My days have been very funny. Russia never ceases to amaze and surprise me! Two weeks ago, I went to work with my awesome kiddos from Uzbekistan and Afghanistan and it was Muslim New Year so it was all kinds of crazy. Then while I was teaching a Russian film crew came in and started filming. They didn’t really say anything…they just filmed everything so I don’t really know what that was all about. My kids were exceptionally awesome that day, though! We rehearsed and played theatre games for around 7 hours and they did not get distracted at all…..it was pretty incredible! I love them….they are such wonderful people and so funny!
After that I was walking home and I noticed that this man was following me. I stopped by a church to see if he would walk past me but he stopped with me and started talking to me. I was stupid and I spoke Russian with him( I probably should have just pretended not to understand him). Anyway, I kept on walking and he kept on following me so I just took a different train and went to a far away train station and then took another train to another crazy station and then just to make sure that I had lost him( or thoroughly confused him) I took another train to another crazy place and then my Russian friend that I met on the bus from Finland called me to say that she was in town for the evening and she wanted to know if I wanted to hang out. I was really tired because work had gone so long but I did not want to go home just yet (just in case) and I really wanted to see her too! So, I met up with her and she took me to the Russian version of a Honky Tonk. She is a ton of fun! She showed up wearing cowboy boots and a pirate hat! She makes bows and arrows and she performs in a Western and Viking show for a living! Their troupe actually offered me a job with them! Haha….they want me to be a Viking and then they want me to be the Indian Princess for the pow-wow part of their Western show…….that just made me laugh really hard!
Anyway, this “Honky Tonk” was one of the most fun yet surreal experiences of my life! I was really confused as to what country I was in…..there were American flags all over the place( Texas flags and Confederate Flags)!They sang some country songs in “English” but most of the songs were sung in Russian with a country accent…..let me just tell you, you have not lived until you have heard Russian in a country accent…..it is just all kinds of amazing! All the people there were dressed up in their idea of a western outfit, too…..it was so hysterical! There was one Russian man there who had a gun and he would fire it at the end of every song. Then, I got to teach line dancing to everyone….that was so much fun! They offered me a job too( it was a great night for employment opportunities…haha)! Russians are so much fun when they are dancing…..they are completely shameless….they don’t care about looking good or dancing well….they just move around like crazy people and have a great time…..it is sooo much fun! There was one man that kept asking( by “asking” I mean that he would grab my arm and pull me onto the dance floor with him) me to dance. He was a hoot! He was really a pretty unpredictable dancer and was quite hard to follow….he ended up just flinging me around…but it was still quite fun! He was also funny because the whole time he kept saying, ” You are perfect, I love you!” He was your typical Russian fellow…haha….but I am not complaining! At one point the band started playing this Irish sounding song and the Russians broke out into their own version of River dance…..it was awesome! It evolved into this big kicking circle and then randomly someone would go into the center and “clog.” It was quite fun! It was also really wonderful because my friend, Tanya, did not pressure me to drink and then she decided not to drink either…..so we just had lemonade….that was great! It was just a really surreal experience….it did not feel like I was in Russia anymore….but it didn’t feel like I was home either….it was just funny.
On the way home Tanya and I were on the train and these three drunk men came and piled on top of my lap…they were too drunk to be harmful….it was just funny. Tanya and I politely pushed them off and then went on our way….they serenaded us with a very slurred Russian song as we left….it was a funny ending to a funny day. Oh Russia! I love you!
I had to restrain my laughter from title to end! Grant will be happy you remembered him in this way.