From the Streets of Rostov-on-Don

So what's new here? I like to ask Irina the produce vendor. And where's it from?

These tangerines from Turkey, she tells me. That's just south of here, across the Black Sea. I've done that trip too and I do have stories. But these tangerines were probably kept in the dark the whole trip, in a safe place and here they are.

The strawberries are from Greece, just one time zone west. If  these strawberries could talk, imagine the sights they've seen in recent days. Say Howdy to Irina,  the produce vendor. Guessing that her mind is far, far away. . . she's probably dreaming about watermelon season. But now, she asking 100 rubles for this cup of strawberries. Divide that by 30-ish rubles to the dollar and we can agree that imported strawberries are indeed a special treat.

The pomegranates are from Abkhazia, just to the south of here and part of the former Soviet Union. This fruit is packed full of good stuff but you knew that of course. And here's two easy ways to open a rascally pomegranate.



At Rostov Kino it's show time!

Watch with Us, the sign says. Just for fun, let's translate these first and then see if they match up with what's showing in theaters in the US. from left, John Carter, Snow White and the Revenge of the Gnomes then there's (some word indistinguishable?) Love. On the far right, that could be Tenderness or maybe Delicacy or possibly Affection. Do I even dare to check the real titles of these? Well yes, I did dare - and, this is fun - the English title for the Snow White film is Mirror, Mirror. Good choice to change that title in the Russian version because otherwise it would Зеркало, зеркало (ZERK-a-lo, ZERK-a-lo), considerably less enchanting.

Rounding out our report from the street is our sister Frieda with an advertisement for Beeline mobile network provider, my provider of choice, just FYI. Thing is, both Frieda and my language teacher poo-poo the grammar in that advertisement. They're both purists, language-wise and don't want anybody messing with the King's English, Tzar's Russian. Share the sunrise here, the heading says. And at 14 rubles/day, that works for me, grammatical or nyet.