Peter C. asks about how much Russian we can use here. Sandy has retained some of her Russian from that year living in Saratov--just enough to figure out most very basic things. Most people--especially older folks-- here can speak Russian. People under 25 may speak less, but most of those who don't speak Russian probably speak English. And we (me just by face and demeanor, Sandy by both plus the words) have experienced no resistance or bitterness about speaking Russian.
The conversation I described in the market was interesting. The three older women were curious how it was that we are white and Peter is black. At first they were speaking in Lithuanian, and we were both a bit shell-shocked. Then I heard the word 'bianca' and wondered if that meant white and they were asking about this. Sandy finally said, "I don't understand," in Russian, and they switched. She figured out that, yes, they were asking about this, so we used one of our 7 Lithuanian words--evaikantas (e-vigh-kahn-tahs)...adopted.
So, with a little Russian and a lot of English, we get by just fine here.
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