May 18, 2012 7:00 pm
Granny Marusja, her daughter-in-law Tanja and Tanja’s daughter Tanjusha prepare to lap plastic siding for cucumber hothouses.
Цётка Маруся з нявесткай Таняй і Танінай дачкой Танюшай падрыхтуюць клейку плёнак на парнікі.
The cucumber, eaten fresh or pickled, is a major item in the diet of Central and Eastern Europe and of Russia. Through the independent entrepreneurial spirit and hard work of families in the eastern part of the Stolin District of Polesia, the district supplies a large portion of the cucumbers for the markets in St. Petersburg and Moscow.
Many families have constructed the frames for hothouses in their yards. Each spring the (extended) family methodically laps narrow sections of plastic sheeting to replace the previous year’s covering. The recovered hothouses are then planted with the seedlings which have been forced in smaller hothouses during the cold days and nights of late March. Forcing the seedlings requires reloading the hothouse stove with wood every two hours throughout the night.
Tsjerablichy 2012. Цераблічы 2012 год.
May 17, 2012 7:00 pm
Belarus in Faces (part XLIX): Photographer Ul’jana. Беларусь у тварах (частка XLIX): Фатограф Ульяна.
Belarusian friends introduced me to the name of Ul’jana Mjel’nik (Ульяна Мельнік) through a wonderful documentary on her work as a Polesian photographer by Belarusian filmmaker Jury Haruljou (Юры Гарулёў) and scriptwriter Vjachaslau Il’jankou (Вячаслаў Ільянкоў). A resident of the small village of Chamjaryn in the Pinsk District of Polesia, Granny Ul’jana recounted in the film how she had taken up wedding and portrait photography to make ends meet. The film showed a selection of her timeless portraits and photos of everyday life in her village and the surrounding districts.
At the time the film was made Granny Ul’jana was 85. No one I talked to in Mjensk knew whether she was still alive in 2012 but I wanted to try to meet her. A month ago, just before Easter, and accompanied by my guide to Central Polesia Tanja Pjetrusjevich, we drove to Chamjaryn and found Granny Ul’jana, now 89, as energetic and full of vivid stories as she had been in the film.
Chamjaryn 2012. Чамярын 2012 год.
May 16, 2012 7:00 pm
Spring Cleaning, Vjeras’nitsa 2012. Уборка, Верасьніца 2012 год.
In early spring the air in the Central Pripet region is hazy from both the meticulous spring cleaning in yards and from the burning of wood to force cucumber seedlings for the earliest possible bumper crop.
May 15, 2012 7:00 pm
Removing a splinter. Стрэмка ў пальцы.
Tsjerablichy 2012. Цераблічы 2012 год.
May 14, 2012 7:00 pm
Belarus in Faces (part XLVIII). Беларусь у тварах (частка XLVIII).
Vjeras’nitsa 2012. Верасьніца 2012 год.
May 13, 2012 7:00 pm
Mjensk Tram 2012. Па Лагойскім тракце, Менск 2012 год.
May 12, 2012 7:00 pm
Churches of Belarus (part XII). Цэрквы Беларусі (частка ХІІ).
Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration, Chashniki 2007. Царква Праабражэньня Гасподняга, Чашнікі 2007 год.
May 11, 2012 7:00 pm
Smarhon’ District 2008. Смаргоньшчына 2008 год.
May 10, 2012 7:00 pm
Holding his youngest great-grandchild Matsvjejka (1) on his lap, Granddad Ivan (86) sits with his wife, Granny Vul’ljana (77), in the front row in this Easter-Day family portrait. They are surrounded by their three children (plus spouses), seven grandchildren (four with spouses), and eight other great-grandchildren.
Паклон Дзеду Івану (86), Бабулі Вульляне (77) й іх роду.
Easter Day, Tsjerablichy 2012. Пасха, Цераблічы 2012 год.
May 10, 2012 3:27 pm
In memory of Canon Father Uladzislau Pjatrajtsis (January 20, 1955 – May 9, 2012). Rest in peace.
На ўспамін ксёндза каноніка Ўладзіслава Пятрайціса (20.01.1955 – 09.05.2012 г.). Сьветлай памяці й вечнага супакою. Спачуваньні парафіі Ўнебаўзяцьця Найсьвяцейшай Панны Марыі ў Мёрах і ксёндзу біскупу Ўладзіславу Бліну й Віцебскай куріі.
Although I knew Father Uladzislau only slightly, he left an abiding impression of modesty and selfless devotion.
Feast of the Heart of Jesus, Slabodka 2006. Сьвята Найсьвяцейшага Сэрца Езуса, Слабодка 2006 год.
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