Potpourri

This post has no theme (except maybe: Life in Russia). If you can find a more fitting theme, I hope you'll post a comment at the end...

- I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but I'm really enjoying Women's Water Polo on VestiSport (see my last post). Russia is in the finals of the European championships - woo hoo! Go Double-headed Eagles! These women can really gun the ball at the goal; it's pretty exciting to watch the goalkeeper desperately trying to make a save. By the way, this morning on VestiSport, add another one to my list of boring-yet-televised sports: competitive jump-rope. No lie.

- I'm debating which is the better job in Russia: personal driver or Metro-watcher. Seriously, there are Metro employees at the bottom of each Metro escalator who stare, all day long, at the escalator. Why? I'm not sure--perhaps to ensure that it's working properly? Perhaps to guard against any horseplay on the stairs? I'll post a picture soon so you get a sense of what I'm talking about. What a fun job: people-watching all day long. But I think the personal driver may win out. For our first few days here in Russia, Andrey took us from place to place in his car, and I was enthralled. First, you get to weave in and out of traffic at an insane pace; it's like a life-sized video game, and you get as many quarters as you want. Then, once you've finished your drop-off, you wait patiently for hours on end for the call to take your passenger home. Just think of all the great things you could do! For me, I would read hundreds of books, listen to MP3s till my ears fell out, take long naps, and drink endless lemonades as a Russian personal driver. If I don't come back to the States, you'll know why.

- Another strange Russian sport is making out. I'm serious: I think that Petersburg's young people get points for making out in strategic locations throughout the city, and there is a giant scoreboard keeping track somewhere in the city (I just haven't found it yet). This unusual behavior is understandable, considering that almost everyone lives at home until they get married. So where else would you go to make out if you're an amorous Russian teenager? To the most public place you can find, obviously!

Here is the point system, as I've been able to decipher it:

1. On a public bench: 1 point.
2. On a bridge: 2 points.
3. In the middle of Nevsky Prospekt: 3 points.
4. On a crowded Metro platform in the middle of rush hour: 5 points.
5. Making Matt nauseous through your tongue-hockey antics: 10 points.

- OK, one serious note for today's post. Yesterday, we got a tour of EVA, which is the city's oldest Jewish welfare agency. It services children through education and a very strong performing arts program (Russians love the arts with a passion!), and 1,300 elderly clients through home-care visits and food packages. They want us to help there by teaching Jewish subjects in English to children and young adults, so we were getting an orientation to their office and services.

When I worked at Federation, I was familiar with all the statisitics they mentioned. I had also seen model food packages--we had a steady stream of them coming into the office as a reminder of the good work we were doing. I always found them moving: here was a box filled with food that was going to supplement an old person's pension and thereby help them make it through the month. I even used these prototypical care packages to help train other fundraisers in the community, saying things like, "Here is just one example of why you need to help in Federation fundraising efforts. One of these packages costs just fifteen dollars, but means the difference between life and death for the FSU's 200,000 elderly Jews."

Well, at EVA I encountered these packages again, only it was for real this time. These cardboard boxes, filled to the brim with groceries, had a Rosh Hashanah theme: in addition to the basics like flour and vegetable oil, they came with apples and honey. It was powerful to realize that, in this box, was an elderly person's whole Rosh Hashanah experience. And just as important as the goods inside the box was the home visit that comes with it; since many of these elderly people are home-bound, with family spread all over the world, they rarely get the chance to talk with other people. Alyson noticed how each box was lovingly prepared by the EVA staff member in charge--packed to perfection, with each item individually sealed to prevent leakage. But I was struck by the meaning behind these boxes, and the happiness that they would bring to people in need. It was one of those, "wow, I live in Russia, and there is a LOT of work to do..." moments.