I met him when I was trying to get to work. I was walking down the street in the Old Quarter, dodging traffic in my too-baggy work pants, the Hanoian humidity pressing down on me like a clammy hand, like it wanted to suffocate me, like it might actually want to kill me. I was thinking about a coconut, how I’d get a coconut later when I got off work, which I ... [Continue Reading]
“God Bless Big Oil”: Field Notes from the Land of Industrial Tourism
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“You want to know why they always name a blast furnace after a woman?” asked a stout woman in dark sunglasses and a hardhat. “Because they’re hot, fiery, and temperamental.” A few in the gathered crowd laughed. It was a joke that both the overt tourists with their expensive cameras and the men who’d come together in their work boots and camouflaged caps, ... [Continue Reading]
Cities Like Boys
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“Wait, wait—you’re moving to Cambodia?!” I nod. “I was just out there for a few months earlier this year. And now I’m headed back.” “Ah. So,” leans in, a hushed voice, “did you meet someone?” I feel my neck snap and eyes pinch. “What?” A knowing smile: “What’s his name?” I pause, furl my brow in that way I know is giving me ... [Continue Reading]