In the Classroom -- Russian
Today, I found myself confused. I walked into my Russian class, and Professor Meghan Duff handed me a paper cup. On the walk to class, I had been flustered about my day and thinking about an assignment I had to hand in. Instead of handing in an assignment first thing, however, I was greeted with a table covered in candy. Next to the candy were three bottles of Russian soda.
Meghan bought the candy and soda at a Russian market in Westbrook, Maine, near Portland. We all got to choose our own candy, which was mostly chocolate of some sort, and try each drink. The first drink we tried was Tarhun. It is made from the herb tarragon. I found the flavor to be very mild; the most startling thing about it was that it was bright green! The second drink was Kvas, which was brown. It is a drink made from fermented rye bread! Some varieties in Russia can be sour or contain alcohol, but the brand we tried was sweet and without alcohol. I said that it tasted like “if root beer and kumbucha had a drink baby.” A lot of students in the class said that it even smelled like bread.
The Russian soft drinks Kvas (left) and Tarhun (center and right) at the end of Russian class. Various leftover Russian candies sit in front of the bottles.
Trying drinks and candy from Russian was exciting. We also listened to Russian folk songs and looked along with the lyrics. I feel like I’m getting a better taste of the Russian culture. I’m less nervous about heading to Russia in May on the trip sponsored by the school. I’ve traveled abroad before, but not a trip with the school or to a country where the people speak another language. The past few years, the school as sponsored trips to Italy and Ireland; next spring, the locations are Amsterdam and Paris. But for me? Right now, I’m looking forward to Russia, even if I still struggle a little with reading Cyrillic.
- Jordan Gilletti '12
