things was dark and singular.

Somehow it makes perfect sense that my first meal in America was a Honey Bun purchased from the...

Sat, 25 May 2013 21:52:40 -0400

Somehow it makes perfect sense that my first meal in America was a Honey Bun purchased from the vending machine in a Maryland hotel.

Unrelatedly, I am so tired. So so tired.

This time tomorrow I’ll be somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, and this time tomorrow plus five...

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:07:49 -0400

This time tomorrow I’ll be somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, and this time tomorrow plus five hours I’ll be in DC. When I finish packing, that’s the end of the Ukrainian adventure this year. If I weren’t so tired, I would be so sad.

So I’m thinking of what I’m looking forward to most about coming home, and this is what I’ve got so far:

drinkable tap water
ability to communicate with strangers without using my dad as a middleman
not having to walk up 133 steps every time I want to enter my house (we’re currently in a sixth-floor apartment with no elevator)
the possibility of laziness
ketchup
quiet
geographic closeness to my friends

But today we went to a Repin exhibit and then we got khachapuri in the park, and I can see the poplars outside on the boulevard. The important stuff is all 100% dead-on.

It is good to feel at home in more than one place in the world.

"Topography," Sharon Olds

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:23:24 -0400

punch-in-the-face-poetry:

After we flew across the country we
got in bed, laid our bodies
delicately together, like maps laid
face to face, East to West, my
San Francisco against your New York, your
Fire Island against my Sonoma, my
New Orleans deep in your Texas, your Idaho
bright on my Great Lakes, my Kansas
burning against your Kansas your Kansas
burning against my Kansas, your Eastern
Standard Time pressing into my
Pacific Time, my Mountain Time
beating against your Central Time, your
sun rising swiftly from the right my
sun rising swiftly from the left your
moon rising slowly from the left my
moon rising slowly from the right until
all four bodies of the sky
burn above us, sealing us together,
all our cities twin cities,
all our states united, one
nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Today I learned that I have an inappropriate number of feelings about Damien Hirst. Anyway, he...

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:47:22 -0400

Today I learned that I have an inappropriate number of feelings about Damien Hirst.

Anyway, he sucks.

motivatedslacker replied to your post: Ukraine, why do you allow parking on the sidewalks… I...

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:43:09 -0400

motivatedslacker replied to your post: Ukraine, why do you allow parking on the sidewalks…

I think a lot of US mannequins have nipples too, actually. Which I’ve also found weird.

It’s so weird! Even weirder than mannequin belly buttons, which…you aren’t fooling anyone, mannequins. You are not mammals.

Ukraine, why do you allow parking on the sidewalks and why do your mannequins have nipples? Please...

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:29:34 -0400

Ukraine, why do you allow parking on the sidewalks and why do your mannequins have nipples? Please reply.

every-sound replied to your photo: Today I got photo-bombed by a wedding party in… what is...

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:36:00 -0400

every-sound replied to your photo: Today I got photo-bombed by a wedding party in…

what is that thing next to you

bpkathleen replied to your photo: Today I got photo-bombed by a wedding party in…

looks like a hive of Easter eggs

What bpkathleen said. It’s a piece by Ukrainian artist Oksana Mas, who also did this super-cool sculpture of the Virgin Mary, also with eggs.

Today I got photo-bombed by a wedding party in Kyiv’s...

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:22:05 -0400

Today I got photo-bombed by a wedding party in Kyiv’s largest monastery. So that happened. (That’s my head scarf, but we weren’t in a church, so it’s acting as a snazzy accessory instead.)

I realized just now that my “if I spoke russian i don’t think i’d ever come...

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:03:00 -0400

I realized just now that my “if I spoke russian i don’t think i’d ever come back” tag could be misinterpreted.

If I spoke better Russian, I don’t think I’d ever come back to America. (She says, joking but also not joking.)

bpkathleen replied to your post: Potential memoir titles Also: It is Ukraine, not “the Ukraine.”...

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:02:28 -0400

bpkathleen replied to your post: Potential memoir titles

Also: It is Ukraine, not “the Ukraine.” (Right? I’m not sure, but “the” sounds weird.)

That’s right! “The Ukraine” is more accurate for a region, but it’s an independent country now.

Potential memoir titles

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:32:11 -0400

Why Are You Parking On The Sidewalk: General Anxiety Disorder, Ukraine, and Me

Sorry You Had To Repeat That Three Times: I Dropped Russian After Two Semesters, And Other Regrets

Everything Hurts But Mostly My Legs: A Travelogue

Don’t Drink The Water, Like, No, Literally Don’t Drink The Water (And Other Good Advice)

I Guess We Live In The Choir Loft Now: Misadventures in Touring Old Churches With Remarkably Steep Steps

It’s Kyiv, Not Kiev, And Ukraine Is An Independent Country: Various Things My Dad Isn’t Sold On

Blini I Have Known

Things I apparently collect now

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:07:57 -0400

Stuffed hedgehogs
Various editions of Everything Is Illuminated

There’s something weird about ordering an iPad online when you’re temporarily living up...

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:52:40 -0400

There’s something weird about ordering an iPad online when you’re temporarily living up the street from a large statue of Lenin.

In other news, I am a capitalist pig.

"The agenda. Okay. So the Wax Museum, the Museum of Toys, and the Museum of Guys With Maces. Second..."

Tue, 14 May 2013 02:42:26 -0400

“The agenda. Okay. So the Wax Museum, the Museum of Toys, and the Museum of Guys With Maces. Second only to, you know, LASER SWORDS.”

- Mama is excited about historical weaponry.

Unsurprising museums my family has suggested

Sun, 12 May 2013 17:38:00 -0400

The Museum of Literature
The Museum of Bread
The Museum of Toys
The Museum of Outstanding Figures (four writers)
The Museum of Wax Figures

We ruled out:

The Museum of Water

Also to be visited, and also unsurprising:

the Hedgehog in the Fog statue
the State Puppet Theater

In the last 27 hours I’ve traveled 5,000 miles (Dulles -> Paris, Paris -> Kiev) which...

Sat, 11 May 2013 11:05:22 -0400

In the last 27 hours I’ve traveled 5,000 miles (Dulles -> Paris, Paris -> Kiev) which took about ten hours of flight time altogether, during which I basically could not move my legs because I got the window seat and am just shy of 5’8”. I think I slept for maybe twenty minutes.

My parents and I are so tired that we can barely form sentences. But we’re here!

someauthorgirl replied to your post: I’m going to Kiev for two weeks tomorrow (no time… Have...

Sat, 11 May 2013 11:02:04 -0400

someauthorgirl replied to your post: I’m going to Kiev for two weeks tomorrow (no time…

Have fun! Take pictures so I can oooooh at them!

I will take so many photos, you won’t even know what to do with yourself. GET PSYCHED.

aka14kgold replied to your post: I’m going to Kiev for two weeks tomorrow (no time… Bon...

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:20:10 -0400

aka14kgold replied to your post: I’m going to Kiev for two weeks tomorrow (no time…

Bon voyage! I hope you have a great time and that there are no travel mishaps and everything is wonderful :)

Thank you, love!! I will return with stories of all sorts, and I’ll miss you a ton.

shesarejector replied to your post: I’m going to Kiev for two weeks tomorrow (no time… you’re...

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:19:29 -0400

shesarejector replied to your post: I’m going to Kiev for two weeks tomorrow (no time…

you’re so cool.

You’re so hot you’re making me sexist.

I’m going to Kiev for two weeks tomorrow (no time like the present to mention that!), so...

Thu, 09 May 2013 12:54:05 -0400

I’m going to Kiev for two weeks tomorrow (no time like the present to mention that!), so I’m going to be mighty scarce around these parts until the 26th.

Please think all your best not-losing-the-luggage thoughts at me?