Journal 91
Thursday - 11-25-10
Thanksgiving Day -- Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Leftover Rice A Roni and a Snickers for lunch. That was it. Ha ha.
I guess the Marines didn't wind up doing a separate thing from the Embassy; and since I have no official Embassy ties, obviously I couldn't go to that. That's okay. I did Skype with my parents -- asked that there be Pumpkin Pie with lots of whipped cream at some point when I am visiting at home. Meina Mutti, I think, is set to do a replacement Thanksgiving Dinner. *laughs* Kind of her.
**********
I guess it was Pete's "Debut" night at the new spot he's working at. He teased me, saying that they were going to Penthouse afterwards, and that "my girl" (Victoria) should be there. So, who can resist going to see a friend? I promised I'd stop by after dance lessons and practice. As it turned out, our lessons were at the Belorusskaya Studio, and later in the evening, so there would be no going to the other studio to practice.
**********
I was running a little bit late to lessons, more like, toe-ing the line of it, so, naturally, I was moving at a pretty good clip as I left the Metro station. Which is to say, I walked/ran up the escalator, and was running up the stairs to the street -- while wearing my awesome new high-heeled boots!! As I was running up the stairs to the street, I saw a young man approach out of my peripheral vision, and he said (translated), "Run, run, run!!"
I recognized Roma's voice right away, and laughing, I turned to him and said, "That's right! I was running for you!!"
"Thank you!" he replied graciously, and from there, we hurried on to our lesson together.
Vitaly was running late, so there was no reason for us to worry about toeing the line ourselves -- but it did tell me we were probably only going to get one lesson.
The lesson went well, but there was one little bump…
[Chat Log - begins with me explaining why I left so suddenly earlier in the day]
Me: I had to run for dance
Me: Which was Hawkward**, at times
[** "Hawkward" is a play off of the word "awkward" which comes from *this* photo.]
Friend: And why was it hawkward?
Me: Well, there was the bit where I didn't say something quite right in Russian, and then Roma and Vitaly just laughed
Me: You know that, "we're both guys, so were going to laugh; and we both speak the language you're failing at, so we're going to laugh" sort of laugh?
Me: So yeah, that's always fun
Friend: Ah.
Friend: Just be like "Ok well, I have the ass you want."
Friend: And see if they laugh.
Me: Oh, that happened too
Me: As I'm about to explain
Me: Vitaly was trying to get Roma to lead something with some more energy
Me: The part in question is as follows:
Me: The Lead has just been counter balancing me as I'm leaning forward (off balance), then pulls me back, and I drop down the front of said Lead
Me: Then I get to wiggle back up to standing
Me: Ooh, sexy. Yay. *waves flags*
Me: Well, the whole point in my dropping down/rising back up again, is supposed to be that the lead is giving me the energy/ direction to do this
Me: He has directed me downwards, and must now direct me up (to standing), and then to walk away from him
Me: So, that's the idea. And There was basically no energy between us
Me: And that makes it [the moves] look terrible
Me: You know, Rumba, it's supposed to be Romantic, blah blah blah
Me: Very sexy.
Me: But if you're leading it with no energy, or just going through the motions, it's nothing
Me: So
Me: Vitaly leads it how he wants it done. Hooray, energy! Then he says, "This is what you're doing."
Me: And just goes through, barely giving me anything
Me: And then
Me: When I'm standing in front of him, and he's supposed to give me a lead (a bump of sorts, which I normally feel on my back, or the top of my hips) -- he just slaps my ass
Me: Like, "Okay, get off, I'm done"
Me: Not *hard* or anything -- but kinda like what I feel like some guy at a strip club would do to a stripper, actually
Me: That's not even the "best" part
Me: So, I turn around, surprised as %*#$ [and the same, "What are you doing?!" look on my face]
Me: (It's not like no one's ever slapped/hit my butt before - but Vitaly certainly never has; and it was way out of context.)
Me: And he's like, 'What?" and then, as he's looking at Roma and laughing about it, turns back to me and says, "It's ok! This is Latin-American dancing!"
Me: I was thinking, 'Duh, I know we slap each others' butts all the time in this genre…' But it was... Weird. Certainly no teacher has ever done that to me before. =O_o=
Me: Thus, "Hawkward."
Friend (understandably, somewhat confused): So how is this different from someone slapping your butt elsewhere?
Friend: I'd like to think that the people you associate with would have a little more respect.
Me: Ha ha ha
Me: Okay, let me put it this way
Me: If Roma were to do that
Me: Roma's my partner - so there is a little more intimacy/trust there (not much more right now, since we're still new)
Me: He's the person I see and work with every day, am more friendly with, etc.
Me: Thus, if he does that, I can be sure he's not taking advantage of me, if he were to do it in the context of a routine
Me: Because yes, this is Latin dancing, it's supposed to be sexy, and fun
Me: But, he wouldn't just do it for nothing -- it would be very scripted
Me: I.e. - At this part, it's okay for me to do this action.
Me: It's like actors playing a part. Say there's a kiss scene between two actors. On an every day basis, they're not truly snogging each other (in most cases), it's just part of whatever scene they are playing.
Me: The same in dance. My partner isn't walking around smacking my butt all day -- it just may happen in the course of us going, "We're playing two people, the girl being sexy, and the guy pursuing her, and both of them flirting madly."
Me: Or, there's the example from back at home, when I'd come up and smack Y. or R. [two of my girlfriends] on the butt, to "say hi"
Me: We knew each other, we were friends, and everyone was obviously ok with it. It was our joke
Me: A well established one, etc.
Me: In Vitaly's case, as far as I see it - there was zero reason for him to do smack me like that.
Me: It was out of context; we're certainly not partners; I don't think you can say we're friends; and we have no history of any physical interaction on that end; etc. etc.
Me: Hence, my surprise
Me: It was like him pulling a North Korea. "I'm going to shell this town because nothing bad is truly going to happen to me if I do."
Me: Etc.
Me: Essentially, I think the line of thought for him in doing it was, "Because I could."
[End Chat Log]
[Another friend had this to say, later: "So unfair. We all want to slap your butt, but we control ourselves :P "
Ha ha ha ha ha!!! Oh, my friends who are boys, I adore you all.]
So, yeah. Interesting night at dance. There are a million and a half ways to look at this situation, in any positive or negative light. One may argue that Vitaly is closer to our age, and therefore more apt to do something like that than a teacher twice my age; one may argue that American's are pretty crazy about our personal space, whereas Europeans are less so (Thus, I have been groomed, as an American, to react as, "Why are you touching me?!?!" whereas Vitaly, being both Russian and having grown up in this very physical sport, wouldn't have thought twice about signaling me the way he did.); ad nauseum.
What I can assure anyone reading this, is that the incident was probably forgotten on every other end within a few minutes; and beyond its serving as an interesting story, and something for me to consider human interaction as influenced by one's native culture, it really serves no purpose. *laughs*
**********
The lesson ended, and after we set up our next lesson together for Monday, I asked Vitaly if he could work with me tomorrow. He said, "I'm going somewhere, not home, right now -- so I will write you later. I don't know yet."
Considering the "success" I've had with him saying, "I'll write you later," lately, I looked at him with as much meaning as I could muster, and asked, "Promise?" Though I had zero faith in that having any effect.
And so, I left the studio with Roma -- and then he and I parted ways. I continued on to go see Pete.
**********
It was a pretty interesting night, actually!
I got to know someone else who works at the new place -- who seemed to become fonder and fonder of me as we spoke. Finally, he told me I'd be perfect, and he'd marry me, except for the fact that I neither smoke, nor drink -- and thus, according to Chekov, that made me, "A bitch."
He then looked at me, smiling, saying, "Now, don't be offended! *I* am not saying that, Chekov did!" And he quoted the line in Russian to me.
*****
Russian: "Если человек не пьёт и не курит, неволей начинаешь задумываться, а не сука ли он…"
Russian, Phonetically for English-Speakers: "Yes-lee / cello-vyek / knee / p'yoat / ee / knee / coo-rit, / knee-voh-lei / nah-chi-nai-yesh / zah-doo-mwe-vaht-sa, / ah / knee / soo-ka / lee / ohn."
English Translation: "If a man/person doesn't drink and doesn't smoke, you'll unwillingly start to wonder if he's not a bitch…"
(-- Though, apparently, the original word was "сволочь," - which means "scum" - not, "сука." --)
*****
I then immediately further endeared myself to him, when, instead of becoming upset, I played a loophole in the translation process.
"Why, that phrase has no effect on me! He's talking about if a *man* doesn't drink or smoke!"
(The word, "chelovek," may be used as, "person," or as "man." Thus, I chose to "ignore" the fact that the word could be inclusive of all people, and chose to use it only as referring to men.)
"You're pretty cool." He said, smiling and nodding. "And I don't say that often."
*laughs* It was a good night.
**********
Of course, then there was the part where, it was past midnight, and I still hadn't heard from Vitaly. When it hit past 12:30, I was sure that I was not only not going to hear from him, but that it certainly meant I wasn't going to have lessons tomorrow.
Oh, ye of little faith!
I got a message at 1:18 AM (Now, Friday morning!!) on my phone!! I got up from my computer to get my phone, mumbling, "Who on *Earth* is messaging me at this hour?!"
Vitaly, apparently. And, to my great surprise, he was asking if I could work at a certain time!
I could, so I answered in the affirmative, and then teased, "You're lucky I hadn't gone to bed yet! ;)"
He responded, "It's you who's lucky. If you'd gone to bed, you'd have remained without lessons! :-) "
Touché, Vitaly. Ha ha ha.
**********
And with that, I should be in bed!
Love,
Moscow Kitty
