Little weekend stuff

"When you get to the Volga turn around." That was about the only thing we were sure of making our way through Yaroslavl with a colorful tourist map. We were lost then found then lost again. Some of the places we went to see were not where they should be since we were sure we were in the right place, but we had lunch at a place called Mr Desserts where it was all intense chocolate all the time so the day was considered a huge success.

The exchange rate I have in my head is that 300 rubles is about $10. Then I sort of add an subtract from there. Imagine our delight to find a $1 store in Russia called "36 rubles"!

We are hooked on an elimination contest based closely on the "X Factor" - which of course had to be explained to me, too. Here it is фактор а - Factor A. Anyway there is some talent and judging and phoning and someone is voted off the stage. We are down to the final 2 so I have to stay and see who wins. Friday night one of the winners sang an amazing rendition of "Hotel California" - yep - the one from a Previous Decade/Century - in English, wearing what he though was correct costuming - cowboy chaps and boots.

We went into a church gift shop and the lady - suspecting we were neither Russian nor Orthodox - suspiciously looked at us and asked not "Americans?" but "catholic?" When I tried "Anglican" she did not give an inch but with "Lutheran" (pronounce lut-er-eeeeeen) she snorted and said "not so bad."

Teaching English

We had 1.5 hours today to teach English to HS students – 16 or 17, in a Vocational School. Currently they learn English form movies and signs.



There were 2 teachers. The regular teacher was a good friend of our director, very pleasant and I think a good teacher. We also had the head of the department who was Old School, told us multiple times she was a strict disciplinarian, and totally took over the class from the regular teacher. She also took us to her classroom and proudly showed us the typical American phrases she had been teaching. One was “nothing much to sing about.”

She also took us to the library and there in all its radiance was a Card Catalog, each drawer labeled with a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. She asked, “You know this? Do they have in America?” Yes, and, sadly, no.

Naturally when I say Chicago the first word is “mafia.” Sigh. Then I told them about Michael Jordan and basketball. And I pointed out that President Obama is from Chicago. They were far more interested in knowing if Oprah was really going off the air.

Anyway with her help we got through our presentations and asked what they knew about the US. DH bragged “they know all the movie starts and great writers.” They proudly listed off Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, and Jackie Chan for screen stars and Hawthorne, Dreiser, and Salinger for authors. We have a time warp, Scottie!

In class we introduced ourselves and the kids actually were attentive and interactive enough to tell me they understood. Dept Head prowled the room “disciplining” anyone who… well… acted like a teenager. This group was far more quiet than Glenbard West. Even the halls between classes were almost silent. And clean.

Then the teacher had a question. “What are American jests?” Jokes? Funny stories? AFV? No – like hand signs. Ah – gestures. They knew tapping the head for “crazy” and thumbs up for “good.” Then my colleague described the Middle Finger Bad Sign, and they, in all curiosity, asked, “Right or left hand?” I don’t want to think what the lunch room looked like as they practiced what the Americans taught them.

Looking around

The apartment we live in has 3 levels - level 1 is the entrance, office for the staff, room to plan and make crafts and the showers. Plus the shelves where one always leaves outdoor shoes and puts on inside ones. Level 2 is the dining room/living room/kitchen, two bathrooms, and one bedroom for 10 plus a glassed in porch where laundry dries. Plus the TV - which plays only Russian shows. Level 3 has rooms for sleeping and 2 bathroom. Some sleeping rooms are 2-person (my current companion and I each have one), a couple of 3 person and one for 6. It is pretty much up and down for anything.

I can find my way around in Russian! I take the bus uptown, exchagne money, buy food.


We have had a lot of room to spread out now, but on Sunday 6 more folks arrive who overlap me and an observer for just 2 days. So the dynamics will change again.

Someone asked yesterday if there were any loud things. I am anguished to note American music is played very loud. It is more like disco than rap and there is a sprinkle of stuff even I know. Actually all music/radio is and the TV is kept loud.

On TV we have a new favorite Russian show - it appears to be a detective team and the smartest in the bunch by far is Rex the German Shepherd. At just the right moment as the Dumb Detectives are overlooing the same clue the entier audience spootted whne they walked in, Rex will ARF (sounds the same in English) and the mystery will be solved! Sometimes he gets a bone as a reward.

We made lots of cutout Gingerbread type figures this week for International Children's Day. All successful. And I lost some more dominoes. Tomorrow we go to the Vocational School and talk in English! Then it is the weekend!

Yep - Lady Gaga is played here. Loudly.

Suddenly I noticed….

On the playground, in the classroom, won the street, the Americans are the only ones making noise. This was intensified by a trip to the store today.

We checked out behind two man who were having a obviously furious discussion with the clerk, but the voices were never raised. The next man ahead of us could not get his credit card to work. They had to call over a manager and everyone was very angry about everything but still no raised voices.

Then I remembered on the playground yesterday I was shooting basketball and cheering, but the kid never made a sound. He gave a “thumbs up” He smiled. He can talk, but this did not motivate him to. In general on the streets there is traffic noise but little honking – less than a high school parking lot at dismissal. And people make no loud conversation unless they are drunk.

Plus the town is clean, clean as in NO paper, plastic wrappers, cigarette ends, nothing in the gutters, alleys, streets. Even in the middle of the City Celebration the streets were spotless. Same with the people. Except for a few beggar types (very few here) everyone is freshly washed. The children at all the centers – shelter for kids from dysfunctional families, school for kids the orphanages can’t handle, and the ones at the psych hospital are freshly washed and spotless clothing every day.

Ah, and on time. We were warned that in Russia 2pm means 2pm. Not later. (In sharp contrast to India where 2pm meant 2:45 or 2:55 but certainly no earlier than 2:30) And it is true. There is no deviation from the assigned time for events. Yesterday the driver asked if we could leave for our schools at 9:25 instead of 9:30. The sign in the dining room reads: “Dinner 6-6:30. All dishes to be cleared and table completely clean no later than 6:30.”

Quiet, clean, and on time.

On Friday we get a new opportunity

There is a high school in town of kids who probably won't go to university because of economic hardship and we are going to talk to 16-17 year olds in English (!). Basically they just want to know about Americans and get a chance to use their English with a Real Person so the topic is wide open. I brought pictures of the family, seasons, pets, parts of the US, so I am prepared to speak on anything. Even the gospel for June 26 which is my next time to preach. Let's see if I can work that into the conversation.

I located the technology Russians diverted from instruments of war – high powered, super sized mosquitoes.

I am getting pretty adept at the Cyrillic alphabet which only looks like something I might remember from Seminary Greek. I can read Salon and Automaster and Supermarket in Russian! Those should come up in crossword puzzles more often.

Tomorrow is International Children’s Day – although looking on the internet every country seems to think it is a different date and no two countries agree so I guess it is Russia’s celebration of the international event. Anyway we made cut out people shapes to put around one of the least recognizable maps of the world ever created. By me. Its one virtue was tissue paper waves on all the oceans. By the time the figures were added, however, it rivaled a UN poster!

And I lost my 401st consecutive game of Chinese checkers.

Happy International Children's Day whenever you celebrate it!

Little insights

The younger Russians say that the end of communism was good because they can travel wherever they want. The older Russians like it because they all get their pensions and can retire. Overall the mood seems optimistic - but it is summer. People don't regularly smile, and if they encounter someone who does they assume that person is not in charge of all their faculties. Russian receptionists have to be taught to smile when answering the phone.

Open beer bottles on the bus was a new sight for me. Liquor is sold at outdoor kiosks and can be drunk on the street at any time EXCEPT the recent City Celebration. First time they tried not having beer in the open for a big event, and they were happy with the result. I personally only saw 2 fall down drunks and lots of loud teens. I felt safe - but did not realize how lucky we were this was the year they kept it dry. Er.

Younger men carry bags - like a small travel case, 8 1/2 x11, black leather on a shoulder strap - for all their stuff. Makes sense, but will be a while before it replaces the Electronic Tool Belt in the US.

I have not seen people of any races other than white. I asked and the "ethnic" groups are gypsies and Ukrainians. This is a community of 600,000, not Moscow.

How to get a job in Russia: Know someone. That is not contrasted with "Know Something" - it is the only way. People do not move far from home because that is where the only contacts are, and the only way to be employed is by knowing someone. Here, the night guards are the dirctor's son and the translator's brother. Relationships are the only recommendation.

One of our translators trained as a teacher. Of the 90 who graduated with her 5 years ago, none are now teaching. The pay is so low no men would ever teach, and the women get better paying jobs doing anything else.


We produce a different craft project for 8 classes each week - some can be adapted for younger or older. Then indoor games - dominoes and Chinese checkers, but soon devolve into building with the dominos until they fall don from rolling the marbles from the Chinese checkers at them. I have played Extreme Uno and Jenga. The great things about all these are that none requires any counting! And the only strategy is "How to Lose but Not so Badly that it Looks Suspicious."

Hope you are all having a nice First of Real Summer Day Off!

Late Night in Yaroslavl

To cap off the activities of City Celebration we hopped the 10pm bus back to the city center. By now the babies in prams (literally – I have not seen an umbroller anywhere!) to watch the “fire show.” It started with music and dancers and a few gymnasts left over from earlier, but the back lights were so bright we could see none of it. ½ the football field was filled with people, milling, dancing, listening and just having fun. About 1000 on the field, another 2000 in the stands and around the perimeter.

Then the fire show began with FIRE. Flaming torches and batons were twirled and thrown and the belches of fame when one was lit were spectacular. This ended with some low firecrackers with the flaming dancers and ended in loud cheering so we headed home. Secure in the superiority of US pyrotechnology.

Then we heard from another part of the town over by the Volga the familiar sound of sky shooting fireworks. People ran as a group/mass/mob about ¼ mile and there was a truly fantastic fireworks display. 15 minutes of ooo and ahhhh and we were ready to go home – midnight by now. We and 3000 of our closet Russian Friends – we had no idea how close they were about to become!

There are 2 major bus stops and we can only take the 19 or 19K. So 1500 of us waited at one and 1500 at the other. When we left on our bus – having not been able to squeeze even us on the 19K that first arrived – there appeared to still be 1500 at each stop. Maybe they were riding around and coming back. 19K Part 2 bus was no less full, and we were the last stop before leaving the City Center. “Close” does not begin to describe our new relationship with Russia. Cheek to cheek? But unlike Italy where an opportunity like that breeds trouble, there was not a single nudge or bump that was not just necessary to get a few folks on and off.

We almost missed out stop because we could not get to the door, but once again the other passengers shifted and made way – realizing by then we were Americans. As we left one shouted, “Now you Russian bus!” Yes – now we Russian bus! Successfully since we were home by 2am. A big night on the town in Yarolsalvl!

Two hours of volunteering go like this: craft, indoor games, outdoor games (weather permitting). So we try to make the craft take a long time so game time is reduced. Especially indoor games which result in flying monkeys. (See Friday!)


Breakfast is kasha – milky buttery rice or wheat. The big meal is at noon – soup, main course, dessert. Dinner is main course. We have a good cook and an OK cook. Both use butter like the cow is in the backyard and do not stint the grease in the soup, potatoes or meat. Just like my mother used to make! There is probably a grease can in the refrigerator.