I pulled at the jumpsuit's rags, stuck to my skin like tails mispinned on a donkey.

Women sometimes help their oozie husbands with the feeding and care of the elephants, but in Myanmar only males are allowed to become oozies.

the varnish of the holly and ivy

[p 55] There were no doubts in authenticity of Melnychenko’s recordings, which was mainly corroborated by the panic that reigned in Bankova Street after Moroz’s press conference. In the evening, I was told that Yulia Mostovaya and Slava Pihovshek had visited the presidential administration. The leading Ukrainian journalists were usual guests on Bankova Street and personally communicated with all participants of Melnychenko’s tapes. [p 146] When meeting Melnychenko in the Bankova corridors, Marchuk would divert his eyes elsewhere.