Remembering Anya

In my sojourn to become a full fledged devoushka, (let me point out that the chromosome did not naturally develop in me, I had to be mentored) one of the most interesting devoushki I met was named Anya.

Anya had wild wavy hair and had so much devoushka attitude that it literally sat on her like an aura. One of my first experiences as a devoushka was listening to her conversation with another devoushka (in Russian of course) while she completely dissed her best padrooga's new foreign boyfriend, in front of him, without him understanding a word of what she was saying. Not having the 24th chromosome, I recognized that she WAS being completely rude as the other devoushka in question was also MY best padrooga and I would not diss my best padrooga's boyfriend EVER, even behind his back. Evil was creeping into Anya's heart. It was fascinating to listen to her speak with such confidence and outrage as she watched her best padrooga walk down the street holding her foreign boyfriend's hand. (Perhaps she was breaking some devoushka rule of being cold to the one you love most and was showing too much warmth to him too soon. I'm not clear on this rule.)

In the end, Anya went completely evil and lost her best padrooga and any potential friendship that I felt for her. But I do remember one great piece of advice she gave me about "choosing" in life. This advice pertained to choosing important things like men, clothes or coffee. "Once you find the best in life, why try anything else?"