28. Feb I want to comment on the moments when I have made a friendly connection with strangers.
Yesterday, when I was putting on my coat, hat, and gloves to leave a café where I had eaten lunch, a girl asked Laurie and me if we spoke English. Then she pointed at the young man she was with and said, “Beautiful. Beautiful boy.” Laurie responded, “Конечно (of course),” because well that was the best thing either of us could think of to do. Then when we were outside on the street, she came up to us again and asked (in Russian), “How do you say beautiful boy in English (Как красивиц по английскии)?” (knowing that calling a boy beautiful isn’t something English speakers do). I responded, “Handsome.” Then she said, “Вот!” That was the end of that. It was an incredibly simple conversation, but for some reason it made my insides smile.
Later that evening, on my way home on a very crowded bus, a man with a little toddler aged boy stood up from his seat to approach the exit of the bus. The bus jolted to a stop and I put my hand behind the boy’s back so that he wouldn’t fall (it’s just one of those maternal instincts I suppose). It is hard enough for a toddler to keep his footing, but in Russia in the winter, they bundle those kids up so tight they can barely stand, it’s adorable, but potentially hazardous, well, not really. Either way, the man looked up at me and smiled when I performed this gesture to protect his grandson (this relationship is of course an assumption). I love it when little exchanges like that occur.
When I was in Moscow last weekend, I stopped at a stand to look at some books, because well I love books. I found a fabulous book. It’s a German – Russian dictionary that is subdivided into categories. Each category includes a diagram with every item labeled in Russian and German. I was in love. I took it offer to the man selling the books and he sold it to me for 100 rubles, I think that was a deal. He was really determined to sell the books for less than they were marked, which was great. When he was putting the dictionary into a bag, he told me that a German translator had been there a few days ago and she had left her telephone. He asked if I knew her so that I could return the phone to her. I said, that unfortunately, I did not. I suppose he assumed that all Germans in Moscow must know each other, and of course that if I was buying a German-Russian dictionary, I must also be German. It was adorable. Too bad I’m not German.
1.March This afternoon, I boarded the bus, sat down and felt a strange sensation. I looked around the bus and realized that I was the ONLY passenger aboard. It was so strange. That has never happened before. Unfortunately, this wonderful experience only lasted until the following stop, however, it was peaceful while it lasted.
I have officially eaten liver and heart. Those are the strangest items so far, and honestly, they aren’t that unusual. (Aside: The strangest thing I know of anyone eating here is baby hedgehog. I still don’t understand why they fed her baby hedgehogs. It must take a lot of them to fill you up. Furthermore, they seem to idolize the hedgehog in Russia. There are stuffed hedgehogs in every toy store, they have a cartoon about hedgehogs, and they almost always refer to them in the diminutive form. Why would they eat a creature they love so much? ). Liver and heart don’t taste like much. She fried them in onions and carrots so it was almost pleasant. What wasn’t pleasant was the weather today. The wind was blowing the snow sideways into my face in a constant stream. It was uncomfortable, especially because it was a wet snow. I do not enjoy the warm days, when the five inch thick layer of ice coating all of the sidewalks in the city starts to melt into deep, dirty puddles. Yuck. It’s a shame we had such poor weather today. It is the last day of Maslenitsa and I was looking forward to wandering around in the park. Such is life.
Yesterday, I spent the majority of the day in the main room of the house with Anna, Liza, and Tatiana. I love Liza. She is so adorable. I’m so glad I have a niece here. I still haven’t figured out why sometimes Anna and Liza sleep here (Back-story: Anna is Tatiana’s (Tatiana is my host mom) daughter and Liza is her daughter, which makes them my sister and niece. Anna is 22 and Liza is 14 months. I love the whole family. Anna is married to a young man named Roma, whom I have never met. He is a builder by profession. Anna told me she doesn’t love him, but that she used to and that’s why they got married. Tatiana said she doesn’t like him. That’s all I know thus far). It is always so random when they stay over. I just come home and they are here and then they never leave. They spent the entire weekend here. It was nice. I love having all three generations of women in the house. It’s nice to just be women together. Liza is so precious. Anna was showing me pictures of Liza on her camera, and Liza climbed up on to my lap and laid her head on my chest and kept pointing at the pictures. Anna kept saying, “Да, это ты/Yes, that’s you.” It was adorable.
Liza. A-dor-a-ble!
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