28 November 2008
First of all, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! I hope that Turkey Day was much enjoyed by you all. I know I enjoyed mine. We celebrated on Wednesday instead of Thursday – because of schedule conflicts. How, you ask, does one celebrate Thanksgiving in Russia? It was super fun. The first order of business was to explain to Russians what on earth this holiday is about; they didn’t really understand the whole turkey concept, and stuffing was completely out of the question. We (the Middlebury group) all met at the YMCA after classes, and had our little feast. Megan even brought turkey! (Two smallish ones) There were mashed potatoes (Yay!!) and green bean casserole (also Yay!), cake, bread, pineapple juice, and I made some chili. It was spicier than I would have made at home, but the guys in the group lapped it up. So while this was not necessarily TRADITIONAL fare for Thanksgiving, I can think of few other holidays when I’ve had as much fun. We hung out in the Jacuzzi, did a few rounds of баня (mercifully less intense than the one in Karelia), sang “Oh Beautiful for Spacious Skies…” and even watched a bit of “Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” –in Russian. The whole evening was simply fabulous, and I am once again reminded how much I have to be thankful for.
For example, the Russian language in general. Sometimes, I feel as if I am drowning in its icy black depths, but otherwise I am vastly entertained. Russian is a language of nuance, which means that there are some very specific (and hence hysterical) verbs. Consider the following actual verbs:
Сглазить – Sgla-zeet To put the evil eye on someone
Отксеровать – Ot-ksir-ovat To thoroughly copy something on a Xerox machine
Ксеровать –Kser-eet To Xerox (only oral slang, never written Russian )
Полюбить- Pah-lyoo-beet To fall in love for a long time
Влюбить- Vlyoo-beet To fall in love for a short period of time
Сгрести (Сгёб)- )Sgre-stea (Sgryobe) To make into a big pile (things on a table/snowdrifts)
Взмок- Vz-mok To be completely drenched in sweat
Вслать –Vsl-aht To do to one’s heart content
Млеть- Mleyt To be so comfortable and happy that you want to sleep
Сплетничать –Splet-ni-chat To talk trash about people behind their back
Мнить- Mneet To dupe oneself into thinking one is wonderful
Степлеровать -Staplir-ovat To Staple
Заночивать -Zah-noch-ivat To spend the night
Забиться (в углу) –Za-beet-sya (V oogloo) To hide (in a corner) and do your own thing
And my personal favorite…
Задумываться Za-doom-ivatsya To think deeply about your own problems and not listen to anyone
What else? Oh! The other day I went swimming for the first time in almost four months. It was glorious beyond belief. The swimming pool was an Olympic sized, clean, sparkling wonderland. There was even a waterslide. And unlike in America, there were no silly rules about HOW one is supposed to slide; so all sorts of fun possibilities were opened up. My friend Саша and I swam for almost an hour, and had a ball. I had not realized just how much I missed being able to swim. The only thing that was odd was the locker rooms. Russians have a much more relaxed attitude towards... locker room etiquette. For example, it was NOT allowed to take a shower in one’s swimsuit. And everyone just walks around in their natural state, and nobody cares. It was actually rather refreshing to find out that not all Russian girls have perfect figures with toothpick legs.
I apologize for such ‘earthy’ posts – I write about what I see, what happens in my world. As someone once said, I am a "rugged earth girl." (another variation was "Mother Nature's child"
Have a great day!
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