Around the World...and then some

The best part of my day

Every day, when I come home, it's dinnertime. It doesn't matter if I get home at 6:00 or 10:00, Irina Ivanovna always greets me at the door and asks "Do you want to eat?" and of course, I always say yes. Actually, I've tried to say no a few times, either because I've already eaten or I'm not hungry or something, but then she just decides that I need to eat a "little bit" which basically means the same thing as a normal meal, except maybe no bread. The thing about my meals at home, though, is that Irina Ivanovna never eats with me. The only time I've ever sat down for a meal, any meal, with Irina Ivanovna was the very first night I arrived, and when my family was here and she invited them for dinner. I'm actually not entirely sure when she eats at all. She's not exactly a little lady, so she must eat sometime, but I have yet to actually witness it.

So she lays out my plate of food, some fruit, some bread, and pours me my tea, and then she sits on the couch next to the table, and just starts talking. As I know I've mentioned many times before, Irina Ivanovna loves to talk. It doesn't matter how many times she's said something before, to me or to anyone else; she just keeps on talking. In the half-hour or hour that I sit down to have dinner, she moves in and out of the dining room, leaving whenever she runs out of things to say (believe it or not) and returning again with more to say, without fail, about 5 minutes later. Most of my responses are head nods, a "Da" here and there, and a more substantial comment when I feel like I have something to add. But I'm pretty sure she'd much rather just listen to herself talk than to me.

My listening and comprehension skills have improved immensely during my time here, and I'm sure a lot of that is thanks to Irina Ivanovna. A friend of hers was over at the apartment a few weeks ago, and this friend said to Irina Ivanovna, "Why do you talk so fast? There's no way she can understand you." To which Irina Ivanovna responded, "Well, I don't know why I talk so fast. I've always talked this fast. Everyone's always said that to me, but I don't know, it's just how I talk. But Becky understands me. And we understand each other. And it's good practice for her anyway. Because people on the street talk fast too. I don't know, I just always talk fast. But Becky and I do just fine..." And it's true. She's never slowed down for me, but in the long run, I think it's helped me. And besides, I don't think she could slow down even if she tried.

When I sit down to dinner, and Irina Ivanovna comes waltzing in and out of the room, all I can do is smile. She's absolutely crazy, and I love her that way. Dinner with Irina Ivanovna is always the best part of my day, and I'm truly going to miss it, and her, when I leave.

posted by Becky @ 4:01 AM