I'm reading a painfully long article in Zerkalo Nedeli (in Russian) about the likelihood of introduction of curfew or emergency state following Dec. 26, and I still have more than a half to read so I won't post anything from or about it here yet, except for one thought:

Everyone was talking about curfew before the first round on Oct. 31 - everyone. There was lots of fear in the air. Thank God, nothing horrible happened. It's really easy to dismiss this kind of fear/concern now - we've been there already, the police are with the people, the army is with the people, etc. - but it is wiser to realize that anything can happen yet, because if Yushchenko wins, some people are losing way too much to let it go peacefully.

My friend who had bought a huge flashlight Oct. 30, told me a few weeks ago that it'd be reasonable to stockpile food and drinking water, just in case. I know he's probably right, but neither my parents, nor I are too practical, so I guess we'll just sort of go on being optimistic: we'll vote, then Mishah and I will go to Istanbul, and we'll be sitting there, happy but at the same time jealous of all those who stayed in Kyiv to celebrate the New Year's and the victory at Maidan... I really hope this is how it's gonna be. Maybe I'm just stupid.