S07.E01: I Want To Kiss You

[Mrs. Hanson]

13 minutes ago, Kareem said:

Bachelorette #2 lived with him for two months so he’s probably used to her.  The other two are big time creepy.  

That is true.  I forgot that she went to SA to be with another guy and left in the middle of the night and ended up hooking up with a bartender.  Nothing like being someone's second choice!  Ah.......true love!

[Kdawg82]

I realize that Emily is an English teacher. Americans in general get a lot of flack abroad (from what I've heard from Eastern Europeans in my family and friends) for the way we speak. Foreigners prefer learning from the British who speak eloquently.  Example: "You wanna getta coffee wit me?" Etc. 

That said: Emily speaks in a claculated , robotic and unnatural tone.  I don't like it. I doubt I'm going to like *her.* 

[Cammi]

Y’all my friend’s mom just said “That's like what that douche Alec Baldwin’s character gave Melanie Griffin in Working Girl for her birthday!” - upon seeing Robert shopping for his fiancés “gift”. Total. Douche. Move. 

[FrancescaFiore]

12 hours ago, Alonzo Mosely FBI said:

On 11/4/2019 at 1:40 PM, Barbara Please said:

Emily makes Corny (Courtney) look smart. 

I've just started watching the Courtney season. I'm on episode 3, I think and already I'm finding the dumb that cascades from this girl's mouth to be more than I can bear. I've not read any spoilers but I'm still 100% sure "Antonio" is a catfish.

[BallisticNikki]

On 11/4/2019 at 3:47 PM, Cammi said:

So what is up with Tania "self identifying" as Latina? I'm bi-racial... I didn't know I had a choice which race I can identify? Is this a thing? I'm on the wrong side of 30, so I guess I'm an old. What else would she identify as? Maybe her Father is another race? 

Yes, you have more choices than anyone!

On 11/4/2019 at 3:48 PM, Mr. Minor said:

If douche is so rich, what in the hell is he doing on this show? 

To show off the new trophy...ostensibly to further her modeling career. But really to show off to all the women who rejected him earlier.

On 11/4/2019 at 4:31 PM, essexjan said:

I would like for Michael to find a happy life in America. 

I don't! I hate seeing these users come up. They give all immigrants a shitty, smarmy name. 

On 11/4/2019 at 4:59 PM, Bryce Lynch said:

I took it as her saying she is half white and half Latina, but "self-identifies" as Latina.

Her mother is White?

9 hours ago, watchingtvaddict said:

I don't get Tania talking about how Sinjin grew up during apartheid.  He didn't. I'm in my late 30s and I don't consider that I grew during Apartheid. Apartheid ended in 1994. He is not yet 30... while he was growing up segregation was over. He doesn't have any real reason for being racist. 

He has no real excuse for not having friends who aren't white. 

You may not understand the legacy or racism and racial segregation.

7 hours ago, Lemur said:

Do you really think that because the apartheid laws were ended society in South Africa just magically because inclusive?  I mean hell, we ended slavery in the 1860s and we still have racial inequalities in the US.  He may have grown up after the end of lawful apartheid but that doesn't mean he wasn't subjected to a systematically racist society.

Thank you. Legal racial segregation ended in the US in the 1960s. But de facto racial segregation continues to this day. Along with every other social ill brought on by institutional racism.

1 hour ago, KateHearts said:

what is Latinx? I have never heard of that. 

Latino + Latina 

[KateHearts]

1 hour ago, PityFree said:

I am soooooo curious to know what Juliana has bought with wine guy’s credit cards. Has she gone nuts and spent a ton? Just what she really needs? He didn’t complain or say anything other than to say he had given her access to the cards, so she has probably been reasonable with them. I’m still curious though.

he actually said something like "it's no small amount of money."

[Spike]

15 minutes ago, KateHearts said:

he actually said something like "it's no small amount of money."

Maybe more than Cesar’s 40k lol.

[Gobi]

2 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I had trouble with a post disappearing and then after I retyped it, it appeared.  Just in the way of explanation for almost identical posts upthread.  

I’ve been having trouble with the “like” buttons. Double likes, or no likes even though an “x” shows.

[Rt66vintage]

I'm happy to report that Tania's (shed girl) dress for the airport is from the Goodwill. I spied one of their colored (green in this case) barbs at the neck.  Although this is a good way of procuring a large wardrobe, it might explain the hoard in shed. 

Supposed rich wine guy has a doofus haircut/style. No respect, man. And his new house is going to require some serious landscaping, it looks like it's been vacant for quite a while. 

The bee keeper couple - omg, I was stressed out about their language barrier, and I too think he might  be slow. Their story is going to be interesting. 

[magemaud]

11 hours ago, Cammi said:

Mursel seems "touched" with his high pitched voice and simple mannerisms

Another Asuelo! I wonder if he also thinks condoms are for slut people. 

Edited November 6, 2019 by magemaud

[Frozendiva]

3 hours ago, PityFree said:

I am soooooo curious to know what Juliana has bought with wine guy’s credit cards. Has she gone nuts and spent a ton? Just what she really needs? He didn’t complain or say anything other than to say he had given her access to the cards, so she has probably been reasonable with them. I’m still curious though.

It could be a lot of things. Who knows if she came with anything - maybe we will see that next week.

If he attends parties and other business functions, and if she is invited, she will need cocktail attire - a few nice cocktail dresses, maybe a couple of gowns (for charity events/balls). Add a few pairs of dressy shoes. Regular clothing - jeans, tees, blouses, underwear. If she arrived in summer, she will need a fall/winter coat and parka maybe, plus a few pairs of boots. Makeup, hair stuff, toiletries, etc. all add up.

Have no idea what her English is like or if DD (Douche Dude) will be funding some ESL courses for her. She may need to interact with his clients and while a trophy wife is fine, she can't just smile. Have no idea what she brings to any conversations - if they have any - if she has any depth, social skills, has anything she is passionate about, etc.

The model shelf life in terms of employment is narrow - most get lucky to get work past 25 or 30.

She will stick around til she gets bored, gets enough from him, and then leave.

[Pepper Mostly]

12 hours ago, Mrs. Hanson said:

That is true.  I forgot that she went to SA to be with another guy and left in the middle of the night and ended up hooking up with a bartender.  Nothing like being someone's second choice!  Ah.......true love!

Wow, that's pretty harsh. She went to visit the guy, he turned out to be a loser, so she left. Should she have stayed with him? Should she have gone and joined a convent or something?  She was lucky enough to meet another guy, one she really liked and is going to marry as a result of leaving the loser behind. I would hesitate to call that a second choice. 

And bartenders are perfectly acceptable as dates or indeed as husbands or wives. I met my husband when I was tending bar at a Chinese restaurant. 

Edited November 6, 2019 by Pepper Mostly

[ava111]

22 hours ago, lovesnark said:

I'm old and haven't gone out on a date since 1984 (married 34 years). I was telling a friend the other day that if I was in the dating game now, I wouldn't even meet a guy for coffee without doing a background check first. The tools who bring them into their home and their children's lives need to be slapped into reality. If you want to bring your online/vacation fuck buddy over from another country, fine. Leave your kids out of it.

On 11/4/2019 at 5:09 PM, Frozendiva said:

Do these folks do an Internet search or some sort of background check on their beloveds? If I am bringing some dude over or a dude was bringing a woman over, I would not be fully sucked in by a nice body or batting eyelashes. I would want to know about any criminal record, if the dude is a pedophile or is on some sex offender list. A few hundred dollars to spend to not find out that I would risk being beaten or attacked, kids attacked, etc. is a good investment.

American government will do all that and more for you. I guess you can say it's included in the price of application for K1 or green card. They will probably do a better job than anyone else too. They won't give people the visa unless their record is great. So I think these people are actually safer to date than if you start to date some guy you know from grocery store. Nobody with any serious criminal record will be able to enter USA.

[Shieldmaiden]

On 11/4/2019 at 8:34 AM, Cammi said:

This is very superficial of me, but I just can't help but snark. I get SUPER judgmental when I see scenes of these folks cooking and they're cookware/pots & pans are old and grimy or stained. The she-shed Mom and Anna had horrible cookware. Like, if I ever were to be featured on tv, I'd would have to plan like a madwoman because I know I'd be dragged to heck and back. But my kitchen would be spot on! It's just a pet peeve of mine when these folks KNOW they'll be on tv and their houses are out of order. 

And I most certainly would be embarrassed to be on tv and living in a shed! I just can't imagine not having any shame... I'd at least save for a studio apartment! If I could not even afford that, then I would reconsider marrying altogether. 

I commend your snark and add that exiting that kitchen to get to the shed we got a view of the insanely cluttered yard which made me think of those hoarder shows...

[Shieldmaiden]

21 hours ago, usernameG said:

The best part of the beekeepers is when he blankly stares at her when she speaks and she just repeats it louder to help him understand.

And she speaks quickly with a mushy mouth, making it even harder. When I am speaking to people learning English I always enunciate and slow down a bit. I wonder if his English will end up sounding like hers 😆 

[Shieldmaiden]

4 hours ago, Gobi said:

I’m pretty sure that the Nazi Party stopped taking applications in May of 1945.

No one told the United States official who was interviewing us 😆 

[AZChristian]

On 11/4/2019 at 12:32 PM, poeticlicensed said:

Good point. He doesn't seem like he has the means ($110 fee)  to keep his passport up to date, if he even has one. You can cruise with a birth certificate, as long as the cruise begins and ends in the US. 

But in case of emergency, you cannot stay overnight in any of the foreign countries.  I had a friend who had a heart attack and died while snorkeling at Grand Cayman.  He was traveling with his wife and another couple.  The other couple were traveling with just their birth certificates, and they were not permitted to stay behind with the wife and their late friend.  The cruise line assigned a crew member to stay with her until her children flew in a day or two later.

And the $110 is good for 10 years, so it averages out to only $11 per year.

[doyouevengohere]

They are a mess, but I actually like the beekeeper woman and Mursel; I hope he just says "I want to kiss you " for everything he replies to in English.  He seems like a gentle guy and I hope they make it.

Everyone else- I hope Big Ang fights them all in a brawl on the tell all and ends up burning each one with a ciggie.

Emily- I wish for her a POAAOM birth.

Edited November 6, 2019 by doyouevengohere

[Kareem]

23 hours ago, usernameG said:

The best part of the beekeepers is when he blankly stares at her when she speaks and she just repeats it louder to help him understand.

This.  I kept thinking Mursel Marceau.  Hope they know each other better than their app using predecessors.

[PityFree]

I have a feeling that Mursel isn’t clear on how or why he is in the US. He may think it’s for some kind of bee keeping convention/booty call with Anny. I definitely wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t realize he’s there to get married.  And I don’t think it’s necessarily because he’s stupid; I just think they are completely unable to communicate effectively. Even if Mursel spoke English, Anny  isn’t very good with explaining herself clearly so far and seems dizzy.  It appears like their translation app isn’t a very good one so that’s not helping things. 

[DaphneCat]

4 hours ago, Shieldmaiden said:

8 hours ago, Gobi said:

I’m pretty sure that the Nazi Party stopped taking applications in May of 1945.

No one told the United States official who was interviewing us 😆 

You forgot about the question "Do you plan to engage in commercialized sexual activity?"  That was also on the immigration form.  And wasn't there a question along the lines of "Are you a beggar or professional vagrant?"  

[Mu Shu]

On 11/4/2019 at 9:34 AM, poeticlicensed said:

Most people don't drive 7 hours to an international airport. They fly in and out of a local airport to an airport that is an international gateway, like Chicago. Sometimes it's cheaper to fly into a gateway rather than changing planes. But any cost savings would be eaten up by gas for a 7 hour x2 trip, plus a hotel room. My guess is that MRSA (sorry I can't help myself) is a simple guy who speaks zero English and she was afraid that he couldn't handle changing planes in Chicago to fly closer to her home. I also think she wanted an excuse to go to a hotel with him. Can you imagine bringing some guy you barely know home to your 3 kids, 2 of which are teen boys and getting it on in the bedroom next to them? 

OMG what is in those things? 

Well whatever is in those things doesn’t give you a headache, so that’s good. 

The not a prostitute skeezer looks like one of those sponge monkeys from the old Quiznos commercials.

The Uber driver looks and sounds like a damn dullard. No thanks man, I’ll take the bus .

[RealReality]

On 11/4/2019 at 7:56 AM, hookedontv said:

Emily figures if it worked for Cory in Engabao (apparently he can't order agua en espanol) she'll be just fine. 

Makes sense.  I'm sure she is also being cheated on in a foreign country.  

On 11/4/2019 at 8:01 AM, Spike said:

The two younger kids look like they would fight you for the last piece of bacon.

Let's be fair....if it was the last piece of bacon I might get in on that fight too.

But I play dirty and I plays to win, so  basically big Ange when it comes to bacon. 

On 11/4/2019 at 8:07 AM, Bryce Lynch said:

Well, Emily complained about it.  She never said Sasha complained.  He might be perfectly fine with being a holidays only "Dad".   

LOL, that kid knew the score.  He had his toy all picked out and ready for "holiday dad"

[RealReality]

3 hours ago, doyouevengohere said:

They are a mess, but I actually like the beekeeper woman and Mursel; I hope he just says "I want to kiss you " for everything he replies to in English.  He seems like a gentle guy and I hope they make it.

Everyone else- I hope Big Ang fights them all in a brawl on the tell all and ends up burning each one with a ciggie.

Emily- I wish for her a POAAOM birth.

Me too.  I like him.  I like her.  I like that they have a common interest.  

He better not sumit me by being secretly married.  

[RealReality]

On 11/4/2019 at 3:10 PM, NoWhammies said:

Is that an option? Because if so, I'm in.

Oh also - what was on Uber guy's table when he was on the phone to his Uber-gal? Was it beans? Old, crusty, dry, spilled beans? Does he not own paper towels?

They looks like grape nerds.

On 11/4/2019 at 6:46 PM, mamadrama said:

Yep, they filmed there. It's a pretty popular spot for rich people with yachts right now. Croatia is my favorite country. Dubrovnik is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The island of Hvar is magical. Here's a picture I took of it a few years ago.

I'm gonna go full nerd here and let you all know that there was a feature on PBS Newshour Weekend about how this part of Croatia was now overrun by tourists because of game of thrones and it was basically forcing lifeline residents out because of increased housing prices. 

On 11/4/2019 at 8:05 PM, usernameG said:

If douche is so rich, why the hell can't he buy better sneakers?

Something just seems kinda weird about their story.  Greenwich is legit old blue blood money rich.  

Like you are going to get judged for being on any reality show rich.  Like you are really going to get judged for being on low budget 90 DF trashy reality TV show.  

I just feel like there has to be more to the story.  If he is legit Greenwich rich, he would quietly bring her over here and marry her.  

Maybe he wants to further her modelling career.....but 90 DF has NEVER furthered anyone's modelling career ever.  

On 11/4/2019 at 9:49 PM, OrchidThief said:

She is much like my brother...talented, smart, but refuses to work and mooches off everyone else.

On 11/4/2019 at 9:12 AM, MajorNelson said:

Tania, omg, was thrown out of the US Senate protesting, spent months in SA...twice, etc.  Conclusion: Tania doesn't work.  

LOL, she should start a service.  I'm often upset about things and want to see change....but then I end up getting all worked up and have to rage nap.  

I'd pay someone to go through all the trouble of protesting and getting arrested for causes I believe in because I don't want to.  

[Mu Shu]

On 11/4/2019 at 7:25 PM, Pepper Mostly said:

In many parts of the world wedding rings are worn on the right hand. So Mursel could just be, you know, wearing a ring.

So, for man arabique, is good him for wear a ring. So massh so beyeoteeful . 

Of course he’s Turkish, but I adore hearing Zied talk. 

[RealReality]

On 11/4/2019 at 10:06 AM, islandgal140 said:

YAS!! Fresh new faces and fresh new fuckery!!! 

Maybe I am the only one bothered by this, but Tania talking about her S. African dude has some deeply ingrained racist views that he is trying to unlearn and she is the 1st brown woman he has dated is high alert orange to me. Nope. Nope. A thousand nopes!

LOL, I had to search this thread like twice just so I could find this comment and ALL the way cosign!  You are not the only one!

I was like "oh, nooooooooooo, life is much, much too short to spend any time trying to re-educate a casual racist."

I don't mind being the first women of color a man dates....but I'm not here to here to teach someone to not be a racist.  I'm not Mary fucking Poppins. 

Edited November 6, 2019 by RealReality

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, DaphneCat said:

You forgot about the question "Do you plan to engage in commercialized sexual activity?" That was also on the immigration form. 

If I put out a flyer, but forget to charge people, is that a problem? What if I don't charge enough to cover the cost of the flyers?

1 hour ago, DaphneCat said:

And wasn't there a question along the lines of "Are you a beggar or professional vagrant?"  

What if I'm an amateur or semi-professional vagrant?

I mentioned this in Robert and (N)Anny's couple thread. Robert's former mother-in-law and Bryson's maternal grandmother is a porn star whose stage name is Diamond Foxxx (thanks Reddit). She can be seen in the season preview footage offering (N)Anny a cheque to return to the Dominican Republic. 

[mamadrama]

1 hour ago, RealReality said:

They looks like grape nerds.

I'm gonna go full nerd here and let you all know that there was a feature on PBS Newshour Weekend about how this part of Croatia was now overrun by tourists because of game of thrones and it was basically forcing lifeline residents out because of increased housing prices. 

Something just seems kinda weird about their story.  Greenwich is legit old blue blood money rich.  

Like you are going to get judged for being on any reality show rich.  Like you are really going to get judged for being on low budget 90 DF trashy reality TV show.  

I just feel like there has to be more to the story.  If he is legit Greenwich rich, he would quietly bring her over here and marry her.  

Maybe he wants to further her modelling career.....but 90 DF has NEVER furthered anyone's modelling career ever.  

LOL, she should start a service.  I'm often upset about things and want to see change....but then I end up getting all worked up and have to rage nap.  

I'd pay someone to go through all the trouble of protesting and getting arrested for causes I believe in because I don't want to.  

Yeah, I knew that about Croatia. After traveling much of Europe as a travel writer, I started seeking places that weren't as popular.Croatia, Bosnia, and Slovenia were wonderfully quiet places 18 years ago. I could go for days without meeting another tourist. (In fact, the first time I visisted Bosnia I had to rent rooms from private individuals because they were still rebuilding their infrastructure from the war.) Although I am glad to see that many of the places raised the funds to rebuild their historic sites (the Dubrovnik castle, the Mostar Bridge, etc.) I hate how touristy it's all become. For many over there it's been good for the economy but for others it's brought a string of problems. I am taking my kids out of school next year and we're doing an 8-month backpacking trip through Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, and Czech. I want to show them my favorite places while I can still walk. 

[mamadrama]

On 11/4/2019 at 10:14 PM, Frozendiva said:

The Mediterranean cruise I went on back in the day went to Split, Yugoslavia.

Split is also a gorgeous city-one of my favorites in Croatia. It's also where my husband bought my engagement ring. 🙂

[Callaphera]

2 hours ago, Mu Shu said:

The not a prostitute skeezer looks like one of those sponge monkeys from the old Quiznos commercials.

Well, that is an earworm I didn't need to revisit. Man, the husband is gonna love me when I'm shouting this out at the top of my lungs for the next week or so.

[nutella fitzgerald]

18 hours ago, Baltimore Betty said:

Did that bee keeper woman tell her friend that her kids don't know her soul mate?  If she is so in love with him and he is moving to the US wouldn't there have been opportunity to have her kids face time with this guy? Why wouldn't she introduce them?

You’d think Anna would be similarly concerned about the fact that she doesn’t know her soul mate. Whatever beta version of Google Translate they’re using is clearly not getting the job done.

15 hours ago, PityFree said:

Shouldn't Robert/Uber driver be more careful about saying on national TV that he actually only spent 8 hours with his fiance?????? If he filled out the K1 visa saying something different (and the variety of outfit changes in their photos together say he did say different on the form), that should come back to bite him. It can't be legal to lie on K1 forms.

To be fair, if Robert were a careful person, he probably wouldn’t be engaged to someone after spending 8 hours with her. Then again, he does have a pretty keen eye for details - after all, he noticed that the lingerie store mannequin didn’t have legs.

11 hours ago, Mrs. Hanson said:

That is true.  I forgot that she went to SA to be with another guy and left in the middle of the night and ended up hooking up with a bartender.  Nothing like being someone's second choice!  Ah.......true love!

I keep forgetting that he’s from South Africa. “Have you heard about Pink Pussycat sex pills for women, my boy?!?!”

[Bryce Lynch]

3 hours ago, RealReality said:

They looks like grape nerds.

I'm gonna go full nerd here and let you all know that there was a feature on PBS Newshour Weekend about how this part of Croatia was now overrun by tourists because of game of thrones and it was basically forcing lifeline residents out because of increased housing prices. 

Something just seems kinda weird about their story.  Greenwich is legit old blue blood money rich.  

Like you are going to get judged for being on any reality show rich.  Like you are really going to get judged for being on low budget 90 DF trashy reality TV show.  

I just feel like there has to be more to the story.  If he is legit Greenwich rich, he would quietly bring her over here and marry her.  

Maybe he wants to further her modelling career.....but 90 DF has NEVER furthered anyone's modelling career ever.  

LOL, she should start a service.  I'm often upset about things and want to see change....but then I end up getting all worked up and have to rage nap.  

I'd pay someone to go through all the trouble of protesting and getting arrested for causes I believe in because I don't want to.  

Regarding Michael, just because most Greenwich rich people would avoid being reality TV like the plague, it doesn't mean a few of them aren't attention whores.  Maybe he is one of the exceptions to the rule. 

[Gobi]

4 hours ago, DaphneCat said:

You forgot about the question "Do you plan to engage in commercialized sexual activity?"  That was also on the immigration form.  

I don't plan on it, sometimes these things just happen.

[Angry Moldovan]

9 hours ago, Shieldmaiden said:

No one told the United States official who was interviewing us 😆 

I was asked in 2001 if I had ever been a member of the communist party

[Gobi]

17 minutes ago, Angry Moldovan said:

I was asked in 2001 if I had ever been a member of the communist party

When I was in high school, we had to fill out some government form. The question I've always remembered was "Have you ever been a member of the Veterans of the Spanish Civil War?". I'm pretty sure that there were kids whose parents weren't born until after the Spanish Civil War.

[PityFree]

 Did anyone else think about Steven and beautiful Olga when they showed Emily and Sasha shopping in the Russian baby/toy store?  I remember feeling sad that Steven and Olga could barely afford anything for their baby.  I’m glad at least Emily and Sasha are able to afford things for their baby.

[Gigglepuff]

23 minutes ago, PityFree said:

 Did anyone else think about Steven and beautiful Olga when they showed Emily and Sasha shopping in the Russian baby/toy store?  I remember feeling sad that Steven and Olga could barely afford anything for their baby.  I’m glad at least Emily and Sasha are able to afford things for their baby.

Showing a nice and well stocked toy store in Russia sure goes against the TLC narrative, doesn't it?? 🙂 I mean, I was expecting to see a dusty and decrepit old store filled with rust prone toys laced with lead based paint or something. Same with the cafe Emily was chatting with her sister from. I'm surprised they didn't find the saddest, filthiest cafe to film that scene in. 

[watchingtvaddict]

7 hours ago, RealReality said:

LOL, I had to search this thread like twice just so I could find this comment and ALL the way cosign!  You are not the only one!

I was like "oh, nooooooooooo, life is much, much too short to spend any time trying to re-educate a casual racist."

I don't mind being the first women of color a man dates....but I'm not here to here to teach someone to not be a racist.  I'm not Mary fucking Poppins. 

Did the quote function work properly?

I'm thinking Syngjin isn't really all that racist. 

The capital R racists I know from SA won't share a towel or sit next to a black person... 

I don't see how he would start dating a brown girl who looks like the brown girls from SA if he was even a casual SA racist. Maybe racists in the States are different from racists in SA? 

I don't know... I think she is just creating a storyline because they don't really have all that much drama (or she doesn't think they have drama... I'm basing my opinion on the article that came out about them a few weeks back). 

[watchingtvaddict]

23 hours ago, Lemur said:

Do you really think that because the apartheid laws were ended society in South Africa just magically because inclusive?  I mean hell, we ended slavery in the 1860s and we still have racial inequalities in the US.  He may have grown up after the end of lawful apartheid but that doesn't mean he wasn't subjected to a systematically racist society.

As a South African... I just don't see Syngjin as racist in the way Tania portrays him. I think she is painting his as someone with racist views as opposed to someone with a bias... does that make sense? 

There are different flavours of discrimination and I think painting a white South African as racist because he grew up during Apartheid (when he grew up in post-Apartheid South Africa) is simplistic and doesn't expose Americans to the truth of the situation in my country. 

[Gigglepuff]

6 hours ago, mamadrama said:

Yeah, I knew that about Croatia. After traveling much of Europe as a travel writer, I started seeking places that weren't as popular.Croatia, Bosnia, and Slovenia were wonderfully quiet places 18 years ago. I could go for days without meeting another tourist. (In fact, the first time I visisted Bosnia I had to rent rooms from private individuals because they were still rebuilding their infrastructure from the war.) Although I am glad to see that many of the places raised the funds to rebuild their historic sites (the Dubrovnik castle, the Mostar Bridge, etc.) I hate how touristy it's all become. For many over there it's been good for the economy but for others it's brought a string of problems. I am taking my kids out of school next year and we're doing an 8-month backpacking trip through Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, and Czech. I want to show them my favorite places while I can still walk. 

I wish we lived close to each other. I'd love to sit down and hear about your travel experiences. I LOVE to travel, I just wish I had more time for it 🙂. I can't wait till I can retire and have the time to see the world. 

[Bryce Lynch]

16 hours ago, BallisticNikki said:

Her mother is White?

I'm not sure, but I think she mentioned that her father was Venezuelan as the basis for her "self-identifying" as Latina.   I presume she would have said, "And my mother is Mexican, Salvadoran, Cuban or whatever" if Mother Tania was also Latina.

Then, again ,maybe she is Latina on both sides, but saying "self-identify" sounded really "woke" to her.  

[Mrs. Hanson]

14 hours ago, Pepper Mostly said:

Wow, that's pretty harsh. She went to visit the guy, he turned out to be a loser, so she left. Should she have stayed with him? Should she have gone and joined a convent or something?  She was lucky enough to meet another guy, one she really liked and is going to marry as a result of leaving the loser behind. I would hesitate to call that a second choice. 

@Pepper Mostly, no I would never suggest she stay with the not so nice guy.  And I am glad she was safe with Syngin (sp?)  I, myself, would not be cool with a guy meeting me when I was a server at a club because he ditched the original girl he was coming to Minnesota to meet. (Did that make sense?)  I would feel like a second choice but that is me.  Plus, as we all know, Prudie McPrudie that is I would not be knocking boots with someone I met six hours earlier.  But again, that is me.

[Pepper Mostly]

1 hour ago, Gigglepuff said:

Showing a nice and well stocked toy store in Russia sure goes against the TLC narrative, doesn't it?? 🙂 I mean, I was expecting to see a dusty and decrepit old store filled with rust prone toys laced with lead based paint or something. Same with the cafe Emily was chatting with her sister from. I'm surprised they didn't find the saddest, filthiest cafe to film that scene in. 

Volgograd is certainly portrayed in a much more positive light than Olga's Voronezh was, that's for sure. Kind of departure, since the standard trope is to show any foreign location in as unflattering a light as possible. Dirty, backward, primitive, lacking in modern plumbing amenities. Except Seoul, anyway, world capital of clean anal!

[shockermolar]

18 hours ago, KateHearts said:

what is Latinx? I have never heard of that. 

Gender neutral so you're not having to be all Latina or Latino. Kind of like they instead of her or him.

18 hours ago, NoWhammies said:

Wow. Those look like beans.

Well they're smaller - maybe a third of the size. And in theory they are purple. But when I was watching the scene I immediately thought, "why are there Nerds all over that table? Could he not have cleaned that up?"

[RealReality]

3 minutes ago, shockermolar said:

Gender neutral so you're not having to be all Latina or Latino. Kind of like they instead of her or him.

Well they're smaller - maybe a third of the size. And in theory they are purple. But when I was watching the scene I immediately thought, "why are there Nerds all over that table? Could he not have cleaned that up?"

He is waiting for anny to do it.....in lingerie......that may be a size too small.....

[shockermolar]

13 hours ago, AZChristian said:

But in case of emergency, you cannot stay overnight in any of the foreign countries.  I had a friend who had a heart attack and died while snorkeling at Grand Cayman.  He was traveling with his wife and another couple.  The other couple were traveling with just their birth certificates, and they were not permitted to stay behind with the wife and their late friend.  The cruise line assigned a crew member to stay with her until her children flew in a day or two later.

And the $110 is good for 10 years, so it averages out to only $11 per year.

All in now it's $145. And it kind of doesn't matter how much it averages out to if you don't have the $145 as a lump sum to plunk down right then and there and/or the 6 to 8 weeks processing time before you have it in hand.

[PityFree]

I have been to Novgorod! (I wanted to go back and check my photo album and notes.) I was there in 2000 during my trip around the Russian Federation for grad school. We visited Novgorod to meet with a group of entrepreneurs to talk to them about small business strategies and practices in the US. We were only there for 2 days, but we had some time for sightseeing. I didn't recognize anything during the show, but it has been a very long time since I was there. I do remember a very pretty town square and the lovely hotel. 

There is a church in Novgorod (Church of Paraskeva) that single women are supposed to run around three times if they want luck to get married.  (I am kind of mad that we were told we had to run around it 7 times! I should be married at least twice by now. Grrr.) I am sure that Emily has run at least a few laps around that church!

[RealReality]

Just now, PityFree said:

I have been to Novgorod! (I wanted to go back and check my photo album and notes.) I was there in 2000 during my trip around the Russian Federation for grad school. We visited Novgorod to meet with a group of entrepreneurs to talk to them about small business strategies and practices in the US. We were only there for 2 days, but we had some time for sightseeing. I didn't recognize anything during the show, but it has been a very long time since I was there. I do remember a very pretty town square and the lovely hotel. 

There is a church in Novgorod (Church of Paraskeva) that single women are supposed to run around three times if they want luck to get married.  (I am kind of mad that we were told we had to run around it 7 times! I should be married at least twice by now. Grrr.) I am sure that Emily has run at least a few laps around that church!

How many times do men run around it to get married?  Sasha must have been doing marathons around that church.

[Pepper Mostly]

3 minutes ago, PityFree said:

I have been to Novgorod! (I wanted to go back and check my photo album and notes.) I was there in 2000 during my trip around the Russian Federation for grad school. We visited Novgorod to meet with a group of entrepreneurs to talk to them about small business strategies and practices in the US. We were only there for 2 days, but we had some time for sightseeing. I didn't recognize anything during the show, but it has been a very long time since I was there. I do remember a very pretty town square and the lovely hotel. 

Doesn't Emily live in Volgograd? (formerly Stalingrad)?