wednesday night

Wednesday night I will be co-teaching a class on how to swing dance.
And who am I teaching?? A bunch of diplomats and.... marines.

I share this only because I think it will amuse Laura. :)

i'm seriously depressed

highlight
of my summer.... gone

cultural oddities...

they have ATM banks... on wheels.... they operate out of..... get this.. MINI VANS.  heellllooo robbery-in-the-making!!!  they just pull up on the sidewalk and start dealing out cash or exchanging currency.  and no, the vehicle is not armored or guarded...

new record

There was a new record set in Minsk yesterday. On November 6^th, it was the coldest it had been in 92 years on that day, with a low temperature of negative 14 degrees Celsius (or roughly 7 degrees Fahrenheit). I had the delight of walking in such record breaking weather. :) Icy snow blew furiously around me, and it was quite difficult to walk or see where I was going. I think winter was just saying "hello" to me. It wanted to welcome me to its homeland in the far north of eastern europe. I can now thank winter for such a… polite… gesture of… friendliness. . . . .

Now it is above zero and the streets are a wet slushy mess.

The pigeons take refuge underground, camping out in the corridors leading to the metro. Their eyes and beaks disappear underneath their feathers, while they stand motionless, napping.

It gets dark now around 4pm. By 5pm, you could see stars, that is, if it weren't always overcast. It is a strange adjustment. The early darkness makes me feel tired.

Today is a national holiday. November 7^th in the year 1917, the revolution began. What revolution?, you might wonder. My friends would tell you that the holiday commemorates the revolution that brought Lenin to power. Interesting, eh??… .. . . . . . I'm a stranger in a strange land.

metro wanderer

A while ago, I spotted a small, scruffy black dog wandering amid the crowds on the platform of the central metro station.  People around were looking at this dog in surprise and shock, for a metro platform is no place for a stray dog!  Some almost tripped over him in their hustle and bustle.  But this dog sniffed this strange underground air and looked around, as though deciding which direction he wanted to go and which metro car to jump into....

 

I just wondered: did the dog opt to take the escalators or the stairs as he came underground?

 

hmm...

 

 

deep philosophical question. ;)