| Lost in Vladimir, Russia |
| It was my first day I set off to class by myself. I felt like I was in first grade since my hostess did not escort me. She instructed me to get off at the third bus stop. Unfortunately, I couldn't see the newspaper office at the end of the winding set of sidewalks. I approached a guy standing next to a truck and tried to ask him where the newspaper office was located. He immediately noticed that I was an American. "tee brat... brat!" he kept repeating. I assumed he meant "friend". So invited me into the back of the truck and muttered to the driver in Russian. Part of me thought that he was taking me to the newpaper office but the paranoid king was telling me that it was a robber in progress. My new acquaintance was explaining to me in an excited although friendly manner that he served in Afghanistan and his name is Sergei. I didn't know what to say. We just exchanged smiles and he kept repeating "tee brat!" until he came to a full stop. Well the questions bouncing off the inner walls in my skull were finally going to be answered. We exited the truck and he escorted me to a university. In fact, it was the Polytechnical Institute that just entered various exchange programs with Illinois State University. He led me to what I assumed was the registoir office. An actractive young lady approached us and Sergei was explaining that I was lost. It turned out that she spoke some English and she requested that I write down what I wished to say. Well remembering the movie "A Clockwork Orange", I decided to have some fun with her. "Please tell Sergei that my Russian classes are at the newspaper office and not at the university. I am grateful for his assistance but if he drives me back to the place where we met and point me to the right direction, everything will be Horror Show.*" I sat there anxious to see if she would get my joke. Well a few minutes passed and she started to laugh hysterically. She then turned to Sergei and translated my instructions. Sergei had his friend drive us back and apologized for the mistake. He had nothing to apologize for. I had quite an adventure in a medieval town in central Russia, 1992. * Horror Show sounds almost identical to the Russian word "good, okay" Alex DeLarge, the main character in the novel and movie "A Clockwork Orange" used this phrase often. |