Day in Review

Today I was very stressed out because I have my two mainstream classes on Thursdays. I thought I might have to give a report in history (the due date was not at all clear to me), and I still didn’t know how to say “Congregationalist” in Russian as of this morning, and I hadn’t printed it, etc. And then my spelling class is terrifying by definition. Plus I started taking the spelling class because it was in the room where I thought a different class would be, so I wasn’t sure if I could find the class again. Plus I hadn’t found the questions we were supposed to answer for homework.

So, after grammar class at the mezhfak, I rushed downtown, went to an internet cafe, used Wikipedia to solve some of my translation woes, printed the paper, continued to stress out about how I can’t read out loud in Russian and I can’t speak well enough to give the report without reading, went to the spelling class. The latin class of the group whose spelling class I went to was cancelled, about which they were very happy, so they were combined with this other class that was supposed to have latin at that time... sorry, this story is long and uninteresting so I’ll stop it. But first thing in the class, we did a “dictation.” That is, the teacher, this large woman with very long gray hair that she wears in a whale-spout, read sentences, and we were to write them, with correct spelling. But I never understood a word she said. So that was good. O% on that assignment. Then the class continued, following some textbook I don’t have. Then it was revealed that the class would meet for two class periods today. But I ran away after the first, because I had history class. But we sat in the class for 20 minutes, and no teacher appeared. I chatted with a very nice boy behind me, and eventually I asked, sort of laughing, “So, what are we sitting around not having class?” And he told me that the professor’s son’s funeral had been the day before. Oh. So then we all left, which means I could have gone to the other class period of the spelling class. It also means I didn’t give my report. Mainly, of course, I am sorry about the death of the professor’s son. Interesting, un-death-related note: my report contains the word “Mayflowerski.” I made that word up. It means “relating to the Mayflower.”

We’re leaving on our group trip tomorrow evening, and getting back Wednesday afternoon. I lost the schedule, so I don’t really know what we’re doing. We’ll see a famous hydroelectric plant, I know, and a museum of the BAM, this segment of railroad that the communists spent lots of year and dollars building but is sort of useless. And we’ll go downhill skiing at this famous ski mountain, but Middlebury only pays for an hour. I’m mostly excited about grocery shopping for the 36-hour train ride.

Very warm here the past few days. On my dash from the internet café to the linguistics department I saw the sad sight of a soft, crumbling ice palace. I hope it’s warmer near Syeverobaikalsk, wither our group trip, as I think our travel plans depend on being about to drive on a frozen Lake Baikal.