CHEBURASHKA

for those of you who didn’t grow up in Soviet Russia – Cheburashka is a cute little creature with elephant-like ears, who was found in a box of oranges coming from Africa to Moscow. basically, an illegal immigrant, he was unaware of his own origin, but eager to make new friends. through classified ad in a newspaper he met another lonely soul, Gena the crocodile, who plays on accordion, and they become best friends.

I knew Cheburashka since I was little, but my relationship with him has always been complicated. like every Soviet kid, I loved the cartoon and knew by heart all Cheburashka’s songs. but when in primary school my classmates started calling me Cheburashka for my lop-sided ears, I was not so keen on that nickname. my only consolation was that despite of his ears Cheburashka was everyone’s darling and had a lot of friends. still, secretly, I used to tie up a scarf around my ears for the night, hoping they would stick to my head eventually. it used to hurt and give me headaches, but i was stubborn. i still am.

when Leo was born I was relived to see that he didn’t inherit my ears. phew! though there is barely a risk of someone teasing him Cheburashka in United States where we live, I was relieved. the little white stuffed animal my Mom brought for Leo as a gift became one of his favorite toys. for Leonardo’s first Halloween we made him a costume with elephant-like ears and orange bib, all made of an old romper, couple hand towels and piece of cardboard. without knowing, he played along his Halloween character and was making adorable sad faces for the camera. this is when my personal life-long relationship with Cheburashka has been finally resolved – and I fell in love with this friendly creature with lop-sided ears all over again.