Thursday, July 31, 2003
Oh, Pancake!
"Bleen." I learned this word my second day in Saint Petersburg when I asked what that great smell was in the Chaynaya Loshka (Tea Spoon), one of my favorite cafes. Bleen / bleeny (pancake / pancakes) are a Russian tradition and served in many more creative ways than I thought possible. Mushroom and chicken bleeny are one of my friend’s favorites.
Oddly though, I started to hear this word everywhere, well outside of the confines of cafes or discussions about food. During my first week, with my quite limited vocabulary I would hear conversations like this:
A: "Oh, and ... with ... [laughter]!"
B: "Pancake! True?"
A: "Where is...[frustrated] I can't ... train station ... Moscow ... pancake."
B: "Yes, hmmm, pancake."
What was going on? I had eaten enough bleeny by this time to know for sure that these people were somehow frustrated with and laughing about pancakes. A Russian friend at the University explained that, "when we bleeny, said of a bleen, bad things is happening." Seeking some more advice on the subject I approached an American who had been studying here for just over a year. She wrote this in my notebook:
"bleen" = polite "bleeaht", like "shoot" = polite "shit"
I’ve been bleening ever since. So, please, when I’m back in America, don’t be too confused if I occasionally yell "pancake" when I lose my keys.
And, bleen. Today's the last day here in Russia. I'm looking forward to Estonia and Finland, but it seems odd to be leaving Saint Petersburg. I'm in that stupid "am I really leaving" phase where there seems to be ages of time to pack, say goodbuys, rush to send off postcards etc., but, in reality, it's only 8 hours from now.... ok, Ira has just told me that it's actually "voseeum s'palaveenoi chahsov" (8 and a half hours) from now. Which, she added, leaves us more than enough time to grab a bleen or two before I go. :)
"Bleen." I learned this word my second day in Saint Petersburg when I asked what that great smell was in the Chaynaya Loshka (Tea Spoon), one of my favorite cafes. Bleen / bleeny (pancake / pancakes) are a Russian tradition and served in many more creative ways than I thought possible. Mushroom and chicken bleeny are one of my friend’s favorites.
Oddly though, I started to hear this word everywhere, well outside of the confines of cafes or discussions about food. During my first week, with my quite limited vocabulary I would hear conversations like this:
A: "Oh, and ... with ... [laughter]!"
B: "Pancake! True?"
A: "Where is...[frustrated] I can't ... train station ... Moscow ... pancake."
B: "Yes, hmmm, pancake."
What was going on? I had eaten enough bleeny by this time to know for sure that these people were somehow frustrated with and laughing about pancakes. A Russian friend at the University explained that, "when we bleeny, said of a bleen, bad things is happening." Seeking some more advice on the subject I approached an American who had been studying here for just over a year. She wrote this in my notebook:
"bleen" = polite "bleeaht", like "shoot" = polite "shit"
I’ve been bleening ever since. So, please, when I’m back in America, don’t be too confused if I occasionally yell "pancake" when I lose my keys.
And, bleen. Today's the last day here in Russia. I'm looking forward to Estonia and Finland, but it seems odd to be leaving Saint Petersburg. I'm in that stupid "am I really leaving" phase where there seems to be ages of time to pack, say goodbuys, rush to send off postcards etc., but, in reality, it's only 8 hours from now.... ok, Ira has just told me that it's actually "voseeum s'palaveenoi chahsov" (8 and a half hours) from now. Which, she added, leaves us more than enough time to grab a bleen or two before I go. :)
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