Pink Shirt
It is summer, and I am at my favourite place: the place I have been going to every year since I was a toddler, except this time it is different. I am here with my boyfriend, who happened to be an Englishmen, which is still somewhat unusual in these parts of the world. The Soviet Union collapsed just a few years ago, and foreign companies are trickling into our little country, one of the newly discovered "stans." I am driving a brand-new car. It belongs to my boyfriend, but whatever, I am one of the few female drivers on the road. Most are men. "Let's stop at the local beach for a swim," I say "Leave all your valuables in the car," beckons Paul. This is not his first rodeo, being a mining engineer, he has worked in all sorts of places around the world. "Well, this is my country, and I am safe. Do as you wish and let me be." We dated now for a few months, and this is our first trip together. Still, he knows better than try to persuade me othe