Wednesday, April 18, 2007

call for a poem

So I suggested that my Russian class read classic russian poems in class sometime. I guess I was nostalgic about senior language at St. John's... my Russian teacher like this idea, and then counter-proposed that I find a good English poem to translate into Russian and share with the class... oy! Not as easy.

So here is an open call for suggestions... I need a poem, preferably well known or written by someone well known, which was written originally in English, and is not too long or complicated... IOW, T.S. Eliot would probably be out.

Any suggestions? Oh yea, and I need to find the poem on the internet.... help!!

Sunday, April 15, 2007

flowers!

In Belarus, I re-use teabags and matches. Plastic grocery bags also get at least 10 uses before having to be thrown away because of holes. Conservation and economy are more of a norm, and take on new levels over here.

I was walking to a friend's flat the other day and I passed by a young mother with her son, who was just at that age to be walking with the assistance of her hand. He was pointing at objects and saying what they were. He pointed and said (in russian) "Flowers!" His mother replied, "No, not flowers, it's a car." It made me smile.

I currently have a roommate named Evie, a little kitten. She is at the moment sitting on my lap, as I type.


She also likes to jump on high places, and occasionally, for her that can mean my head.