BIRMINGHAM, UK

Ratna and I headed up to Birmingham for a weekend in April to visit Ashley P., a friend of mine from grad school, who recently made Birmingham her new home. We had great fun, especially enjoying our American-ness by eating lots of junk food-specifically Oreos and American-style thick buttery pancakes (both extremely hard to come by here)-while also getting a general feel for the city and going to a sweet international art exhibit called "The Art of the Stitch" at one of Birmingham's museums.