26 May 2004 - A great story from Zhigansk!

Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 84

So, where do we start? We looked in an old barn by the lodge to see if there were any horses (Max thought he heard one), to find a man feeding some pigs. After that we were on our way back to the lodge when a young man hollered “Hello” to us. We said “Hello” back and as he continued walking we were staring at him and he was staring at us. So Max asked, “Do you speak English?” He replied “A little” and Max and I walked over and started the conversation that we have a lot which consists of “What is your name? Where are you from?” Savvinov (the young man, 17 years old) actually spoke quite well and told us that his family owned the barn that we had just been poking our heads into. He also told us that his grandfather was the oldest person in Zhigansk (and then we found out that he is actually the oldest man in Yakutia, which is the size of Europe) - 110 years old! He also told us that he is not Russian, but is Evenk, which are the people who have been here for thousands of years (sort of like our Native Americans).

We ended up getting a tour of the barn and seeing a day old calf, lots of chickens, and a bunch of cows (but no horse – though Max still maintains that there is a horse in there somewhere). We also met some of the farmers who were enjoying a cup of tea together right in the barn. Savvinov then asked if we wanted to meet his grandfather, which we thought would be great. So we headed off to the main part of the village, and while we were walking there he asked if we wanted to meet his English teacher and we said “sure.” Two minutes later, Savvinov was knocking on an apartment door and his teacher, who was not expecting visitors, opened the door. Savvinov explained to her we were from the UA.SA. and a big smile appeared on her face and she enthusiastically invited us in. We felt a little bit uncomfortable because she was still in her bathrobe and her bed (which is in the living room) was still pulled out, but she really seemed to want to speak with us, so we took off our shoes and headed in.

Agatha (the teacher’SA name) was running around trying to pick stuff up when she commented that she felt bad for us in our socks because the floors were cold (they warn’ta that bad) and a few seconds later she came in with two pairs of women’SA slippers. These were fine for me but Max, with a size 14 foot, had to work to put them on. I was cracking up. The entire shoe basically covered his toes and the first third of his foot. Agatha realized the problem and promptly returned with another pair of shoes that were equally as small. However, being the good houseguest Max wore them for the entire time we were there including walking to and from the kitchen. I nearly broke out in laughter every time I looked down at his feet.

This woman was incredibly kind and spoke English exceptionally well. She had spent only two weeks in an English speaking country, yet spoke without even an accent. She fed us tea (with milk fresh from her sister’SA cow), biscuits, and chocolates. I kept wondering if one of my students showed up at my house one morning with two Russians when I was still in my pajamas if I would have been nearly as hospitable as Agatha was. We spoke about her job and her students and we set up times to visit with her students several times so that they could practice their language skills. While we were talking the phone rang and after she got off the phone we explained that we were meeting with some other folks from the school at 1:00 hp.hm. when she said “Yes, I know that was the school calling to tell me about your coming to the school today.” We thought that was funny for her to explain that in fact, we were sitting in her kitchen at that moment.

So, tonight we have a meeting with the school, town officials and some journalists and Agatha may be there. Otherwise, we will be meeting with her classes tomorrow at least and hopefully more. This will be great because it will give the students the opportunity to practice their English and it will also hopefully provide us with a chance to share with the community here in Zhigansk why we are here and how important the river they have in their town is.

It is amazing how a chance running into with Savvinov turned into such a wonderful experience and the opportunity to really get to know some people from Zhigansk. And we’re still looking forward to meeting the oldest man in Yakutia!