20 February 2009

I went to services at the Grand Choral Synagogue tonight. My friend Roman invited me, and I met him there (I actually showed up about 30 minutes early, he showed up about 40 minutes late, so I was there for quite a while). It was a little uncomfortable waiting there, because every person that came in said hello to me in Russian and then switched to Hebrew, so while I was struggling to understand what they were talking about, each time I’d realize the reason I didn’t understand was because they weren’t speaking Russian.
It was something I’ve never experienced before…it was a Hassidic community and I didn’t understand a lot of what was going on. I wasn’t in the actual service all that long, however. We stayed for about an hour, then went to the youth Shabbat dinner. It was conducted by one of the rabbis and his family, and it was a good time. I got to meet some of Roma’s friends, and had some good food. I definitely ate too much, though. There were all different kinds of salads on the table, so I assumed that at a free dinner, that is all there will be, so I ate a lot. I tried everything, because it was all Russian dishes I had never heard of before. However…after I thought everything was wrapping up, they started the second course of chicken and rice… but I only had one drumstick as I was already full. There were a lot of prayers and a lot of singing, and the rabbi drank almost an entire bottle of vodka himself (only one other person had a glass), because every toast that was made he dignified with vodka while everyone else drank soda or grape juice. I suppose the vodka was getting to him, because once the toasts started, they started happening more and more often. I enjoyed myself, I had an opportunity to meet some interesting people, try some new foods, and have a new experience.
Roman asked me about the quality of the dorms, and I told him my plan for living here until the end of April and then finding a family to live with. He told me that he was planning to ask his parents if they would let me stay there, but he couldn’t promise anything. I really like Roma, the only problem is he speaks English fluently, and he told me that unfortunately he lives far from the university. We’ll see.
I called my professor Нонна Николаевна yesterday and accepted the job offer. She says we will talk about specifics on Wednesday, and I will also be speaking with Gary (the other American in my group) who is doing it. I’m not sure if I am getting my own class, or if I will be taking over his as he is leaving in a few weeks.
It was pointed out to me yesterday by a friend that I have a tendency to translate American expressions into Russian when I speak, and in translation they don’t make any sense. For example, I said to someone yesterday in Russian “at first glance I thought…” and they didn’t understand, and today I said to someone “do you think you can give me a ride home?” and if he hadn’t studied American English I don’t think he would have known what I meant. I need to work on either using Russian expressions or speaking as literally as possible.
Other than that, not too much going on. I think I am going to go to a museum tomorrow, perhaps the hermitage. We’ll see.