скрепка для бумаг

That's "paperclip" in Russian. Yes, Russian! (But don't ask me to say it.) Thanks to my good friend Cricket (yes, the same Cricket featured in A Letter from the Author, who drove to Adarna House on the deadline date so we could submit our entries to the PBBY-Salanga Prize!), I got to learn so much about Russia and the Russian culture in one evening.

She invited me to the grand launch of Aeroflot in the Philippines, as their travel agency is the general sales agent for the Russian airline. It was an evening of freeflow vodka, Matryoshka dolls, Russian trivia and VIPs. There was a Russian dance number by Ronny Hedino, an amazing dancer from the Power Dance team. There were Russian folk songs from the Rotary Club of Makati Dasmariñas. There were speeches from the Russian Ambassador and his wife, and Makati City Major Binay. Cricket's dad, Professor Vic Limlingan of AIM, gave a presentation on Russia as a business destination. I learned that Russia is one of the fast-growing economies in the world and labeled as a critical BRIC countries to watch out for in the year 2050 (I also learned that BRIC is an acronym for Brazil-Russia-India-China.) I was also amazed to find out that Russia has over 20 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. All this is timely as we celebrate thirty years of diplomatic relations between Russia and the Philippines. I'm also excited for the Bolshoi Ballet's visit to Manila next month!

I'm now tasked to write an article about the launch to include in the Aeroflot press kit. It's my first attempt at freelance writing. I think this blogpost is a good start. But wouldn't I write better from first-hand experience after a (free) trip to Russia? Hee-hee. I just might find a yellow скрепка для бумаг with bright purple spots there.