May 2012 – Natalia A.

Also – Ukrainian beer is cheap and good

Just sayin. Reading the comments, I have to reflect on how much British readers don’t understand the way Ukrainian government works. When I say that “racism in Ukraine is no longer being swept under the rug,” they say, “Aha! But your Foreign Ministry is denying it even exists!” That’s because Ukrainian government doesn’t really *do*Continue reading “Also – Ukrainian beer is cheap and good”

Remember: I read tarot

For cheap. I don’t think that the tarot has anything to do with predicting the future – but it is useful when you’re trying to figure out the present. I think of it as a form of therapy, not as a form of fortune-telling. Different spreads usually suit different people, and I do all ofContinue reading “Remember: I read tarot”

I’m in Crete

My husband is obsessed with this country and I may have to stop making fun of him for that – for reasons that are suddenly obvious. The nights are starry in an insane, Van Gogh-sort of way. The sea is a dense oil painting. Waiters say that all of the jobs are here – andContinue reading “I’m in Crete”

Keep Istanbul weird

I’ve decided that I highly recommend seeing a strange city through the prism of something like a film festival when you first arrive. You can begin to contend with it then. It was because of the film festival that I didn’t find it strange when a beautiful woman drinking coffee from a disposable cup parkedContinue reading “Keep Istanbul weird”

Way down south

… From Kiev, that is – and Istanbul, as I always suspected, is just as glorious in May as Kiev is. It’s a different gloriousness – calmer, I think, less tragic (but tragedy is endemic to natives anyway – a foreign spring always feels gentler, it results in possibilities, as opposed to memories). Now IContinue reading “Way down south”