Leaving in less than three weeks!

 So in just a few weeks I'm leaving for Ufa, Russia to participate in an intensive Russian language program through the Critical Language program. This blogging thing is new for me and I'm not too sure if it will work out, but hopefully I'll have a chance to post pictures and stories from Russia.

The blog name, "Door Languages," comes from the title of a poem by Zafer Şenocak. I like the way Şenocak's allegory portrays language barriers and I can relate to both the frustration he expresses over such barriers and the feeling that we absolutely have to overcome them. I'll leave you with the poem, in a gorgeous translation by Elizabeth Oehlkers Wright.

Doors don't say much to those who disclose nothing
once the inhabitants of a city that no longer exists
introduced a door language

Closed
Open
Left ajar
With or without latch
Locked
Pick-locked
in different colors
each door had its own meaning
that was long ago

today it doesn't rest so much on the door
but on the keys
on the one whose hand holds the keys
at the moment of arrival

who can find the patience to learn a new door language
there are more languages than people
the keys are in the pocket
the code in the mind

if necessary the door is kicked open