Lost in Translation

Sometimes we get lost in translation...or should I say, lost without a translator. While we are definitely communicating more this summer, there are certainly times when I wish I knew more Russian. Yesterday was one of those times.

Yesterday we packed up the kids, loaded them in the car and headed down to see my mom in St. Augustine, Florida. It's only about a 7 hour trip...I say that jokingly because Venya must have said, "Ma-shee-na 7 hours!" meaning, "Car??? 7 hours???" about 100 times.

Well, I guess over a 7 hour trip (which actually turned out to be 8 hours due to heavy rain) one would expect a kid to get a little bored. So Venya, while he didn't complain, began to speak a little more English. You know, break up the trip with some good conversation...only we didn't get very far.

It started with Venya calling my name...

Venya: Holly

I turned and looked over my left shoulder and to the back seat...fully expecting to once again hear, "Ma-shee-na 7 hours???" only this time he said something different...something funny although I'm not sure that humor is what he was going for.

Venya: Daddy...cheese and then he held up his hands as if he were shooting a gun and said, Pow, pow, pow!

I gave him my usual puzzled look and said, "Again?" which he has quickly learned the meaning of.

Venya: Daddy...money (he added another English word)...cheese and again a pow, pow, pow

This time I chuckled a little while thinking what in the world is he trying to tell me? We did just make a pit stop at a convience store to get gas and a snack, but no one got CHEESE. Sydney got a strawberry granola bar...and I talked myself out of getting a diet coke. What cheese is he talking about? What's the pow, pow, pow?

He tried again...
Venya: Daddy...cheese sandwich...then he drew four circles in the air with his finger and again went pow, pow, pow as he pretended to be shooting at the circles with his gun.

We were all laughing now as he shook his head and turned his eyes toward the window. I looked at Bobby and said, "Do you think he's saying that he wants you to pay for some cheese (Chuck-E-Cheese) and play the "pow, pow, pow" game? Venya was shaking his head no in the back seat. I've been told that he can probably understand more English than he can speak and I now know this to be true.

He tried one final time...

Venya: Daddy... Okay, I get that, he's referring to Bobby,

Money...usually means "to buy" or "paid for something,"

Cheese sandwich...not sure about this one, Sydney had a grilled cheese but that was hours ago and a strawberry granola bar 30 minutes ago,

Me...Venya pointing to himself,

Now he added a charade...he pointed to his eyes and this usually means that he sees or he saw something,

And once again, the gun with his hands and a pow, pow, pow.

Laughter filled the car. We still don't know exactly what he was trying to say, but I enjoyed spending the next few hours thinking about it. I mean we used to play the alphabet game or "I'm going on a trip and I'm taking..." when I was a kid, but "Guess What the Sweet Belarussian in the Back Seat is Saying" is far more interesting...and funny. I actually laughed out loud as I laid in bed last night remembering the whole scene...and one of these days, I'm going to ask the translator, especially since I'm a little concerned over the pow, pow, pow.