Wow I had a great, and very busy, weekend. I was all tired out from my trip to Moscow and Zaraisk, and so the two working days this past week were tough. After that little break, it was hard to get back into the rhythm of teaching again. But I had a big responsibility: teach the past simple tense (yes! now my students can talk about more than just habits and what is going on right now!).
On Friday, one of the other teachers and I made dinner for still another of the teachers and her host. The joke was that it was time for the men to cook and the women to watch. Dinner turned out really well--fish with onions and mushrooms cooked in a red wine reduction over pasta. In Russian tradition, we stayed up until the wee hours of the night talking in the kitchen. Then, on Saturday, after sleeping in until almost noon and putting in an hour and a half at the gym, I went with all the teachers and staff of the American Home to a concert by a folk dancing ensemble. It was really great, and it is hard to imagine the athleticism it takes to do some of those dances.
Today a guy I know from the gym invited me play rugby with a group of guys that gets together and plays every Sunday at a field in my neighborhood. I've never played rugby, and the temperature was somewhere in the 20s (Fahrenheit), but I decided it would make a good story at the very least. So I went, and actually I had a great time. Rugby is a rough game, but fortunately most of the time we did drills and practiced plays. This group is actually some sort of club, and the trainer who was overseeing the whole thing normally trains the championship team for Moscow Region, so he is quite good. I was the biggest guy there, so, despite my cluelessness (something that I could at least attribute to being a foreigner), everyone wanted me on their team. I, therefore, was part of second line in the scrums, which means that my head was shoved between two guys' legs, and my shoulders were pushing against their butts, moving the whole group forward into the opposing team. It's kind of strange when you think about it. But the whole thing was a lot of fun, and I'm sure I'll go play again.
When I got home, my host family had guests over, and so I immediately sat down, had a big bowl of steaming meaty soup (solyanka), some stuffed peppers, cheese, sausage, and--of course--vodka. That was a pleasant time, and it was fun to talk to their family's friends. After the party broke up (around 5pm), I headed to downtown Vladimir to get something from the American Home, and, once I got downtown, I called up one of my students to see what he was up to. It turns out he was only about a block away, so we quickly stopped by the AH and then went to play pool for a little bit. What a day! Now it's time to plan my lesson for tomorrow, do my Russian homework, and go to sleep. I'm beat!
On Friday, one of the other teachers and I made dinner for still another of the teachers and her host. The joke was that it was time for the men to cook and the women to watch. Dinner turned out really well--fish with onions and mushrooms cooked in a red wine reduction over pasta. In Russian tradition, we stayed up until the wee hours of the night talking in the kitchen. Then, on Saturday, after sleeping in until almost noon and putting in an hour and a half at the gym, I went with all the teachers and staff of the American Home to a concert by a folk dancing ensemble. It was really great, and it is hard to imagine the athleticism it takes to do some of those dances.
Today a guy I know from the gym invited me play rugby with a group of guys that gets together and plays every Sunday at a field in my neighborhood. I've never played rugby, and the temperature was somewhere in the 20s (Fahrenheit), but I decided it would make a good story at the very least. So I went, and actually I had a great time. Rugby is a rough game, but fortunately most of the time we did drills and practiced plays. This group is actually some sort of club, and the trainer who was overseeing the whole thing normally trains the championship team for Moscow Region, so he is quite good. I was the biggest guy there, so, despite my cluelessness (something that I could at least attribute to being a foreigner), everyone wanted me on their team. I, therefore, was part of second line in the scrums, which means that my head was shoved between two guys' legs, and my shoulders were pushing against their butts, moving the whole group forward into the opposing team. It's kind of strange when you think about it. But the whole thing was a lot of fun, and I'm sure I'll go play again.
When I got home, my host family had guests over, and so I immediately sat down, had a big bowl of steaming meaty soup (solyanka), some stuffed peppers, cheese, sausage, and--of course--vodka. That was a pleasant time, and it was fun to talk to their family's friends. After the party broke up (around 5pm), I headed to downtown Vladimir to get something from the American Home, and, once I got downtown, I called up one of my students to see what he was up to. It turns out he was only about a block away, so we quickly stopped by the AH and then went to play pool for a little bit. What a day! Now it's time to plan my lesson for tomorrow, do my Russian homework, and go to sleep. I'm beat!
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