May 10, 2005
Late Spring Weather
Staying with Plovdiv one more time for the photo of the day. We'll probably be going back later in the week, too. Sunday was absolutely outstanding weather-wise. Hardly a cloud in the sky and cool breezes. Couldn't ask for much better.
What you see here is the Plovdiv Amphitheater, which overlooks the city center. It's apparently pretty well-preserved and they still use it for summer shows and plays. Terrific venue.
It was back to school today though, where in literature, we slogged through the first couple pages of Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" which is one of my favorite essays (even though I break Orwell's rules every day on this page. Mostly out of laziness).
I don't think they completely got it. I have a tendency to overestimate this class. They're good. Very good. But they're not quite ready for a long discussion on the use of dead metaphors in English. Oh well.
More promising was the fact that they hadn't heard of Orwell at all before I mentioned him today and no one had any idea about why I had written 1984 under his name on the board. I think the next two weeks will be 1984 weeks in class. I've already warmed them up by telling them that Victory cigarettes, Bulgaria's more popular brand, has the same name as the cigarettes in the novel.
Fun times with literature. Makes the rest of the day peppy.
Finally, I've been a little slow on the local pages here. Rob Jackson has started a great photo page which is certainly worth regular visits. And Michael Marble has arrived in Bulgaria and started telling stories, just what I like to see. Give them a shot.
Posted by Rob at May 10, 2005 06:40 PM