Yesterday Роман and Катя and I went to Donskoy Monastery after our lesson. We got off at the Шаболовская metro stop (right by the Shukhov Tower, a radio tower I wanted to see because it's made of stacked segments of hyperboloids of revolution), and wandered for a while until we got to the Monastery. We went into the church first, which I was glad for because I was freezing. The dull gold and soft colors of the icons, and the smell and crackle of melting beeswax give it a kinder atmosphere than most.

We walked through the cemetery where famous writers, opera singers, politicians, intellectuals, and their families are buried under a great heterogeneity of statues, monuments with shellacked photos, obelisks, and less descript markers. We found Pushkin's uncle and grandmother, and the 20th-century comedienne Роман wanted to see, then went to a coffee shop to warm up.

We were talking, switching back and forth between languages, and Роман said wait, what's the difference between accept and except? I said accept is where you take something that someone gives you, and except is кроме. He said oh, I always confused those two, and 'expect.'

I said what gets me in Russian is the verbs of motion--приехала, уехала, поехала, объехала, проехала, выехала, вехала, доехала, заехала... Роман laughed because how could anyone mix up words that are so cleary different. He said I should do a comedy show where I sit there and am confused about Russian and say things like "вообше кошмар!" (kind of slang that means 'general nightmare!'...Роман about died when I came out with it earlier in the day. Think I picked it up from him.)

Russian verbs remind me of this toy I had when I was little. It was a cylinder, but hexagonal instead of circular. There were animals painted lengthwise on each side, and you could dial the cylinder so you got a fish head with a lizard back with tiger feet and a monkey tail or something. With Russian verbs, first you start with the prefix: у- if you're leaving, при- if you're arriving, по- if you're setting off, об- if you're going around something, про- if you're passing by or traversing the entire length of something, вы- if you're exiting, в- if you're entering, до- if you're finally arriving to, за- if you're just stopping by, пере- if you're crossing, под- if you're approaching, and от- if you're pulling away from. Once you've chosen that, you decide if you're walking, running, flying, going by transport, carrying, carrying by transport, or leading by the hand. Flying? Okay. Is it happening now/a continuing process (летать), or is it a completed action in the past or future (лететь)? Now you're almost there, just decide the time and pronoun. God help you if it's irregular. You finally end up with я скоро улечу из Москвы (soon I'm flying out of Moscow--turtle head, bat wings, polar bear feet), or он переходит дорогу (He's crossing the street--eagle head, fish scales, pig trotters). Of course if you're Russian your brain just pieces together all the Frankenverbs for you.