Speaking of goodbyes, last night I said bye to my host niece Sonya and to my host babushka after hours of hanging out. Again, we barely talked because of the language barrier, but Sonya and I played dolls for a long time, and then she started taking pictures of me and using an app on an iPad to give a makeover to the pictures--make-up, clothes, hair, glasses, hats, etc. She thought that was fun, but then I brought out my laptop and turned on the webcam, and from that moment on she was laughing nonstop for hours. Together, we must have taken over 200 pictures with various backgrounds and faces and camera effects. We even got some awesome pictures with Babushka.
Here's a bunch of pictures from our photo sessions, just because:
When Sonya and Babushka had to leave, I gave Sonya some candy, courtesy of Cracker Barrel, and a little booklet with games and puzzles to teach kids some facts about the US. It's in English, but the games are simple, and with the help of anyone in her family I figured she'd be able to get some enjoyment out of it (hopefully!) while also having a reminder of that weirdo American girl that stayed with her family for, like, three weeks during the summer. :P In addition to all the silly pictures we took together, I've also got this masterpiece as a souvenir, which Sonya made for me using Paint:
When we said bye, I was honored because Babushka gave a hug and the traditional three kisses (on the lips...!) to Lena, her mom Irina, and then to me. I wasn't expecting that at all, but I felt like I was really part of the family. :)
Anyway, back to today: This morning was the usual Russian lesson with Lena. It was fun, and I had a much easier time reading and writing than I expected. I think I did better than Lena expected, too, but I'm constantly babbling and making up words, apparently, which seems to amuse us both. After the lesson, we had a master class on painting the well-known матрёшка (matryoshka), or Russian nesting dolls. It was a woman, her husband, who helped with preparations and took pictures, and her daughter, who is our age and interpreted Russian to English for us. This woman has been painting and selling her dolls for 20+ years now, and though it was fun to try it out ourselves, it was also nerve-wracking, and most of us ended up getting significant assistance from the master of the matryoshka in order to make our dolls souvenir-worthy. At this activity, we were joined by a camera crew from the regional affiliate of national TV station Россия 1, who, it turns out, decided to do a story on our Vanderbilt group's service-learning trip to Vladimir. :D
Next, the group went to lunch, had about an hour and a half to eat and dry off from the torrential downpour--the first rain we've even encountered during our stay here in Vladimir!--before heading to a center of culture and arts that formerly served as the House for Officers, a government building where meetings, ceremonies, and performances were conducted. For about an hour, we were given a private demonstration of old Russian military outfits and gear, before being allowed to put on the heavy chain-mail, vests, gloves, and swords ourselves. We got to have sword fights, and all I can even say about this is that it was AWESOME. (I wish I could think of a less-commonly-used word, but the experience literally elicited awe.) Also, some sort of heavy metal music--pun possibly intended?--was playing in the background as we were having our sword fights, dressed up as knights, and at one point Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyrie" from his Ring of the Nibelung cycle was playing. It was incredibly EPIC--that's a better word. So many pictures to come... And, naturally, the camera crew joined us for this activity, as well.
Afterward, we finally had some long-coveted free time. I returned home, where Lena took a nap, and I got cozy, caught up on world news, listened to the radio, watched some interviews and clips from a documentary of Russian president Putin on Youtube, and also gave into temptation and napped for about an hour and a half.
I woke up to a very pleasant surprise: Gleb had come over! This morning, I'd asked Lena if it'd be possible to say bye to Gleb before I left town, and she said she didn't think so. Whether this was just her being sneaky and surprising me with a visit from Gleb in the evening, or whether he actually had plans that then got cancelled so that he was able to come over, I don't know. But I woke up, packed (sadly), and went into the hallway, where Lena told me that Gleb was here. I walked into the room where they were, high-fived Gleb, and we talked for a minute before Lena spoke the words I'd long been awaiting: "Wanna watch The Godfather?"
For the next three hours, Gleb and Lena and I watched The Godfather: Part I (in English, with Russian subtitles, as there isn't a Russian-audio version), one of my all-time favorites and the favorite movie of Lena's dad. It was really incredible to be sharing the experience of this movie with my contemporaries on the other side of the world where I previously would've never expected to even find people who knew this movie. File this under the "We're Not So Different After All" category. This was Gleb's first time seeing the movie and my first time watching it all the way through in a long while. I actually caught three or four details I'd never picked up on before, thanks in part to the [Russian!] subtitles.
When the movie was over, we relocated into the kitchen, where I ate dinner, and Gleb snacked. We talked a bit, watched what was on TV (Family Guy), and then got some pictures before Gleb left. Now, it's 01:30, and I'm in that odd in-between state of knowing I should go to bed, yet wanting so badly to stay awake even though I know I've got nothing to gain from it. I want to enjoy every minute I'm here, and staying up late makes the hours pass much more slowly than falling asleep and suddenly waking up 8 hours later does.
Tomorrow, we'll have our last Russian lesson at the American Home before the group departs Vladimir for Murom, a nearby city. There, we'll be helping at the Murom Institute of Vladimir State University, talking with students who concentrate on the English language. We'll each be staying with a new host family during the two days we're there. Then, it's back to the American Home in Vladimir just long enough to grab our bags on Thursday evening, and we'll turn right back around and leave Vladimir for St. Petersburg, where our group will stay in a hostel the duration of our time in Russia.
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