durch slowly ist ein lang vergessenes gefühl zurück gekehrt, was ich in der digitalen welt vermisste.

You do not have to be worried about being judged or misinterpreted at all. Everyone is so welcoming and accepting.

Unforeseen encounter in the midst of a global pandemic: A story on how I met my best friend twice.

We talked as easily in real life as we did in the app, wandered around the mall and ate dessert at Dippin’ Dots...

He lives just 10 minutes from my apartment! Can you believe it?! I have never meet him...

It left me feeling so uninspired to reach out to anyone else, until – Just when I least expected it, I had an incoming letter from Iran.

Last chapter: A transnational friendship

We exchanged a few handwritten letters (until mine was lost in the mail), met a few times to work together in a café or walk along the Seine.

I am feeling emotions I haven't experienced in a long time. We share things we love and try to appreciate the things we don't.

Earth can be a scary, chaotic place, but it feels more like home when you know there are people thousands of miles away who are willing to face the challenges here with you.

Of course, sociophobia didn't go anywhere, but it became easier to live with it.

I still kept him around in my friend list because this is one of my favorite encounters in this app.