OFFICIAL Card - Belarus

It has been a long time since I have received a Fauna of Belarus card and this one is great! Anna from Minsk sent this card showing a Bluethroat. This looks like such a sweet little bird, some of the pictures I Googled, also a colourful little one!

OFFICIAL Card - Belarus

Kate sent this card showing views of her hometown Molodechno, Belaurus. Looks nice!

OFFICIAL Card - Belarus

One of the first cards my daughter received via Postcrossing had the view of the Minsk Railway Station. So when this card arrived from Victoria last week I was able to recognize it. Good memory if I do say so myself. She translated some phrases for me from English to Russian and Belorussian. Love the Christmas stamps she chose too.

OFFICIAL Card - Belarus

This is a great illustration of a Pygmy Owl that Olga sent me. I was not aware there was an "Owls of Belarus" series. Even more great birds to collect! Thank you!

OFFICIAL Card - Belarus

The infamous white stork of Belarus thanks to Alena from Minsk. Haven't had a card from this series in awhile - yeah me!

OFFICIAL Card - Belarus

Vika from Brest sent this illustration of her favourite city, Minsk, Belarus. She writes that music is her life and she plays the piano.

OFFICIAL Card - Russia

One of my favourite series of cards is "Fauna of Belarus". These cards are printed by Belpost (the postal service in Belarus) however I cannot find any information or catalogue about them online. This is yet another new series for me "Owls of Belarus". The sweet illustration is titled "Little Owl". Wonder how many more I will be lucky enough to have fly my way. Many thanks to Tatiana who sent this from Saratov, Russia.

OFFICIAL Card - Belarus

I know I have said this before, however it is worth mentioning again. It really makes me smile when I receive a card that the special effort the sender took shows. That is not to say that all cards are not sent this way it is just some go that little bit above and beyond. This card from Yuliya is just one of those. I love birds and bird stamps. This card marries those two things wonderfully, she even used a bird stamp! This link gives some information on the "Bird of the Year" series.

OFFICIAL Card - Belarus

When this card arrived my first thought was that it was an Easter card. While I couldn't fully understand the text I rightly so thought it was a date and the flowers looked kind of Easter like and that was that. When I Googled I see that it says "March 8", searching that I see this is for International Women's Day. I'll be honest, I have never heard of it before. Perhaps it isn't quite as celebrated in Canada or perhaps I live under under a rock. Having said that this past week or so I have heard several short reports on the radio about it so maybe it is just starting to catch on here. I can't even say for sure that is what the card represents. The only information on the back states it was printed in Moscow in 1991, as well as the artist's name. Either way, a very nice and very vintage card sent from Ivan in Minsk.

So tell me, have you ever heard of International Women's Day?

Direct Swap - Veronica from Belarus

Belarus is the latest country to issue a stamp celebrating Postcrossing. After reading about it here, I was hoping I would be lucky to receive one. On the Postcrossing Forum, Veronica posted that she was looking to swap and the card and stamp were her offer. Perfect! Lucky for me I had a card she wanted of the extended British Royal Family and we agreed to swap. Her card arrived yesterday. She posted it as a maxi card which seems even better - yeah me! Thank you Veronica, hoping my card makes it to you soon.

OFFICIAL Card - Belarus

Kate from Minsk sent this card at the end of October showing ladies in traditional dress from Belarus. The text on the back states "Belarus Folk Holidays and Celebrations, Kupala Night". This is a celebration I had never heard of and was as usual interested to learn something new. You just never know when you're playing Trivial Pursuit! The stamp she chose is interesting too and matches the logo on the card. I found some information about it here.

OFFICIAL Card - Belarus

So this card has been a bit of a puzzle for me. I have tried to Google translate the text on both the front and back (there are two sentences on the back) and for the life of me I cannot get it to translate. Maybe it is me but I am not seeing some of the symbols on my virtual keyboard. As best as I can tell the view is of a hospital in Smolevichi, a city within the region of Minsk. Maria wrote that it is a "clynic" so I am guessing that is what she means. Do you have any different ideas?  I love that she included what would be the tear away of the stamp. She also drew me a fun picture of a hedgehog!

OFFICIAL Card - Belarus

For a bird lover like me these cards from Belarus are the best surprise in the mailbox. I just {love} this series! This beautiful Mute Swan came to me from Elena. She lives in Gomel, the second largest city in Belarus. Also love the Olympic stamp she used. So thoughtful of her - thank you!

OFFICIAL Card - Belarus

Sergey and Tatiana live near the border of Poland in the city of Brest, Belarus. They like to travel and hope to visit Germany and Czech Republic this year. This view shows Sovetskaya Street in their hometown.

OFFICIAL Cards - Belarus

Normally I like to have each card shine on its own, however these three are destined to be together. I received each of these wonderful cards within 4 days of each other. The series Fauna of Belarus is one of my favourites and I find it neat that all of the cards are different, especially given that they were travelling at the same time. Lucky me, no duplicates!

The first card showing a Black-tailed Godwit took a staggering 74 days to travel to me from Marina in Minsk. Absolutely love the the bird stamps she used too!

Next to arrive was this Waxwing from Danila also from Minsk. Christmas stamps, another favourite!

And last to arrive was this card showing a Smew sent by K, also in Minsk. I have never heard of this species before and think this picture is just beautiful.

OFFICIAL Card - Belarus

Liza is a 10 year old girl who lives in Vitebek, Belarus. She is learning English with the help of her Mom and Postcrossing. I love the card she sent me of the Minsk subway system. It reminds me of Toronto's in a way, very straightforward.

OFFICIAL Card - Belarus

Lena lives in Grodno, Belarus and sent this card showing several different Catholic and Orthodox Cathedrals in her hometown. The one on the bottom I received once before on this card. Just a slightly different angle. Lena also used 2012 Olympic stamps - they look really neat with the gold ink!

OFFICIAL Card - Belarus

Ah, the famous Belarus stork. I have seen and heard that the stork has long been considered a national symbol of the country. I must admit I have found it rather odd, but then again others might think having a beaver or a loon just as odd and I can't explain that either. Now that I have read this it does make a bit more sense to me. I absolutely love this series of postcards from Belarus so was delighted when it arrived last week. Margarita from Minsk sent this to me mid-December and tells me a bit about her life as a student there. I was equally happy that she used a Christmas stamp on this card. Not too sure where I had seen it on-line but did somewhere and was hoping I would get one.

OFFICIAL Card - Belarus

Anna from Vitebsk, Belarus sent this fun outline map of her country. It shows various things Belarus is known for and she provided a translation for each for me. Bison (the world's largest population is in Belarus), cornflower and storks (another national symbol, for some reason I find this one odd!) along with the many forests, rivers and lakes. Lots of little tidbits that I have just learnt about this country!

OFFICIAL Card - Belarus

Sergey is a thirty-something German living in Brest, Belarus. He sent me this card which took 18 days to travel just over 7,100 km to me. I had such a good laugh when I read his profile - "I can't travel a lot because my natural laziness and lack of time." You have got to love honesty like that! The view shows the railway station in Brest in 1886. While there are a few lines on the back of the card, the font used is really stumping me on virtual keyboard, so I am not really too sure what it says.