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Chilean Blog Update: Woman's Talk

There are two very popular 100% womens isues blogs in Chile. Men, fashion, concerns, boyfriends, relations, thoughts, all center on women's interests: Zancadas (ES) and nuestroclubdelulu (ES) . In the last post of Zancadas, Ana Paula Do Brasil wrote about the moment just before we are about to go out at night:

Estoy segura que aquí todas tienen una lista o por lo menos una canción especial para el momento de la “preparación” para el carrete. Son aquellas canciones que, mientras una se maquilla, se viste o va manejando para una fiesta, parecen traer un mensajecito a más, tipo: “hoy incorporo el espíritu Madonna y nadie me hará parar de bailar”, o “finalmente voy a salir a carretear después de tanto tiempo vuelta loca en la pega”, o “por fin una noche onda ‘Sex&The City’ con mis amigas” y por ahi va.

I’m sure that everyone here has a list or al least one special song for the preparation before going out at night. Songs that while we are doing our makeup, dressing, driving for a party, carry a message. Like “Today I take Madonna's spirit and no one will stop my dancing” or “ finally I will go out after all the time I've working like crazy” or “finally a Sex&TheCity night with my friends.”

She continues sharing a list of the songs she has for the moment. Of course, all the comments on this post are from women,.

Another group blog by women and for women is nuestroclubdelulu (ES). “Demand” is the title of the latest post and refers to the limits in a couple's relation. The one befor that was about Boyfriends with children.

As the time passes, it is every day more difficult to find a partner without a past and without responsibilities such as son or daughter.

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Turkey is Typing…

Deborah Ann Dilley · 12:42 · Middle East & North Africa

As that transition from the lazy days of Summer turn into Fall, a gloomy spell has fallen over the Turkish bloggers this week…and actually, I can agree with them myself. Murat from American Turk writes about the frustration of the day to day mundane of the office:

I'm unhappy at work, more than anything else. So many missed deadlines, dropped balls, failures to communicate lately that I am hating not only my job but also my performance. It's hard to be your best when it's so [sic] thankless and uninspiring to exceed expectations.

And in a post inspired by Murat's, Me and Others laments over missed deadlines:

last night i didnt even touch the translation which should have been finished this morning. this was quite expected, because i hadnt slept the day before and regardless of my nick name suggest i am not a super hero. i am actually very angry with myself for once more playing the game with their rules. i just cant determine the deadlines yet. well it is me who determines the deadline in the end, because it is me who is going to finish the job, but this feeling of crossing to the untrustworhty side really kills all my mood.

It isn't all gloom in the Turkish blogosphere this week, but there is a definite sense of waiting and reflection. Athanasia's Daily writes about her lack of posting lately due to her trying to make a major decision for the path of her life and her plan to travel to Sultanahmet (in Istanbul) to take part in Ramadan celebrations. Farid, a Turk living in Azerbaijan, writes of his impressions of Ramadan on his blog “Don't Dream Your Life Away…”:
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Ukraine: Lviv is 750 Years Old

Veronica Khokhlova · 08:56 · Eastern & Central Europe

Dominican Cathedral in Lviv, built in the late 18th century. In the Soviet times, the building housed Lviv's atheism museum, which has now been transformed into the museum of religion; also, organ music concerts and religious services are being held in the cathedral. (Photo by Lyncis/Cyril Kalugin.)

The wonderful Western Ukrainian city of Lviv is celebrating its 750th birthday this week. Various anniversary shows, exhibitions and other events are drawing crowds both from Ukraine and from abroad. Below are several Ukrainian bloggers' reflections on what the city feels like on ordinary days, when the spotlight isn't as intense as it is now.

Kyiv-based Lyncis - Cyril Kalugin, 24 - made a flash-trip to Lviv (UKR) in mid-September, with his friend and his camera:

Lviv Tranquility

We were feeling bored and so decided to go to Lviv. Not for the whole weekend, but just to drink the Lviv coffee and to absorb some of the tranquility of the Old City. (I have to note that I tried to make a trip there last week, but there were no [train] tickets whatsoever.)

We made up our minds at the end of the week, and Lenka booked the tickets nearly right away. It took me two minutes or so to get packed ([my EOS 300D in a small biking backpack, plus my jacket]). So on Saturday, at 9:40 PM Kyiv time, we were inside the train car for half an hour already, enjoying the taste of Lvivske beer that we had bought in advance. And this seems to be a tradition - because our compartment-mate was also drinking Lvivske, and on our way back, our neighbors had Lvivske, too.

And at 8 AM we were already in Lviv. By the way, it feels strange to have so little luggage - at first, I felt somewhat uneasy, but then I realized it was way cool - a super-light journey. It was so good - the sun had just risen, its bright rays fell almost parallel on the empty streets of Lviv, and the walk through the parks was marvelous, despite the morning +12 Celcius. Breakfast at the empty [Puzata Khata chain], coffee at the empty Dzyga - the Lion's city was just beginning to wake up, and I must say that by the end of the day it was so awake, it was impossible to find a vacant coffee table - anywhere. (We didn't have much time - until 7:35 PM, but we did cover our minimum-program. […])

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