Taj Mahal… huh… what?
In a few weeks, I’m going to NEW DELHI, India… one of my dream destinations.. and of course, I’m doing my research on the web, and you know what I realized….. http://www.mcdonaldsindia.com/ourfood/nonveg/filet-o-fish.html ….. woo-hoo!
Week in review:
– was supposed to start teaching guitar to a group of young kids, but didn’t end up happening because they were traumatized by the fact that this one family is having to leave the country suddenly… isn’t that a weird thing to think about? Remember how close you were to your friends in junior high/high school? and then imagine them having to leave the country all of a sudden..
– my boss and his wife are back in the country, now, and you know how it is when the boss is around – even if you’re not necessarily busier, you feel it!
– our internet’s been down for more than a week now. We were very “spoiled” by having constant internet, sort of like DSL… so just imagine having 30 kbps internet…
– been continuing to have great Wed meetings…
– salsa lessons continue to be fun…
– learned some great new words in Russian: the word for “hustle and bustle” – soo-ye-ta. More fun is hearing Russian speakers say the word “hustle and bustle” slowly, in their thick Russian accent.
How to translate salsa into a good life analogy…
In salsa, it doesn’t matter if YOU are a good dancer – your partner has to be one as well ..furthermore, it doesn’t matter how much the girl knows – the guy is still the leader and the couple looking good depends on his ability to lead…. hmmm….
ARGH
Last night, I was trying to find my friend’s house and asked this man, in Russian “do you know where this englishman lives?”, except that I couldn’t remember how to properly say “englishman” so he looks at me, all weird, and says “you don’t speak Russian very well, do you?”. AAARGH. I say that you should never ever say to someone… “you don’t speak <such and such> language very well, do you?”… you let the PERSON say that himself, and no matter what, you should always say “no, no.. it’s fine” or “no, not bad”… or “no, very good!” Saying “you’re not very good” to a language learner is the most discouraging, worst thing you could say. In fact, saying “you’re not very good” to any learner of anything is probably the most discouraging, worst thing you could say. There’s some advice for you.
I’ve been learning Russian for about 2 years now, and I started around this time in 2004, with lessons THREE days a week at 7 in the MORNING at my apartment. What was I thinking??? I am not a morning person at all. Good thing I could wake up at 6:59am right before she came.
My teacher, a wonderful Uzbek woman named Mavluda, recently told me that I was her “savior”. Why? Because around this time two years ago, she was still mourning the death of her middle son who had been killed in the Uzbek airways air crash that happened just a few weeks after I arrived. She, understandably, was in mourning and extreme grief, not wanting to leave her house, not wanting to work, not wanting to do anything… and then I called her house, asking for Russian lessons. She speaks very little English, and it just so happened that her neighbor, who speaks English, was there when I called. We made plans to meet, and she came to my office with a smile on her face and a small plastic sheet filled with reference letters.
Only during our first lesson did I learn about her son dying in the plane crash.
And only 2 years later, because my Russian is much better, did I learn how my call came at the perfect time… and how she felt invigorated and energized to teach again… and slowly but surely, she started teaching her other students again… and then teaching at the institute again…
She wiped away tears as she remembered this tragic time in her life… and I got a bit teary as well.
And to think that I came here because of another tragic event – 9/11.
God works in mysterious ways. But good ones.
At work yesterday, one girl heard from a friend of hers who said that there was going to be an earthquake here of 10.0 magnitude at 5pm. For one minute, I actually believed her… unfortunately, many many people actually did and there was a bit of a panic as some hotels were evacuated and people were sent home. One of my coworkers came home to all his neighbors standing around on the street, waiting for it. Then I got this email:
The following is a message distributed through the Consular Warden System of the American Embassy in T. The U.S. Embassy has contacted both the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the U Center for Seismology regarding the rumor in T of an impending earthquake. Both U organizations report that there is no basis for this rumor, and there is no reason to believe that an earthquake is imminent.
Since there are no real reliable sources of news here, this is what happens. I had to reassure my neighbor who said “but….but…”.
On a lighter note, salsa lessons were fun. I’ve learned before, so it all came back to me once the basic steps were taught. The dance itself is not hard – but trying to look good while you’re doing it… ? We also learned merengue, and now I know the difference between the two. Our teacher was from Venezuela; her husband, from Fort Worth, Texas!
Also….why do I have to be such a stupid American? There were two guys from the British embassy. One guy had a slightly different accent than the other, so I whispered to one of the British guys (whom I had met before) “is that guy British or is he from Ireland or Scotland?” That guy looked at me as if I had said … I don’t know… something really really stupid. I should just keep my mouth shut.
As an extrovert, I need to spend time HAVING FUN with people. If I could, I would schedule events 6 days a week (party girl’s gotta rest, too). So far, it’s been a good week for an ultra- social girl like me!
Monday: watched a whole disc of Alias, season 1 with JDO and MLS. Ate burgers and fries. Drank pivo. Totally ignored all of JDO’s and MLS’s obnoxious albeit funny comments about how inane the show is (but, uhm, they’re still watching it) and how they only watch it because they’re here. I am still a fan of (as opposed to Michael Vartan):
Tuesday: had dinner with the Haugues, dear Norwegian family. Ate very moist, delicious chicken with rice. Realized that they are my friends, though they’re my parents’ age!
Wednesday: (every wednesday, actually…)
Thursday (tonight): Salsa lessons!
Friday – Sunday: Youth Retreat. Eeks. Puberty-laden youth in one house in the mountains?
I was also very very happy because:
Weekend activities (let’s count how many movies I watched):
Friday night: Watched the Soviet produced version of Sherlock Holmes, in Russian. I understood about .0001% of it. Thank God my friend Christina was there to translate, but after awhile, that’s annoying as well. Then watched the Incredibles. GREAT movie! Loved it.
Saturday: Worship practice. Ate club sandwiches for lunch. My neighbor came over and she did her laundry (she doesn’t have a machine, so she does her laundry by hand every weekend!!) while we talked, had coffee, and watched Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings, in English, with subtitles. It’s amazing that she can understand a lot of it. I felt sad when she said to me: “I like your life, Lana. You’re free. You can do whatever you want”. It’s true – being single is pretty nice, especially in this country where being married means you become kind of a slave… Made me sad that I didn’t have a husband and kids so that we could relate more. Then had dinner at a Georgian restaurant with two friends. The restaurant was unbelievably tacky; food was okay. I am sad that even after two years, I still can’t order at a restaruant without feeling like a complete idiot. Well, anyway, conversation was fun. Then watched the Bourne Identity, which I had seen before, but I didn’t pay close attention last time. I think Matt Damon makes a good action hero. He’s also cute. Why did they pick Julia Stiles?? Why? Her voice is annoying. Love the girl from Run Lola Run, though.
Sunday: Church. Then home. Studied Russian. I have a “test” next week, so I’ve been doing some intenstive studying lately… and again realizing what a crazy language Russian is. After the test, I’m going to start studying Uzbek on my own. Then watched The Triplets of Belleville. Very interesting flick. Lots of subtle social commentary. Hard to watch because some of the animation is.. groteseque, not all pretty and CGI’d like The Incredibles. But the music was great. The grandma reminds me of the grandma from Strictly Ballroom.
And this morning: Ran into my other neighbor on my way to work. She and her family are trying to emigrate to Australia, as she sees that the future is not bright for her kids here. She mentions to me about me staying until December and asks “do you like this country so much?” and I answer: “it’s not so much that I like it here so much – it’s just that I feel God wants me here for different reasons.. to bless… to be blessed…”… and I remind her about the friendship that she formed with my downstairs neighbor, the IC pastor’s wife, and what a blessing it has been for her… She brings up a good point, that we, foreigners, know that we can leave at anytime… while people here don’t have that option… very true. The alternate viewpoint is this: it’s sometimes hard for foreigners because we’ve lived with certain conveniences and here, we’re living without things we’ve come to depend on…but it’s still nowhere near as inconvenient for us here as it is for most locals…
Things that have made me laugh out loud, lately:
Random bazaar statements:
Sad thought:
ICK!
Tick……(10 second pause)… Tick… (10 second pause)… tick… (10 second pause):
Thus ends the fascinating report from this side of the world.
