Speaking the Russian language, when you only know pieces of it is like playing taboo and charades at the same time. It’s like taboo because we only know so many words and it’s like charades because we do a lot of motions and pointing when we talk to someone.
A few weeks ago, Brett and I were looking for suction cups to hang a strand of Christmas lights, I had no idea how to say suction cups in Russian ( we unfortunately have not learned that word in class yet). I know how to say “I want to buy” and I know the word “window” in Russian. So, we found someone working and I said, “I want to buy this”, and I pointed to a strand of Christmas lights. I then said “window” and made a suction cup noise and asked if they had those. (I hope this makes sense). Any way, he understood and pointed us in the right direction. I was so excited that I got my point across. We have learned that you can’t be afraid and you have to be willing to sound silly, or you will never get anywhere. It helps us with the language the more we practice it and it builds our confidence that we can actually communicate (as funny as it may look and sound).
Today I went to the grocery store and was looking for this stuff called “cmalets” that Grady said I could try in cookies to substitute shortening. I couldn’t find it, so I asked a lady near me. She couldn’t find any, so she asked me to follow her. We went to the meat dept. and didn’t find any. She asked an employee and she told us to go back to the butter section. When we made it back, she asked a random lady and before I knew it, 3 or 4 ladies were discussing where this “foreigner girl” might find some “cmalets.” It was quite an interesting sight. It was neat how helpful they were all trying to be.
In the end, they decided I needed to go to the market to find some.
That’s a tiny glimpse into life here in
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