Did you hear about the great new restaurant on the луна? The food is delicious, but there's no atmosphere! Hahahaha!

The word луна means moon. Is the joke funnier now?

Где луна? Я ничего не вижу!
Where is the moon? I can't see a thing!

Сколько лун вокруг Сатурна?
How many moons are around Saturn?

In Arizona all I have to do is drive for about a half an hour out of Phoenix on any given night to get a great view of the sky. It's really convenient since:

Я люблю смотреть на луну.
I love to look at the moon.

При солнечном затмении Луна частично или полностью закрывает Солнце. (adapted from this source)
During a solar eclipse the moon partially or completely covers the sun.

Мы стояли под яркой луной.
We stood under the bright moon.

Когда следующее полнолуние?*
When is the next full moon?

* The roots полн- ‘full’ and лун- ‘moon’ combine as «полнолуние» to mean a full moon.

Ok readers, guess today's word!

The Russian word for bottle is бутылка. As far as I can tell there is, thankfully, no equivalent of the “99 bottles” song in Russian. If you want to describe a smaller bottle without saying “small bottle,” say бутылочка. It sounds so small and cute!

Here is how бутылка declines:

And some sentence examples:
Ты куда сунул бутылку шампуня?
Where did you stuff the shampoo bottle?
Что, слепой? Бутылка перед тобой. На полке!
What, are you blind? The bottle is in front of you. On the shelf!

Эти бутылки водки проданы.
These bottles of vodka are sold.

Пожалуйста, передайте мне бутылочку Пепси.
Please pass me the little bottle of Pepsi.

Soon we are coming up on November 2nd, that means Voting Day. The Russian word голосовать means to vote. Тhe root of the word is голос, which means voice. This captures the idea behind having the right to vote so well! The whole point is to make your voice heard.

Я собираюсь голосовать во вторник.
I am going to vote on Tuesday.

While there is no presidential election this year, I still think it's pretty important to go to the polls. Just from watching a bit of the news (it's usually so negative that I can only watch so much) we can tell that quite a few senators, governors, and other local politicians are up for election this year.

В Аризоне мы голосуем за сенатора.*
In Arizona we are voting for a senator.

Of course, there are plenty of rules to follow to try to keep the voting fair and square. For example, you must be 18 years old.

Машенька ещё не может голосовать — ей семнадцать.*
Masha is seventeen, so she can't vote yet.

Nowadays we don't just vote in the political arena. Many reality shows feature polls as a kind of gimmick to get the viewers really committed. And it works too. Some of these shows gеt so many votes that phone lines are overloaded.

Миллион американцeв проголосовали за того парня, который пел так хорошо.
А million Americans voted for that guy who can sang so well.

So whatever the situation, make your votes count. And remember...

*Notice how in the present tense you would not say "голосовает" or "голосоваем." Instead you take off the "овать" end of the word and replace it with "у" and then conjugate it per the rules.

If you want to know where someone has arrived from, the word you use is the interrogative adverb откуда “from where”:

Of course answering the question is quite complex since there are at least three different words that mean ‘from’ in Russian. (If you would like a thorough overview to the to/from/at words and their use, click here.) Very often people will use the word without including a verb of motion. If they have just met you, they usually mean it in the sense of “What is your national or local origin?”

Откуда is often used in sentences talking about the source of someone's information. In that context it is best translated as ‘how’:

I love driving. Especially in Arizona. I often joke and say that I would drive to the mailbox if it weren't attached to the house. But in New York, it's a whole other story. I absolutely, most definitely will not drive in the city. Aside from the lousy traffic, parking is nearly impossible.

Трудно найти парковку в Нью- Йорке.
It's hard to find parking in New York.

Even worse, when you do finally find a spot, it's always about three blocks away and parallel. Here in my sunny state, you learn to parallel park pretty much just to pass the drivers test. I know, I know; I'm spoiled by the abundant spaces and easy parking.

Я не люблю параллельную парковку.
I don't like parallel parking.

Another comparison between New York City and Phoenix is the cost. Most parking is metered in New York. Whereas in Phoenix…

Парковка всегда бесплатная.
Parking is always free.

Ok, almost always free. But still, it is cheaper. Sometimes though, parking can still be a pain. Because no matter where you go, there is always someone who is terrible at parking.

Он паркует Хаммер, как будто он владеет всем миром.
He parks his Hummer as if he owns the world.