No, not to Canada . . . just back to the farm in Nizhny Novgorod. Sorry if I got anyone’s hopes up.

After viewing Arend and eldest daughters Cora and Ariana roaming around Tbilisi, Georgia, for five days — plus a couple of very long travel days from their farm in Nizhny Novgorod and back — I’m still puzzled as to the reason for the whole trip. Other than a hint at the beginning that they were going to visit some friends and do some farm-related things, there was no explanation as to why they would take the time away from their farm for what turned out to be essentially a fruitless shoe-shopping excursion and, finally, a tour of a dairy farm with its own cheese-making facility.

(They did visit friends, but said they didn’t film that visit because the friends are conservative Mennonites and did not want to be photographed.)

The dairy farm tour was an adventure in itself. Once they left the city and headed into the countryside with their rented car and driver, the roads became impassable and they had to be rescued by someone with a four-wheel-drive vehicle. (I assume, from the depth of the snow as contrasted to the mild weather in Tbilisi, that they were somewhere in the Caucasus Mountains, or at least the foothills.)

They finally did make it, though, and we were treated to a walk-through of three large barns with more cows than I had ever seen, and poop drains that lacked automated cleaning systems and had to be shoveled out by hand several times daily. Fortunately, the hosts didn’t offer a demonstration.

The cheese factory, on the other hand, was modern and impressive, and the product looked delicious, though much of the work is still done by hand. Maybe that’s why it is so good; there are still some things that are better for having been created by humans, and not machines — things like food.

I was, however, left wondering whether there might not be dairy farms closer to Nizhny Novgorod that would have served as well for Arend’s fact-finding tour, and could have included more of the family members. But I have long since given up trying to figure out why the Feenstras do many of the things they do . . . and just chalk it up to their obligations to the government in return for being allowed to “live long and prosper” in Russia. As for understanding the Russian government’s reason for doing anything . . . well, good luck with that!

Still, I have to ask again: Why Georgia? What purpose did that whole trip serve? I’m stumped.

*. *. *

Upon landing in Moscow on the way home, Cora spoke to the camera for a moment, recalling their first arrival a little over a year ago, when everything had felt so strange . . . and comparing it to the present time, when she feels so much at home in Russia.

And again I wonder: whom are they trying to convince — their audience, or themselves?

*. *. *

At any rate, they traveled from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod by train, returning home safely just in time to welcome a camera crew from Spaz-TV. No explanation was given; it just seemed to be a normal part of life on the farm in Russia: TV cameras, interviews, free trips, and all the materials and supplies a family of ten could possibly hope for.

They also had a visit from a new friend: an English-speaking gentleman whose identity was intentionally not revealed, but who is said to be in the process of establishing a farm similar to that of the Feenstras. He had somehow ended up with one too many egg incubators; and — having seen the Feenstras’ videos — decided to present them with the surplus one for their expanding chicken business.

While that may seem strange to some, considering that the two families had never met before, it really isn’t. When you’re an expatriate — particularly in a country so different from your own — you naturally gravitate toward people with whom you have a common bond. No matter how fiercely you embrace your new life, you never completely forget your roots.

Or was the timing all too perfect to be coincidental? Could it also have been a staged event?

I fear my innate cynicism is getting the better of me.

*. *. *

Their return home also coincided with Ariana’s 13th birthday, so there was a family party for her, complete with a cake and candles, gifts, and singing.

And then it was time to sign off, with a final message from Arend thanking the unnamed stranger once more for the incubator, and saying how glad he was to be back with his family, and to “get home to Russian soil.”

Be it ever so humble . . .

*. *. *

A final thought. It is strange — in a most disturbing way — for me to witness my country, the United States, suddenly developing rampant xenophobia when it has always been known as the land of opportunity for those seeking a better life and an escape from tyranny . . . while Russia, so long a closed society, welcomes with open arms families who wish to settle there and contribute to the economy and to society.

It’s a world turned upside-down.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
4/1/25