Anywhere at all?
Right now, Russia for sure.
It’s kind of a crazy feeling, learning Russian, thinking about Russia, talking about Russia with professors and classmates, but never having been there. So I would love to go to Russia, brave the bitter cold and listen to the mellifluous voices of настоящие русские!
Ah, but it would be so nice.
Don’t worry, I’m not idealizing the place (although it sounds a lot like it, I know.) Yesterday a friend and I were talking about “mouth rot,” which is apparently a big thing for Eastern European bums, and I’m constantly being reminded of the political situation there, and there are so many bad things to hear about the anti-semitism and neo-Nazism and Stalin-veneration that happens all the time. But man I still gotta get over there and soon!
There’s this magical Russian spirit, and stop me when I start weeping over a bottle of vodka, but it’s real. It’s palpable in the Russians I meet here in the states, and I’m so drawn to it. Maybe when I get over there I’ll be so intimidated by the force of it that I’ll withdraw from it, but I like to think that I’m done withdrawing.
It’s time to embrace that spirit, try to absorb it or even attack it head on.
