Dinner

In the later part of the evening, people sang folk songs at the table. Including one of my favorites which I rarely hear. I had one of the women write me out the words to it; it's still in my journal somewhere.

Russians are much quicker to dance than Americans or Brits. They don't have to wait for a club to fill up and everybody else to go first, they just start doing it in the living room. (Granted, nobody I met had a separate living room; all rooms were somebody's bedroom except the kitchen.) Ol'ga also told me about how Russians view western music (rock) and Russian music (folk music) differently. It's not a question of some people liking one and other people liking the other. Rather, Russian music is for when you want to acknowledge your ties to your family and traditions; it means you're in a different mood than if you put on western music.

Podol'sk, Russia -- September 1995