Last night I went "v gosti" to another student's home. It wasn't nearly as awkward as the last time I did such a thing, since this time I was visiting a student who was roughly my age, not shy, and who speaks really good English. (This is a student from my Wednesday night conversation class.) My student, Vera, lives with her husband Zhenya, six year old son Alyosha, and her parents (this is a very common living arrangement in Russia) out in Dobroye, one of the far-outlying regions of the city. (On my way there I actually noticed some things I want to photograph, so I may head out that way later on today, assuming the weather holds, to get some shots.) Anyway, everyone was incredibly friendly and jovial... made even more so by the fact that the parents kept insisting we drink vodka. Of course, after several shots of good Russian vodka, I start babbling in Russian... which I guess is okay - always good to practice, right? I think perhaps that's why my Russian improved so much the last time I was here: I spent most of my seven months in St. Pete sloshy. I guess I just don't drink as much in my old age. That and when I was in St. Pete I didn't spend seven days a week at an English language school surrounded by native English speakers and ESL students. Sigh. Anyway, my visit was quite a lot of fun. Here are some photos:
Vera and me
Zhenya and me
Vera's mom and me
1 comment:
I would say your smile gets bigger and your eyes smaller as you get trashed also! ;-)
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