It started raining yesterday (Monday) evening and hasn't stopped (it's after 8am Russia time)... I walked from the American Home to Katya's last night and back again this morning in a light rain. Every Russian has an umbrella. Only silly Americans walk around in the rain, apparently.
Yesterday's docket wasn't all about women, as I had mentioned earlier. After some one-on-one practice with Nellie (I have to say my Russian has been better than during that session-- that woman has the patience of Job), Aleksei told us a few anecdotes about his life under Soviet rule. It's so hard to believe that the Soviet Union really existed, even with the few vestiges that remain. After lunch at a restaurant in town, our first presenter of the afternoon was a gentleman named Percy Gurvitch, who is a professor of foreign languages at Vladimir State Pedagogical University. He is 80+ years old and shared pretty much an hour and a half's worth of contemporay Russian history as he lived it, including 3 years in a Nazi camp and 4 years in one of Stalin's camps. His take on Krushchev and Gorbachev (and even Putin) as three great men was curious, but understandable, given the first couple of Communist leaders. I think he's coming back this afternoon to continue... This is the kind of thing you just can't get from a book or a movie!
The afternoon ended with a discussion about women in Russia-- I have to tell you, the cultural and gender stereotypes in this country are, indeed, speed bumps on the road to any kind of equality as we understand it in America... This topic was interesting, but as I'm far from an expert on women or their roles (in any country), my level of competence on the subject kind of dampened my enthusiasm for participating in the discussion.
Today I think I have another language session, then we have some sort of "scavenger hunt." I don't know exactly what we're looking for, but in my experience here, so far, I don't find things...they tend to find me. Not one day goes by without a surprise... Some days the compass shows the correct heading, other days it just spins out of control... Some days you just have to dead reckon (if I may wax nautical) or flow where the current takes you...
So tonight we pack for Murom. I don't know how frequently I'll be able to touch this blog, so if I'm out of sight for any length of time, I hope I won't be out of mind! :)
Until next time... Всего хорошего!
