I'm listening to the band Leningrad.

I forgot I forgot I forgot how absolutely wonderful spring in Moldova is. The tree outside my bedroom window is blooming. I woke up a few days ago and saw white specks on it and thought, fuck it's snowing again, but it wasn't snow! It's flowers!

People are leaving their house more, and the town feels alive again. This time around I'm just another person here, hello-ing to the store clerks and students I pass when I go for evening walks, snapping sunflower seeds between my teeth like my mom does.

It's a small town, claustrophobic even. But there is something to be said for just walking around. It's very distinctly European- walking with friends. The simply calling up a friend to go out, but not to sit at a bar, but just stroll. It's such a familiar feeling to me, because my mom loved to put on her windbreaker and fill her pockets with sunflower seeds and just walk and talk. Now that Roxanne is in our lives, there's an extra reason to go out, but even before her, I remember those walks at dusk throughout my childhood. I felt it last night as I turned corners aimlessly, chatting away with Misha, or the day before with Lena, or last summer with Alina. The walking I did in Ann Arbor was always with Roxanne, and let's admit it, she's not the best talking partner because on her walks she's just interested in finding the perfect spot to defecate onto.

It's getting warmer, thus my walks are getting longer. After a winter of being holed up in my living room (the only room in my apartment with heat,) it's finally nice to get out and stretch my legs.




[Leningrad is singing "Hvataiet denog do huia do huia... shas dengi est, nu nyet lubvi, fso daje suka, c'est la vie." For those who understood that, you would think this song is rock and roll or rough, but it's actually a very slow, beautiful song with saxophone and light guitar strumming. Lovely, nu?]