Blog
Paradiselostintranslation
http://www.paradiselostintranslation.blogspot.com/
Tales of a lonely exile. A mother's move firstly from ordinary Oxford to extraordinary Asia. Then to anarchic Albania. Sri Lanka was described as a paradise island by Marco Polo; Albania declared a paradise by Enver Hoxa, its dictator. Perhaps it's all semantics, but, for me, something got lost in translation.......
58 articles
Global Nomads - A Conversation in the Science Museum
From Paradiselostintranslation, 3 days ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
On our recent visit to London, we were house sitting for friends in a quiet little Muse street tucked away behind the V&A. It was another world- so quiet.As we had been rushing around a lot, we decided to have a quiet day & enjoy the luxury of being spitting distance from both the Natural History Museum & the Science Museum. So later in the afternoon we popped out & went into the Science Museum. We made a beeline for the 'interactive room' whereupon my children busied themselves...
Read more
Interresting ? 0
BFGs & Warhorses
From Paradiselostintranslation, 1 weeks ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
I seem to be stuck in a Roald Dahl thread right now, but two of the simple little highlights in London, for me & my 'too fast growing' family, were 2 moments when I realised my children are still capable of make believe & wonder.We were travelling to London on the excellent Oxford Tube service which has a loo, wireless connection AND up to THREE children go free with an adult. Bargain (admittedly about the only bargain I discovered during my stay in Rip-Off Britain) My 6 y-o this...
Read more
Interresting ? 0
The Tower of Babel
From Paradiselostintranslation, 2 weeks ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
When we arrived in the UK, my son commented on how nice it was to hear English all around him again."I can listen to people's conversations & understand them." (clearly got his mother's genes there....)In London, however, everywhere we went we heard numerous different languages, all around us, all the time, to the extent that my son asked what language people spoke in London. In fact a statistic in the Tower of London said that more languages are spoken in London than any other city in the...
Read more
Interresting ? 0
The Tower of London
From Paradiselostintranslation, 3 weeks ago, Read 1 times. Similar articles
We have just spent a fabulous four days in London being tourists, house sitting for friends. A real highlight was visiting the Tower of London, So much to see, beautifully carved prisoner graffiti in the towers, the enigmatic murder of 2 young princes to investigate & the highly entertaining yeoman warders to listen to. Forget the Horrible Histories, these guys were the cat's pyjamas. They really brought the history of the Tower alive. Even the loos were an experience, being in a thick...
Read more
Interresting ? 0
Strange Meeting
From Paradiselostintranslation, 2 month ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
The children & I flew to the UK on Mon, through an electrical storm. Fortunately the childen fell asleep as soon as we took off. They have slept through earthquakes in Albania & violent thunderstorms in Sri Lanka during the monsoon season, so I shouldn't be surprised. It was the worst turbulence I have experienced in 2 decades of flying all over the world.The stewards had reached the middle of the plane & were handing out the food boxes when it hit. We were shaken about so...
Read more
Interresting ? 0
Ballet Balkan style.
From Paradiselostintranslation, 2 month ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
One of the things I love about living in a different country is that it is often unpredictable, often surprising, & it encourages flexibility & adaptability (as well as tolerance & resilience of course)Everyday life is interesting just because the way of life is different, habits, routines, behaviour is different & is a reminder that, whilst people are pretty much the same the world over, their way of doing things or dealing with things is very varied.Here in Albania there is...
Read more
Interresting ? 0
U befsh nje qind vjec!
From Paradiselostintranslation, 3 month ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
That's the traditional Albanian salutation on a birthday - May you live to a 100 years old!I guess, under the despotic dictator, Enver Hoxha, that was indeed an optimistic wish worth bestowing, as he bumped off so many. On the other hand, I imagine many would have considered this similar to the Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times" as life under Hoxha was so hard, & cruel.Anyway today is my "ditelindjen". Since living abroad my birthdays have been a bit different from the usual...
Read more
Interresting ? 0
The Gallery - Still Life
From Paradiselostintranslation, 3 month ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
It's soft fruit season now. Yum yum yum. The strawberries are over already, cherries came in about 10 days ago & now the peaches & apricots have appeared. I never ate apricots in England. They always seemed to have that 'floury' texture & no taste. The peaches often went from hard to mouldy without passing through 'ripe' at any stage. It's one of the things I love about living here; the fruit & veg is Sooooooooo tasty & fairly organic in the sense of little use of pesticides...
Read more
Interresting ? 0
The Delights of Being a Trailing Spouse
From Paradiselostintranslation, 3 month ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
I have an intense love-hate relationship with my husband's work. I love the passion & commitment of those who work for the organisation. I love the NGO's values & I love what they do & am very impressed by their work. It is full of professional, intelligent & committed people. I hate the hours he works though. The organisation also has a very hard working work ethic, it even has an unofficial nickname amongst its employees, relating to this ethic. My husband's perfectionist...
Read more
Interresting ? 0
By plane, car or bike ? Any which way you can.
From Paradiselostintranslation, 3 month ago, Read 0 times. Similar articles
My sister arrives tomorrow. Volcanic ash cloud willing of course. It seems it is blowing over the Atlantic again & threatening flgiths. Nothing like a bit of tension to add to the thrill of having visitors. W e have 3 lots of visitors over the next 3 weeks. We are delighted, the children are excited, but in this uncertain time of natural disasters, environmental hazards & a seemingly endless troop of crises, we are also a bit anxious. Each set of visitors either arrives, or departs on...
Read more
Interresting ? 0
