The Post-Vacation Post

Well, I'm back in the saddle in Kyzyl, after a somewhat epic journey and a fun vacation. One of my realizations of the first few moments of my trip was that this is the first real vacation of my adult, working life! It was super-sweet and I will have to work hard to make the future ones are just as good. However awesome any experience is, its important to take some time off to play and relax.

To briefly summarize; I left Kyzyl in a taxi full of Tyvans listening to throat singing and bad rap, stayed at a hotel in Abakan where I was declared "molodetz" by the Russian lady working in the cafeteria, caught a plane to Moscow, wandered around with Helen, who I miraculously happened to meet on her way back from Egypt, caught a train to Petersburg and listened to babushkas on the train compete for who had the most ailments (one of the babushkas was wearing a thong under her see-through tights!). Then, in a dreamlike state, I walked up and down Nevsky prospekt at 5am until the hostel where I was staying would admit me and I finally got to rasslabitsya (relax).

Over the next few days the memories came flooding back as I re-wandered and re-walked the streets of my semester abroad in 2007. It was futuristic, dude! By that I mean it was really fun. I didn't realize how much I missed Piter (well, I somehow half-consciously realized, hence planning the vacation). Such a great city, probably my favorite in the whole world! Beautiful buildings, kind of a stately claustrophobia to the whole thing. With canals. Baller. And some really cool people... It's hard to even go into how many great folks from different trips to Russia, Fulbright, Kenyon, Tuva, I ran into. If you haven't been to St. Petersburg I suggest you go someday. It's probably the most sublime place on Earth, except for Interior Alaska when the leaves are falling.

The highlight of my week in Piter (well, one of the highlights) was finding all my long-lost teachers, friends, and babushkas who thought I had dropped off the face of the Earth (I felt some guilt about not being a better communicator). I was invited to concerts, immediately had a full social schedule and just generally enjoyed the bejeebers out of some cool people. They showered me with useful presents; books, film recommendations, old sweaters, photocopied articles, phone numbers of local experts in central asian studies. I found the American-style winter boots I left in the ceiling of my old apartment two years ago! Additionally the hostel folks were great and the hostel had just about everything a person could need (most importantly a shower and washing machine with free laundry soap). Then, as if that wasn't enough, four fine Fulbrighters from Siberia popped into town and we proceeded to be young/footloose/fancy-free English teachers on vacation.

My colleagues and I then took the train to Moscow where we convened for three days with all the ETAs. Seeing the whole teacher group again was awesome. Everybody seems to be doing really great; all in one piece and culturally adapting... and we were able to have genuinely helpful discussions, because we are all equally immersed in the nitty-gritty of teaching and Russian life. We spent our free time playing cards in cafes, slowly drinking tea and doing aerobics with the English language, giving our native tongues some exercise with equal conversation partners. It was a beautiful thing that was over too soon.

Then I along with two Siberian neighbor ETAs, Brendan and Helen, took the train back out to the boonies. It was a fun ride, most importantly it involved lots of tea and sleeping. We were too busy sleeping even to play cards. When we woke up, we would look out the window a little while to watch the big white countryside fade past, before burrowing back under our standard-issue felt blankets into dreamland. I always for some reason have epic dreams on trains, and this transiberian experience did not disappoint. People I hadn't thought about in years came drifting back in my sleep. Something about the rocking motion of the train I think, really triggers deep relaxation of the psyche. Though the Russians on the train just complained about foot odor and boredom. I guess it all depends on your point of view.

In Novosibirsk, I bid farewell to Helen and Bredan (but they promised to come visit!!) and caught a train to Abakan after illegally charging my cell phone in a bathroom where doing so was strictly forbidden. As I was stepping off the train in Abakan, I almost fell into the arms of the Tuvan driver who has driven me through the mountains the last three times. I kind of feel like his sole pupose in life is hanging out at bus/train stations and airports waiting for me. He said to me "How was your trip?" I said "Great!" He said "Ok, lets go to Kyzyl" I said "Sure thing!" And we took off. Unfortunately, the motion of the car after the motion of the train kind of blew my mind and I had to stop and puke my brains out on the roadside. The Tuvans were really nice about it, and brought me toilet paper.

It was surreal to get back to the apartment in Kyzyl and gear up for the next five months. Something I really enjoyed in my travels was having freedom, which is something that I have chosen to trade in Kyzyl for good company and safety. I don't regret my decision, but moving back into full-to-the-brims two-room apartment is not an easy transition to make, especially considering that the little boy had a kidney problem and now the whole family has come from the village. It's one thing to live on somebody's floor when the population density is low, but when the population increases so does the pressure. However, right now I can't begin to think about leaving, for the simple reason that I am way too fond of this family. I wonder if marine biologists get fond of their starfish like this. I doubt it, and that argues for our relationship being more meaningful than simple culture science. Plus, it is probably only once in my life that I will crash on somebody's living room floor for a whole year! Basically, this family is beyond kind and understanding and we meet in the middle of whatever difficulties and enlighten each other on a daily basis. And we laugh like madmen at the silliest things. Its hard to imagine life here without little people to pick up from ballet class or telling me that I'm bad for leaving and going to work in baby-Tyvan. These comforts are epic and important and I'm so grateful for their kindness in including me in the family.

Finally; teaching today was a blast! My job has changed a little since last semester. Instead of teaching two groups of students intensively, I'm now being used to teach all the groups of students speech workshops once a week. Not only does this mean I don't have to prepare grammar lessons, but more importantly it means I get to develop relationships with a broader variety of students and can devote time to other projects I've been mulling over. Also I now have a comfortable enough relationship with most of my colleagues that they will randomly ask me to come guest speak in their classes about cultural aspects, etc. Plus it was great to see the students again and hear about their holidays and share the stories of my adventures.

So that's all for tonight. I hope this post wasn't too enthusiastic, but I had a great vacation, and I was super glad I chose to stay in Tyva and Russia; for reasons of continuity and getting kicking with Tyvan language study. Plus there are some great things coming up this spring; just in February we have Defender's of the Fatherland Day (the Russian Man's Day), Shagaa (buddhist New Years) and Maslenitsa (Russian butter festival). Then there's International Women's Day, the "Ctrizhka" party where we will cut the little boy's hair and he becomes a man, several birthdays, hopefully some camping with my students, and then if everything works out I'll finish out the year having a rest with the family at a holy spring. Plus it will be getting warmer and greener (current temperature in Tyva is still -48 degrees). Not to project the future too much. I'll wait and see. Peace, my pigs! Lots of love,
Riley