Phone Sex by aimee friedland I came here to make myself happy. To learn to be more independent. To grow. To experiment. To live. I came here for me. And I'm sticking to that. Обязательно. In that spirit, today I set out to do a voice over (in English), for a promotional video about a Turkish hotel chain. I was instructed to sound "soft, feminine, and seductive." I did just that. And then, the man recording, Ilya, instructed me to be even more sexual and repeat the names of the hotels in the "voice they use in phone-sex lines." What a laugh. I had fun with it, was paid 1,000 roubles, and then left and spent almost all of it. On the metro a drunk-smelling man approached me and told me I had a beautiful something. What exactly, I didn't hear. But he said it was very beautiful and he noticed it from far away. Then he got too close for comfort, and so I left. My point is that I'm finally getting some male attention, both positive and negative, and I like it. For instance, also on the metro, Ilya called me, and I answered, telling him I would arrive in a few minutes. A man next to me noticed my accent and began to stare at me full on with a look of horror and disgust, as though I have a disease. Hilarious. After the recording session, Ilya and I disscused what makes a female voice sensual. We concurred that lower-pitched voices, like mine, are sexier. I left smiling, knowing that I possess a voice worthy of phone-sex lines. Right. I came here for me. And I feel good about myself here, despite all of the young and fashionable Russian girls roaming the streets in fur coats and heels. Why? Because I am different. Like most foreigners, I have a detectable accent, and I dress slightly eccentricly in comparison to the people around me. But you know what? I like that. I like being who I am here, and I, uh, want to.. share myself with others. As I said, I came here for me, for my wants, and I will continue to pursue whichever courses make me happiest. But don't worry, no one will get hurt. I'm not a fool, I'm not a slut, I'm not a cheater. I'm just liberated. (c) Aimee Friedland