Last week, as I was walking towards the bus-stop on my way home from work, I ran into one of my former students and her mother. They invited me "v gosti" (to come to their house as a guest sometime), and suggested this weekend. Of course, I agreed. Now, inviting someone over to your place "v gosti" is a big deal over here. If someone's coming over v gosti, you cook a full three or four course meal for them, and there will definitely be serious eating. (In a lot of cases, there will be serious drinking too, although this student and her family do not drink.) Yesterday I met Natasha (my former student - she's in one of M's classes this semester) at the bus stop by the Golden Gates, and we walked to the zagorodny bus stop (essentially the bus stop for going out of town). She and her family live in a little suburb of Vladimir, about 15-20 minutes to the south. I must admit that in a lot of ways the whole affair was kind of awkward. I do not know Natasha very well, and I did not know her family at all... and Natasha is incredibly shy. And, well, while I can always type up a storm about just about anything, when it comes to small talk, I totally suck. There were a lot of awkward silences. But, they were all very nice, and fed me a *lot* of yummy food. They also had a cat who looked a lot like Brie (my cat, currently living with my aunt), and who did the same my-eyes-get-big-and-then-I-attack thing that Brie likes to do. Natasha gave me a doll, which I thought was a really strange gift until she told me that she made it herself, and that making dolls is her hobby.
Doll made by Natasha
Natasha and me
Yesterday also served as kind of a reminder as to how small-town-ish this area really is, despite the fact that the population of Vladimir is something like 400,000 people. Natasha's mom mentioned that one of her friends has a teacher from the AH living with her... had I met Ira? (Ira is B's host). Later, when I returned home and told Nina M about my evening, and where I had been, she told me that before she retired, she taught at the school behind the hospital in the region where I'd been. Well, turns out that's Natasha's school. Nina M wrote down her name, and said that next time she talked to her former colleagues, she would ask if any of them were teaching or had taught my student! It's a small world after all....
4 comments:
Based on my experience, almost any Russian will tell you that a city like Vladimir IS basically a village. Yeah, in the US 400,000 is a rather good-sized city - but in Russia that is just a tiny place - certainly not a REAL city like Moscow.
At least, this is the nature of my communications with Russians. If you're not from a city of a million or more, you are a country bumpkin.
It's weird, I grew up just south of a city of about 10,000 people, in a county of about 55,000. I currently consider "home" to be a city of about 15,000 in a county of 35,000. i've lived in big cities too (including St. petersburg, Russia, San Diego, CA and Daegu, South Korea) and i agree.... Vladimir has a LOT more in common with the small towns in which i've lived than with the big cities!
That doll is lovely. It looks like it was crocheted or knitted. I see lots of patterns for knitted dolls and stuffed animals - my problem is I don't know who I could give them to...but I like them.
When I first went to Yaroslavl last year, I told a friend of mine in Moscow where I was going - and she replied "Why? There is nothing to do there and it is just a dirty little city." However, I really enjoyed it tremendously. In fact, the days and nights I spent in the even smaller Rostov Veliky were my favorite.
I enjoy visiting large cities, but it isn't my idea of a good place to live. I think typical American these days is to live in the country or suburbs - and work in the city. Logistically, that just doesn't work so well in Russia - and much of the populace seems to crave big city life, for the work and entertainment opportunities it offers. Here, that stuff is just spread out alot more and easier to access regardless of where you live.
Post a Comment