Matryoshka

Tom woke up a bit woozy today, a wooziness that developed into (mild?) vertigo by lunchtime. So it was my day to cook and I went to Wal-Mart to pick up some stuff.

On the way over, I saw a couple of guys walking back along P, carrying gallons of water and bags of stuff from Wal-Mart. As I drove by, they pulled out a map and began to talk. I figured they were either tourists, or more likely some of the Russian and Polish workers here for the summer. After my shopping, I met them again, trudging back the opposite way, clearly disoriented. So I offered them a ride to their motel, which was a few miles away beyond the road construction. Turns out they are from Moscow, arrived yesterday to work in housecleaning at the Kalahari Resort and had been given a ride to Wal-Mart but had no idea how to get back. It only took me a few minutes out of my way, and I remember when I got lost the first day I was in Mexico City in 1974 a nice Mexican lady came to my rescue. I figured this was a long-delayed opportunity to pass that favor forward.

When I got them to the motel, they insisted that I accept a thank-you gift, and gave me a a Matryoshka, a Russian nesting doll. Actually it is a set of dolls of decreasing sizes placed one inside another. Matryoshka is a derivative of the Russian female first name Matryona, which is traditionally associated with a ... let's just say robust Russian woman. Kind of like big Bertha, I guess, or Brunhilde. I think I gave Mama a Santa version a couple of years ago.

The guys are college students here as part of a work-study program, and I imagine they were told to bring little souvenirs to give to people they might meet while in the States as a gesture of goodwill. I told them they did not need to give me anything, that as a local resident I just wanted them to have a positive experience while they are here. But they would not take nyet for an answer. They also wanted to make sure that I realized there were a total of five dolls, which is good because the fourth is so small I would have assumed it was the last.

The study part of their program is pretty much learning English, but they do pretty well already, though with an obvious accent. Certainly far better than I would do in Russian!