If you are trying to describe your current life to someone and you say "We're doing remont," then they know exactly what is going on at your house. I even use this term with my ex-pat friends because it is just so hard to sum up the situation in one word in English.
Maybe our apartment isn't exactly "under construction" as it is currently livable, but there is a lot of "remont" that needs to be done.
A guy from our church has come over twice now at 10pm (after work) to work on our leaky/clogged faucets. The kitchen faucet broke off, so we're doing dishes in the bathtub. continue/-
I've been slowly working away at the old wallpaper in my room, removing sections at a time.But we can't put the new wallpaper up until the new windows are put in. And to put new windows in, we have to call around to a few different companies and ask them to come measure and give an estimate, and then tell the owner so he can choose.
To find a company for something it is best to ask someone you know. So we thought of all the people we knew who might have put in new windows recently, and asked them for phone numbers. Now we have phone numbers and can start calling and making appointments to get the measurements.
Meanwhile, I've discovered that the underside of the old wallpaper has some interesting old newspapers, like this one from Andropov's funeral (1984):
Wow--what a cool find! Did you save it?
ReplyDeleteVERY cool! Archeology! I did historical re-enactment in a 150 year old cabin, where they had actually used newspapers for wallpaper. When we had no visitors, I had a great time reading!
ReplyDeleteI threw it away, but I took some pictures first. I'm too much of a packrat as it is!
ReplyDeleteHaving spent two and a half years in Ukraine, I agree with you that "remont" is one of those words that just doesn't translate well. Good luck with your remont!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It is slow-going.
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