Some Local and Far-Away Observations

You know you've been in Russia too long:


When you find yourself, on autopilot preparing the next batch of baby food, having put both oatmeal and cabbage soup on the kid's menu
(As the Russians say: "shchi i kasha - pishcha nasha," or "cabbage soup and porridge are our bread and butter.")


When you cross a rustic urban courtyard and notice only on your exit, not on your arrival into the space, that that fishy smell was actually the raw sewage in the open holes in the ground enclosed (in a generous reading of the situation) behind ratty wooden doors dangling from their hinges -- what suffices for public toilets for at least some of the people who work and live in the surrounding buildings

(Yeccch - it never ceases to amaze me the extent to which Russians are willing to put up with the most primitive toilet situations.)


When you steer clear of huge potholes that still lie beyond the rise in the road and haven't yet entered your line of vision, because you sense that you need to avoid the part of the road that's given you a nasty jostle before



What we're saying these days:

Daddy ("Dadji")

potty (with alternate pronunciations of "pah-tee" and "pah-dee," which inevitably spiral into "ab-dee" - "ab-bee" - "abbi" - "appi")

"Bay-do," "Bay-joe," "Bed-jah" (most likely Anya-ese for Edgar, the more appealing of our two cats)

Mommy (both the more American "Mah-mee" and "Mamie" (as in Eisenhower), and even sometimes "Mammy" (?))

"buh-buh-buh" (repeated in a staccato in response to the question "What does a doggie say?")

"Gah-ghee" (cf. buh-buh-buh; probably "doggie," but also possibly an experimental take on "Dadji")

"bit-bit-bit" (said sometimes in response to the question "What does a froggie say?"; missing the "rib" part of "ribbit")

"tiku-da-tiku-da-tiku-da" (mumbled quietly and rhythmically while padding about any given room in the house; we think this is like the equivalent of her walking around muttering "whe-ya-go-whe-ya-go-whe-ya-go": Marina probably says to her "ty kuda, Anya, ty kuda?", Russian for "Where ya goin', Anya?" when the kid is wandering around in circles, all business-like and focused)

"ka-pah-ka" (cf. tiku-da; sounds most like "Bye-bye" in Russian, and was indeed accompanied by Anya's version of a wave (closing and opening a folded hand at face level))




Impressions and memories of our Bangkok trip:


Anya surviving in large part on these sweet, miniature-sized Thai bananas that we bought in huge hands and kept (on hand) to feed a picky girl


The sliver-to-chunk of skyline visible above the woven plastic upward-extending shades on the side of the water taxi; locals pulled down on the attached bungee cords to lever the shades up and avoid a spritz of the canal water (probably a wise idea), but we were kind of marked as tourists on a primarily commuter line, preferring to just look out at the view


The amazingly vibrant street life, full of commercial activity, especially full of food and drink for sale; people walking all over the place drinking fruit juices and Thai iced coffee from plastic bags with handles -- apparently the local version of a to-go cup


Whizzing along downtown boulevards, and past a zillion images of the King, in a puttering little "tuk-tuk" motorbike taxi; Anya losing her pacifier off the side of one of them


Everybody and his cousin setting their banana-leaf floats on their way, bobbing in the canal below us, while we ate dinner at a combination streetside cafe and sports bar (note, toward the end of the video, the outdoor bigscreen TV showing UK football matches to a sometime cheering Thai crowd)


The fluttering and chanting at the very top of the Golden Mount

Shoe!

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have us a new word:


Shoe! (She's actually been saying this already for a few weeks, I admit, but she says it with a funny kind of intonation that had us laughingly repeating what sounded like half of "thank you" in Chinese: "xie-xie!") Earlier this week, though, despite the intonation, I noticed that it really was being used in situations that involved footwear -- presto, verbal communication!


What's additionally funny about this is that it actually seems like Marina, our nanny, taught her this word (which explains the funny accent). When I told her about it, she said, "oh, yeah, I talk about her felt boots [valenki] when we're getting dress to go outside, but I figure 'shuzy' [something like 'shoeses' across two languages] is closer to what you say." So the kid may end up with some interesting variations on English after our two years are up.


In other news, as you can see from the Flickr photos, we successfully traveled to Bangkok and back over Thanksgiving weekend, and we even managed to enjoy some of it. But it was definitely not easy with a 15-month-old: aside from the longish flights to get there, and the necessity of taking a red-eye back, which of course wasn't great for the adults, either, we had to confront the realization that there is some distance separating the ideal adult pace for touristing and the ideal toddler pace. And the fact that, when you are on vacation with a little kid, you're never really able to relax like you once could. I still need to take a little more time to digest all the other impressions from the trip before I print something here.


As for our updates:


What we're eating:

homemade deep-fried beer-battered scallops and squid

lemony fish and potato soup a la Bittman

ripped up pieces of grainy bread with butter (sometimes your morning oatmeal with baked apple just doesn't appeal)

homemade sourdough bread from our neighbor


What we're listening to:

a lot of Superchunk and Portastatic, for some reason (especially the newest, Be Still Please, and my favorites: "You Blanks" and "Song for a Clock" -- so much so that the unthinkable has happened, I am actually tired of this album; and Summer of the Shark/Autumn Was a Lark; and Indoor Living)

Strange Weirdos: Music From and Inspired By the Film 'Knocked Up' (you wouldn't necessarily expect something with that description to be good, but this is actually quite enjoyable music from Loudon Wainwright III -- better by far than the movie itself), liking especially "Grey in LA" and "Daughter"


What we're watching:

Prison Break, season 1 (purchased on Sukhumvit Rd., Bangkok, for about $20 [and don't tell us what happens!])

can't get away from that Beauty and the Geek


What we're saying:

baby ("bay-bee")

lyalya (Russian for baby; often said with a violent verbal tendency that has not yet been explained)

Anya ("Aaaaing")

hi ("ai!")

shoe ("shiew!")

not to mention of course, Appi, mama, papa, baba, gaga (?), and lots of babble