of one tight spot, guiding
myself by the edge of the road lit up by the headlights of my car because it was the only
way to see it. We stopped only once—to take a bite of something in a roadside snack-
bar and to fill the gas tank. And by the next day early in the morning we were in the

small Lithuanian town, Alitus.

Before we went to Svetlana’s house, we went to the local market and purchased a
bucket of roses and… a bucket of strawberries and paid only three roubles each for them.
I mention this be-cause the prices at Lithuanian markets were simply unbelievable. Then
in Lithuania the market prices were lower than in the shops, and the quality was
incomparably better, especially when it concerned smoked meat products, which every
vendor prepared using his own recipe. All this was simply unimaginable for any citizen
of Russia, who could find almost nothing in the shops then and the prices at the markets
were a “bit” higher. Surprised I asked Svetlana: “Are there other prices in Lithuania, or
does everything cost three roubles for a bucket?” We laughed and went to her home.

I gave the enormous bouquet of roses to her mother and other gifts which we had
bought in Moscow to other members of the family, and the strawberries were perfect for
the dessert. Once or twice I had spoken with Svetlana’s parents by phone and was a little
worried about meeting them “in the flesh”. I became acquainted with Svetlana’s son,

when we approached the house. He was playing in the street with other children and,
when he saw Svetlana leaving the car, rushed to her at once. He was a lovely kid who
timidly came to me and asked: “May I call you dad?” I felt such despair and almost adult
pain in his question that there was a gnawing in my heart! I answered positively and his
eyes immediately shone with happiness. Sometimes a child does not need much at all to
be happy.

Svetlana’s parents received me very cordially. Her mother quickly laid a lavish
table and I tried Lithuanian cuisine for the first time in my life. The table was literally
covered with different dishes. Everything was delicious. And I was offered new dishes
56
again and again. For the first time I tested the famous Lithuanian “zeppelins” . I was
told that it was normal for Lithuanians eat like this every day (at least, then). I was very
surprised, because despite such a high-calorie diet there were almost no fat people in
Lithuania. That’s what it means to have the Lithuanian metabolism!

56 Zeppelins – a Lithuanian vegetable dish made of grated raw potatoes and minced meat.
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