Quick break. . .

I just needed to take a quick break from work this morning. . .

Sabe at the Burma Center asked me to do a favor for her and look over a translated document that had been recently created, regarding the different ways that the refugee lifestyle affects men and women according to their gender roles. Interesting stuff. However, the translation is so off, that each sentence is taking me about 5 to 10 minutes to decifer and rewrite. Add to that the fact that much of it is cited from research, so I need to be careful to stay as true to the original language as possible. I would give you an example, but I don't want to post any of their original work. Let's just say that the subject matter is very interesting, but the general feel is that paragraphs were fed into altavista.com's babblefish translator, and so the general context is totally lost. It also uses words like "pedant" and "labefy" - which I have never ever used.

Only 25 more pages to go.

In other news, I am wearing my green tennis shoes from the small Vietnamese shop in Kutna Hora. I think they are pretty awesome for $5 and I have posted pictures for your review. Hey, whatever makes us happy right? And $5 shoes ALWAYS make me happy.



Ah and also. . .Iva gave me tickets to an art exhibition opening last night. I went, and I have to say I was blown away. The paintings are so realistic that one would think they are photographs. The subject matter (generally, the effects of war/violence) was subtly disturbing. I can honestly say that I have not been as affected by an art exhibit since I went to my very first modern art museum in San Diego when I was 12-years-old. Robert and I have very different views of modern art (namely, he hates it and I love it), but regardless of whether you are a fan or not, I think this guy is worth checking out. You can see his stuff here.

This was one of my favorites - called, "The Oath," and one of the more tame pieces (I'll warn you that there is some very graphic imagery on the website). And yes - this is a painting, not a photoshop-ed picture.

Hope everyone is healthy and happy!