Mission creep

I got a call yesterday from “Katya.” She didn’t say which Katya, but it turns out that I guessed correctly. She wanted me to show up this morning to help out with a little project at the university, calling for an international cluster of students who worked on a project together last year to make a short presentation at 11 a.m. tomorrow.

At this morning’s meeting we got our assignments. I was to play the part of a student from England. I was not allowed to play the part of an American because they couldn’t find any American flags anywhere in Minsk. We would have a rehearsal after our morning classes.


At the rehearsal I learned that the new gathering time would be 9:45 tomorrow morning, which meant that I wouldn’t get to any part of my classes. Fine. I came home and memorized my line, with pronunciation help and guidance from Alla. I also downloaded a picture of an American flag and got it printed two-sided on photo paper so I could regain my nationality.

Next thing I knew, the gathering time would be 8:30 a.m. and we will take a bus to I-don’t-know-where, and the line I learned has been completely revised. The new line included a word in Belarusian which even Alla didn’t know how to pronounce. I’ll at least take sufficient control to substitute the Russian version of the word. Now not only will I miss my entire class, I’ll miss my early-morning workout at the gym.

What do you think will be next? Will they let me go home for lunch? Dinner?


Note from the next day
I am unwilling to change the above text, but I'm sorry I let my petty frustration show through. The event turned out to be a whole lot of fun, and I am really glad I was invited to participate.