Settling in

This week has been all about establishing a routine.  I’m trying to speak more Russian with the students so that they will speak it more to each other.  I’m finally not waking up in the middle of the night, and getting tired at a reasonable hour.  And I am getting used to the city and the rhythm of the schoolday.

There is still no hot water in my apartment, but I’ve figured out how to live with boiling water for a hot shower.  The worst is washing dishes with cold water.  By the time evening rolls around, I’m too tired to head out to the banya, so maybe this weekend will be when I finally make it.  It’s hard enough to go out and buy groceries.  Now that we have a car, I’m so spoiled with not carrying bags of heavy produce very far.  I stocked up on some stuff this week, but it will only last so long.  The food here is very fresh and minimally processed, which means it doesn’t keep very long.  So far I’ve only been really cooking one meal at home, since I eat bread and cold cuts for breakfast and have a hot lunch at the institute.  Also, even though I do shop at a grocery store, I am still learning how to do certain things.  My base for comparison is always how things worked in Lithuania.  There, you weighed the produce yourself (or was that just in Moscow…?).  The store I go to (because it takes credit cards) has a very sour produce-weigher.  Some things have already been weighed, but I learned that just because the potatoes are in a bag doesn’t mean they already have a price sticker.  Same with the packaged radishes and garlic.  I need to learn how to describe units of parsley too, since I got yelled at for touching it.  At least it’s cheap…no more $2 bunches that go to waste before I can use it all up.

My daytime routine is pretty nice.  The students are in class from 10 to 2:30 every day, and I have a desk in a classroom that I have set up shop at.  There’s even a water cooler and tea on hand.  I have lunch with the students, which gives me a chance to make sure everyone’s alive and eating.  I am very spoiled with this group: the sole vegetarian started eating meat on his first day here, and everyone likes Russian food.  I’m sure they’ll get sick of the cutlets and cabbage, but so far so good.  I don’t mind buckwheat kasha every day!  A couple days a week there are “folklore” and cooking classes.  I sat in on folklore on Tuesday and learned some folk dances and songs (including the song from Tetris, “Korobeiniki”).  I’m inspired to pick up the accordian again. This week’s cooking class is making bliny, which are Russian crepes.  Thursday is movie day.  Once everyone is settled into their groups, I’ll have time during the day to do some reading and writing.  There isn’t internet at the institute, so there are fewer distractions to my work.

I finally took some pictures of my apartment.  I keep meaning to take more pictures around the town, but am always too tired to walk home.  These I took when it was still rainy, and only in the historical center.  We're going on an excursion on Saturday to see more medieval cathedrals in Suzdal, so there will be some pictures from that.  

KORA, our institute (housed inside a technical college)

One of the first Lenin statues ever erected

Monument for the 850-year anniversary of Vladimir, celebrated in 1958 

(although now historians believe the city was around in 990)

Uspensky Cathedral (Assumption Cathedral)

Dmitrievsky Cathedral (so old it predates the onion domes!)

View from the hills of Vladimir

My living room

My kitchen

My bedroom

My courtyard

I'm enjoying my job working with the students.  It's very rewarding to make their lives more comfortable and impart some of my hard-earned knowledge.  That said, I have had to give some stern warnings about non-Russian behavior that I know has come as surprising to some.  But, I have a new story that will give some truth to these warnings.  On the mini-bus to school this morning, two drunkish guys got on and sat near me. (I forgot that it's never a good idea to seat near the driver anyhow, because you end up having to pass all the money for the tickets back and forth.)  At a sharp turn, the guy closest to me fell over a bit, and apologized.  I gave an innocent, "no worries" response, and he took this as an invitation to start talking. "Hi, I'm Yura.  I haven't shaved in a few days..."  Like that will make me realize he's actually a catch if only he had a shower and a shave.  Thankfully, this all happened right at my stop, so I just got out without saying anything.  I'm still nervous to be "made" as a foreigner in those sorts of situations, and if I say too many words, it's obvious.  At least I can "pass" a bit. When I was getting my pictures taken for my student card here, another customer made a comment about requirements for the international passport (which Russians need to travel abroad; they have another passport that serves as identification).

The biggest downside to my job is walking the line between leadership and friendship.  It's too soon to be going out with too many students, especially since some are underage.  But, it is kind of sad that no one has asked me to do anything on Friday or Saturday...Then again, I should be making sure that they are only speaking Russian, so it is kind of a bummer when I'm around.  Soon enough they'll all be comfortable speaking Russian, and hopefully I won't have to spend every weekend by myself.