LOOKING BACK: I missed the THE article

HOMEWARD BOUND

A few years ago I realized the reason for heaving the THE article in English when speaking about THE doctor(‘s), and THE dentist(‘s), and THE cleaner(‘s), and THE baker(‘s), and the other - fill in the blank- __‘s people. Once, after I’d chatted with a saleswoman in a greengrocer’s kiosk/stand, I felt my bags were a little heavier than usual. I mean, I paid same money as usual for the same kilos of same fruits and veggies, but my bags were definitely heavier than usual. They – my bags – felt equally heavy since then. It was as simple as that: the saleswoman stopped cheating me!

And then the grammatical truth, pure and simple, dawned on me: THE – it’s when you become a frequent customer, a local VIP. THE – it’s when you leave well enough alone, and stop looking for new places, and do your shopping/cleaning/ mending your teeth at one and the same place!

So, back in Yekat I had – and still have - THE barber. Unlike Europe, America, Africa, Asia, or Australia, in Russia a man cannot easily find a man barber. They are as rare as Siberian saber-toothed tigers, and don’t ask me why. Your guess is as good as mine.

True, once I visited a man barber. It was in Turkey. He smiled at me happily and chatted with me all the time. However, we soon established the fact that he didn’t speak any other language but his mother tongue. For the first time in my life, I was real sorry I didn’t speak any Turkish.

He would talk to me inTurkish, and he would sing now and then, and I half-expected him to start belly-dancing. When I thought it was finally all over, he gestured me not to budge in my seat but wait. I watched him apprehensively in the mirror, as he was manipulating behind me with a metallic stick and piece of cotton. Then he lit cotton and moved to me, his smile still on his face. While I was in the agony of indecision about which language I should choose to call for help, he abruptly thrust the ball of fire right into my right ear. Before I could scream and cry havoc, he thrust the ball of fire right into my left ear! I was quick enough to realize that if I didn’t stop him then and there, he might burn out hairs in my nose next, and then… And then I stopped him. I stopped him, and thanked him, and paid him 3 dollars for the treat, and told him I would tell all my male friends to visit him.

My barber in Yekat is different. She is a woman. She doesn’t attempt to burn out hairs from either my ears or from any other parts of my body. We don’t chat. We keep silence about something very important. Once, an older friend told me: “Come to me and let’s have a cup of tea. Let’s not talk. Let’s keep silence, and let our souls talk”. So, we keep silence, my barber and I. I don’t start cracking any silly jokes or tell her compliments, because, first, sometimes silence is louder than words, and second, she always has a pair of sharp scissors in her hand.

Every time we smile, and exchange a few polite remarks before and after the hair job, and we part to meet same time next month. Now she is pregnant, but I’m not the one to be blamed for that. She’s on her maternity leave now…I had my hair cut a few days ago. Gosh! Customs officers and border-guards will probably have questions to ask me if I dare to leave the country with such a haircut! My barber, give a birth to a nice child and be back to work! My barber… THE barber. Now I realize how I missed the THE article in the US. Wouldn’t you miss it in another country?

Long live travelogs!

In the past few months since my last entry, my friends rebuked me. Some for not writing. Others for what I had written. Ok, my friends and others! I am back!

Lots of water has gone under the bridge since my last entry.

1. The wonderful Ava Smith visited Yekat. Now I know that this is a small world. The first entry of my travelog contained the picture of The Church-on-the-Blood. So, the travelog has made a kind of circle, circle of life.

2. I reflected on what I'd experienced in the US, and I'm going to share it with you. For example, do you know that the flushing techniques in Russian and American restrooms are different?! (Don't miss that!)

3. I visited Budapest, Hungary, and felt like a linguistic moron. (You can miss that.)

4. I visited Montenegro and Bulgaria. They call us "Russian brothers"... Or they used to call us brothers when they were getting Russian gas. No more now, I guess.

5. I visited Albania, of all countries. This is quite a story. Just to make your mouth water and your whole body constipate with jealosy, I'll tell you this -- my college has now a translation contract with Albania. We translate Albanian fairy tales!

6. Russia has celebrated 2 Christmases already, 1 New Year which lasted for about 10 days, and now Russians are preparing to celebrate another new year -- the Julian New Year, or the Old New Year as it is described here. We know how to celebrate life, uh?

Thank you, the wonderful trio !

I have finally caught up with my American adventures and reflections, some of them at least. Looking thru the pages of my "American notebook," I realize I have much more to say and to share. I'm going to do it. But right now I'm on the verge of leaving: Hungary and Montenegro are waiting down the road. From tomorrow on, it means new adventures. But today, before I hit the road, I must say thank you, Ms Ava Smith, Ms Tonija Navas (who by this time must have become a mother), and Ms Katie Irvin, for a nice trip. It's been very fulfilling. Thank you, the wonderful trio!

Why do African Americans love Russia?

I started to suspect it back in D.C. The suspicion grew in me throughout our trip, in Phoenix and Tucson, in Portland and New York, in Philadelphia, and now in Atlanta it blossomed into a realization of the truth, pure and simple: man, African Americans love Russia and Russians! Well, not all of them, perhaps. I mean, I didn't have a chance to speak to every one of them.

We were warmly welcomed in the African American community of Atlanta. After a while, our hosts showed us to the church hall. As we stood awkwardly in the hall during a religious service and people stared at us, I felt somewhat uncomfortable. But then our hosts interrupted the minister, apologized and said: "Brothers and sisters, these people are from Russia." In a moment the hall exploded! Some people started clapping, others were cheering, still others were stretching their hands for a handshake. It was both astonishing and very pleasing.

Here are a few quotations: 1) “We appreciated what the Soviet Union did for us. It was our friend and ally. Today Russia is our friend. It’s kind of hereditary”; 2) “The US used to fight for everybody’s rights. If you are such a champion of human rights and freedoms around the world, how about your own country?”; 3) “Our children don’t carry that baggage and that burden any more”; 4) “Will Obama become President? Who can tell? To move up, you sometimes have to move out. The question is: are Americans ready to accept all of its parts as a part of a whole?”; 5) “Obama energizes young people”; 6) “Sunday 11 a.m. is the most segregated time in America. Blacks go to their church, and whites go to their church, and Hispanics to theirs”; 7) “Bush wants Russia’s neighbors in NATO. What arrogance! What idiocy! They put Putin into a corner. And, of course, he says Russia will point their missiles at America. And what did they want? Obama, in my opinion, will bring more credibility and more thinking into policy.” [The summarized opinion of all I had seen or heard in America is this: if Obama becomes President, relationships with African, Asian countries and Russia may become warmer, given he can act on his own and not be told what to do. The way African Americans welcomed us in the South makes you believe they do remember what the USSR did for them.]

On the streets of Philadelphia

I liked the streets of Philadelphia. They are nice. I walked them "till my legs felt like stone."

And the parking lots! Walls of houses are painted, and when you park your car after a long working day you look at the picture, and feel something deep inside, something unfathomable, and bump into another car but don't mind it and think and think.

The Cradle of the American Revolution

Philadelphia is the "Cradle of the American Revolution." Everything breathes history here.

I finally received an answer to my long-time question: why is the Independence Day celebrated on July 4, and not July 2. The answer of our guide was: for no reason at all. It's a kind of historic mistake. The Declaration was voted for on July 2, and on July 4 saw just a few anendments. Then the text was carefully written by hand and rewritten because of mistakes and occasional smudges. The final version appeared a month later, in August.

Anyway, it was great to rub sleeves with the shadows of the Founders (Founding Fathers of the United States). Now I know why people in Philly all look quiet and strangely serene.

The Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower compared

Next time you stop in Paris or New York, when night falls remember to go all the way up the Eiffel Tower / the Empire State Building. When you look down, you'll know why I coerced you to do it. If you regret it, I'll return you the money. (If you are drunk and therefore feel giddy, I won't.)

Let's compare the two famous landmarks. Out of reverence to the American taxpayers, I'll put the Empire State first.

Name

The Empire State Building: Its name is derived from the nickname for the state of New York. The Eiffel Tower: Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel.

Height
The Empire State Building: 381 m ( 1,250 feet) at the 102nd floor, and including the 62 m (203 ft) pinnacle, its full height reaches 443 m (1,453 ft ). It stood as the world's tallest building for more than forty years, from 1931 to 1972, and again since September 11, 2001.
The Eiffel Tower: Including the 24 m (79 ft) antenna, the structure is 325 m (1,063 ft) high, which is equivalent to about 81 levels in a conventional building. The tower is now the fifth-tallest structure in France and the tallest structure in Paris.

Time of creation
The Empire State Building: Excavation of the site began on January 22, 1930, and construction itself started symbolically on March 17, St.Patrick's Day. The ribbon was cut on May 1, 1931.
The Eiffel Tower: Eiffel originally planned to build the tower in Barcelona, for the Universal Exposition of 1888, but those responsible thought it was a strange and expensive construction, which did not fit into the design of the city. After the refusal, Eiffel submitted his draft to those responsible for the Universal Exhibition in Paris. The structure was built between 1887 and 1889. The tower was opened on May 6, 1889 and became the world's tallest tower.

Suicides
The Empire State Building: Over the years, more than thirty people have committed suicide from the top of the building. The first suicide occurred even before its completion, by a worker who had been laid off. The fence around the observatory terrace was put up in 1947 after five people tried to jump during a three-week span. In 1979, a woman jumped from the 86th floor, only to be blown back onto the 85th floor, and ended up with only a broken hip. The last suicide was by a lawyer who leapt from the 69th floor on Friday, April 13, 2007. [
The Eiffel Tower: According to the Société de la Tour Eiffel, there have been 369 suicide attempts and 349 successful suicides from the tower. The first suicide ocuured in 1898, when a man hanged himself from one of the beams. One suicider, a young woman, survived the 57 meter drop from the first floor, landing on the roof of a car. After recovering, the woman married the owner of the car.