Dacha Q & A

Q. What's a dacha?
A. This question also came up in Spring of 2007, when we bought a dacha in Russia. I gave these two links then. There was also some more discussion back then, if you want to go back and look it up. A dacha is a summer garden house; it's an important part of Russian/Ukrainian culture. (Just a note: that Wikipedia article shows photos of celebrity dachas, which are not the norm. As Mrs said, "In our study of Russia, we saw the dacha of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia. Basically, you could fit my house into it."  Most are closer to what would be called a shack.)

Q. Were you able to sell the dacha in Russia?
A. We gave our dacha in Russia to a friend from church. She and I have enjoyed talking about it, and she's sent me photos of their summer there over Skype.

Q. How early in the year do people actually move out to live in dachas there?
A. I don't know. I don't know of anyone who lived at their dacha over this past summer. I'm sure spring will come sooner here than in Russia, though.

Q. Is the building habitable?
A. Not yet. Will is going to get electricity in it soon. So far, it's pretty much just a nice, clean, bare room, with a few piles of doors and windows in it, though.

Q. How far is it from your apartment?
A. Far. It's by the church. You can go back to my tour of the city, find the church, and then go straight down from there. I don't know exactly how far. We cross the railroad tracks (which you can see on the map), then follow a trail for a few minutes. . . .

Q. Will I get to see my first real dacha when I'm there or is it a springtime thing?
A. Sure! As long as there's not deep snow, we'll take any and all interested guests out to see it. You're all welcome to come visit.

Q. Why was it constructed as a fortress? That's the only entrance? Do you climb up and then jump down?
A. The area is kind of terraced. Our whole property is that high above the road.  Then the plot behind us is on a level above ours.  So, no, there's no jumping down to anything. . . unless you want to jump off when you leave.  The plot beside us--on the same level as us--has the same kind of retaining wall, but they cut out an opening and put in nice stairs.  This picture below is at the back of our property.  The wall you can see along the side is for the next level above us.  Does that make it clearer?  There is another gate, on top of the garage.  You have to climb over the turkey coop and onto the garage roof to get to it, and I don't even know what it leads to anyway.

What else would you like to know?