Tag Archives: russia

Loss, Part 2 of 3

Posted on November 11, 2016 by msmarguerite

2003: I find my mom’s favourite station on her car radio and hear a strange voice, almost a spoken-word voice, singing a poem in a minor key: “Suzanne takes you down to a place near the river, You can hear the … Continue reading →

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“Don’t kill your language!”

Posted on October 27, 2015 by msmarguerite

For my language geek friends…this TED talk, a Lebanese Arabic speaker railing against people who have an inferiority complex about their native languages, is worth listening to and reminded me of conversations I had had with Kirundi speakers, Haitian Kreyòl … Continue reading →

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From the archives- Standing up for LGBT people in Russia

Posted on October 16, 2014 by msmarguerite

In honour of National Coming Out Day, after seeing this Pulitzer-grant-winning series on the impact of official homophobia on GLBT people in provincial Russian cities, I decided to repost this old story from 2012. It’s a continuation of this story, … Continue reading →

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A few simple rules

Posted on August 31, 2014 by msmarguerite

At the Baltimore Farmer’s Market today (yes, I’m in Baltimore visiting family, and I’ll try to work in a few interesting posts about the local flora and fauna) I ran into a woman a few years older than me who … Continue reading →

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A few thoughts on the Winter Olympics

Posted on February 11, 2014 by msmarguerite

OK, I admit it, there is other work I could be doing, but I am watching the Winter Olympics. I daresay the same is true for much of Canada. Right now I’m flipping back and forth between a live webcast … Continue reading →

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Planète Télé – Émission 7

Posted on December 20, 2013 by msmarguerite

Nous n’étions pas ici. Mais regardez quand-même cette émission de Planète pour voir les derniers reformes democratisantes (?) en Chine, les préparations pour les Jeux olympiques de Sotchi, l’exposition fascinante d’art haïtien à Québec…et un voyage au coeur des camps … Continue reading →

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Know Your Expats

Posted on July 22, 2013 by msmarguerite

I have had a few intriguing meetings with various expats in the past few weeks, which led me to write the following bit of tongue-in-cheek amateur anthropology. Is it apt? Absurd? Pretentious? Missing a few categories? Let me know! Add … Continue reading →

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Words of Wisdom from Ryszard Kapuscinski — second edition

Posted on March 26, 2012 by msmarguerite

Ryszard Kapuscinski  was a Polish foreign correspondent who claimed to have covered 27 revolutions and been sentenced to death four times; this may be an exaggeration, but not a very big one. He was a voracious, omnivorous reader and a … Continue reading →

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