Time continues to warp around this world’s daily disasters, and I don’t think I would be able to keep track of what happened when if I wasn’t taking snapshots and writing in my journal every day. This post is about May, but as I write it in early June the US is engulfed in the Black Lives Matter protests, which has consumed my heart and mind. The isolation and lockdowns of May already feel like another world. How many times have I said that this year?
Best Of The Month
Two articles I wrote were published this month nearly back-to-back (though I wrote them over a month apart). A piece about the opulent Ervin Szabo Library in Budapest was published as part of The Daily Beast’s Library Porn series, and I was pleased that it actually went up— I submitted my draft just as the pandemic was kicking off, and I worried that it might not be published.
My other piece dealt directly with the pandemic. For Atlas Obscura, I wrote about a hotel in Israel where recovering coronavirus patients danced, did Zumba, performed stand-up comedy shows, and took care of each other.
As we’ve all figured out how to navigate life during a pandemic, I’ve managed to see more friends in person— at a distance and with masks, but still, in person! It really makes a difference. We found a quiet staircase in Kadikoy where we can sit and drink takeaway coffee (I call it Pandemic Cafe), and one night a friend and I rode the ferry back and forth for two hours and drank cocktails out of plastic cups. They are creative solutions for socialization in this abnormal situation.
One friend of mine started a weekly (sometime bi-weekly) trivia game over zoom, and one of us takes quizmaster duties each game. It’s been great fun.
Worst Of The Month
My parents were supposed to come to Istanbul in the beginning of May, and I thought I’d accepted the disappointment of that not happening. But as the date of their canceled trip approached, I found myself getting more and more sad. The weather was perfect and I wish they could have been here. I know they’ll come when the pandemic ends, but it was still upsetting that they couldn’t be here now.
I was also supposed to go to the US at the end of the month, and it was strange and upsetting to watch that departure date pass by too. Also, as I’ve watched the protests in the US unfurl from afar, I realize I would have been there (in Boston, NYC, and DC) right at that time. A parallel life.
We had so many lockdowns every weekend in May, including a few four-day lockdowns, which were rough on my psyche. Back-to-back four day lockdowns means you’re only out for three days in the middle, and those days are spent madly running around preparing for the next lockdown. I’m glad the curfew has ended, for now.
What I’m Loving
Reads: Which books did I read this month and which did I read last? The lockdowns have blurred the weekends together in my mind. I did read A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, which was very enjoyable if occasionally a little too cute. I also found a Tony Hillerman mystery paperback that pulled out of my Grandma’s basement in 2013 and never read. The Fallen Man (like all of Hillerman’s novels, I gather) takes place in Navajo country, the book SMELLED like a book! I love paperback mysteries, I think I could be content reading only that genre forever. Hopefully I can grab some more Hillerman whenever I go back to the US.
Music: I listened to a lot of music that was all over the place, from Latin music on a mix my dad made when I was a kid to Midnight Marauders, the classic A Tribe Called Quest album.
TV/Movies: After resisting for nearly the entire pandemic, I finally started (re)watching a TV show. I watched Mad Men for the first time exactly five years ago, and returning to it now is like spending time with an old friend. Plus, it gives me something to do at night.
In celebration of its 20th anniversary, I rewatched Center Stage (the greatest dance movie ever) over a Netflix party with my sister and a couple friends. You can read a long-awaited oral history of the movie here.
Podcasts: Like many, many other people, I was enthralled by Wind Of Change, a podcast that explores whether or not a popular 80’s metal song was written by the CIA to bring down the Soviet Union.
I am also enjoying The Last Archive, a new podcast by Jill Lepore that draws stylistically on old time radio shows and tries to answer the central question: Who killed truth?
The Film Files
I shot very little this month— partially due to some pandemic malaise. Hopefully next month I’ll use my camera a bit more.
Ephemera
I spent a few weekends painting with watercolors, once with a remote class at Nadas. It’s a rewarding hobby, and one I’m glad I picked up before the pandemic hit.
During my isolation time, I made Bon Apetit’s classic Caesar salad recipe, and it might be one of the best things I’ve eaten during the pandemic.
Upcoming
I don’t know exactly how far afield I will venture from Istanbul, but I WILL swim this month, even if it’s just on the Princes Islands. The country is slowly opening up, and though I don’t plan to leave Turkey anytime soon, I don’t intend to spend the entire summer sweating in the city.
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