Tonight a friend who is researching in Irkutsk but currently visiting Moscow suggested we go to the theater. We set off about an hour before it started, but due to traffic got to the theater only a few minutes before the show started. For under five dollars, we got tickets in the dress circle.

The show was Chaika, or “The Seagull,” by Chekhov. Unfortunately, the subtleties in the dialogue were lost on me. I understood a lot of words and phrases and the general outline of the action, but none of the nuance.

I spend a lot of time here not understanding, or only understanding in part. One result is that I compensate by paying more attention to the details that I can grasp. When I read ads on the metro, if I don’t know every word, I analyze the fonts and graphics. I wonder if this is boredom, frustration, or the brain’s way of working around what it cannot comprehend.