1. dill
2. old lady perfume
3. summer sausage
4. salty sea air
5. booze
Monday, September 22, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
they just make sense
im just not that comfortable with public changing rooms. and i'm just not that comfortable getting all that close.
so we go to the banya in novgarad. theres a large fitting room with wide chairs in long lines that look kind of like director's chairs. and they're all in rows and there are coat racks and shoe racks and its about the quality of a YMCA built in 1932. and theres us. and then there's a circle of russian woman, all smoking drinking and gossiping and dripping and they're all naked. the chatter stops and they're looking at us. and smoking; smoking at us. smoking at us and sizing us up.
we stripped down but we were all clutching our towels. about 7 of us.
the second room is full of basins; old showers where you pull a chain and the water drops down. some of the women are scrubbing each other with mud, some of them are lathering shampoo. and then they're all looking at us. they shuttle us into the sauna. the top is the hottest; wooden slatted benches. they pass us the branches and we kind of tickle ourselves with them. and then a fleet of them come in the door and we're all sitting on top of each other in the steam. and they're yelling things at us in russian but they're smiling. then they start yelling the only thing they seem to know in english: "MASSAGE MASSAGE!!" and before i know it they're pulling me to my feet and bending me over and beating me double with oak branches. im not a sadist, but it felt pretty good until they poured more water on the stones and my knees began to get weak and my head started to slump. we're all standing up, but they're still trying to teach us how to serve a proper wallop with those branches. 7 girls caught up on the stairs, sweating into their eyes and swaying on their feet.
and then the second thing i understand that we're supposed to do: to the river. only four of us at once, and i kind of thought there'd be a private walk. But in towels we run out to the public banya front and sideway down to the uneven beach ledge and the shallow bay and a gang of sleazy Russians in leather jackets.
we go twice, and the Russian women are giggling with us, and offering us shampoo and teaching us how to shampoo and how to scream when we dump water on ourselves because from what i can tell from the sign language its just good for your soul and teaching us how to drink beer and how to giggle and smoke and smile
so we go to the banya in novgarad. theres a large fitting room with wide chairs in long lines that look kind of like director's chairs. and they're all in rows and there are coat racks and shoe racks and its about the quality of a YMCA built in 1932. and theres us. and then there's a circle of russian woman, all smoking drinking and gossiping and dripping and they're all naked. the chatter stops and they're looking at us. and smoking; smoking at us. smoking at us and sizing us up.
we stripped down but we were all clutching our towels. about 7 of us.
the second room is full of basins; old showers where you pull a chain and the water drops down. some of the women are scrubbing each other with mud, some of them are lathering shampoo. and then they're all looking at us. they shuttle us into the sauna. the top is the hottest; wooden slatted benches. they pass us the branches and we kind of tickle ourselves with them. and then a fleet of them come in the door and we're all sitting on top of each other in the steam. and they're yelling things at us in russian but they're smiling. then they start yelling the only thing they seem to know in english: "MASSAGE MASSAGE!!" and before i know it they're pulling me to my feet and bending me over and beating me double with oak branches. im not a sadist, but it felt pretty good until they poured more water on the stones and my knees began to get weak and my head started to slump. we're all standing up, but they're still trying to teach us how to serve a proper wallop with those branches. 7 girls caught up on the stairs, sweating into their eyes and swaying on their feet.
and then the second thing i understand that we're supposed to do: to the river. only four of us at once, and i kind of thought there'd be a private walk. But in towels we run out to the public banya front and sideway down to the uneven beach ledge and the shallow bay and a gang of sleazy Russians in leather jackets.
we go twice, and the Russian women are giggling with us, and offering us shampoo and teaching us how to shampoo and how to scream when we dump water on ourselves because from what i can tell from the sign language its just good for your soul and teaching us how to drink beer and how to giggle and smoke and smile
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
you are found, yes you are found
i was lost today. completely utterly completely lost. on the wrong side of town kind of lost. smoke stacks and fruit stands kind of lost. horseback riders on the roadways, government documents and paperbacks in the gutters and laundry off of rusting statues kind of lost.
there's something about wandering like that that feels like you're being rocked to sleep even though everything seems sort of wide lens and distorted. and i knew i was traipsing totally in the wrong and there was alot of barbed wire and more than ever stray dogs and gangs of militzia and i really couldn't make myself panic. i was the total opposite of panic. and that kind of made me want to panic...
everyones pushing and everyones shoving and everyone's stepping over death and they don't really care if they dig in their heels. sara said its easier to push back and im not a saint but i just dont wanna. i really just dont wanna. alot of times it makes me giggle. most of the time it makes me giggle; every once in a while it makes me cry.
but something about here just feels right.
there's something about wandering like that that feels like you're being rocked to sleep even though everything seems sort of wide lens and distorted. and i knew i was traipsing totally in the wrong and there was alot of barbed wire and more than ever stray dogs and gangs of militzia and i really couldn't make myself panic. i was the total opposite of panic. and that kind of made me want to panic...
everyones pushing and everyones shoving and everyone's stepping over death and they don't really care if they dig in their heels. sara said its easier to push back and im not a saint but i just dont wanna. i really just dont wanna. alot of times it makes me giggle. most of the time it makes me giggle; every once in a while it makes me cry.
but something about here just feels right.
we're all for sale
i will not forget to carry my camera.
i will not forget to carry my camera.
i will not forget to carry my camera.
after taking the metro up north to the mall ("grand canyon") and checking out the russian hiphop store we headed back towards the metro station which in all of an hour had been transformed into a bustling market. fish next to secondhand socks next to tazers next to knives and guns next to mumus. sarah wanted so badly to haggle for a pair of oversized nightshirts with waterskiing bears, but the woman wasnt having any of it. we figured if we turned away dramatically she might try to bargain with us. no luck. sarah was pissed she wouldn't come down any.
they were all of 150 rubles (USD $6)
i will not forget to carry my camera.
i will not forget to carry my camera.
after taking the metro up north to the mall ("grand canyon") and checking out the russian hiphop store we headed back towards the metro station which in all of an hour had been transformed into a bustling market. fish next to secondhand socks next to tazers next to knives and guns next to mumus. sarah wanted so badly to haggle for a pair of oversized nightshirts with waterskiing bears, but the woman wasnt having any of it. we figured if we turned away dramatically she might try to bargain with us. no luck. sarah was pissed she wouldn't come down any.
they were all of 150 rubles (USD $6)
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
big girls don't cry
made a whole decent breakfast all by yourself and took vitamins. charmed that cat you live with. took 129marshrutka even though the only useful word you knew was "thank you." four russian women asked you for directions on seperate occasions, which means maybe you looked like you knew what you were doing. you even told them in passable russian that you had no idea what they were saying. ordered your own coffee even if sarah had to tell you how to say it okay. you even survived rush hour on the metro. you did pretty good today. so dont worry too much that that man stuck his hand in your dress and groped you on the way home. your still a pretty decent big girl.
Monday, September 1, 2008
russians laugh the same but different
i have to say right now i feel my most homesick.
i spent most of my yesterday trying to find the right plug converter for my laptop. too bad my sign language for "plug" looks like sign language for copulation. which electronic people think is really funny.
which is really funny except for when you just really want the right plug right now and everyone is laughing at you in russian.
and then i got insanely jealous when i saw where maggie was staying. and that she was having borsk for dinner. it's insanely russian, with rugs designed into the carpet and crazy wall paper and cat statues everywhere. and im living at ikea by myself with a really pretty cat and wireless internet. but i'd rather be living in real russia.
mostly i just want everyone here so we can enjoy the organ grinder in the red square.
like it should be.
da?
i spent most of my yesterday trying to find the right plug converter for my laptop. too bad my sign language for "plug" looks like sign language for copulation. which electronic people think is really funny.
which is really funny except for when you just really want the right plug right now and everyone is laughing at you in russian.
and then i got insanely jealous when i saw where maggie was staying. and that she was having borsk for dinner. it's insanely russian, with rugs designed into the carpet and crazy wall paper and cat statues everywhere. and im living at ikea by myself with a really pretty cat and wireless internet. but i'd rather be living in real russia.
mostly i just want everyone here so we can enjoy the organ grinder in the red square.
like it should be.
da?
ILLiterate
it's one of the most difficult things to tell yourself that a p is not a p, it's an r.
and that this * is a letter.
i love my professor. she has one lazy eye and 6 gold teef. she's been teaching japanese bussinessmen and all she can do in english is growl "i am a so sorry. i dont speak english."
i promise pictures soon.
ive just been lazy,
and that this * is a letter.
i love my professor. she has one lazy eye and 6 gold teef. she's been teaching japanese bussinessmen and all she can do in english is growl "i am a so sorry. i dont speak english."
i promise pictures soon.
ive just been lazy,
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