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The Aral sea

You may have heard of the Aral sea. It is, or rather, was (since very little remains of it) a large saltwater lake that overlaps southern Kazakhstan and northern Uzbekistan. Unfortunately, it has mostly dried up due to the deviation of the two rivers feeding it, the Syr Darya and Amu Darya, to irrigate the huge cotton fields and farmlands in the region. A victim of the Soviet Union, in a nutshell. I had written a whole page about it on the older version of this website, and the page was archived here in case you want to know in detail about the sea and its history.

The reason why I have such an attachment to this sea to the point of having nicknamed myself after it is because it resonates with me on a personal level, added to this possibly having lived several past lives in the area. At the time I chose this username and nickname, I felt as if my heart was completely dry. I couldn't cry. I felt I had no one to love, nor that anyone was giving me love. I was dry-hearted, hardly feeling a thing, except a sense of sadness, of loneliness, and hardly any hope. Besides, I learned after the deed that there was, indeed, a part of the Aral sea in the shape of a heart! Literally Aral's heart. I never felt so satisfied to have picked a username in my life, lol.

Unfortunately, last time I check, that little heart had disappeared too... and I'm not sure it bodes well for my own. Although that's just me being superstitious here.