Russian Literature and a Walk in the Woods

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I have found that it is very easy to get Russian professors off topic. They will go on tangents about just about anything. Which really isn't bad at all because they speak Russian the whole time. So I'm still learning.
Yesterday we started my Russian literature class having a debate about how well Pushkin knew Russian. During the 1800s the Russian aristocracy spoke mostly French, so Pushkin learned Russian as a second language. My professor says that he constructed sentences like they would be constructed if it was in French.
Somehow from there we ended up talking about gender roles in Russia. The professor said that Russian men often live like babies their whole lives. Both the husband and wife normally work but the husband rarely does anything around the house. He also said that women prepetrate sexism more than men. He said that here most women don't know how to drive cars. Driving a car is thought to be more of a thing for men to do than for women. He said that he told a group of business students that everyone should learn to drive cars, not just men. One of the women replied, "Then why would I need a husband? When I get married my husband can drive me around".
We also started talking about aids in Russia. It is a huge problem. Though the numbers of people with aids is low, aids is spreading at a rate as fast as in Africa. The main problems causing it to spread are ignorance, lack of contraceptives, and drug use. Most Russians still think that aids is just a problem among gays. Which of course it isn't. And in Russia people usually use no birth control whatsoever when having sex. Which is a huge problem. There are twice as many abortions as birth here and the reason for it is that Russians use abortion as their only form of birth control. I have heard people say that we shouldn't teach kids how to use birth control because then they will want to have sex. Well look what happens when you don't teach kids to use birth control. They have sex anyway and then get abortions.
Anyway, after class I met up with Irina. We went to a park towards the end of the gray metro line. It was absolutely beautiful. We took a small dirt path off to the side and were the only ones walking along there. Everywhere we looked were birch trees. Some of the colors of leaves were starting to turn too. In a week or so I'm going to come back with my camera and take pictures. It's going to look stunning there when all the leaves turn.
It was really great to be able to carry on a conversation in Russian with Irina too. She only knows a little bit of English, so we spent almost all the time talking in Russian. I'm really glad that I've made a Russian friend. Before I was only hanging out with the other people from my group.
Irina said she wants to invite me to her house sometime to try authentic Armenian food. She has a big family and wants to introduce me to her siblings too. I can't wait to go, I haven't been to a Russian family as a guest before.

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