The word for blizzard in Russian: метель (pronounced MEH-tel). We had our first big one over the weekend. It snowed and snowed and snowed some more. The wind blew the snow around making it almost impossible to see across the street. It started Friday night and didn't really stop until Monday night. There was a break Monday morning, but it didn't last long. The visibility on the roads was so poor that they shut down the main road to and from Yuzhno, meaning that Shane thought he might not get to come home. They finally reopened it and he made it home safe and sound. Today is the first day with no snow falling...so now we can start the digging out process. The snow in the backyard is now higher than our porch, and the snow on the side of the house is up to the window sills. So far I have only managed to dig a path for the dogs to go out in the back. My neighbor and I decided to go skiing today...and found out exactly how much snow fell - in some places the powder was up to my hips! Needless to say we ended up skiing in the street! And I have heard that round 2 is coming this weekend...
In the car on the way home from school...very poor visibility but the road was still open
Hard at work clearing the roads in Olympia
Our back yard
Walking down the sidewalk to Russian class...in the snow...very fitting!
Yes, I have skis on...snowshoes would have been a better choice!
4 comments:
Wow!!! Very cool! (okay, some pun intended)....
I'm sure it is not as fun when you are living in it, but you know that from where I am sitting it looks really appealing!!!!!
Great photos and I love the Russian! Keep teaching me. I still hope to live there one day!
Two questions:
Does the word MEH-tel (sorry, I don't have the Russian characters on my keyboard)...does the word itself have any other meaning? I am thinking of the arabic word SHAMAL, which also means NORTH, the direction that the dust storms fly in from. Does MEH-tel have any root meaning or is it a word that was made up specifically to mean blizzard?
And the second question: the two characters at the end of the word..the little pi and the little b....standing alone what sound do each of them make? Seems like only the english "l" sound is represented by the pair. Are they always written together to form the "l" sound or is the word actually a bit more complex than it's transliteration, maybe an added "e" syllable or something?
Curious about the Russian characters and their sounds.
: )
Thanks!
These were good days to stay inside and watch the storm. It was quite spectacular! Glad our homes are warm! I definitely call these last few days, "Russian winter days!"
What is Russian for "candle?"
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