Once you start, you can't stop!

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Not only is Russian a difficult foreign language to speak, it has a different alphabet - cyrillic script. It is a challenge to learn, but once you get the hang of it you can't stop reading it. As we stroll along the streets of Minsk or ride the trolley or tram from one stop to another we are constantly sounding out the words written in cyrillic script. The hope is that the word will be a cognate that we can recognize from English. The pictures show a few examples.

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Photos

A tram
A tram that criss-crosses the city

Our Street
This is the name of our street.

Main Street
I wish they would just call it Main Street. Many places are on this street, but we can't say it.

Communist Street
Follow this street a few blocks and you get to the United States Embassy. What irony!

English
English subtitles are a rarity. The first and last words are cognates.

Pet store?
I think this is a sign to the pet supply store.

Fruit
Another cognate: fruit.

Skola
The sign for our school - Slow Down! School Ahead.

Yes, McDonalds is here.
The Big Mac.

Moldovan wines
The nearest wine country is Moldova. Tolerable after a hard day. Merlot on the left and Cabernet on the right.

Stop
Recognizable in many ways.

Comments

[Stephanie]

stop sign
Hi George and Kevin! The signs are so interesting! I can see the similarity in some of them to their English translation. Most interesting to me is the Stop sign that says STOP in English, not in Russian! I wonder why that is!?! Thanks for sharing!

[Irina]

Pet store?
You were close. It's Pet Pharmacy , the top sign. The second square sign is Zoo boutique , Royal Canin. Probably pet clothes from the world famous designers . The third sign is a name of street, Surganov St. Thanks for the pictures. They make me laugh and of course a lot of memories. The picture of the Big Mac reminds me that many years ago, I spent half of my pay check on the meal. The first McDonalds building in Minsk was made of granit . Did you visit it on Independence Ave?

[Yvonne Jones]

Looks like you both are really enjoying your adventure. Hats off to you both. Miss Kevin at our weigh ins but I think she is having more fun there.

[Arlene Baerlocher]

Miss you
Hey Kevin. Just found a link to your blog. I miss your smiling face in the cafeteria. All is well. I got my son married a few weeks ago. I found out how much of a country gal I am and I like it that way! Glad to see you are having a good time.

[Lynn Hayes]

Happy to see your earlier blogs but I haven't seen any lately. Hope all is well.