3-31-10; 11:00 PM
I could really use a pinch right now. *laughs* Good night.
*****
Day of class --
I had my "Tête-à-Tète" with Tamara Evgenevna -- and she had nothing bad to say! She just thinks I need to work on learning more words, and some of the grammatical bits that I've run into (which she is right about). We also agreed that maybe I need to focus on trying to say simpler sentences, to make sure they are clear -- instead of trying to run head-long through some sort of complicated construction. (Read: the way I use my English!) -- But she's very pleased with me, and is looking forward to my being here for the long run. She thinks I'll really, really be able to improve by the time I leave. She'd put me at a 4 right about now -- but thinks that I could be a 5 by the time I leave! I sure hope so!
(** The Russian grading system goes from 1 to 5; 5 being the highest.)
*****
In the interest of, "This Is Russia," also known as, "Nothing Here Is Ever Easy:"
We had passport snafus during the day, because John had supposedly sent us an SMS that we were to turn in our passports around 11 AM (to get our new Visas) -- but most of us never received that SMS. Thus, the first news we got about needing to turn in our passports was an SMS saying that we needed to do so, "IMMEDIATELY." !!! A good number of us straight dropped our lunches and rushed out to turn them in. -- I actually didn't mind, because I wound up taking a nice little run from the Dorm Cafeteria back to the University. It was one of those, "We have the perfect weather for it," and, "I haven't stretched my legs out in *so* long with a run!" sorts of moments. It was so nice, actually, that I wound up running *back* to the cafeteria to finish my lunch!
After dance, John told us our passports were going to be ready in a half an hour -- something of a problem for me, as I wanted to return the Yota, and to go get ready for my dance lesson/practice -- but it wasn't too bad… (Except for the part where I asked if John thought I'd need my passport to get my refund on the Yota -- to which he replied, "Probably." There went trying to economize my time!!)
Unfortunately, about 15 minutes after *that,* we got another SMS saying that they wouldn't be ready for an hour!!! I told John that there was no way that I could stay that long, so, we met quickly and quietly, and after he asked me whether or not I had ever been stopped by the Militsia, as well as that he didn't think that I fit the pattern of people they were stopping, he told me I could go ahead and leave -- just not to tell everyone else what I was doing. It's bad enough to be without a passport here -- it's worse to be without a passport two days after a terrorist attack, with Militsia patrols increased everywhere! -- Luckily enough for me, the streak continued today, and I was not stopped by anyone! Now, if I can just get to the University tomorrow without getting stopped, life will be good! =^__^= ''
**********
Thus, with John's pseudo-blessing, I rushed off for home. Some 30 minutes after arriving home, I was off for the dance studio! I ran into Olga on the way out, who shared her thoughts that maybe the man who grabbed me in the Metro yesterday may have done so because of the black headband I was wearing!!! Apparently, it's some kind of terrorist/separatist garb? Obviously a cultural thing I completely missed.
I got to the studio OK, and changed to go start practicing, but my hip was really bothering me, and so I spent a fair amount of time watching the other lessons that were going on, and fearing that the day's lesson was not going to go well *at all.*
(I'm sure all the dancers out there have had those days where your body just doesn't feel right, and nothing you do is working well at all? Oh yeah -- it was one of those days. … I think the fact that I've only had 8 hours of sleep in the last 3 days had something to do with that…)
*****
I suppose I should be grateful that I had a lesson at all, because before we started, Vitaly told me that he wasn't feeling well (as I understood it). So, I spent the next 5-10 minutes not even knowing if I was going to have a lesson!!!
I did, in the end; and what a lesson it was!! Tonight was SO bad… I certainly never want to see some of the looks I saw on his face ever again!! It was like a roller coaster -- "No, no, no -- a *little* better -- no, no, no -- Oh! Good, good, well-done -- NO!"" Ha ha ha ha!!! Lots of, "No" today. Oy vey. But! The lesson was still good, for information, and for trying to identify a few of my individual problems (i.e. - Why is X going wrong? Because you're doing Y wrong, and Z isn't helping you either.). I also got a nifty little piece of choreography for Cha Cha to work on [to help get my hip action/body position right] !
After that, we moved on to starting Samba -- again, learning how to do it "in place." I have to say, learning the dances "in place," (in a "cucaracha" position) has got to be one of the most interesting, and enjoyable -- albeit difficult -- exercises I've been given while here so far. Samba I especially love, "in place" -- but it's going to take some getting used to! It's certainly one of the best ab work outs I've had in a LONG time if I do it just the way that Vitaly wants it (with the correct hip/leg/back action).
**********
My lesson ended with that, and Vitaly and I had an interesting little chat, where I was trying to ask him what the Russian word for "Patience," was -- but he didn't know the word "Patience," and, try as I might, in both English as well as in Russian, I couldn't come up with an example that turned on the lightbulb. Vitaly promised to find out for me on Friday, and I made a note to myself to look it up. It was all pretty funny, actually -- in that pathetic, "We're trying to understand each other!" sort of way!
We split up -- and normally I'd have stayed to practice, but my hip was really bothering me, so I decided to just call it a night and go home. I was tired!
I went to change, and met a nice girl named Liza, who looks about 16-17. I'd watched her and her partner during their lesson, actually! Her partner came to get her, so we stopped chatting so she could finish getting ready. I had tried to get my things together a little faster, to go out with them, but then it just didn't seem worth it. I thought that maybe I would do my dance notes, so that I wouldn't forget anything (there was so much information today!!!!) -- but after I'd written the first sentence, Vitally came down the stairs.
It was at that point that I remembered I was supposed to tell him the English version of another word we'd chatted about the week before -- so I just wound up packing my stuff up, and walking out with him. I asked if he wasn't going to the Metro (as he hadn't used it when we first met), but he said that he was, and invited me to walk with him.
It was nice getting better acquainted; and I was happy to have someone to walk to the Metro with (it's a bit of a hike, and kinda dark at some points -- so company is always good).
It was also pretty funny -- I wound up telling him the story about the guy grabbing me, and while he was shocked at first, he was also trying to think of reasons why this man would grab me. He stopped at one point, looked at me, and said, "Were you wearing that headband??" (The same black one, Olga asked about.), "Yes," I replied, "I'd just come from practice!" -- So, it seems that Vitaly and Olga were together on that! I busted his chops some for that, saying, "With this face?! C'mon, do you really think I look like a terrorist??" Ha ha ha! No chance.
( I still don't think the guy thought I was a terrorist -- he certainly wasn't angry or yelling at me. -- Still, good to know about the headband, I suppose. )
**********
While we were walking into the Metro station, Liza and her partner caught up to us, so we had a nice little group there on the platform. Vitaly and I spent most of the time until I got off of the train getting to know each other more, asking questions, laughing, etc. It was a really, really good time. =^__^= ( This part of my night was also the reason I said I needed a pinch at the start of this journal! What can I say? I'm always happy to have a good time! )
Among the highlights:
** Vitaly was asking if I had many (Russian) friends here. I told him no, but that Pete (my American friend) kept introducing me to Russians here and there. He responded, "You shouldn't trust any of them! If you don't know someone, don't trust anyone [in this city]." I looked at him and said, "Not even you?!" --A slight language mishap later, Vitaly understood what I meant, and said, "Oh, of course you can trust me!!"
** Vitaly told me to use the informal form of "You" with him
-- Now, some of you may not understand what this means. In some languages, such as Russian, French, Spanish, and Italian, there are *two* forms of the word "You." One is an informal form, used for (close) friends, family, older people to younger people, etc. The other is a formal or plural form, used for groups of people (plural), people older than yourself, people you don't know, teachers, etc.
I am still trying to understand the dynamic between the two in Russian -- because with French, it is a *very* big deal to be able to use the informal form with someone, and it's certainly expected that you'll never just start out using that form with someone (with some exceptions). Having had 9 years of French, I tend to use those rules when deciding which form to use in Russian -- which seems to be a stricter set of rules than Russian has.
Anyway, in the middle of asking Vitaly a question with the formal form, he interrupted me, using the informal form of the possessive pronoun I was using. ["Which is your (formal) stop?" --"Your (informal)." --"What?"] -- I thought he was switching the question I'd asked back to me at first, but then he started explaining the Formal/Informal difference, and checking as to whether it was correct that English doesn't have it. I confirmed that English makes no difference; and then he told me to use the Informal form with him!
I guess the best way to make this situation a little easier to understand is just to say that it makes us closer to being friends, and closes a certain "gap" that using the formal form makes.
*****
I know that normally, people tell me that they are surprised to meet someone like me here in Moscow -- a, "little ray of sunshine," as it were. (I am not exaggerating this -- there are people who do *literally* tell me I'm their little ray of sunshine here. XD ) -- To me, I am actually *really* surprised to have met someone like Vitaly here. For all intents and purposes, as a handsome, Russian, *amazing* (Latin) dancer -- he should be stuck up to no small end. (My experience so far with people such as himself.) But, lo and behold, he seems to be one of the most patient, understanding, down-to-Earth, good-natured men I've ever met! And that's just nice on a million different levels.
I'm really happy I didn't practice tonight, in the end.
**********
Time to go get to homework!
Love,
Moscow Kitty; 11:53 PM
=^__^= / = @_@ =
PS - Thank you, Cam, for returning the favor of all those times I've been "sitting on your shoulder!" =^_~=
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