I just returned from a rainy tour via mazda taxi with my Uzbek host. We had to run to the market to get some meat and veggies for dinner.  The driver was Azerbaijani and spoke Russian, Georgian, Azerbaijan, and some English.  He and my host spoke Russian.  I sat in the back, kind of zoned out, listening to their words, like music, and not understanding anything, except the names of my new colleagues “Rob” and “Carol” who will return to Tbilisi tonight.

But then…THEN!  I heard a word that sounded familiar…a word from my childhood, learned during the early 80s while working at the flea market with my family…a word I learned so I could do business with the Poles who would fill suitcases with Gillette razor blades and nail clippers purchased from us to bring back to communist Poland to sell on the black market.  They’d buy their bound-for-the-black-market blue jeans from Henry, the Cuban guy across the aisle from us.  And we could always recognize these Poles, because they’d be spectacularly dressed in impeccable clothing about ten years out of fashion, with hairstyles to match.  We used to say they looked like they just stepped out of a time machine.

Aaaanyway…my mind grabbed onto that one familiar-sounding word, and at once, I vividly remembered learning to count in Polish, and I even remembered the finger motions that went with each number: jeden (thumb up), dwa (thumb plus forefinger), trzy (thumb, plus forefinger and middle finger), cztery (all fingers except the pinkie), pięć (all five digits).  I felt pretty excited, and waited impatiently for the two of them to stop talking long enough for me to interject my question: “Does dwa mean two in Russian?”  Turns out, it does.  And some of the other numbers sound similar, too.  This gives me something to grasp on to, as I try to piece together bits of Russian and Georgian so I can navigate life here for the next three months.

Who knew that the tiny bits of Polish I learned as a child would serve me so many years later.  Certainly not I.

Russian alphabet

If you enjoyed this, check out my first “communication” post.