I am fairly sure I didn’t read the city names other than Moscow when I was here in 2018, or if I did it was via Google Translate. I didn’t think about the hierarchy.

This is the Belarusian side of Agnieszka Holland’s Green Border. It’s a beautiful area, including a national park with old growth forest. It is within this forest that refugees are suffering and dying in order to reach the EU.

I walked by this street sign, stopped, thinking it looked strangely familiar, then realized I could read it. I’ve been having this experience continually. Being able to read simple words rather than having all meaning opaque really opens up the world of course.