Angelika didn’t understand how she could be in her current State. She had done everything right: gone to Universität, studied, found a well-paid Job with good Career Prospects. The Barriers had been dismantled. She was treated as an Equal.

Anxious, unsettled, Angelika knew she had to salvage a modicum of sanity from the uncertainty. Her boyfriend had gone AWOL again; her colleagues at work aggravated her; she wasn’t sleeping well; migraines plagued her. What a way to spend the last days of youth in what was allegedly one of the most desirable places on earth.

The next few days pass by, and nothing out of the ordinary happens. A neighbor across the street burns the overgrown bushes and grass; children drive from the top of…

The next evening, I gather the whole family in my blue-tiled kitchen for supper. I’ve made canja11, which we soak up with French bread. They make loud noises with their…

The TV is showing the latest novela, Das 97, a remake of Vale tudo, an old novela I used to watch. I try to concentrate, but keep getting lost in…

“Oh vó1, oh vó,” screams the old parrot Loro2 again. “Your vó isn’t here,” I tell Loro. Say “Amen” instead, say “Amen,” Loro!It’s been over a month since Lorena, the…

They slept separately that night, but something had shifted between them. In the morning, Armen made Armenian coffee, strong and sweet, and they planned their day over breakfast. “I thought…

The cat… A cat ate and slept. Yes, she also sat for many hours in front of the window watching children play in the garden. The cat owner loved the…

“Do you have plans for the holidays?” he asked, changing the subject. The Armenian Christmas was approaching – January 6.“Not really. School is closed for two weeks, so I thought…