my brief encounter with celebrity

Well, I have in no way recovered from the indignities of the current exchange rate, but I was able to forget about it briefly the other night when I attended a TsSKA-Moscow hockey game with Brooke and some other people.

Now Brooke is a bonafide hockey fan, tried and true. I will admit that I don't always follow the NHL at home, but I always enjoy games, as my brother played when he was younger, and the whole family really got into it. Alina, John and I were frequent attendees at TsSKA-Moscow games in 1997. ANYWAY, the reason why we were looking forward to this game was that Jarmir Jagr, one of the most talented players out there right now, was playing for the visiting team - Avantgarde-Omsk. For all of you "sports?" people out there, the NHL is on strike this year, so all the European players who are normally in the NHL came back to play in their home countries. Even though the match ended in a 4-4 tie, it was exciting to watch, and we had front row seats. There was even a fan brawl in our section! (But nothing approaching the recent Pacers-Pistons fracas). Afterward, a few of us decided to wait and see if we could see Jagr (who is Czech) when he left after the match. When he eventually came out, I got some pictures, but he was swarmed by people. My autograph is really an unrecognizable scribble. We followed him outside, when Brooke said "we should ask him in English." So we did, and he said "at last, someone speaks English here!" And he was quite pleased, to see a bunch of girls who could actually say that they saw him play either in Pittsburgh or Washington in America, and we got pictures taken with him. (On Brooke's film camera, so I have to wait for the picture).

During the game, on a completely un-Jagr related note, the following conversation transpired:
[Don't read the following if you are anyone in my family over the age of 40, or any parents of my friends]
Desi: Hey Brooke! TsSKA's back-up goalie is a hottie!
Brooke: Desi, he's 17 years old
Desi: Oh
--pause--
Desi: Well I don't care if he is 17, I still want to ravish him.

Now Jagr is also a hottie in my opinion, and more in my age range, and is single, but he apparently has gambling debts, which would not, in my opinion make him relationship material.

So that was my weekend adventure. I did go over to my friend Maika's for dinner on Friday night, and when I arrived she said "I felt like steak so I bought steak." Hot damn! I can endorse any friend's craving for red meat, especially when I am the beneficiary.

But now I have a sore throat. :=(
ciao!

stark raving pissed off

The US dollar sucks. I don't know how much they talk about it at home, but the dollar keeps plummetting against the Euro, against the Ruble everything. This phenomenon has meant that my ATM withdrawals have started to cost me more for the same number of rubles, but generally, that's not too bad. But what got me really P-O'd was when I checked my credit card statement today.

A month ago I bought a plane ticket home to the states for Christmas. It wasn't cheap, about $825, I think. Well, that was the Lufthansa price, but the travel agency that sold had to make the transaction in rubles, so they set their own rate, which was rather high. Fine. But I used my credit card, and they have their own rate to convert it back to dollars to bill me. So in reality, my $825 plane ticket cost me $918. I mean WHAT KIND OF FREAKIN' MESSED UP THING IS THAT????? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, needed to express the rage. Stupid dollar. Stupid exchange rates. Now I've learned my lesson. Next time I buy a plane ticket here, I'm paying cash, even if that means toting around 30,000 rubles. Svolochi!

Important issues

Since the fate of Ukraine did not seem to capture anyone's imagination!

Although it is the holidays over there - Happy Turkey day! I was in the archive. Did go out to dinner with roommate's Romanian parents and sister. The least they can do since they are living in my apartment all weekend. Its a bit cozy....

So today, I was almost hit by a bus. It missed me by about a foot. I was on the sidewalk.

Buses should not drive on the sidewalk. Analyze and discuss.

People should make no effort to match their clothes in the dead of Moscow's winter. Every item of clothing should in no way coordinate with any other item of clothing. None of these items of clothing should be stiletto heeled boots. Analyze and discuss.

Eye on Ukraine

Please take the time to read my -extensive- description of my trip to Latvia when you have a moment, but before you do that, please take the time to read about what is happening in the Ukraine right now.

Its Presidential elections were held on Sunday, and the eventual outcome of this very contested election may be even more important than the results of our recent presidential election.

Go to any of these sites:
www.moscowtimes.ru
www.nytimes.com
www.bbcnews.com

and read their (for the moment) feature articles about the situation.

The Paris of the Baltics

....Or so Riga, Latvia likes to call itself.
I have recently returned from Riga, and will describe my adventures in detail, in order to placate the demands of a friend of mine! :-)

Brooke, an American I know from a previous time in Moscow, left for Riga on Wednesday evening to visit a mutual friend, Liz, who is living there, working on her dissertation. The train trip to Riga is a whopping 16 hours, which makes the 7 hour ride to Piter seem like cake. But the train was comfortable and inviting, even in 3rd class, or hard class. We got tea, free breakfasts, and (gasp!) the toilet had soap AND toilet papers. Boy are those Latvians civilized.

Eventually we went to sleep on our bunks, only to be awakened at 4am in order to cross the Russian border. This took about 45 minutes, and we continued on our way. I had just fallen asleep when it was time for the Latvian border crossing! The Latvian border police had much more modern equiptment, scanners and the like, which made me feel much better about Latvia's general safety! This all went smoothly and resulted in stamps in the passport. I learned an interesting thing though - in this area of the world, your passport stamp reflects the manner in which you crossed the border. My new stamps have a picture of a train, while all my previous Russia stamps have a little plane. Yes, I think things like this are cool.

Needless to say, when we arrived in Riga at 10:30am local time, we were somewhat exhausted and generally feeling as though we were covered in train funk. But Liz was there to meet us, and after a coffee at a cafe and a stop at Stockmann for some cheese (brie!) we went back to the apartment she shares with David, her bf and a state department person in Latvia. Let me tell you what - it is now my aspiration life to pass the foriegn service exam, be stationed in Riga and get THAT apartment. Hot damn. I don't have pictures, but the main bathroom was a wonder of scandinavian design and engineering. The bathrooms had HEATED floors. Ahhhhhhhhh. Did you know that diplomats don't pay for their housing????? Yeah, that's the life.

The day we arrived, November 18, was Latvian Independence Day, celebrating when Latvia declared independence (in 1918) both from the Soviet Union and from the German troops occupying part of their territory. We went to go see the parade and witness the celebrations. We heard the Latvian president - a Canadian-Latvian woman whose name I forget - even gave a public speech. The benefits of living in a country that isn't important and does care to be - the President frequently comes out in public. Then we watched the parade, which, interestingly enough was a military parade. I think we saw their whole military. Not to mock the Latvians, but their Navy consists of a few gunboats donated by Norway. But they do have troops serving in Iraq, so they are officially part of the international coalition. We 4 strolled around Old Town, and then went to the Hotel Latvia for drinks before dinner. The bar at the top has an amazing view of the city, and it was thankfully still light enough for the pics to turn out.

The Latvian national beverage is something called Black Balzam. Balzam is common in eastern Europe, and the Latvians have their own version. It is frequently served with currant liquor, or mulled wine. It is served HOT, which is just what the doctor ordered after walking around in the cold!

Back at Liz and David's we had an early Thanksgiving dinner, and sat around and caught up on life.

The next day, Liz took Brooke and I on a tour of Jungenstihl Riga and its art-nouveau buildings from the turn of the century. All of the buildings were amazing to look at. They had such detail. And so many of them featured faces cut into the stone, or other animals. I think I have some details in the photo link. And in the tradition of any good Scandinavian city, the buildings are light pastel colors, to brighten up the winter drabness. During our stroll we were cursed and spit on by an old beggar woman who was mad that we didn't give her any money. I think the curse was to have to go back to Moscow!

We had frequent hot tea/coffee munchie breaks to warm up, and did some souvenir shopping. We also paid a visit to the Latvian history museum, which like many, gives you Latvian history from the first iron age peoples to inhabit the territory all the way up to the present day. The museum (which is in the same building and one floor up from the President's office) also had an exhibit about daily life in Latvia during the Soviet era.

Riga is very interesting, coming from Russia. In Riga, Latvians are actually outnumbered by Russians and Russian speakers, but the government has been taking very strong measures to promote the Latvian language in schools, in public displays, on television, etc. There are still 500,000 Russians who were born in Latvia and have always lived there, who were and are still denied citizenship. (And there are only some 2.5 million people in the whole country, so do the math). But most Latvians over the age of 20 speak Russian, so if they don't speak English, you can communicate in Russian!

For a girls' night out we had dinner at a nice, small restaurant with a tasty, varied menu. Its funny how even though you can find almost anything in Moscow (for a price), compared to Moscow, Riga was the land of milk and honey, especially in terms of the availability of fresh, affordable food. Around that time, Brooke and I started trying to figure out how to permanently ensconce ourselves in their guest bedroom!

Saturday was more sightseeing, but the weather was even colder than the day before. If I look fat in the pictures, its because I was wearing 5 layers! (I've actually lost 12 pounds in the 2 1/2 months I've been here.) We went up to the top of St. Peters church, which has an outside observation deck. Of course the exact moment we chose for this adventure was when the fog rolled in! Miraculously though, it cleared off later and we actually saw the sun set - at 3:40pm. That day included a trip to the "Occupation Museum" which covers Latvia's history under Soviet - Nazi - Soviet rule. It was interesting to see, all weekend, how they wear their nationalism on their sleeve. Its not a geopolitically important country, it never will be, but it is still important for them to celebrate their identity, attempt to protect their language, and other things. It does produce an interestingly one-sided view about their role in their own history though. The museum was so thorough and detailed that we couldn't even finish before they closed!

David picked us up and we headed out to the suburbs for an adventure at "MOLS", which is, curiously enough, a mall. I needed warm boots after I discovered that the pair I brought over with me wasn't going to cut it. Another mall also had a photography exhibit that we checked out on the way to dinner at Lido, an truly Latvian experience. Lido is like the Latvian Chucky Cheese, as David described it to me. Its a fun park with an ice rink, ferris wheel, HUGE Christmas tree, and a cafeteria style buffet of food food food food food. It is also very kitschily decorated in carved wood and the like. But judging by the number of people there, it is THE place to be in Riga!

Afterwards, even though it was dark we drove about 10 miles to a town called Jurmala, an old Soviet resort town on the Baltic Sea. We even walked down to the beach, which was covered in snow - a new experience for me! The surface where the small waves break was actually frozen over with ice. Brrrr!

Our last day in Riga was spend relaxing in the sauna in the morning (they've got one in their building!), and doing some last minute shopping. And then it was back on the train, back through the borders, and back to Moscow.

But Riga was amazing. Liz says the Latvians are still re-learning politeness after 40 years of Soviet domination, but I thought the people were lovely, the town was beautiful. Small (1 million people) but cosmopolitan. I could go back there. And there was still more to see that we didn't get to. Not enough daylight this time of year.

Enjoy the pictures - they barely do it justice!
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAM2TVm4bOGz5Y

Propaganda of Olympic proportions

Moscow is one of the finalist cities for the 2012 Olympics (even though $10 says Paris will get it), and all cities had to submit their final bid yesterday. In connection with this, there is some nationally televised festival o'Russian culture and unity that at the moment features high-kicking dancers in folk costumes.

Now I would definitely go to the Olympics if they were in Moscow! Does anybody know if the boycotted 1980 Olympics happened to be televised in America? (I doubt it, but I'm just asking). I'm curious about how the Soviets did the Olympic spectacle.

Anyhoose, off to Latvia! No blogs for awhile!
desi

yearning....

so have I mentioned that I spend a lot of my time fantazing about hiking the AT? I read www.whiteblaze.net alot.

The Pony Express

John B. is officially my hero.
Why? Because today, Sunday morning, I got an USPS International express mail delivery. Of what? G2 Gel pen refills, because I was stupid enough to bring over to Moscow a bunch of my favorite pens, almost empty.
This delivery was especially poignant because I have been sick as a dog since Friday, when I lost *all* the contents of my digestive system in one really unpleasant night, and spent all day yesterday feeling like I had been hit by a train.

And it was funny, because I almost didn't answer the door. (We have a bell that rings the apartment, and I thought, what maniac is ringing the bell at 11am on Sunday morning?) It was the Russian postal service, with a delivery for Хопкинс (my name in Cyrillic). It was all very professional and so unlike what I imagine the Russian postal service to be like. I had to show him my passport and he had to take everything down, but I signed for it and, voila!

Its the little things in life that keep one going!

Now, in case I didn't broadcast this earlier, but Laura is ALSO my hero, not only for sending me a letter - yes a real bonafide letter - with a comic strip cutout too, from the states, but also for trekking down to Stanford while she was in CA to take digital photos of this pamphlet at the Hoover Institute, which they had repeatedly refused to ILL or photocopy for me, which is very relevant to the diss.

In case I have sufficiently guilted some of you into sending me stuff in the mail, my address is
Moscow 125009
Tverskaia Ul. d. 6 str. 3 kv. 308
Hopkins, Desi
Russia

Now I'm off to go eat more plain bread. Mmmm.

Yasser Arafat

So I'm home watching the burial of Yasser Arafat live on the BBC, and it is a wild sight to see. I've never seen anything like it. I don't know how much you all will see, being that you are sleeping right now, and will get news clips. Its taked them forever to get the coffin out of the helicopter, and once they did, it was surrounded, and people actually are trying to take the coffin from the security forces, and you can't even see it now, its covered with people. The noise is deafening.

I wonder when its over how many people will have been crushed, or hit by stray bullets - and there are shots being fired everywhere, in celebration/mourning. Hundreds of people were crushed when Stalin died.

Anyway, I thought I'd share, since I am able to watch it live.
And I did work in the archives today. They close early on Fridays. So there.

nostalgia

Thinking about my last post has called this one to mind. I was pondering the popularity of Soviet era kitsch, that has been in demand to some degree or another since the fall of the Soviet Union and the iron curtain. There are tons of markets which sell vintage, as well as newly made reproductions of all sorts of things - military hats, pins, flags, etc. In the near future I'm planning on paying a visit to a second hand store that sells toys and knick-knacks from the 60s and 70s.

First of all, why is this stuff so popular in the west? And secondly, is this okay, or normal?
Many still are fascinated with the SU because it was our main adversary, politically, militarily and ideologically for 70 years. And we prevailed, and they didn't. (Others can argue what role Reagan played in this. I offer no comment on that). I, personally, am fascinated and enamored with all things Soviet. Duh - I study it, I speak the language, I live here, and we won't even go into my tattoo. The other day, I was in the Metro and a tour group from Japan got off at the same stop, and almost ALL of them were wearing fur hats with the hammer and sickle, which they had picked up at a market....it was the funniest sight. But I digress....
People here also feel nostalgia for the Soviet Union, for as many personal reasons as there are people, but they don't collect the trappings of it. They sell it to us crazy tourists who snap it up. I've had gatherings of friends sing childhood songs to entertain me. To them, that was their childhood, which at the time was normal.

But where I'm going with this is that, why is it, for example, considered not out of the ordinary to engage in such behavior (as a non-native Russian) in relation to the Soviet Union, where it is absolutely not okay to rummage through markets looking for the trinkets left from Nazi Germany? I am not elevating Nazi Germany, I want to know why the Soviet Union is so damn innocuous for most of us, including myself, a person who is more intimately acquainted with the horrors of the regime than most people?

Its a very interesting historical, anthropoligical, economic and even psychological question. I have my own thoughts and possible answers to this, mostly from the historical side, but I thought I would broadcast my random musings for the rest of the world.

Yeah, so that's what I was thinking about today, even in the midst of the visit from the cable modem support guy.

The Communists are coming! The Communists are coming!

Okay, not really.
This past Sunday was the 87th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, for those of you who don't have those things already marked on your calendar. It is still a national holiday, although the holiday is now called "Day of Accord and Conciliation." Yes, there is irony there, in case you were wondering. The last time I was here during an anniversary, I was on a group trip to St. Petersburg, and missed any observance of the event. I did not want that to be the case this time, so at about 11am I went out, to find me some communists.

My apartment is right downtown, and Tverskaia was completely closed and empty of cars - a rare event. But neither was it exactly swarming with people. There was a crowd gathering at the end of the street, and we were blocked from crossing Mokhovaia over to the square that leads to Red Square. On the other side of Mokhovaia were only policemen, presumably ready to beat us all down if we decided we wanted another revolution. Gotta love Russia. I managed to squeeze my way to the front and waited for the parade with a rather old woman. Eventually they came. The parade, with its red flags and banners and songs made its way past us, and I could hear the woman next to me commenting on how few people there were, and every year there were less and less. So few she could practically count them. Then she sighed and said that people don't believe in anything anymore. I wanted to tell her, well actually, people believe in the almighty dollar - I mean Euro.

Then I went to meet my friend Brooke for lunch, but on my way, I had noticed that the parade had gathered in the square across from the Bolshoi theater, around the statue of Karl Marx and were having a rally. So Brooke and I decided that lunch could wait and we went to observe. It was really weird. I mean think about. Its 2004 and communists were gathering, and the speakers were calling for the restoration to Russia of the socialist republic formed in 1917, and power to the workers. And while there were plenty of really old people who actually had some connection to the old regime, there were plenty of younger families and their children. Gennady Zuganov was on the podium with others, and there was a series of speeches and folksy-communist songs about the flame of revolution. One speaker called to women to think about what they need to be happy and fulfilled - they need the socialist state. I am not kidding.
Although I did not shout "long live the Revolution" with them, I did should "Putin - pozor!" which basically means down with Putin. Now that was cool - in the sense that the communists are still able to get their parade and rally and are able to yell "down with Putin" in the middle of Moscow. But when there was a moment of silence for those who died defending the revolution and the Soviet state, and no mention of those who were victims of said state, I felt very uncomfortable.

Yeah, the Soviet Union is now kitschy and cool, but that can lead one to forget that it both 1) meant alot to millions of people, who did die defending it, who did believe in it, and who were better off then than now, and b) that it destroyed countless millions of lives and nations, in a very brutal way. Believing in the dream of social equality and freedom for everyone is a noble dream, but it turned out very very wrong.

Well, having said that, here are my pictures from the day.....
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAM2TVm4bOGz3g

Brooke and I also got our train tickets to Latvia that day. Whoo hoo!

Lenin Lives!

Lenin Lives!
Post re. Anniversary of Revolution to come soon

Ommmm

Last night I decided to put my yoga mat (which I dragged half way around the world) to good use and go to a Yoga class. It was great. I haven't practiced in a while, so I'm really sore today, but it felt great, especially the poses which are contrary to the main post of my life: hunching over documents.

The yoga center appears to be immensely popular and judging by the number of personal yoga mats being stored there, yoga is not an unknown hobby here. Now mind you, I definitely do not know most of the important words related to yoga, but having practiced it before, I was able to figure out what I was doing by looking around me.

One drawback to yoga in Moscow: yoga outfits. I was right next to a woman who was a fan of the leotard over the tights style of workout apparel a la 1983, but the leotard was also a thong leotard. More than one I found my face waaaaaay too close to her ass, and felt the need to move to the left or to the right.

I think that this will be a much more affordable means of getting a workout than joining a gym.
Namaste!

take heart

Well, Ellen is right, GWB can't be president again after 4 years. This is very good news. I've just read many articles on NYTimes and WashPost online about how we "Blue" Americans are swimming in a sea of Red, and how alienated we feel. I am worried about what will happen international the next 4 years, I don't think that this world will become a safer place. But then again, I'm just happy that no one has tried to blow anything up in Moscow the past 2 months (knock on wood).

What was most interesting about many of these articles was the perception on the "Red" side how far we Democrats appear to have strayed from core values. Apparently we are all gay polygamists in the making. And this is what really motivated people in the polling places. We're out to dismantle marriage. Maybe America has always been a conservative country. I mean, we do come from Puritan stock, some of us, and as one article said, Democrats have struggled since after WWII. Look what happened to socialists, too, whereas in Europe, socialist parties had legitimate places in the electorate, controversial though it may have been. Maybe America will always see itself as the preserver of some sort of ideal, that was enshrined after WWII, where we saved Europe from only one of many conflagrations it had "managed to get itself into." We came to see ourselves as more wise, instead of just different, with grew the inability to see that the world is full of difference, and nuance, and all sorts of ways of living, of being. Some are questionable - and by that I mean people who aspire to blow people up for a living, but who are we, really to say who is right and who is wrong? Just my two cents on the matter for right now.

My roomie needs the internet, so I have to go.
poka, from one of many aspiring totalitarian states in this world.

Desi

Allan Lichtman is everywhere

I'm so nervous, I feel ill. I've been up since 6am and this is nerve wracking. I won't go into my politics and why I think one choice is really really honestly better than the other, but this is coming down to the line, it looks like.

Allan Lichtman is the BBC's numbers man, so I got to enjoy my pre-dawn hours with him.

I do have to say, that it is absolutely how polarized America really is. The Right went farther right, and the Left had to go left in response. I used the think I was a moderate, and I feel as though that is an unattainable luxury these days. Living on the fringe of Europe though, has given me a new perspective on things. The EU doesn't have it perfect, and they haven't worked it all out, but the orientation of the population is so much more pleasing. And I don't mean just because of liberal vs. conservative either, because half of the things that mobilize Americans aren't even on their radar, because the role of government and politics is different in European society. I like the secularism of the society (although I think the French might be taking it a little to far with the hijjab restrictions), that religion is private and not public and that creates a completely different tenor in life. Canada looks nice too. Frankly, I like the idea of living in a country that is NOT a superpower, never will be one, and never wants to be one. And that doesn't mean that one is less involved in the world because of that, but that one looks for different solutions to problems than those that come at the end of a gun.

swoon

Right now I am much enjoying watching "Pride and Predjudice" on TV (in Russian). But its the Colin Firth version, so who cares what language its in - its a beautiful sight to watch.

But the reason I am writing is to post pictures. Its been awhile, due to internet issues, so these range from several weeks ago, from my walks around the city, to my hike the weekend, and other scenes. Enjoy!

http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAM2TVm4bOGz1o

I'm glad to hear that everyone is voting! Its so exiciting! I'm getting up at 5am or so to watch the returns come in, even though I don't really think it will be decided tomorrow.
And Dad, if my "team" doesn't win, I also promise to be a gracious loser!

Winter

Although we have yet to have snow, I busted out the real winter coat today. The mittens are coming out tomorrow (thanks Kim!).

The end of Daylight savings time sucked here. It got dark at 4:30 pm today. Has anyone seen my sunlamp?

A Walk in the Woods: or how all the Gore-Tex in the world couldn't keep me dry yesterday

Yesterday, Sunday, I went on my first Russian hike. Its a group of mostly Russians, some Brits and Americans. I wanted to go last week, but didn't and was really bummed, so when I woke up yesterday morning and heard the rain pounding the window, I said damn the weather, I'm going on a freakin' hike if it kills me.

Ha ha.

I considered myself to be well-prepared, fully outfitted. Wicking materials, good, water-proof boots, water-proof parka, gaiters. I had gaiters for pete's sake. I was golden.

Ha ha.

It was also about 38 degrees outside.

It rained and rained and rained, and the area south of Moscow, (about 50-60km south by train) was a veritable swamp. We get off the train and set off through a field at a good clip. Our leader was about 6 foot 5 inches and had a fast, long stride. We hit the woods and we were all soaked, already. Some people turned back. This Russian girl, Ira, lent me her over parka, which went over me and my pack, and helped considerably. But when you repeated step through mud and water that is over a half-foot deep, not amount of water-proof boots (unless they go up to your knees) and gaiters are going to keep one's feet dry. And who wants to stop for lunch when stopping means you start shivering. But you have to eat. And thankfully the hike leader brought some booze. (Balzam, to be exact. The Russian kind. Very tasty.)

The rain let up to a light mist later in the day, and to tell you the truth, it was fun. Hiking in Russia is a combination of walking through fields, along railway tracks and through villages in order to find the next (unmarked) trail through the woods. And despite the rain and dark, it was still beautiful. I'll post pictures eventually. And the people were great, and interesting, and thought that I spoke great Russian (so they can't be that bad!) In fact it was decided that I was spy, because only spies speak Russian that well. Had an interesting talk with a Russian ecologist about the state of his field in Russia today, and this Russian girl, Ira, was quite friendly and nice. And in the winter, a group of them are planning on cross-country skiing, while others will continue to hike. Whoo hoo!

The down side is, is that after 12-15 miles and another 1.5 hours in the train on the way back, I couldn't walk. Those of you who saw my hobbling this summer, well, its back, which came as a bit of a surprise, because my knees hadn't bothered me running this fall here, despite Moscow's uneven streets. So I limped home in considerable pain. Oh well.

More later. The internet is back, and yes, we were limited in our montly traffic, and we used it up, but I upgraded this month to unlimited traffic, so I shouldn't have any more interruptions.
Time for coffee.

Ciao!