Cocooning and Plateauing*

Good news: As of this week we have reliable, high-speed Internet right here in our apartment! Not only do we have the convenience of getting online, answering questions, researching for class lectures, learning about current events, and sending and answering emails whenever we want, but free Skype conversations are now also possible. We had our first high-quality Skype conversation with our kids this morning – they’re together, with cousin Andrew, in Boston for the Thanksgiving weekend – and the sound was clearer than anything we’ve gotten over the telephone. Plus, the cost of phone cards to make international calls, which is no longer incurred, will more than cover the cost of our Internet service here. It was a fabulous way to start our Saturday, as they stayed up late to finish their Friday!

Even though it’s close to freezing outside and we still have no heat coming out of our apartment’s radiators – our landlord said it will be this weekend – we have our trusty electric heaters, we have the Internet, and we have each other. It’s quite tempting to stay here in our cozy apartment each day – cocooning – and leave only when it’s absolutely necessary. We even have the luxury of hard copies of English-language newspapers, provided thoughtfully by son Keith (WSJ) and sister Claudia (NYT). Though much of the newspapers’ contents are available online, we’re old-fashioned enough to prefer and enjoy holding the actual paper, and indulge each morning in our old habit of coffee with the newspaper. We often find stories that are relevant to what we’ll be teaching to our classes, or sharing with our English Clubs. To complete the cocoon day, we also occasionally indulge our taste for Peter’s special martinis – made now with ubiquitous and inexpensive local vodka and the absolutely delicious and sweet-tart, juicy pink grapefruits from Israel which are available from the “fruit ladies” who sell various fruit – bananas, kiwis, grapefruit, lemons, and oranges – from little stalls set up on the street. Our favorite fruit lady now calls us by name, greets us when we walk by, and looks forward to meeting our kids when they arrive here next month.

Needless to say, all this English makes it tempting to fall into the trap that Peace Corps warned us about. That is, many volunteers, once they attain a certain level of Russian or Ukrainian language proficiency, tend to put much less effort into continuing to learn it. They plateau at the level of knowing just enough to get their needs met and to do their work, and lose motivation to continue working at it. In our cases, we teach in English, have English-speaking colleagues at work, and speak English with our English Club members and of course with each other. We now know (just barely) enough to shop in the grocery store, to order in restaurants, to greet neighbors, and to have rudimentary conversations with locals. We have Russian-speaking friends who can help us when our language (frequently) is inadequate in specific situations. To top it off, our wonderful Russian language tutor left this week to immigrate to Canada with her family. It would be very tempting to put our language learning on the back burner in favor of other activities. But we will try to resist.

At this time of Thanksgiving, we’re grateful for wonderful family and friends who make our lives so rich. Thank you for all you do and are! Now go to http://www.skype.com/ and download their free calling software (if you haven’t already done so), email us your skype address, we’ll send you ours, and let’s talk. Our cocoon will be that much cozier!

* Sorry about the title of this Blog entry. Peter wonders if I’m now turning into Faith Popcorn…