"Yesterday..." (c)

As I see it now - that was quite an emotional and a too self-concentrated message by me yesterday. In reality, back to the meeting - everybody made an effort to participate in the discussion, and everybody was open and ready for conversation, so thanks to everybody. Don`t know why was I so much impressed by my personal role (though it was important of course :)).

Actually my life is not those small but great successes. My actual life is (starting from this Friday, but that`s just an example):
- The book, printed a day before and for 80% consisting of the texts I was writing for two years, but with no mentioning my name at all. That gave me an opportunity to have a lot of questionning and the strong conversation with my boss. That was a real thing to collide with.

- The lunch with the same participants to celebrate the yesterday success. A mixture of pride, self-value and force, but with a touch of a compromise.

- A little bit of vodka with my ancient landladies - just to be friendly with them. Rented room in an apartment shared with two veterans is always to be compromised.

- Existing in the most expensive, the most corruptible, the most exciting, the craziest and the greatest city in the world. Too much for me, if constantly, so some measures to be taken.

- Not being terribly satisfied by my job - started translating and adapting three "pieces de theatre". If there are no texts I want in the whole Moscow - ready to use the DVD`s sub-titles. Plus, collecting other ideas and thinking what to do with all that. Coupled with a terrible habit of reading several books at once - could be something psychological with me%)).

- My RU passport which stops me from going wherever I want whenever I want. That`s annoying.

- My three types of friends: (1) the ones with whom we are too different now and not always easy to talk; (2) those who have diagnosis "Moscower", impossible to talk; (3) some nice people to visit francophone events in Moscow and not only. The thing to be seriously questionned.

- Some occasional news about my three-years old nephew (my younger brother`s son). Silly and cute things melting the heart (though the distance help :)).

- The "homme de ma vie" is not even in Florida now, but in Philippines, so we can`t speak everyday, but in several weeks we`ll meet on Cyprus, but only for several weeks, and... Just doesn`t look like a normal life... Ok, cup of tea now, ciao.

PS: I do have freckles in spring :)

Hey, just want to share my today success.

So in spite of Saturday I was working today. There was a meeting with some Washington (DC) pretty high officials.
There were 8 of them.
There were 8 of us (including 6 youngsters we work with, my 1 boss almost-zero-English-speaker and 1 me). Hard to believe but that was me leading the whole thing! I mean, with all my shyness... but life is life and there were no other options :)

Am so proud of myself at the moment! Because everything was just great, a nice and easy conversation (though in English :)). And I quite enjoyed my leading role. Well, just imagine a tremendously, glouriously and fantastically shy person like me, and such an active behavior... ok, was not going to boast just want to share one of the keys to success :) So...
...once I got an advice from the woman whom I really respect. This advice is one year old now, but it always works, so everybody is welcome to try it. It is: "Try to imagine yourself talking and how you`d like to see yourself. And do it". Great words and so ready for action! (*highly recommended by Lana :))

I am sending waves of love and one thousand good thoughts to her now, and to all those whom I may imagine right now.

Ok, one more news

We are experiencing some major repairs in our office building at the moment, which looks like disappearing of the door leading to the staircase. What is so special about staircases is that people do smoke there, which is absolutely fine with me, unless that smells really badly. But that happened and blue smoke all around. With all my luck my room is the first one in the corridor.

And I was really patient for couple of days, I really was. Finally my perfectly tolerant behavior turned into action. So I discovered several posters in my program archive - it was the youth project, healthy way of life advocacy etc (well, that`s my job, grants for youth, civil activity, social life and all that). So the stuff like that (like posters) may be found in my room.

The small volunteers` team was created, ready to have some minor adventure with running along the stairs and sticking the posters on the way. It was not about: "Hey enough smoking, dudes". It was about "That may be dangerous, you know".

Anyway that message is also about how talented Russian kids are in posters creating.

The anti-bad-smell partizan is on the picture attached.

Ok, ciao, need to run now (cinema for tonight).

And back to the previous message - the reason number five: pocket-size books forever! :)

My subway fiction

That`s what I am reading while traveling in the underground these days – something in French. Living in Moscow now, I have 22 minutes to go to my office from the room I rent, so that`s always quite important to entertain myself with some reading (people watching may be also nice). Today I tried to understand – why the book is in French?

Well, obviously the author was French. As for me, for some strange reason I have an ambition to read as a Gaul. And understand even, sometimes.

And they are some texts from his (the authors`s) one-man show, a comic one, if not cynical, and am always ready to appreciate that kind of humour, so that should be the second reason.

The third reason, about puzzling the nearby passengers – not really, but perhaps, because a book in French might look a bit exotic in the overcrowded Moscow subway car (though I am regularly noticing even more strange things been read by others).

But actually I`ve just discovered the fourth reason: as I don`t have any dictionary with me in the subway, that makes me keep going, even with only partial understanding. In the same situation at home I would open all possible dictionaries and on-line translators, but that would give me the sense of inferiority, no? But while in the subway – I can declare reading in French. That`s an illusion though…

Well, actually the author is quite good. He was quite a character anyway. He didn`t like communists or some ethnic groups - the kind of "jokes" you can`t really hear today. That`s him on amazon. That`s - on fnac.

But I just have it from the French centre of Moscow (and being pretty serious here - that`s the link to them, but sorry that won`t be opened in a new window - still exploring the options here :)). I LOVE THAT PLACE :) (the French centre, I mean)