A book publication party and Central Asian/Mongolian delights

We went to a neat little celebration Saturday. Despite the snow we ventured to toast Salta.   She just published her first book and her proud husband, Jeff, threw her a party. Salta is from Kyrgystan, a country in central Asia which is one part Russian and one part Asian (it seems). It's really fascinating the confluence of cultures and physical morphology of the people!

Salta is quite pretty and has almond eyes and high cheekbones like "typical" Asians, but has a more pronounced nose and build of a Caucasian. That's neither here nor there, but this mixture, if you will, was also demonstrated in the catered Mongolian meal, which is very close to the food Kyrgys eat. Lots of lamb, even in the (very Chinese-like) dumplings. But the salads of beets and cabbage were so entirely Russian! We also had a very American vanilla butter cream cake from one of DC's finest bakeries, Cake Love!

 

 

 

We toasted with a nice American sparkling (one of our favorites, Gruet) and, of course, vodka!

Her book is entitled Irregular Migration from the Former Soviet Union to the United States and is a study of how immigrants from the former Soviet Union exist in the US, downgrading from highly skilled professional careers (like medicine and science) to wage jobs just for the chance at a better life for their children. I haven't read it yet, but I'm sure it's eye opening.

Congratulations, Salta!

{crappy photos courtesy of my iPhone}