One real surprise so far is that it seems I have a particular status for many ppl: I'm not an emigrant but an "escapee". yes technicallly I am a political refugee, but most ppl my age do not know anyone who left during the communist era, while most know ppl who left after. What? And for that they feel they were not part of the generation that "did something" like die in a gulag, become insane whenever needed, kill a goose in a zoo to eat, or fled the country, etc. What? So I feel part of generation, like some kinf of boomer in reverse: I represent instead of the "summer of love" era some kind of "winter of gulag". What? I feel someone has pulled History over my head and now I have to get out of that bag and stop laughing cause there is not much air in that History bag.

{the early posts are at the end... not that it matters much, but since it's not ovvious}

All in all, I feel I've just arrived. I'm just starting to see and hear more so I feel my month is going by pretty fast. Or I suppose I've not slowed down yet mentally to "vacation" or "flaneur" speed.
So I'm going to try to slow down a bit more. Not too hard: trolleys routinely stop and street lights don't always come out at night because of electricity brown-outs; must be because of the litterally tens and tens of big and small casinos with lots and lots of lights! Some have more advertising lights outside than inside! Yes I guess gambling is also modernity.


I hope you'll excuse the brain-dump rhetoric in the above. And I'm sure some passages may not make much sense and need to be unpacked, but ask me more questions if it doesn't make sense; I'm all for dialogue, even Ionesco style :)

group hug!
and one for each too. Email me how you are and I'll try to also have individual dialogues.

until next email
noroc,
cat