Day 6

I've probably written it before, but I'll write it again: They are really keeping us busy on this trip! Because of this and the level of exhaustion from all this [wonderful and exciting!] activity, I've unfortunately had trouble giving a full update each day. My posts may take the form of several bullet points, which I'll then come back to revise the following night. I had a feeling this might be the case, which is why I issued a disclaimer in my first blog post.

This morning, I think I was the most tired I've been since we arrived here, and I was no good at all during the lesson with my host sister. She's doing a fine job, and I just want to have a solid grasp of basic phrases. Being realistic, I don't really wish to achieve much more than that. My stay is short, and I know that my Russian will not reach a level at which I can ask deep questions and have conversations about culture, history, etc. in the Russian language. So long as I can find the bathroom, I don't care whether or not I'm using the correct ending for a noun or adjective. At this point, the Cyrillic alphabet is still my biggest obstacle to actually learning stuff, since I normally think by visualizing words, which I'm then able to speak. Right now, I can't visualize things, because I'm not familiar with the alphabet, and trying to visualize everything phonetically just gets confusing and messes me up during lessons. So, my mental Word document is blank, and, hence, I find myself unable to say much at all.

After our lessons and tea time, our group went to Vladimir State University for a quick lunch before giving an approximately 2.5-hour-long "presentation" on Vanderbilt to students of the history department at Vladimir State. It was the afternoon, the classroom was hot, and most of the students were too nervous to speak English in order to ask us the questions we had come expecting to answer. So, we rambled on and on about Vanderbilt, filling the time allotted for this presentation/discussion and putting a couple of students to sleep in the process. At the end, though, a professor came back in the room and had the Russian students and us American students split up, sit together, and mingle, so that we were in smaller groups. In this situation, the Russian students in my little group were relatively talkative, and it was a lot more fun and engaging than just us sitting at the front of the classroom giving a panel talk. We're peers, after all.

Next, we went back to the American Home, met up with the professor of political science who lectured to us a few days prior on the history and politics of Russian society, and he took us on an extensive tour across Vladimir, to churches, cathedrals, a peaceful monastery unexpectedly tucked away inside the center of the city, the Golden Gates and the remaining ramparts nearby, and many other historical points of interest. Most of these areas had already been shown to me by Lena during our walks through town, so I had a leg up and was able to sort of tune out a little and just take pictures. I was so tired, and it was so hot that I really couldn't do much else to keep from dropping to the ground, curling up into a ball, and falling asleep. I wish I had been fresher, and I think my group mates probably felt similarly. The professor leading us is extremely knowledgeable, but he also appears to have energy and stamina that we lack, as he took us from one side of the city clear across to the other (and back) on foot. A highlight was when we were across the street walking past "my" house, and just as I was pointing it out to everyone in the group, Lena and I saw each other; she was standing out in the front yard talking with some neighbors, so we smiled and waved at each other, and then my group smiled and waved, too. I was proud to show off my host sister, even if it was from across the street. :D

Following the tour, our group went to a theater where we had tickets to see a performance by "Rus," a local (I think) children's folk group. For an hour and a half, we were treated to traditional Russian song and dance, and all the kids--from 4 up to maybe 16 or so, it looked like--wore traditional dress. Some dances were funny, some were beautiful, but all were entertaining and gave an insightful look into this rich, centuries-old culture. Some of the kids doubled or even tripled, performing on traditional Russian instruments such as horns, which I didn't realize were part of the culture. (At one point, the kids broke into a rendition of "The Entertainer" using the Russian instruments, which we Americans found particularly amusing; we wondered if the Russians in the audience also immediately recognized the song) The balalaika, of course, was present. For the first time, I saw real, live, traditional Russian kazatsky dancing--the dance of the Cossacks, with the jumping up and down, arms crossed, legs kicking out. It was incredible, though only three guys could do it all the way. The gracefulness of all of the dancers (even some of the really little ones) was impressive.

Afterwards, it was time to head home for dinner. Lena and I talked while I ate, going over our days with each other. Gleb came over about half an hour later, joined us for dinner, and then the three of us went for a walk through town. He devised a strategy to help me learn some Russian words while we were on our walk, so, yay! Also, tonight I saw inside a Burger King for the first time since being in Russia--surprisingly nice and clean, somewhat fancy, and they even sell beer!