I decline, you decline, he/she/it declines

I had a semi-mortifying experience today when I attended Milara-odzha's class for 1st years in the Crimean Tatar and Turkish Language and Literature department. Lots of Tatar flew over my head - these are what we would call "heritage" speakers at Columbia - and then before I knew it, I was standing in front of the class, chalk in hand, asked to decline the noun "rale" (рале) which means "desk." There's that "Knowledge is Power" Norman Rockwell painting that comes to mind. Except maybe with knobbier knees in my case. And the chalkboard was bright blue. Anyway, declining nouns is not my forté. Nor is conjugating verbs, turns out.

Well, monkey has a new trick. Milara-odzha and I have begun to advertise my ability to sing a traditional Crimean Tatar song whenever my inability to speak Tatar inhibits the possibility of a good and easy time for all. The advertisement inevitably invites a request to hear the song, and then, after 30 seconds of song, everyone says "Mashallah!"

Yesterday, I had the good fortune to be included on my new friend Natasha's family excursion to the chic new ice rink in Sevastopol. Afterwards, we went bowling, in the gorgeous bowling alley in the same mall where ice skating is located. Maybe you know that I love bowling. Well, it was really fun, though I didn't play very well. 

There's been a lot of little doses of snow over the last week. Pipes are bursting, and the train tracks that I cross are looking more picturesque than usual.  

Another development: the Baby Pool CD is now available on CD Baby!