fun at the archive

Perhaps I've been working in the archive for too long, but I'm beginning to get a kick out of the crazy life there. Here are some highlights of my week.

Highlight 1: Close-talking archive director (so close you can smell the teeth rotting out of his mouth) calls me in to his office so he can stare at my chest. I mean--have a talk with me.

Archive Director: Why have you ordered so much about yids? (He used the rude Russian word for Jew). Are you actually working on yids?
Faith: No, I told you what my topic is. As you know, Jews were a huge and prominent percentage of pre-revolutionary Kiev.
AD: Yes, but there were more Ukrainians and Russians when you add them together than yids.
Furthermore, why are you working on the city of Kiev? 90% of the people at this time were peasants.
F: But I'm interested in cities, not peasants.
AD: Well, you shouldn't be. Your topic isn't like Soviet historiography, and it isn't like Ukrainian nationalist historiography either. (Faith is thinking--that's the point, bozo!) You should work on peasants, or World War II.
F: Thank you for your input, AD. I'll take your worthy suggestions into account.

Highlight 2: Me and Liudmila Mikhailovna.
Liudmila Mikhailovna is an old lady (70) who is doing genealogical research on her family in the 16th century. They were Polish nobility--I'm jealous of her lineage. I first met LM when she approached me and asked if I'd be willing to order my share of finding guides (each researcher is limited to five a day) for her. We ordered some for collections that the archivist might think would fit into my topic, and then I spirited them over to LM when the archivist turned her back. After living in fear of archivists for five months, I felt very subversive finally pulling a fast one on them. Later in the week, I helped LM read some old Polish letters. She's now my best friend, calls me "Verochka," (Vera means Faith in Russian) and wants to hang out with me this weekend.

Highlight 3: Very fastidious archivist
Another archivist, very sweet, likes things just so. I'm used to people here condescending to me and treating me like I'm incompetent, so it didn't bother me when she talked to me like a baby. Then I realized that she talks to everyone like they're a baby. Today she yelled at LM, who was trying to chat me up: "Liudmila Mikhailovna, I'm allowed to talk to the researchers, but you aren't! Be quiet!" Then some guy sat in the archivist's seat when all the other seats were taken. She comes back: "Stepan Aleksandrovich, that's my seat! How would you like it if I sat in your seat?"

Ah well, these are the things that amuse me nowadays.

I'm sad to report that winter has arrived. More snow, ice, and forecasts in the negative numbers. :(