Let me begin by helping you understand something about
waiting in lines: Russians have no
concept of them. No concept of the line
part and no concept of the waiting part.
But, that is OK; when I get home and people ask how I got so good at
boxing out in basketball my reply will be, “Four months of keepin my place in
line at McDonalds.”
Although my favorite “line” experience to date took place at
the Post Office this week and is not likely to ever be topped :)
After finally getting the mail system here figured out it
was time for Grandma and Grandpa to get their letter from Russia. Now, the fastest way to get these letters to
the U.S.A. is by airmail, 14 days. I am
sad to admit that I have not miraculously become a fluent Russian speaker over
the last four months. So, I had my
coordinator, Natasha, write out a little note that said I needed an airmail
envelope with enough stamps to get to the U.S. I would show this to the Lady at the Post Office and everything would be
hassle free right? Wrong.
I walked through the door only to find a mass of people everywhere
in the room- No sign of any line formation anywhere! This was gonna be interesting… So, I started motioning to people asking with
my hands and facial expressions “Are you in line?” Some pointed to places which didn’t make any
sense and others said, “Huh?” Which is
always discouraging when you know they’ll be even more confused if I really try
to say anything at all. But, most of
them said, “Niet” (No). I was rather
perplexed and confused. How did this
work? Where do I go? What do I do?
How do they all understand what is going on? This makes no sense. It felt like my first few days in Russia all
over again.
Then, a purple haired angel came to my rescue. You can always
count on Babushkas to help you out! She
put her hand on my back and started spouting off in Russian to me. Since, I always seem to conveniently forget
the full phrase for, "I don’t understand Russian" when it is needed all I said
was, “Niet Parooski… Pongliski”. (No
Russia…English) Haha oh man, that sounds
so desperate. She looked at me confused
and said something else. I repeated
my broken reply then she chuckled and started talking to the guy next to
her.
The next thing I know he’s talking to the guy next to him
and they both laugh a bit and guy #2 says, “Niet”. He starts walking around the whole room while
pointing at me and saying somethin to each person where I could only make out
the words, “Nipo daymyo Paruski… Pongliki.” And “Niet”. Well, that right there is my favorite, having
a bunch of Russians talking about me.
The room got pretty loud after that got started; everyone was talking to
each other and looking at me. I figured
the guy was going around trying to find someone who spoke English. No success.
If I had any chance at blending in during this visit, that chance had
flown out the window- Now everyone knew there was an American in the room.
So, my new purple haired Grandma started gabbing at me
again. Noticing the note in my hand she
took it, read it and… well, that was our first bit of success as she now at
least knew why I was there. She snatched
my hand and started pulling me across the room and through all the people,
heading straight for the counter where there were probably six people
standing. Oh, I guess I found the
beginning of the line- the blob off shoving elbows.
….Haha I still can’t believe what she did, she started
talking really loudly at all of them and a few stepped to the side, she stuck
her hand with my note in front of the Lady sitting behind the counter! Can anyone say, “BUTTER!” I guess Babushkas have access to 24/7 fast
passes :) And, this one was still
holding my hand… kinda weird.
Haha the Lady put her hand up and kept busily to her
work. Guess butting is allowed but
interrupting isn’t. So, we waited.
One other Lady started talking to me. I caught bits and pieced together that she
was asking if I was from America, I said “Dah”. (Yes) Then, I thought I heard her say something
about… Colorado. Was she asking if I am
from Colorado? What the random? How would she know Colorado? California I understand, but Colorado? I said, “Niet, Colorado. Utah”.
Now, it was her turn to put on the “What are you talking about?” face.
Okay, maybe I didn’t know what she was saying.
Then Purple Hair took my letter out of my hand and started
looking at it. She smiled when she saw
the heart I had drawn on the back with my salutation. I pointed at the recipient and said, “Babooshka
y Dyadooshka”. I figured she would be
amused that the letter was to my Grandma and Grandpa in America. She was :).
Well, Miss. Postal Lady finished and I was up next. Gma Purple Hair did all the work for me: she gave her my note and took my money to
give her as well. Lightly aggressive,
yes. But, I thought it was funny! Next thing I knew what I went there to do was
completed. And, I’m pretty sure I jumped
in front of a good 20 people to do it!
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