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thatmultifandomhoe · 6 years

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Strawberry Cream and BBQ - 5

Pairing: Hybrid Hoseok and Human Reader

Overview: Your best friend knows she can count on you for anything, so when she asks you to watch her hybrid while she’s gone for a study abroad trip for four months, you can’t say no. But when these four months are over, things have changed in a way no one expected.

Word Count: 1,790

Genre: Hybrid AU, Fluff, Future smut, Angst, Best friends to Lovers

Warning: None.

Master List

Sneak Peak - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13 - Part 14 - Part 15 - Part 16 - Part 17 - Part 18 - Part 19 - Part 20 - Part 21 - Part 22 - Part 23 - Part 24 - Part 25 (Final) - Move in Day: A SC&BBQ Drabble

©thatmultifandomhoe Do not repost, translate, or use my stories without permission.

By the time dinner was done, Hoseok had, to his preference, erased as much of Johnny’s scent that he could. Apparently, it was nonexistent and even if there was anything remaining, it would most certainly be gone by the end of the four months. If Johnny for some reason came around to visit, he’d get hit with the smell of Hoseok like a truck on a highway.

After that he disappeared into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him. That was another thing. Normally he always kept his door open when he stayed over. But he had scampered into his room and had been there ever since, leaving you to a quiet apartment that you had been positive would be filled with laughter and Hoseok’s voice.

You took a sip of your third coffee, leaning against the fridge for a moment. Everything was ready to eat. The high counter was set for two, the windows were now closed and the heat was on, and Hoseok was still hiding. He had been in there for hours. Sighing, you put your mug next to your plate and stood outside his door. He had to be hungry at least.

“Hoseok,” you called out, lightly knocking on the door. Faintly you heard some shifting behind the door, but he didn’t unlock it. “Dinner’s ready. I made hamburgers, and my tuna casserole salad that I know you love.” It was a weak attempt to get him out, but in your defense, you had already planned out tonight’s meal in advance after agreeing to have him stay. It was his favorite meal of yours and it made sense to make it on his first night. You just wanted to make him comfortable about the long stay.

Only silence greeted you from his room, making you wonder if he was even still in there. You raised your hand to knock again, but at the last moment decided against it and stepped back. You weren’t going to force him to come out if he didn’t want to, he was a grown adult after all. Walking back to the kitchen, you took out your phone and scrolled through your music. It was one thing to eat alone, but eating in silence was something you were not going to do. In seconds pop music was softly playing and you set it on the counter, fixing a plate and sitting back down just as quickly. You only glanced back once, but when you only saw the wooden door staring at you, you pressed your lips together and began to eat.

Twirling the fork, you rested your cheek against your knuckles, absentmindedly pushing the casserole around. All you kept thinking about was how angry he looked. It wasn’t like you swore off men in front of your friends at some point in your life. Dating wasn’t the most important part of your life, but there had been a few guys you had relationships with. They even met your friends and had been praised about. But none of them were like the relationship Colin and Sue had. Granted, you weren’t looking for a snob of a boyfriend, but you wanted the part Sue had. The part where butterflies came alive in your stomach at the touch of your boyfriend, or the soft smile that randomly appeared when she thought about him, and how her eyes seemed to glow when she was looking at him.

You wanted to love someone and to be loved.

None of the men you dated made you feel that way, or you were putting in all the effort and they contributed negative zero after a while. So, you cut them loose. You cried, watched those stupid romantic comedies and muttered about how love was stupid to the TV screen, lived in your comfiest clothes, aka your pajamas, ate a bunch of junk food, and eventually, got over it.

It was the circle of life.

Hoseok knew that. He had been there for every heart break after he joined the group. You always told Sue when you broke up with an ex. Sometimes she would come over and join you in your grief, but typically she called to comfort and reassure you that not all guys were losers.

It was always within five minutes of the phone call ending that there was a knock at your door and upon opening it, found Hoseok standing there. A bag of junk food in one hand, and two cartons of your favorite ice cream in the other. He watched the movies with you, was the shoulder you cried on when the tears came out and after some time, would barge into your apartment and bedroom to tell you that you smelled funny and needed to shower and get dressed.

As much as Sue was your best friend, Hoseok was more than just your best friend, he was your rock. Your everything.

Which made it harder for you to comprehend why he acted that way. He never did when he smelled whatever lingering scent your exes left. After breakups he would say they smelled of desperation and asshole; it never failed to make you at least smile for him. Maybe it was because this time…this time it was a male hybrid. Someone he’d never been introduced to before. You hadn’t mention seeing anyone so he probably hadn’t prepared himself.

Sighing, you took another bite of your hamburger, a pickle sliding onto your plate with a sad plop. You tossed it into your mouth and was wiping your fingers on a napkin when you heard a door opening up. You pretended to not notice, preferring to let him make his own presence known. Which was harder than you expected. You wanted to turn around and apologize for not realizing that Johnny’s scent would have made him react that way. At the same time, a part of you wanted an apology. You were an adult woman, you were allowed to be with whoever you wanted, hybrid or human.

Without making any rash movements, Hoseok came up to your side, silently standing next to you with his head down. You could see his tail was lowered and his ears were to his sides. It was the opposite of the Hoseok that you knew and loved, and you didn’t like it. You missed your smiling Hobi who was happy and got excited at the mention of his favorite food. You put your fork down and wiped your mouth and fingers, turning to look at him.

Hoseok lifted his head, his brown eyes watery as he swallowed. He opened his mouth but closed, looking conflicted as he repeated this actions a few more times. Frustration was apparent with his own lack of words, the only sound he made was a sad whine. “I’m sorry Strawberry,” he finally spoke.

You simply raised an eyebrow, not speaking just yet.

He caught the message you were sending and continued on. “I shouldn’t…I shouldn’t have gotten angry. I didn’t want too, but as soon as I caught his scent…” he lowered his gaze as if he was ashamed with himself. “It’s a crappy excuse using my hybrid genes for acting that way, but it’s true. All I could think about was protecting you. Even though he’s obviously not a stranger to you, he was to me and I felt the urge to keep you safe. That’s not my place though. I’m Sue’s hybrid, not yours.”

Licking your lips, you reached out and gently tugged on his hand so he would look at you. “Hoseok, you may not be my hybrid, but you’re still my best friend.” You kept your voice soft but firm, wanting him to understand that you saw him as not just a hybrid, but as a person. As someone you wanted in your life. “And I accept your apology.”

“You do?” His head lifted some more and his ears perked up, hope filling his eyes again. “But I…I acted like some controlling prick.”

His wording made you smile and you shook your head. “No Hoseok. You were only doing what was instinct for you. You’re here almost as much as I am. If I remember correctly from that Hybrid 101 class I took, someone encroached on your territory and you were only trying to protect what’s yours. It’s literally a part of your DNA, I can’t be angry for something you can’t control.” You gave his hand a squeeze and looked around at the food that was still out. Smiling, you tugged on his hand. “Now come on, fix up a plate and eat with me. I’m lonely.”

Hoseok glanced around, slowly smiling as he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around you. Unlike before, when he had been trying to calm himself, his touch was gentle and hesitant as he pressed the side of his head against yours. He slowly took a deep breath, his muscles relaxing as you hugged him back. “I promise to not act like that again. And if for some reason I do, just tell me.”

You nodded, only leaning back so that you were able to grab his plate and hand it to him. “Now eat. I made all this for you.”

With a giggle, he quickly began to build up a plate, having two servings at once to make up for the time he was hiding out in his room. It seemed like he only sat on the stool next to you and he already had his food devoured, going back for even another helping of your casserole.

“Any text from Sue?” You asked, scooping up another bite of your dinner.

He shook his head though. “No. I checked and there wasn’t anything. She probably won’t send a text until late tomorrow. The flight to Hong Kong is nineteen hours.” Wiping his hands with a napkin, he scratched his neck around the band of his collar Sue had gotten him. It didn’t look like a typical hybrid collar. It was a simple black piece of fabric that had a silver clasp in the back, a small silver dog charm rested on the base of his throat. Since it was easily confused with just a necklace, Hoseok carried his form stating that Sue had adopted him in his wallet at all times.

“Well, how about after we clean up, we just be lazy and binge watch Netflix. Does that sound good?” You were already clearing up, glancing over your shoulder to ask if he was going to have any more to eat.

“Strawberry, when doesn’t that sound good?”

This time you were the one giggling, and you were rewarded with the best thing of all. Seeing Hoseok’s heart shape smile.

It certainly was good.

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umichenginabroad · 5 years

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Studying! Sushi! Morocco! Oh My!

Hey Everyone!

I can’t believe I’ve been living in Madrid for over one month now! I feel like I’m just starting to get settled in the city and am still figuring out how to balance travel and sight-seeing with classes, studying, being social, and sleep as well. I am surprised at the difficulty of some of my classes, specifically my Fluid Mechanics class, because I was not expecting them to be hard after the students from Comillas talked to us at orientation, but I think they were not engineering students. This means I actually need to study. Unlike back home at U-M, Comillas doesn’t really have many study spaces on campus, and definitely isn’t open 24/7. Since my room is literally the size of a shoe box (but totally worth it because I have no roommate and it’s in a great location for a great price), I don’t want to study in my room. (Although I wouldn’t want to study at home anyway because I’d rather be out seeing the city.) So, I needed to find a place to study. After visiting Retiro Park I decided that I would do my work there as soon as the weather improved.

However, it is still too cold outside to do work if it’s not sunny and the middle of the day. (The temperature usually gets up to 50 every day for only a few hours.) To make it through the cold months I tried a few different cafes but they all had wifi that only lasted for one or two hours, and the food/drinks were expensive. One day on my way home I took a detour to explore, and walked by a sushi restaurant De Elisa (which I am always craving) and decided to go in and do some work. I was pleased that the restaurant was relatively quiet, which was a nice environment for working. They have a great deal that from the majority of the menu you can order anything you want for just 10.50 euros. This worked out great because I stayed for 6 hours and was able to order as much food as I wanted during that entire time without being charged more than that single price and the food was amazing. They also have free wifi with no time limit, and due to the custom in Spain of not rushing people it is totally acceptable to stay in a place for a long time (especially since the restaurant was not mostly empty).

One of the perks of living in Spain is being so close to Morocco! It’s one of the main places people travel from Spain and is actually just a ferry ride away. Since I knew this before coming, I began looking for trips as soon as I got to Spain. I was disappointed because I could not find one that did all the things I wanted to do so I just went on the ones with my friends. I did not feel comfortable travelling alone to Morocco, because as a woman it is not very safe unless in a group. I wish I could have done a longer trip but I wanted to go before the main tourist season and couldn’t miss that many classes. I ended up picking a BeMadrid trip through the same Unity group on the Comillas campus that was from Thursday night to Sunday night. The timing worked out well because I don’t have class Fridays and my classes don’t start till 4pm on Mondays so I was able to sleep in since we didn’t get back to Madrid. The best part about an organized trip like this (besides the safety factor) was that all the transportation from Madrid to Morocco was included. The trip cost 199 euros and included breakfasts, nights in the hotel, guided tours and everything. They also had an option to add on dinners for 15 euros for two meals which I did as well. This trip went to the city of Tangier and did day trips out from there. We ate amazing food,

and saw iconic places such as the Hercules Caves

and the beautiful Blue City of Chefchaouen.

All these places were definitely very touristy and I wish I could have had time to explore other less-touristy places, but I thought this trip was amazing and I highly recommend anyone studying abroad in Spain spends at least one weekend in Morocco.

This weekend I’m planning on going hiking with some friends, so stay tuned for my next post!

Thanks for reading!

-Leah Webber

Civil Engineering

Engineering - IPE: Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid, Spain - UP Comillas

#umichenginabroad #ipemadrid #leahwebber #ipewinter2020

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ciaoalex · 5 years

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Week 2 - Exploring Our New Home

Ciao family and friends! I apologize for the delayed, long, and very scattered blog post, but WOW, this has been a busy week and a half!

Throughout this week, we have taken an Intensive Italian course through our school. This means that we spent up to 8 hours a day studying Italian! Since I took it back at college, it was a pretty boring couple of days (learning how to say phrases like “How are you?” “What is your name?” Etc.), but it was a nice recap and introduction to the university. At night, after our classes get out, my friends and I have been exploring the nooks and crannies of Rome. We still haven’t even made it to most of the touristy spots, but we have been loving walking on random streets and coming across unexpected beautiful areas. There are so many things in this city that I would never think to go to! Walking by the Colosseum has become almost a daily ritual; it is so weird to think that it has become a “normal” sight for me! I’m still in awe every time I see it.

My roommate Lina has been my closest friend here; we share the same fashion sense, humor, and passion for exploring! We are both shopaholics and bad at cooking, so together, we have been taking on the challenge of shopping less and cooking more! We have been pretty successful so far :) One day, we explored Eataly, a famous “grocery store” of sorts in Italy. We went on a quest to find the most expensive bottle of wine and found one for almost 1000 Euros!! I have loved getting to know the other people in my program as well. There are about 50 of us, and we spend a lot of time together, so we are a nice little group!

One day, our program brought us to an Italian farm. However, it is not what we think of as “farms” in America. This farm was idyllic, with sprawling hills, pools, restaurants, and animals. Many people have weddings there, and it reminded me a lot of the wineries in Traverse City. We had a farm-to-table meal and got to see some of the animals, which I was super excited about. I was the only one in the group that was ecstatic to feed the pigs, so I was dubbed the farm girl.

As soon as we stepped off the bus coming back from the farm, an instructor pulled a group of four of us aside (since she knew we were religious), and told us that the pope was in town! Apparently, he was making a “surprise” visit at a Basilica nearby (Basilica di San Paolo). We sprinted to the church just in time to see the pope drive by and walk inside! While we were there, we spotted some of our professors and went over to say hi. They were SO nice and spoke to the guards and somehow got us inside for mass! It was breathtaking. The church was stunning, and being in the same room as the pope was mind-blowing! Since we had just come from the farm though, we were in rainboots and sweatshirts! I was so ashamed and embarrassed that I sat all the way in the back so that hopefully no one could see me. I was in one of the most holy places ever and looked a mess! Sorry Mom!

On Friday, while Lina’s boyfriend was visiting, we celebrated his birthday by going out to the Ice Club. I brought along a friend from Traverse City who is also studying abroad in Rome, but in a different program! It was a bar made entirely of ice - even our drinks were served in ice cups! We had to wear thermal blankets because it was so cold inside.

This past weekend, I went to Florence with my friend Sam. WOW! It was absolutely beautiful. We attended mass in the Duomo, which was so powerful. We ate some of the best gelato, went to the cutest shops on the street (shoutout to you Gram!), climbed to the top of the bell tower, had a scenic rooftop brunch, and walked until we couldn’t walk anymore! However, Sam and I both got pretty homesick (for both Rome and America!). It was comforting to know that we are starting to think of Rome as “home” and as a safe, comfortable place. I was really down about missing home, until my mom texted me that homesickness is “actually a nice thing, because it means you know there is somewhere you belong with people who love you!” Hearing that warmed my heart and made me feel so grateful for the people in my life.

In a lot of the places that I go, I get little reminders of my time here with Grandma when I was 13. Our trip together was so special for me, and I love the little flashbacks that I get throughout my time here. For example, while visiting the Trevi with friends, I spotted a restaurant that I remember we had gone to. There wasn’t anything special about the restaurant itself- it was kind of a “hole in the wall” pizza spot, but it sticks out so much to me because it was a special memory with her!

Coming into this next week, we will finally start our first real week of classes. I’ll give an update on those at the end of the week! :) Ciao, arrivederci!

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seekingfika · 5 years

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Long Study Tour: Five Days in Athens, Greece

Pictured here: Approaching the Parthenon through its ancient gates

Hello all!

Sorry for my recent lack of posting! I was experiencing the trip that I’m about to tell you all about, and then my computer broke!! It’s okay though, my trusty laptop is back up and running, which means I can finally sit down and write this blog post!

If you go abroad with DIS, you will have plenty of opportunity for independent travel, but there is also an emphasis on organized group travel, and this comes in the form of your long study tour. Each core course goes to a different location that is selected depending on their area of study. I am in the Positive Psychology course, and at DIS Stockholm Positive Psych gets the amazing opportunity to go to Athens Greece! There are two weeks during which your study tour could take place. In the spring, this is either the first week or the last week of March. We were assigned the last week of March, which meant that we were in Athens for Greek independence day! Because we were in Greece learning about Well-being across cultures, it was particularly relevant to see how the holiday had an affect on Greek cultural pride, and how the Greek people expressed their feelings towards their culture and their country.

Pictured here: A father and son wait to watch the Independence Day parade

For our academic activities, we had a number of guest speakers, and the opportunity to visit a really special organization, The Smile of The Child. This is an NGO that seeks to help children struggling in Greece, whether that be with mental illness, poverty, abuse this organization seeks to give every child the resources they need to like a happy and healthy life. The organization is funded nearly entirely through donations, and because of the way the Greek government works not only did they receive little government funding, but they also have to pay taxes. At this visit, we sat down and spoke to the therapists and care givers that work in the different sectors of the organization, including the report and helplines, the day-time mental health services, and the live-in home. We also had the opportunity to visit their off-shoot organization, You Smile, which works to get teenagers in the organization and in community service. We also had the opportunity to visit The Diamond Way Buddhist Center in Greece, and to learn about the value of meditation for well-being, and Buddhism in the lives of the Greeks who are involved. We also discussed the influence of religion in Greece, and what it’s like to take part in a lifestyle and practice that varies from the Greek Orthodox church.

Pictured here: Group lunch at Acropol Plaka

In addition to our incredibly interesting academic visits, we also had a number of cultural excursions! In fact, upon arrival to Greece the very first thing we did was go on an extensive and amazing food tour! We tried souvlaki, grape leaves, cod, tzatziki, greek yogurts with honey and walnuts, baklava, loukoumades and so so much more! In the mornings, we had plenty of time to explore the city, including countless numbers of Athens’ beautiful small side streets and paths.

Pictured here: An Athenian side street

We also had a special excursion where we learned a few simple Greek dances, some of which we later preformed at dinner that evening after a very filling meal of greek salad, moussaka, bread, and more souvlaki. We also of course had the opportunity to visit the Acropolis with a tour guide and to see the Parthenon, its gate, and the other ruins that still stand atop the Acropolis.

Pictured here: Ruins on The Acropolis in Athens

On our last full day in Greece, we had the unique opportunity to visit the nearby island of Aegina! This island is known to be one of the pistachio capitals of the world, is in home to the temple of Aphaea. In order to get there, we took a ferry early in the morning and spent the day roaming the town with a tour guide and on our own. While it was rainy and a little chilly the day we visited, the island was beautiful and the water was still so clear that you could see the bottom despite the weather!! The first thing we did was visit the Church of Saint Nectarios, the patron saint of the island, and learned some information from our tour guide about Greek Orthodoxy and island of Aegina itself. For lunch, we ate amazing fresh seafood at Remetzo with a view of the water and a neighboring island, and even got to try some pistachio ice cream at a road side stop near the temple of Aphaea. I made sure to pick up some pistachio brittle to bring back to Sweden with me for my homestay family.

Pictured here: The Church of Saint Nectarios

All in all, this week was probably my favorite part of the semester so far! We were able to learn about positive psychology from a different cultural perspective, and the long study tour presents a really great opportunity for core courses to bond as a unit.

That’s all for this time! -Ruthie

#studyabroad #disabroad #studytour #athens #greece #aegina #dis #stockholm #disstockholm

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murkrees · 6 years

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older brother! nct (hyung line)

Taeil

okay so

let me start with taeil

cute floofy taeil okay

taeil just gives off these warm brotherly vibes u know???

like honestly you were b l e s s e d to have moon taeil as ur bro

ever since childhood he’d just be so naturally protective over you like

it wouldn’t be overprotectiveness like a certain someone (ty track cOUGH) but it would just be so subtle

as in if you both would be on the bus he would give you the seat closer to the window and stand up while keeping an eye out for anybody who even tried to touch you the wrong way

would be the best if you needed help with your homework

didn’t understand an equation? mOON TAEIL AT YOUR SERVICE

if u ever brought friends over and he would accidentally walk out with his bed hair, oversized tee and boxers

happens way too many times is2g

he’d just stop in his tracks and stare at you all with a blush on his cheeks before whirling around on his heel and walking back to his room without a word

hES SO AWKWARD ITS PRECIOUS AAA

he wouldn’t be the type to glare daggers at a guy you brought over

he’d just stare at him while trying to calm himself down and gulp nervously, eyes shaking like they were in nct life paju during yaja time

he’d clear his throat so much and ask so many weird questions

"so how long have you been dating my sibling”

"around two months?”

"uhh, that’s great, congratulations”

he wouldn’t be super aggressive w you than he would be with the other nct members

but during christmas don’t expect him to be above shoving you outta the way to get to the presents first

moon taeil is precious protect him

Johnny

JOHNNY

MY MAN

u guys would be sibling goals af ngl

would always back down in fights cause he hated fighting w u

always always always ruffles your hair

can get aggressive sometimes but its okay you get aggressive back

would be ur no.1 supporter

have an show at school??? expect him to have front row seats while holding a handycam in his hand, cheering the loudest 4 u

fundraiser????? he’ll be standing by your booth and persuading everyone to buy your cupcakes cause let’s be real this boy has looks and enough smooth talk to churn butter

going on a date to a fancy restaurant? it’s johnny’s fashion evaluation

"wear the red dress we bought two months ago and use the pearl earrings mom gave you for your birthday”

"what are those heeeeels use the other pair woman!!! ur legs will look better”

wouldn’t be the overprotective type if you brought a guy/girl over

would try to get along as well as he could w him/her to make you comfortable

he always puts you first and makes sure you know that

Taeyong

lee taeyong!!!

real sweetheart

would b so overprotective of u and he wouldn’t even realize

if u brought a guy over he’d just make up random excuses to tail you around and “supervise”

cough cough glare at him the whole time

but halfway through he’d just kinda snap back to reality and realize how he’d been acting

and just kind of tone it down a little

ngl your friends would love going over to your house because of him lmao

you guys would just have that kind of relationship where you just completely understand and count on each other

like if you had a nightmare you’d just knock on his room door and peek in and he’s writing lyrics with only his desk lamp on

and he looks up at you with bed hair and home clothes and he sees your face

you guys don’t even exchange words before he understands you had a nightmare and you just trudge over and flop on his bed and fall asleep there as he continues to write lyrics

or if he had a particularly stressful day and he’d come home looking like shit

you’d just bring out the pillows and blankets and lay them out on the sofa with two tubs of ice cream with your favorite flavors

and he’d just plop down next to you and you’d just listen to him vent

honestly taeyong wouldn’t even be in the position he was in now if it weren’t for you

sibling support 100000000%

Yuta

this boi

probably made you cry a lot during your childhood lbr

there’d be times where he’d tease you for your pigtails

“mooooom yuta’s teasing me again!!!”

“moooooooooooooooom yuta’s teasing me again!!!!!!!!!!” (yuta’s imitation of your voice)

but as you both grew up he matured and so did u

of course there’d still be times where he’d tease you but they’d be more playful and less intense

“what are you going on, a date? who’s the unlucky guy stupid enough to go on a date with you”

“funny because the last time i checked he was in that idol group of yours”

cue yuta choking on his spit

there’d be times where you’d be cooped up in your room studying for exams

and he’d knock on your room door licking a stick of ice cream and handing another one to you while asking if you needed a break of a ride to the nearest café/starbucks for a change of scenery

or times where he’d be in a pissy mood and you made sure to give him space to cool down

but u do knock on his door and tell him quietly that you have a plate of his favorite food in the microwave

and he never answers but by the morning the plate would already be washed

brags abt u a lot to the other members (not that you would know that)

tbh i honestly think he’d be even more protective than taeyong

wouldn’t be above threatening your boyfriend if they ever hurt you

if u ever come home crying he’d go ballistic

“tELL ME WHO THE HELL I NEED TO BEAT UP ONLY I CAN MAKE MY SISTER CRY”

secretly a big softie for you no lie

Kun

the nicest older brother to ever exist

the most understanding person you’ve ever met

treats you to food all the time

never allows you to pay after

“what kind of older brother would i be if i cant even treat you for a meal??”

you go to him for advice,, like,, all the time

a great listener

went home crying after some school drama? better expect kun already there with some ice cream and blankets ready to listen to your latest emotional rollercoaster

your parents could always trust him to take care of you if they had dates or had to go out so you never had babysitters

all your friends wish they had kun as their older brother

(pretty sure some of them had crushes on him, but i mean,,,, who wouldn’t)

can be savage if he wants to but only if you poke fun at him

doesn’t look like it but can be quite playful

sometimes you’d tease him and he’d just look at you with that done-ass face

drives you everywhere!!! even accompanies you to the mall or to do some shopping

actually so touched the first time you bought him a meal with your own money

“my baby’s growing up…” sniff

“shut up this is literally a two dollar street snack”

in his eyes you’re still a little kid

love older brother kun thanks

Doyoung

ngl he’d be the type to not know how to act around you when you both were young??

“what do you want for your christmas present?? what do girls ur age like??? what do children like keep me up to date what are fedgeet speeners”

only comes out of his room to grab some food

as you both grew older he’d be more comfortable around you

before performances he would send you selcas of him to ease his preperformance nerves

tons of selcas his gallery would be filled with them tbh

“whos ur favorite brother”

“obviously me ahaha who am i kidding”

“its not gongmyung right”

“right???”

“(y/n) pls answer me”

always remembers to buy you random trinkets from his tours abroad bcs he knows how much u love them

u always go to him when you need help with your schoolwork or study but always roasts you about your grades

“what do you mean you don’t understand trigonometry its literally the easiest thing in the book”

his savage side always shows up whenever u two hang out together

“oh u like that necklace? buy it urself”

ends up buying that necklace for u anyway

showers u with gifts cause he doesn’t know how to show his affection otherwise

nags u a lot but that’s because he lovs u

(and bcos ur a mess)

“you ate dinner right?? im not accepting a ‘yes’ if you ate instant ramyeon”

“i don’t care if you have finals you are bathing at least once a day ya stinkie”

“wash those dishes piling up in your sink (y/n) gross”

be grateful for older brother doyoung keeping you in check

Ten

oof

you know he’s that one bitch

one of the most annoying™ people you’ve known growing up

kind of distant to you while you were teens because of how hectic his life is

still doesn’t exempt his love for teasing you though

i mean,,, have you seen that one picture of ten casually taking a selfie as his mom scolds his sister right beside him,,, yeah

probably the type to wake you up saying you were late for school just to record you running around the house like a madman and going out the door just to realize its 4 am on a saturday

but you grew up watching his antics so you knew what not to do when you got older

as the both of you shifted to adulthood you got closer

ended up as you taking care of him and making sure he doesn’t accidentally get in trouble most of the time

still teases you playfully though

“no ten the market is this way jesus christ get off your phone”

“oho so you do care! if you care about me that much why don’t you pay for our meal—”

“go choke”

being ten’s sibling automatically makes you friends with johnny no ifs ors buts

ten brought him along to one of your hangout sessions without telling you beforehand and now he’s just,,, there

you don’t even bat an eye at him anymore

or the other members he brings along

probably tried to set you up with johnny more than once but the both of you have already caught on and are just playing along to amuse him

automatically makes you good friends with lisa too

lowkey doesn’t want to introduce bambam to you oops

is so subtly protective of you but lbr who could get intimidated by his 169 cm ass

like that time he caught jaemin glancing your way for a tad bit too long and he just gave him the look™

never likes the guys you hang out with

“that kind of guy doesn’t deserve you (y/n),,, you need someone gentlemanly, someone nice and tall like johnny-“

“if you like him that much why don’t you date him instead”

you may have grown up but in his eyes you’re still that little girl with pigtails he used to pull

older sibling ten is annoying but you love him anyway

Jaehyun

jaehyoOons

growing up with such an attractive brother was both a blessing and a curse

sure he was attractive and that itself was a plus point but then you had to deal with all the fakies that came at you just to get closer to your dorky older brother

not to mention the countless times he accompanied you somewhere or picked you up from school and heads would just turn

it got annoying at times but then you got used to it

now you just enjoy the perks of having such an attractive brother because honestly, who wouldn’t

not to mention good lucks are hereditary lucky you ;)))

good brother,, always follows your parents instructions so if anybody ever got in trouble it was you

if you were up to mischief and he found out he always covered for you,,, no exceptions even if he didn’t approve of whatever you were doing

the little sneak got good at lying from all the times he covered for you

always ALWAYS always there to comfort you whenever you had a bad day or if you were crying

not necessarily protective but still ready to give a little “warning” to whoever messes with you

talked to you a lot ever since you were children

by a lot i mean a lot

because he’s pretty shy at school when he was younger he makes up for it by discussing alien conspiracy theories with you

now that he’s opened up more it doesn’t mean that you both don’t enjoy a good conversation about whether or not mars had living beings

whenever you both had meals together or dinner with the family there wasn’t a moment where he didn’t steal your food

“food tastes the best when it’s on another person’s plate”

rly sneaky about it but you always notice

gets angry at you if you don’t take care of yourself properly

like the time he ignored all your messages and calls for two whole days cause he found out you consecutively skipped lunch and dinner

makes sure you have your priorities straight

older brother! jae is amazing lucky you

Winwin

whatta weirdo

ever since you were children he’s always been an oddball

clings to you wherever you go

even though he’s older than you sometimes it feels like you’re the older one who has to take care of him

honestly if it weren’t for you he probably wouldn’t have survived the first 15 years of his life

not to mention the multiple times you had to guide him whenever you were in malls or in a crowded marketplace just to make sure he doesn’t get lost or distracted

would fool around with you during family gatherings

inside jokes are a thing no ifs buts ors

whenever something reminds you of that inside joke you’d just look at each other from the other side of the room and make eye contact before smirking

all your other siblings are so done with you two,,, especially your parents

like the time the both of you attempted to bake a cake for fun and eggs ended up on the ceiling

don’t ask

it took all your willpower to stop winwin from burning the place down

when you guys finished you were covered in all sorts of ingredients and spend 15 minutes laughing about it

but you got closer thanks to that!!

even though winwin should not be allowed in the kitchen or near a stove anymore sometimes when you two hang out and want to reminisce you just start baking

always ends up in a mess but you two have fun anyway

as you two grew up there wouldn’t be much that changed

he texts you random korean words or phrases just to show you how much he’s been improving

actually convinced you to take up learning korean too

you would call him and talk to him in korean to practice and he would cheer you on or correct you if you got any words wrong

lowkey doesn’t want you to meet any of the nct members except for renjun lmao

would probably try to set you up with renjun,,,, but ended up as you two being rly good friends so it was a win/win situation ha ha

has actually had to fight yuta to make sure he did not get your number

“but if winwin is this cute then how cute could his sibling be??? come on pls”

you know all his embarrassing secrets,,, and always made sure to bring it up whenever he has members over

he would whine for you to be quiet about it and stop

older sibling! winwin is too lovable u are blessed

Jungwoo

s o f t

literally the best older brother you could ask for

took care of you so much when you were children

basically coddled you

fell down in the playground and scraped your knee? expect older brother jungwoo to run around finding a bandaid before putting it on your knee as he told you to be more careful

forgot lunch? jungwoo will 420 blaze it to your classroom and hand over his lunch saying that he’ll steal some food off of his friends

had arguments with you whether or not cow was spelt with a c or a k

someone made you cry? the moment you entered the house you’d just hug him and cry to his sweater

he’d just hug you back and tell you it’s okay while caressing your head

older brother jungwoo is soFT

he probably wouldn’t change as you got older

still coddled you nonstop 24/7/365

“its going to rain today don’t forget to bring your umbrella”

“yes mom”

soccer nights are a thing and tradition to never forget or break

you always wanting to meet nct and jungwoo chuckling nervously

“(y/n),,,, im not sure that’s a very good idea,,,”

you teasing him playfully

“I saw that new meme on instagram about you,,, can you try saying ‘skorret’ again”

“dO YoU havE JunGwOOiTis?”

“(y/n) pls stop”

“you know the general public and your members seem to have the image that you’re real soft i wonder if they know about the time where you-“

“ssssssshhhhhh”

but all is good because jungwoo loves you!! and you love him back don’t forget that

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meowtastrophe · 6 years

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to my eight-yr-old self

How are you?

Well, it’s the year 2018 and I have to say --no, we don’t have flying cars yet. Well, we still have aeroplanes if you count that as a flying car-- you’ve come far. Who knows you are able to keep your life till now, right?

No, you are not taking HRM because you are not in college.

No, you did not slack off and had to repeat high school or something.

No, you did not stop school.

The curriculum just kind of changed haha. The DepEd decided to add 2 more years in our high school so you are now in grade 12. It’s not too bad, don’t worry. Over the years you’ll realise that you want to keep studying so upon learning about the change, you were actually quite glad about it.

You’ll be graduating this year so just hang in there. I still remember that ‘to my 18-yr-old letter’ you wrote me--on the diary of wimpy kid thingy--back in Grade 3. You asked me that I should take the Hotel and Restaurant Management course no matter what. Well... you kinda took a different path. In seniour high--that’s what they call the grades 11&12-- you have to choose from these 3 tracks:

STEM, which includes sciences, technology, engineering, mathematics and all that hard stuff;

HUMSS, which is Humanities and Social Sciences, and;

ABM, which is the one you expect me to take because it’s all about Business.

Guess, what? You took the second one HAHAHAHA.

What happened?

A lot had happened, actually. Let’s breeze over it:

In grade 3, you got your period.

You got home from school and went straight to the comfort room as usual. When you pulled down your underwear--there, it surprised you. BLOOD. You absolutely had no idea what the heck was that. You thought at that very moment that you about to die. Mom went abroad when you were at a young age so she never got to teach you these things. Don’t worry though because luckily, mom’s on vacation that day so she was there to guide you the essentials. You did not know how to use a pad. You opened it and well... kept on ‘opening’ it. You kept peeling the outer layer to a neverending pad of cotton. Mom saw your struggle but she just chuckled and gave you a new one.

In grade 4, you didn’t have friend yet

But, you were hanging in there. Nothing happened here, really. You were still adjusting and did not have a permanent friend yet. You just watched anime, edited pictures in photoshop, and all that. You were still very very very shy around this time. You couldn’t speak at all. You were one of the quietest people in the school. You had a very bad social anxiety. You were still discovering yourself. But you hanged in there.

In grade 5, you met Y, became friends with her and;

You left home. This one greedy sister of your grandmother of yours (mom side), let’s call her L, took your childhood home. You still remember what she told you “che, e ate jemima mu naman neh.’’ And I still remember how baffled you were. On how she pulled out the barangay card and showed up in front of our (you and l) home with barangay officials for some reason. On how you thought “wait what? why are getting our home? aren’t you guys rich? you have a backyard pool for christ’s sake. ate jemima’s life--your guys’ life--is so much better than us. what need does she have in our home? why ours? where will we go now?”. Fortunately you found a house near-- literally in front-- of your cousin’s (dad side) house. You tried living there. This is just the start.

In grade 6, you are still best friends with Y. However;

It was not like before. Your dad started neglecting you more. He got depressed. But of course, you did not know that at a young age. He wouldn’t go to the house for days and leave you with no money nor food. You liked going to school because it distracted you but there were times where your dad didn’t let you go to school even if you are all dressed up because he’d go to the house drunk in the morning so he’d rather catch up on sleep rather than dropping you to school. There was even a time where you guys fought and ignored each other for a month or two and that’s where you felt alone the most. You felt like even your aunt, uncle, and cousins parallel to your house were avoiding you--which you were certain they did--so you didn’t have anyone. You were glad that you were on your school break and you didn’t have to worry about not being able to go to school with all that is happening. Most of the time, you’d have no food to eat. Your electricity was cut and you’d steal from your neighbour’s. You also won’t have any drop of water. It was no different from being homeless except, you just somehow found a long-time roof.

It’s not all that bad though because you got to live the simple life. It was fun in a sense that since you did not and could not get everything, the littlest things were enough to make you--everyone in the family--happy. You learned to appreciate the smallest of things. You learned how hard it so to not be able to eat a meal 3 times a day so it’s very hard for you to leave a single grain of rice on your place and you'd accept any food offered to you at the present. You learned how to live through the struggle you faced... for a short while at least.

Then you snitched on your dad to your mom.

In grade 7, high school came, you were not classmates with Y and;

You did not live with your dad. After graduating from grade school, you moved to San Fernando to live with your grandfather (mom side). You also lived with his girlfriend, let’s call her M, and M’s daughter, let’s call her N. The first few months were quite alright. They took good care of you. Made you breakfast and all that. At one point, however, everything went south and you don’t know when and how. M just managed to break you mentally. Pour salt on the already existing--but small-- wound. Well, I guess it was our (you and I's) fault. This was your first time living in with other people. You got used to relying on others. You were not used to doing chores and all that because you never had to do that back at home and at the house. M would compare you to N. Grandfather would turn a blind eye on the situation-- not seeing or hearing anything. M mentioned on how she now understands as to why your dad neglected you. As to why he doesn't like you. That hit you hard. You started blaming yourself for everything. You realized how useless you were. You started thinking that no one loves you... not even your dad. You felt much more alone.

You regretted snitching on your dad.

In grade 8, you met A and she helped you a lot.

Things got worse. You hated yourself more. You did unimaginable things; such as the vice of slice and trying to kick the bucket. However, A was there. That person’s presence comforted you. Because of that person, breath still leaves your mouth. What happened to Y? She had other groups of friends haha. It’s not her fault though. Don’t blame her. She has her own life. She has the right to choose who to befriend and who to hang out with. She was liked by people so it’s not her fault that she drifted away from you for a while. It was all fine because, at the very least, A was there. Also, around November, you moved to the house your grandmother (mom side) worked hard for. The house was much better than home but it did not still felt like home. You started living with your dad and grandfather. M went abroad and N lived with her grandmother.

In grade 9, you were not classmates with A.

You felt A, too, slowly drifting away from you. You felt like she didn’t want to hang out with you anymore and you thought to yourself ‘well no one ever sticks to me. not even my dad so I understand’. So you took the initiative to leave her alone. You also did not blame her and thought that same as you did to Y. And Y, well, was still living her own life but you guys are still friends. But you had a change in a group of friends too. You befriended some people in your classroom and, though it was just short-term, they were enough to fill the void of loneliness.

In grade 10, you thought everything is finally going well.

Until your grandfather was the one who neglected this time. He was the one in charge of the finances at the house but he used them for his vices. He did not get to pay for the house for 3 months and naturally, my grandmother got mad. She asked for my grandfather to leave and he did. My dad, this time, was determined to change and redeem himself. We both thought that he’s going to be handling the money but guess what, L--yes, that L-- was the one put in charge. My grandmother's mind was clouded. She became one of those feminists who thinks ‘men are trash’ or something. Since L lives in the same subdivision as ours she was the most convenient choice. Soon after, they also asked dad to leave the house. You got separated again, for the second time. You lived alone in the house. You would go to L’s house for meals but you still lived alone in the house. You got compared, again, to Jemima, her daughter. Well, you have always been compared to her. You are connected to her because you grew up with her. When our family sees you, they always ask you about her. About how and where she is. If she's doing fine. They never asked me tho. She was an extrovert so she had more friends, much more sociable, the family likes her more for she is much more approachable, she's much more famous, famous enough for the city to know her, and she is prettier. You cannot forget the time when Jemima had food leftovers and L was like ‘don’t you want to eat it? so that become pretty like her’.

Around this time was also your saddest birthday. It was your sweet 16th. You did not have a huge celebration because you just planned to treat your friends. Mother sent you money, your dad gave it to you, and then that's it. However, I was alone that day. You don't know where but some reason dad wasn't there. The house was literally empty. You actually tried contacting your friends prior to the day: Y, K, and A. Yes, only 3, you're quiet picky with the people you get close with. But, they couldn't make it. Your birthday is in summer so they all have their plans. Enjoying their vacation and all that. Living their life. No one could come. And then,

3 days later, A came to the house. Carrying McDonald's and a small cake. You... I never felt so appreciated then.

In grade 11, mom went home.

My grandfather died due to stroke so mom had to go home. She asked dad to stay in the house for a while because he was a pretty convenient errand boy. But what’s the point of errands when you don’t have money? L was holding the money. She is a busy girl, you know. That’s why mom was having a hard time whenever she needed money because L always didn’t have the time. So Mom just asked for the card, where the money is, so there won’t be any difficulties. But L didn’t want to give it and was like ‘don’t worry, your money is safe with me’. And we were all left dumbfounded.

Everything changed since then.

What changed?

Mom put you in charge of the finances but since you were busy with school and everything, you passed the torch to my dad. My mom and grandmother let dad live with you because if not, you will be alone again. You have been living peacefully since then. And now, you are writing this blog.

So why did I take HUMSS instead of ABM? Around grade 8, I realized that I wanted to be a psychologist. Maybe because that is what I needed the most that time. I wanted to become what I needed. At the same time, I thought I wanted to help those who were struggling like me but I realized that I just wanted to learn how to help myself. Since everyone would just leave me eventually, I wanted to learn how to take care of myself. That’s why you took interest in psychology. And over time while diving deeper into the field, I got fascinated by other mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, psychopathy, and likewise. I took interest in the mind of criminals and now, I am now aiming to become a forensic psychologist.

This may change again, though. Everything changes. Decisions are not absolute and that is fine. Just like what happened in the past years, you’ll never know what will happen. One day it’s like this and the next thing you know everything is going downhill. But do not worry about it because that doesn’t matter. You cannot control the situation and the things happening around you. You cannot defy the natural flow of things. What you can control, however, are your emotions. You can control how you react to things. It may be easier to be said than done but it helps a lot. How you approach the things being thrown at you will help you mentally. Just keep your composure and let the time pass. Focus at the very moment. At what is in front of you. Worry about the future later when it’s the next one on the plate. Your current challenge right now is writing this blog and you should you just focus on it. But make sure that whenever you do something, do your very best on it. You just can’t do things just because you have to. Since that should be the only worry you have, give your all to it.

Do not worry about the future. About what you want to do for the rest of your life because you have the rest of your life to figure that out.

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sydtutt · 2 years

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A Busy Summer of Adventures

Hi! My name is Sydney Tuttle and I recently completed the Oxford Program with Georgia Tech. The Oxford Program is a summer study program that is broken up into two sections. One of the sections you spend traveling through Europe while you take two classes and the other you spend in Oxford, England taking classes at Mansfield College. Both parts of the oxford program were completely different and I could not choose one that I liked more over the other. Having the travel section as the first part of the program very much prepared me for traveling on my own on the weekends in Oxford. I learned how much planning goes into deciding on traveling somewhere as you have to figure out how much a weekend there would cost, how hard transportation is to get to the location and what the public transportation there is like. It made me appreciate how much was planned for me during the travel portion. The traveling portion helped me get out of my comfort zone and experience more things that I wouldn’t choose to do on my own. Some of those experiences were the concerts that I went to for my music class. Throughout the travel section, I went to five classical music concerts. I definitely would not have attended these concerts if not for this class. I am very grateful to have been able to attend them as I learned much more about classical music and how different it is to experience this type of music in concert. Each concert I attended was unique as each featured different works and types of classical music. Before this class, I grouped all concert music together and thought it all sounded the same. Learning the differences between songs and the musical eras helped me identify what was being played at the concerts. I love being able to now identify whether or not a song is from the baroque era based on if I can hear the harpsichord or the piano in the work. Going into cafes or hearing elevator music and being able to recognize that it is Mozart is a rewarding feeling.

One of the harder parts of the travel portion was going from city to city so fast and trying to adjust to the culture shock each time. For the first three cities of my program, I was in Italy and I remember that I had gotten so used to some parts of the culture in Italy by the time I got to the next city, Munich that I was accidentally telling people Grazie instead of Danke for the first few days. I had not expected there to be so many religious holidays while we were abroad either. There were a few days that I tried to go to the grocery or the laundromat but everything was closed. On my birthday, I remember wanting to go to some museums and sights in Munich, but then our group tour guide informed the group of a holiday and I figured out that I wouldn’t be able to. Checking to see if a day is a holiday is something I would not have normally thought about it and I was grateful for our group tour guide to have mentioned it.

Besides the culture being different, the contrast of the art and architecture when going from southern to northern Europe was interesting. Comparing art from the same periods, but from different regions was interesting. Looking at art from the Italian Renaissance in Italy and then less a week later analyzing Northern Renaissance works in Munich allowed me to see the differences between the two. Learning the historical context of how paints and materials were available in different regions in Europe during the Renaissance and how that affected what artworks you can see from that period was interesting.

Some of the other immediate differences I noticed when going from different countries was the public transportation, manners expected of you, and the tipping customs. Upon each new city, I would have to google on the bus rides what all of these things were like before we got there. Another large difference was the way that people ate as in most of these countries having dinner or a meal was a large part of their day and was not quick at all. Having a meal or going out for one is a two-hour excursion that is meant not to be rushed and is supposed to be a time to be with family and friends is one thing that I learned while traveling. In the US, it feels like I am constantly rushing from one thing to another, and being forced to have these long meals made me appreciate slowing down and enjoying having good conversations with my friends. Although there was one time in Venice when my friends and I only had an hour to get food before one of our concerts so we thought that was enough time to get food at a restaurant nearby the venue but we spent the whole dinner trying to rush so we could leave and it was not nearly as enjoyable. We, fortunately, made it to the venue in time and learned our lesson that there is no such thing as a quick meal in Italy.

One experience that made me notice how different my life is from some of the people in Europe is when I went to an abbey in Heiligenkreuz, Austria. The music teacher for my group, Dr. Ulrich, organized a trip for my group to visit an abbey and hear the monks at the abbey chant their vespers, which is an evening prayer. Hearing their chanting was such a unique opportunity that I could not have imagined being able to have without the Oxford Program. The monks even have released an album called, Chant - Music For Paradise. When I was at the abbey, one of the monks talked to us about how the abbey runs and how people become monks. Hearing his description of how he felt a calling to God and when someone feels this calling they’re supposed to go to a nearby abbey to start their journey was so interesting. He described his calling as not a choice and something he felt he had to follow. I found it fascinating that people have felt this calling for thousands of years and have been following this calling to this abbey for just as long as it is the oldest abbey to have been continually occupied by monks. It is so weird to think about how no matter what conflict was going on in Europe or just in Austria that this abbey was still standing and the monks were still doing a very similar routine to what they do today. This visit with the monks made me introspective and think about how people are content in such different roles and working towards different goals in life.

The portion of the trip that was spent at Mansfield College in Oxford was very different from the travel portion. I remember being so excited during the last few cities of the travel portion to finally be able to unpack my bag and settle into one place. Living in Oxford has been great! The city has a lovely vibe and has a ton of great cafes to study in. Exploring Oxford has been fun, although it was more like being back at Tech where I have to focus on balancing my social and academic lives more. Some of the best memories I have from Oxford include going to port meadow during the heat wave, getting Knoops on Mondays with my friends to talk about our weekend trips, studying at Blackwell's, three-course dinners every night, going punting, and the champagne reception. Something that I had not expected was that Oxford was going to be full of other US college students studying abroad at the other colleges in Oxford. The University of Georgia was one of the other colleges and our rivalry still stayed alive while abroad as there was even a soccer game against them at the end of the program.

On my last weekend trip from Oxford, I went to Bergen, Norway with some friends. While we were there, we watched Frozen one of the nights. It was so funny watching the movie and seeing The Swing, which was one of the paintings that we studied in our art class, and how we all got so excited over seeing it. I love being able to see the paintings I studied in my art class alluded to in the media and having them remind me of this trip.

If anyone reading this is thinking of applying I would highly recommend doing this program if you can. The experiences that I have had and the close friends that I have made are invaluable to me. Some tips that I have for those who do decide to apply is that you should expect to be pretty tired by the end of the travel section, but finding the right balance of sleep, studying, and sightseeing is helpful. The tiredness helped me realize what things I actually found valuable to do and see in each city rather than just going to the top attractions. When planning what you want to do, I would suggest thinking about ways that you can experience the culture of the city because in some of the more touristy cities when you go to the top sights it is very touristy and you don’t get the full experience of what that city is actually like outside of its tourist areas.

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thatengineeringtho · 6 years

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With graduation happening tomorrow, I felt a LOOOOONG post was needed. When I moved to the US at 10 years old, I didn’t know what this country had ahead for me. •• I have a very fond memory from when my dad picked my mom & I up at the airport back in 2005. We hadn’t seen him in a long long time and he met us at the gate with flowers & a giant teddy bear. We got into his car, his very first car in the US, and drove to our first apartment in America. Back then we lived in Jacksonville & we were driving along the river. I remember rolling the window down & the summer breeze coming through & just feeling free and at peace. •• When you move to the US from a developing country, people back home think life is easy and everything instantly becomes glamour because this is the country of dreams. Man are they wrong. You are constantly lost because you don’t speak the language. Always craving your meals from home but not being able to make them because the ingredients can’t be found here. It’s a lot of nights of going to bed by yourself because your parents are still at work. It’s a lot of lonely mornings eating the breakfast your mom left you in the microwave because your parents had to be at work at 5am. It’s a lot of years of your parents working two jobs in order to barely get by and constantly seeing them in pain from long work days. For years people made fun of my accent, the way I looked, the food I ate, the culture I came from. I have memories where I would come home & just bawl on my dads lap. I remember people (who at one point thought of as friends) making fun of my mom’s english skills on facebook. It’s YEARS of not going back home and not seeing your family. It’s getting a job right at 16 and working as much as you can because you want to make your parents money life a bit easier. •• Although I was successful in high school, I never thought I would actually go to college. After all the struggles we had been through, I didn’t think my family could afford it and I didn’t want to put a strain on my parents. I knew if I did make it college, I wanted to go for something I enjoyed & being part of the robotics team inspired me. I remember applying to 10 colleges (with the help of application vouchers, no way could we have afforded that on our own) because I wanted my best chances. I remember getting into all of them but OSU telling me to consider another major because engineering would be too hard for me (look at me now). Engineering was a challenge; only 19.3% of engineering students today are women. I remember the nights I would be at the Engineering building until 3am or 5am and the many many many breakdowns I had. Many times when it came to group projects, I was the only girl in a group full of guys. Lectures of 50 people and I was 1 of the 8/10 girls in the class. Having to put in extra effort to prove to professors that I was just as competent as the boys. It didn’t help that during my entire college career, I never had a female engineering professor. I said it was a challenge but not impossible. As my favorite quote says - The belief that you can do something is the key to actually doing it. •• Miami gave me SO much. They gave me a scholarship put my “I can’t afford college” thoughts at peace. Their engineering program allowed me to explore different fields; I technically changed my major 3 times in the last 4 years. I was able to study abroad (something I also thought I could never afford) thanks to another scholarship. I was able to have a job on campus where I learned things that are cool + useful (S/O to MiTech). I was able to be a part of many organizations that allowed to grow. I was able to obtain an internship where I found a company that I love & later on lead me to a job after graduation. I was able to make friends & memories that I will have for years. •• Through it all, my parents were there. Trying to provide me with the best things they could afford and all the support possible. After YEARS of hard work, I am able to see them succeed in fields they love. My dad? He started his own remodeling company and loves every moment of it. My mom? She put herself through english classes & surgical tech school - all while working full time. Tomorrow I will graduate with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. If it wasn’t for all the sacrifices they have made & moving to an unfamiliar country, I would not be where I am today. For that, I am forever thankful and I don’t express this enough. •• They immigrated, so I graduated. Gracias mamá y papá. ♥️ 🇨🇴

#miami university #stem #women in stem #engineering #women in engineering #immigrants #first generation #studyspiration #study motivation #studybuzz #studyblr

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fourcountriesfourmonths · 6 years

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Goooodbyeeee Vietnam!

Another blog written from the air as we head on the second leg of our journey to Cape Town! Our first flight was surprisingly empty so although I was slated to have a middle seat then as well, I ended up having my own row which I monopolized by turning into a makeshift bed. This time around I’m not so lucky and am trapped in the worst seat possible...the middle-middle seat. Not only surrounded by two seats, but also in the middle row of the plane, it allows for almost no outside viewing. Oh well, ya win some ya lose some.

Our final week in Vietnam was a combination of both being really busy and also allowing for some much appreciated free time. I was able to have some really nice breaks from work and enjoy some more pizza and good conversations with friends, get another massage, and spend some time in various cafes. On Friday night most of the group went out to do karaoke and to celebrate the birthday of one of the girls on the program. It was a blast and I had the most amazing moto experience on the way home when the driver (sorry Mom) asked if he could go faster and with minimal cars on the road we SPED home. It felt like I was flying. (Paul Hoffman if you’re reading this I hope you’re still considering getting a motorcycle soon!) On our last night here my housemates and I spent some time at a cool little jazz club before wandering the night market, snacking and taking in our final moments in Hanoi.

Work-wise we wrapped up our Vietnam assignments this week and did our second round of case study presentations. Speaking of work, I forgot to mention one of my favorite moments from Lac Village in my previous post One of the girls on our program orchestrated a one-song study break when we were in the midst of writing a bunch of papers. We did it silent-disco style so we chose a song as a group, pressed played at the same time, and danced around like a bunch of lunatics.

One of the days this week my housemate Carlie and I attempted to go to the gym, but it proved to be a MUCH more difficult endeavor than we originally thought. Our gym extravaganza consisted of the following: We first went to a gym that a bunch of our friends got a free week trial at, but they wouldn’t give us the vouchers. We then ventured to a building that we discovered had a Curves inside, but then we determined Curves is some kind of weird workout class situation that we didn’t want to be a part of. And THEN we walked in an absolute downpour to another gym and the only English speaking worker there told us we could try the gym for the day along with offering us a discounted 6 month membership afterwards if we joined together (this was under the pretense that were we there for 6 months…thanks Carlie for that one.) Our plan was to workout and then say we’d think about it and come back later once we decided, but we started to get the impression that she thought we were going to commit after we finished working out. SO...we may or may not have dropped our locker keys at the front desk and sped walked as fast as we could outta there before the reception people could finish semi-frantically calling the woman we’d talked to over to the front desk. It was a high stress/guilt situation that 10/10 would not repeat. Sorry Fitness Zone staff, we just wanted to go for a run!

On Friday night before karaoke, our host family prepared a farewell dinner for us which we ate as a whole family on the mats in the living room. We had a hotpot which is basically a crockpot that you cook different meats and veggies in and you put this in a bowl with broth and noodles. My ramen craving body LOVED this meal. Our host mom gave us embroidered scenes of Vietnam to give to our parents and mugs that she designed for us with pictures of the family. If you want to hear the hilarious story behind the image on my mug and are in the mood for a laugh, reach out to me ;) Also on Saturday morning the program sponsored a farewell luncheon at this wonderful buffet where we literally stuffed ourselves on all the food possible, so that was a nice send off as well.

I’m going to miss parts of this bustling city filled with flashing neon, insane street crossings, and all the moto craziness with everyone from old men with pony tails to toddlers sandwiched between family members to little boys holding watermelons to women playing candy crush against their boyfriends’ backs to 20 year olds studying abroad, all perched on bikes, but I’m also SO excited for the change of scenery and to be heading to such a supposedly beautiful location. Cape Town’s weather is going to be much cooler, the city has more green spaces, and both the beach and mountains are twenty minutes by bus with many more things within walking distance. Along with that will be new challenges like 2 minutes showers, extremely limited and expensive wifi/data, conservative dress, safety, a new time change, and all the things that come with navigating a new culture and location, but I am looking forward to the newness and fresh start of it all.

Continuing to enjoy my time here, even the tougher moments, while missing you all back home. Sending love,

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jessaadventures-blog · 6 years

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Week Two: Lovin’ Life in Lobitos

A Lobitos boat out on the water. Spot the blue water tower in the background - a great place to watch sunsets!

This week was another good one! There were some fun adventures, I made some decent progress on my project, met more of the locals, and saw much more of Lobitos. Apart from a bit of an upset stomach, everything has only been getting better!

The EcoHouse

One of our homemade pizzas from our midnight pizza party, with a vegan portion :)

There have been some more shifts in the EcoTeam this week; Andres arrived on Saturday to replace Alejo leaving last week. Andres is the third of the four directors I’ve met, and he’s a fun addition to the house! He’s known as the most chill and spontaneous director, and it definitely shows. He loves to tell us stories of his life (he was born in Canada and moved to Lima when he was ten, where he met the other three directors in school, and then went to Toronto for university and ended up on the Wall Street of Canada for a few years before he moved to Lobitos to start EcoSwell) and throws in some Peruvian history too. He is also mostly vegan, so now I’ve got a friend in the food department!

Diego, the other director that was here, left Thursday to vacation with his girlfriend and speak at a big UK conference in Rio de Janeiro. He’ll be back in a few weeks with his girlfriend, who is the volunteer coordinator for EcoSwell, and I’m excited to meet her!

Michael, the only director I haven’t met, arrives Sunday to replace Diego while he’s gone. Michael’s spent most of his time in the UK and doesn’t come to Lobitos as much as the other three, so he’s known as the “city kid”. It’ll be interesting to see how he fits in at the house, and I’m excited to see the dynamic between Andres and Michael as directors.

There’s also a big volunteer change-over this weekend; we’re losing half of the crew and gaining two newbies! Kyler flew out on Saturday (after two months in the EcoHouse), Dion just left today (he’s been here three weeks), and Javi leaves tomorrow, Monday, after just two weeks. There’s a new volunteer arriving today and another arriving Monday, so we’ll have one empty bed in the house for a little while (Isa and I get a room to ourselves and I can move to the bottom bunk now that Javi will be gone)!

I’m excited to show the new guys around, but I’ll miss having people here who know more of the secrets of Lobitos than I do.

As for the general happenings in the house, we’ve had a few more fun meals (some yummy veggie pasta and garlic bread Monday night, taco Tuesday again, a midnight pizza-making and bonfire party initiated by Andres, and Andres found some soy milk for me so now I can have cereal!), watched the first season of Silicon Valley together, experienced two blackouts (one in the morning, one at night), and played Secret Hitler (a board game that I played a lot while studying abroad in Australia, which happens to be the go-to group game here as well). I’ve also gotten back into reading Lord of the Rings, which I started almost a year ago in Australia, and now I’m almost done with the trilogy!

The only downside of the week was the upset stomach that I’ve had for the past four days (pretty much everyone gets it during their second week of volunteering, so nothing out of the ordinary), but it’s feeling a lot better now!

Work

Javi and I “painting” silicone onto the distiller!

This week I actually got to start working on the solar distiller, and we got a lot done with it! The distiller had already been designed and the frame had been built by previous volunteers, so I mostly have the job of putting it all together, making sure the system works, and putting it to use in the community! Part of this is painting the basin (where the water goes) with black food-grade silicone caulk, so the wood is waterproof, the water isn’t contaminated with chemicals, and the leftover salt can be used for cooking. The previous volunteer that worked on the distiller had painted the silicone on and then realized, just before the whole basin was covered, that the silicone wasn’t food-grade. So he spent the rest of his time scraping it back off again (that had to suck). He didn’t quite finish before he left, though, so Javi and I spent the first two and a half days of the work week scraping the rest of the silicone off the distiller so we could repaint it with the food-grade silicone we now have. On Thursday, we painted the distiller with white primer, and Friday we were able to almost finish painting the silicone on the basin (I learned that silicone caulk is a really hard thing to “paint” and it doesn’t like to be smooth and it stinks). So, we’re already a couple steps closer to a complete solar distiller! With Javi leaving, however, I’m losing my project partner, though one of the new volunteers will likely be helping me out when they arrive.

Outside of my main project, I posted on Facebook and SteemIt a couple times about EcoSwell’s progress/events and we had our weekly planting day on Wednesday starting at 6:30am. The guys spent the four hours of planting day trimming branches, grasses, and other plants around the house, and Isa and I checked all of the drip irrigation holes to make sure they were working, added some more drip lines, and planted a bunch of seeds ready to germinate in the nursery.

Adventures

Sunset at La Punta - spot Gino surfing the crazy wave!

We did some fun things this week outside of the house and work! On Friday we went to check out a new restaurant in town called 420 Cafe, which has great pastas and pizzas (I had yummy pesto gnocchi), a chill surfer dude atmosphere, some fancy cocktails (and wine!), and fast wifi! On Saturday I hung out on the beach and read for a while (and got covered in sand, thanks to the wind), and that evening we all went up to the water tower, the highest point in town, to watch the sun set over Lobitos. It was a fun little walk with a great view and we saw some roaming horses and wild foxes on the way down.

Sunday was the main adventure day of the week; all the newer volunteers (Dion, Ale, Javi, and me) went on the Lobitos Ocean Adventure run by Tulio, a local fisherman friend. We met him at the end of the pier at 7am, where we all jumped onto his fishing boat in between the big rolling waves coming in, and settled in for a classic Peruvian fishing experience. Tulio, his two sons, and his brother Jorge were with us on the boat and they told us about the generations of fishermen that have fished in this area, and passed down their knowledge and techniques through their families that still fish here today.

Tulio (right) and his brother Jorge teaching us to fish!

We took a forty minute boat ride through the oil platforms out to a reef, and then we dropped anchor and learned how to fish like a Peruvian. Each of us was given a thick plastic fishing line (no rod) that split three ways at the end; two had hooks on them, and one had a metal weight. The fishermen baited the hooks, and we would toss the line over the edge of the boat, letting it sink until the weight reached the bottom. Then we would hold the line in our hands and wait to feel a pull or wiggle or other sign that we had hooked a fish (it was really hard to tell), and then we pulled the line up to see what we got! Ale was the first to catch something, which ended up being a sea serpent that Tulio stunned before he tossed it back in the water. He caught a couple more small fish, but none big enough to keep. Javi and Dion both got seasick pretty fast, so the boys did most of the fishing for them, but they only caught one fish big enough to keep. I ended up getting lucky and catching four keepers!

My first fish!

Once we were done fishing, we pulled up the anchor and started heading home while Tulio prepared super-fresh ceviche for us with the fish that we caught. We had a snack of ceviche (complete with the onions and lemon) and plantain chips for the ride home, which mostly Ale and I ate (vegan or not, I couldn’t pass up ceviche that fresh), because Dion and Javi were still feeling sick. We made it back to land and thanked Tulio and his family for the experience, and they gave us the fish we didn’t eat to bring back to the house for lunch the next day. It was a fun morning!

Yum, ceviche doesn't get any fresher than this!

That night we watched the sunset from La Punta, where there are a bunch of big rock formations that form a point (and great surf waves!) and watched Gino, one of the local surfers, surf one of the most dangerous waves in Lobitos, El Hueco. It was crazy to watch.

Other than that, I saw and held a stick bug that we saw while painting the distiller, there were two blackouts (one on Wednesday night and one Sunday morning), and we went back to Tranqui’s for dinner on Sunday and Thursday, where Henry, a local guy (and also an insanely good surfer) who works for Waves for Development (the other non-profit in town) and one of his volunteers met us to eat.

Sunset over Lobitos from the water tower

There’s this week’s update! Sorry for the late post; I was really busy with work this week and forgot to start writing this post early enough on Friday, and I was gone most of the day yesterday (I’ll include that adventure in next week’s post!). I’m still having a ton of fun and learning a lot! Feel free to ask any questions :) Love and miss you all!

#EcoSwell #summer2018 #Peru #Lobitos

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elisabettacormac · 3 years

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Alecia McKenzie: Natasha

Alecia McKenzie

Natasha

She had forgotten why she signed up to be a tutor. Mostly it had been impulse. The notice in the lobby of her dormitory talked about 'disadvantaged' children, children who were poor but bright and needed someone to look up to. Tutors in English and math were needed. Two hours a week were all you had to give.

Andrea had never done any volunteer work before but the notice appealed to her: she imagined a little-sister or -brother kind of child, shy and lovable, who would ask her strange questions to which she would give funny, grown-up answers. She signed the volunteer form and they assigned her Natasha, eight years old.

Natasha was big for her age, looking at least ten. She was a beautiful child, the same light brown colour as Andrea, with big, black untrusting eyes. The arrangement was that her mother would bring her to the university each Saturday at eleven, and Andrea would help her with any school problems she had. If she had homework for the weekend, they would to it together.

The first time she came, Andrea brought some biscuits, made some lemonade and they sat at her desk in the dorm room and talked. Natasha was very intelligent, almost unchildlike, and Andrea felt at a loss. She didn't know how to talk to children who didn't particularly act like children, didn't know what tone to adopt, what subject might be good.

Andrea asked: 'Do you like dolls?' and Natasha said:

'When I grow up I'm going to be an astronaut.'

Andrea hadn't heard that one before. Doctor, teacher, nurse and policeman she was used to, but not astronaut. Especially not from a child who'd probably never been further than Kingston. She felt herself pitying the child for being so ambitious, knowing her ambitions would never be fulfilled.

She said: 'That's a good profession. Why do you want to do that?'

'So I can float around. My teacher says that there's no gravity in space, so you have to float. They showed a movie at school about it. And I know that's what I want to do.'

Andrea burst out laughing. How many people were there who wanted to float? Natasha was staring at her and she tried to stop laughing, swallowed hard.

Natasha asked: 'What are you going to be? A doctor?'

'No.' Andrea replied. 'I'm studying languages. You know, French and Spanish. I'l probably teach when I graduate.'

'Oh!'

Natasha was unimpressed, and Andrea felt belittled. 'I have another year to go. It's very difficult.'

Natasha looked at her without replying and the image of a nice, timid child who spoke with downcast eyes passed across Andrea's mind. Perhaps next time she could choose.

Natasha spoke good English, which was strange because he rmother knew only dialect. When Mrs Jackson brought Natasha, she had tried to speak 'properly', but Andrea knew it was beyond her. She herself spoke Creole to the woman, to put her at ease, but Mrs Jackson had been insulted. She left quickly, telling Natasha she'd be back for her at one o'clock.

Andrea asked to see Natasha's math book, and they talked about what she found hardest. Natasha had problems with multiplication so they worked on a few sums. When Andrea showed her an easy way to do several problems, she child smiled for the first time, her two front teeth slightly overlapping. She got most of the sums right after that. When her mother came to get her, Andrea walked with them to the university gates. It hadn't been such a bad two hours after all.

The next Saturday she slept late after a dorm party the night before. Errol was with her. She didn't remember about Natasha until the intercom shrilled in her room: 'Andrea, you have a visitor in the lobby. Would you please come down?'

She jumped up, washed her face, dressed, got Errol out, and was down in just under ten minutes.

'Sorry to keep you waiting. I overslept.'

Natasha looked at her, eyes condemning. Andrea looked away. When they reached the room, Natasha glanced around quickly, not hiding her disappointment at the lack of lemonade and biscuits this time.

'Why don't we do a few sums, then you ca come down with me and have lunch in the cafeteria.' Andrea said. 'I'll tell everyone that you're my sister.'

The child showed no pleasure at the suggestion, and Andrea was annoyed. A little gratitude wouldn't have been amiss.

But she forgot her irritation when they walked int othe cafeteria and her friends said: 'What a cute little girl. How come you didn't tell us you had a little sister?'

Natasha talked all through lunch, about wanting to be an astronaut and wanting to float. 'I'll float above Earth and wave down to all of you.'

She charmed Andrea's friends, but Andrea felt burdened by tyhe child's talk, but her obsession. She felt even ore pressed upon when Mrs Jackson invited her later that day to come to dinner the next Saturday.

They lived in a tenement yard in August Town. An L-shaped row of rooms housed several families, each family occupying one room, and all sharing a long, red-tiled verandah that ran along the building. There was one toilet in the yard.

Mrs Jackson and Natasha's room was at the end of the long part of the L. It was very clean. Along one wall was a double bed over which hung a picture - torn from a calendar - of Jesus, blond-haired and unnaturally blue-eyed, on the cross. A round dining-table with four chairs sat in one corner and nearest the door was a rocking-chair, its straw seat in need of repair.

Mrs Jackson had cooked rice and peas and fried chicken, a real Sunday meal made a day too early. Carrot juice sweetened with condensed milk was already in a plastic jug on the table.

'Sit down, sit down, please.' Mrs Jackson said. 'Sorry the place not bigger.'

'It's nice, it's nice.' Andrea assured her. 'And what a lovely bedspread.'

'Yes, is real linen, you know. My sister in England send it for me.'

'It's lovely.'

They ate. The food was spicy and delicious. Andrea chewed slowly; she didn't want to offend by not eating enough but she also wanted them to have some food left for tomorrow.

'Heat up, heat up.' Mrs Jackson encouraged her. 'I don't have no fridge, so if we don't heat everything, it gwine spoil.'

'The word is "eat", mama, not "heat".' Natasha corrected her mother sternly. Mrs Jackson looked at her with pride.

'You know, Natasha always come first or second in her class. The only thing her teacher say is that she talk too much.'

The child tightened, her face scornful and angry as she looked at her mother. Mrs Jackson smiled gently and several emotions went across Natasha's face. Andrea watcher her, knowing she loved her mother but was ashamed of her. She, too, had felt that way, until her mother died when she was sixteen, three years ago. But her reasons had been different. Mrs Jackson didn't seem the type who could drink white rum like a man and go to bars where she was the only woman. Andrea closed her eyes briefly.

'You've decorated your home so nicely, Mrs Jackson.' Andrea said. 'Have you lived here long?'

'Thank you, love. I been living here since Natasha born. Her father abroad, you know. Her working so he can send for the two of us.' Natasha had heard this since she was old enough to ask where her father was.

'Yes? He's in England.'

'No,' Mrs Jackson said. 'He in America, New York.'

'Oh. My father is in the States too, but Miami. You know it takes a long time to file for someone over there. They're cracking down on everybody. But you're probably better off here. America is no paradise...' She stopped. Mrs Jackson wouldn't appreciate student left-wing rhetoric, even if it were the truth.

But the woman smiled. 'At least in America if you have money, you can buy anything you want. They don't marry saltfish with flour in America.'

She had a point. When things were scarce on the island, the shopkeepers started "marrying" goods. So if you wanted something that was hard to get, as saltfish was at one point, you have to buy something else to deserve it. Two pounds of lour, for instance. And they married other things as well. You could get rice only if you bought the badly made coconut oil, which smoked and stank when you heated it.

'But things are plentiful now.' Andrea said. 'Since Mr. Swagga got into power, the shelves are filled with cornflakes, foreign cheeses and American apples.'

Mr Swagga had only got into power by promising to bring back these things after the unpleasant years of Socialist belt-tightening. "Cornflakes-and-corned-beef politics", Errol called it. They had both joined the SCP, the Student Communist Party after their first year on campus. But Andrea had to be careful what she said. People like Mrs Jackson didn't want to hear about Communism. Only America offered deliverance.

When she left, Mrs Jackson and Natasha accompanied her part fo the way. All along the street, young men leaned against walls, or sat in groups on the sidewalk. There had been more women and children in the street when Andrea had walked by earlier, but now it was getting dark and the lessening light sent in the women even as it drew out these bored and trouble-seeking boys who had broken the bulbs of the street lights so they could feel more at home.

One called out: 'Hey, Mrs Jackson. you not introducing we to your visitor?'

And another said: 'I like your sexy jeans, baby.'

The third boy shouted a warning. 'Hey, brown-skin girl, next time you come here, don't wear no green blouse because green in Labourite colour, you hear me? This is strictly PNP territory.' He pronounced it "Pay-N-Pee."

Andrea wanted to say "Go to hell", but she found it easy to restrain herself when the boy raised a gun and fired two shots into the air to emphasize his worlds. At the shots Mrs Jackson, who had been ignoring the boys, looked over and said mildly: 'Yappy, stop the foolishness.'

Yappy put the gun away and grinned at her. 'Just practicing, Mrs Jackson. You know elections soon come. How you do, Natasha? You growin' big, eh?'

'Keep your eyes to yourself, you hear me, Yappy?' Mrs Jackson said sharply.

Yappy said: 'me eyes is me market, ma'am...' and he laughed. His shots had been less threatening, and less frightening.

Natasha looked at her mother. 'Mama, when are we going to move? I hate Yappy.'

And Mrs Jackson said: 'We don't have money now to move, but as soon as we get some...'

They would've accompanied Andrea all the way back to the university but she said she could go on alone, it was better if they went back.

Errol was waiting for her at the dorm. 'What's going on? I thought we were going to take in a movie tonight.'

'Oh, sorry, I forgot. Damn!' She told him where she'd been and about the boy with the gun.

Errol shrugged: 'That's the ghetto, baby.'

Errol was sincere most of the time, but frequently she hated him. From his tone of voice nobody would guess that his parents, still together after twenty-six years of marriage, were hot-shot lawyers with one of the biggest houses on Jack's Hill. No, you'd think he was born and raised in Renk Town, waking and going to bed with the sound of gunshots. The closest he probably got to nay ghetto was listening to his father's radio show every Wednesday morning at ten o'clock. It was one of those call-in shows. A listener would call in and say "Hello Mr Bates, you know that all politicians are turning poor people onto fools?" And Lawyer Bates would say: "Good morning, Sah. What do you mean by that, Sah?" The question, always the same and always unexpected, would prompt the man into saying something stupid. Instant entertainment for the masses. And the callers never learned. They called about everything, but mostly about politics and religion: "You know, Mr Bates, if the people on this island don't turn to God and stop the thieving and killing, God goin' really send something to lick some sense into them." "Thank you for your comment, ma'am, what you mean by that, Ma'am?"

Still, it wasn't Errol's fault. They were sitting on the bed and she reached over and pulled off his tam. His dreadlocks were just starting to grow and she knew he would wear his tam until the locks were long and thick, at which time he could go hatless with pride. The dreadlocks were another thing about him that she disliked. They looked ridiculous on him because he was so light-skinned, much fairer than her. They made her feel that he was trying to prove something, made her think that he wasn't man enough about his convictions, that he needed the dreadlocks to show everybody where he stood. Sometimes she thought he was the kind of man to marry the blackest woman he could find, just to dispel all doubts to himself. She wondered when he would leave her.

She leaned over and kissed him. He smiled and lay back on the bed taking her with him. He pulled the blouse from her jeans and stroked her back.

'I have an idea.' Errol said.

'Yes?' Andrea smiled at him, eyes slightly narrowed.

'Let's take your "tutee" to the beach next Saturday. It's okay for you? You don't mind?'

'No, I don't mind. It's only the first year that I couldn't stand going. But I don't know if Natasha can swim. Anyway, I'll ask her mother. It's a really nice idea.'

She kissed his chest. She kissed his neck, remembering why she liked him. He laughed, his chest shaking under her. He stayed the night.

The next Saturday they borrowed his father's car and the three of them drove to Hellshire Beach. Anybody looking at them would think they were a family, Andrea thought. Natasha talked non-stop the whole way but it didn't bother Andrea today. The child didn't own a swimsuit and she looked vulnerable in her pink shorts and polka-dots sleeveless blouse. It was the first time Natasha had ever been to the sea and she was afraid of the water, until Errol and Andrea taught her how to float on the waves. When they would have left the water, she said, 'Please, can we float some more?' So the three of them spent hours on the water, screaming whenever a big wave came in and washed down the beach, picking up shells and crazily shaped stones. Andrea had never seen her so happy.

On the way home she said: 'Andrea, can we come back again and you teach me some more how to float?'

And because Andrea couldn't answer, Errol said: 'Yes, we'll come again. Any time you like.'

Before he took her home, Errol stopped by a sidewalk vendor a brought a bag of fruits. When they saw Mrs Jackson, he gave her the bag and she took it, smiled brightly and said thanks. Andrea knew she wouldn't have got the same response.

The lessons continued until just before the Christmas holidays. Natasha seemed to be getting brighter all the time and she never missed a Saturday. She was usually upset when her mother came to get her because she wanted to stay longer. And Andrea, took, looked forward to the lessons, but she couldn't decide whether she truly liked Natasha or not. The child's eyes were too unsettling, demanding everything and expecting nothing. And she still talked about floating, always floating. But Andrea knew she wouldn't float, she wouldn't escape. In eight or nine years she knew she would run into Natasha somewhere and the child would have two children hanging on to her and a third in her belly, or something like that, firmly anchored to her circumstances like everyone else. She couldn't believe in Natasha's dreams and Natasha knew it. The child seemed to like her but kept her feelings in check. They tended to be very polite with each other, both afraid of disappointment.

Only once did Natasha say that she wished she lived at the university with Andrea because people were always fighting around their neighbourhood. And somebody on their street had killed a policeman.

'They're always firing shots...' she said. 'I wish Mama would move.'

And Andrea tried to tell her that her mother was doing her best, would move, change her life, do anything, just for her, if she could. But the words didn't mean anything to Natasha and Andrea knew that, in a way, she was talking to herself.

Natasha's end-of-term report said she had come first in her class. She showed the card to Andrea. Her teacher had written: "Natasha has improved in all her subjects. Now if she could only learn to talk less and stop disrupting the class."

Andrea didn't know if they would continue with the lessons when school resumed. Tutoring Natasha was painful because they had too much in common. But on the last Saturday before the university closed, Natasha said: 'See you in January.' And she found she couldn't say "No, you won't." Andrea smiled, kissed the child and gave her her Christmas present. It was a bathing suit she and Errol had picked out together.

Andrea went to Miami for the holidays, to spend Christmastime with her father and half-Chinese stepmother. She'd been doing it since her mother died. Davy had wanted her to come and live in Miami, but she had said she preferred to stay in the island boarding with friends, then living on campus.

Every year that she came to Miami, she wished she had spent Christmas on the beaches at home with her friends. It started at immigration. She always hoped that the Americas would be rude so she could tell them what the thought of their country and be refused entry. But they were ever polite. When they asked her reason for coming to the States and she said "Tourism", they accepted her reply without question. But she knew it wasn't always like that. She remembered reading in the papers at home that they had turned back one woman, saying that they didn't want any whores in their country. The article had caused several gunshots to be fired at the American embassy, and they had stopped giving out visas for a while.

Davy and Ann-Marie met her at the airport. Her father always looked the same, Harry Belafonte-handsome and well fed. He had his own supermarket in Miami and Ann-Marie worked in a bank. Andrea was Davy's only child, or the only one he would acknowledge, and that was just because she looked like him, he said bluntly. The others didn't resemble him in the least and could’ve been fathered by anyone. He wasn't going to waste his money taking care of them.

They took her everywhere when she came. And after a few days, she forgot to hate them and America, getting caught up in the shopping spree and the crass happiness of the people around her. Everyone was busy making money in Miami and loving every minute of it. Only the Haitians, driving taxis, opening doors and being washed up on beaches on too-small boats, seemed slightly sad. But they didn't see many Haitians because her father lived in a Cuban neighbourhood. He'd even picked up some Spanish. He was always shouting to people, "Hey man, ¿qué pasa?" And he was very proud that Andrea's Spanish was fluent. He told his neighbours, 'My daughter is studying Spanish at university. She talks it real good.' In the nine years he'd been in Miami, his accent had got more and more American, but Andrea respected Ann-Marie for clinging to her Caribbean accent, even if she was half-Chinese.

Her father gave her money and she spent it frenziedly and without compunction. That was what America was for, buying things. She bought a watch and good quality wool for Errol, who knitted his own tams. She bought a school-bag for Natasha, a scarf and sweet-smelling American bars of soap for Mrs Jackson, a gold necklace and jeans for herself and t-shirts for all her friends at the university. When she didn't shop, she watched TV, while Davy and Ann-Marie worked. Every five minutes there was a Christmas message from advertisers. MacDonald’s wishing everybody Happy Holidays. Burger King giving away Christmas hamburgers. Piggly Wiggly screaming what items they had on sale. Buy, buy, buy, it's Christmas.

She went back to the island in January loaded down and tired. Errol came to pick her up to the airport in his father's car, and she held on to him for a long time. After two weeks in America the island always seemed unreal in its beauty, everything too bright, too colourful, too natural to be appreciated fully. She wished that, instead of the sea and the mountains on the way from the airport, there would be a few high-rise blocks of concrete to help cushion the shock of contrast.

Her classes started the next day, but she couldn't concentrate. She felt everything around her was moving too slowly. She was really looking forward to the weekend. Perhaps when Natasha came, they could skip the lessons and go to the beach. The child wouldn't say no to floating.

Saturday morning, she wrapped the gifts she had bought and waited for Natasha and Mrs Jackson. When they hadn't come by two o'clock, she and Errol went to Hellshire Beach with Marlene and Tony, two of their friends in the SCP. Things were tense in the party these days because general elections were very near now, only a month away. The violence on the island was heating up, and already one of the students of the SCP had been shot at. It was ironic, because the communist Party wasn't even contesting the elections. Leave it to the Labourites and the Pay-N-Pees. Driving to the beach in Tony's car, they laughed at some graffiti they passed. "AIDS= Any Idiot Deserves Swagga".

'These people getting wittier and wittier!' Tony laughed.

'And poorer and poorer.' Errol said.

At Hellshire they ordered Festivals and fried fish, cooked on the beach by people who made their living that way. Most of the food-sellers on the beach were women. The men went out in small boats to catch the fish, and the women made the Festivals, kneading the flour mixed with cornmeal, sugar, butter and water, and forming them into small balls which they fried until brown. When the men came in, they dumped their catch into water-filled iron drums beside the women, and beach-goers went over to choose their meal among the trapped, weakly-swimming fish. Errol always pointed to the biggest fish and the woman laughed, plucked it out of the water and put it in a basin until it flapped to stillness. in a few minutes she would scale it and fry it on the spot. Andrea wondered what the women did during the week when the beach was deserted. But perhaps they made enough on the weekend to see them through.

Before eating, they fooled around in the water, tossing a ball to one another. Later Andrea floated away alone, lying on her back with her arms out and her eyes closed against the sun. The waves rocked her, she lost sense of time and other people in the water disappeared. Floating like this, she could understand Natasha's dreams. Although she hadn't traveled very far from the shore, she felt she had drifted miles out to sea and was alone. The rocking of the water was peaceful; perhaps that was how her mother had felt. Then she remembered the fish-eaten face and quickly swan back to join the others.

'Don't go off alone again.' Errol said. 'The food is ready.'

Afterwards, stretched out on the beach, Andrea thought of her mother. She was perhaps four years older than Natasha when her mother started drinking, when she started being ashamed to take school friends because of what her mother might do or say. Usually, though, her mother wasn't even at home and Andrea had to fix dinner for herself, straighten the place... and wait. If her mother didn't come home by ten o'clock or so, she went looking for her, walking from bar to bar, a target from the drunks who noticed only that she was beginning to grow breasts. They got to know her and made jokes about the plums in her blouse pocket getting riper and riper. And when she finally found her mother, sitting with some man, his hand on her leg or her hip, there was so much contempt in her eyes, her mother couldn't look at her. And she'd walk home ahead of the unsteady woman, not offering support.

Sunday was the only day her mother didn't drink, and together they'd go to the beach and she'd see the gentle, relaxed person her mother had once been. Her mother hadn't known how to swim and wasn't interested in learning. But she knew how to float and would lie on her back in the water, being rocked to and fro. Sometimes, after such a Sunday, her mother would have a dry spell for a week, and would go back to her dressmaking business, making clothes for the people in the neighbourhood. Then, instead of buying rum, she would buy Andrea a present, saying: "Here now, your father's money didn't buy this." (Davy continued sending three hundred American dollars every month even after she'd written her mother saying he'd found someone over there and didn't think he'd be coming back to the island. Her mother had read the letter, laughing and saying, "After all these years, imagine that, eh?" They had laughed together, loudly.)

Andrea didn't know why her parents hadn't married when she was born, but now she couldn't ask. She only knew that when the first bad wave of political violence started her father had gone to Miami, saying that he would send for them and that the and her mother would get married then. But things changed quickly. And her mother started drinking.

When Andrea turned sixteen, she stopped going to the bars to look for her mother. But she always left the lights on in the front room and stayed awake until her mother came in, usually in the early morning. it was on such a morning that they had their last fright, a Thursday morning. Her mother had lately started reeking of alcohol and the smell hung around the house. It couldn't be gotten rid of. Andrea had been watching her grow thinner, watching her face get more ravaged, like the face of a woman whose husband constantly battered her. She had long stopped begging her not to drink. Now she only hated her. And especially this morning. Although she had school the next day, she was still awake when ehr mother came in and she went into the front room to meet her.

'Still up?' her mother asked, swaying and reaching out to steady herself. Andrea stepped back and they looked for a moment into each other's eyes. Her mother seemed to grow sober, briefly.

She said: 'You hate me.'

And Andrea said: 'Yes, you're just a drunken rass. I wish you weren't my mother!' and went back to her bedroom slamming the door.

The next day, when she was at school, her mother floated away. Days before they found her body, a fisherman said he had seen a woman in a green dress bobbing far out at sea. He had wanted t ogo after her, he said, but he was very low on fuel and she just drifted further and further away. And when the polie went out to search for her, she eluded them, for five days. After she had identified it, she threw up and couldn't stop imagining all those fish surrounding her mothe rnad pecking away greedily. It didn't help to know she'd drowned before the fish-feast started.

NATASHA didn't come the following Saturday, and Andrea asked Errol to go with her to August Town. Mrs Jackson's neighborhood was the kind of place that upset affluent people on the island when they saw pictures of it in foreign newspapers. When the BBC or The New York Times did stories about political violence on the island, this was the sort of place they liked to show. It looked like a war zone. Slogans were scrawled on every wall and, if anybody paid attention to laws in this country, all the houses would've long been condemned.

The streets were full of life, as if people couldn't bear to be in their homes. Women combed their children's hair on the sidewalk and shouted laughing abuse at the young men hanging about. Most of the women were pregnant. One, her belly hanging between her tights, sat wide-legged on a stool, making roast corn on a coal stove to sell to others on the street. They all stared at Andrea and Errol, but Errol's dreadlocked status prevented any comments.

Mrs Jackson's room was locked. They peered in through the window and the room looked empty, no furniture.

'Looks like she moved...' Errol said.

An old man, sitting and pickign his toe-nails further doewn the verandah, looked at the, looked away and shouted back to them: 'She gawn abroad. De man send fe har after the pickney dead.'

'Which pickney? What you mean?' Andrea asked him.

She grabbed Errol's arm to steady herself. She was trembling.

'You no read Gleaner? You no listen to radio? Dem shoot de pickney. Right after Christmas. Dem bwoy on de road was fooling round wid gun,shoot after one anodder, and two bullet ketch de pickney, kill har pon de spot. But 'ow come yo uno 'ear 'bout dat? It cause such a rage dat even de politician dem come roun fe try quiet de people. Is riot we almost 'ave ya.'

He continued picking at his toes.

Andrea looked at Errol.

'You didn't hear about it, Errol?' She was still squeezing his arm hard, her nails cutting into him.

But he was just as shocked as he was.

'Yeah, I heard something about it. A lot of people called in to Daddy's programme. But I didn't know it was... Natasha?'

'Did they arrest anybody?' Andrea asked the old man.

'Arrest? Who dey goin' arrest? Everybody wid gun dese days 'ave protection from politician. Is where you live, Miss? You no know dat?'

'How about the boy names Yappy? Was he involved?'

'Yappy? Is Yappy dat try shield her when he see she get shop. Is him try calm down Miz Jackson when she start run up and down de street like a madwoman. Ah never hear anybody scream like dat in al mi born days!'

Andrea didn't want to her any more. She dropped the bag of presents she'd brought in front of Mrs Jackson's door and walked quickly out of the yard. She and Errol hadn't reached the gate when the old man went to look in the bag.

He sucked his teeth and flung a dirty look after them. He would sulk all day because there wasn't anything there in the bag that he needed.

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wesleyv21-blog · 7 years

Text

One Week Down!

¡Hola, todos! Sending out good vibes from Quito!

Damn has a lot happened this weekend! Perhaps both the most exciting and nerve-wracking part of the experience so far has finally come: I moved in with my homestay family! But there’s quite a story leading up to this point so I’ll start from the beginning.

Friday was taken up by one-on-one interviews with our program director, Faba, during which we just checked in about our medical information and how we’re doing so far. Since there are 24 of us, and each interview took about 10 minutes, and somehow we fell behind at some point, this took almost half the day. When it was finally done around 1:30, a big group of us went out for tapas and had quite the time. It will be our last meal together for some time, because at around 4:00 on Friday, our host families came to pick us up from our hotel!

I was quite the ball of nerves and excitement while waiting for my family to arrive. Hell, we all were! All I had to go on was a letter they wrote me describing how excited they were to welcome me into their home, as well as a photo of the family and some info about them that the program provided. Well, the funny thing was that my family did not show up on Friday. The whole family had taken a weeklong vacation to the beaches of Esmeraldas, a province to the northwest of Quito that is a looooooong car ride from the city lol probably 6-8 hours with traffic. So, one of their good friends who is hosting another student and who lives close by picked me up. She was so nice and hospitable, feeding us cake, tea, and a scrumptious dinner. She is quite experienced in hosting foreign scholars, and in fact I ended up meeting two additional students from other universities and doing other stuff in the country that were wrapping up their time in Ecuador. My temporary host mom has a daughter and a son around our age, so all 6 of us ended up going out to a house party after dinner. Oh, one cool thing about my temporary host family is that the father’s brother is an ex-president of Ecuador who is also a famous economist. In addition to his famous books he’s written, my temporary host mom showed us a picture album with the whole family which was amazing and cute.

Now, this house party was something else. Getting there took around 40 minutes, as we had to drive out of Quito to Tumbaco, a little town out to the west. Let’s just say that the young Quiteño upper-class plays hard. First of all the estate was enormous, surrounded by this huge wall that enclosed probably three or four buildings on this large piece of land. Behind the mansion was this patio that was replete with a huge grill, a hammock, access to the kitchen, comfortable furniture, and even security cameras lol. There were many young men and only four young women including my temporary host sister. The men were going hard, forcing each other to drink, smoking cigarettes, forcing each other to drink more, running around all over the place, fighting over control of the music, grabbing the women as if they owned them. I had heard from one of the program assistants during our safety lecture that in Ecuadorian society, men are under such pressures from patriarchy that they vent all their pent-up emotions by drinking excessively. I don’t know enough to claim that this is what I witnessed, but it is a tempting conclusion to draw. Of course what I saw at the party is also heavily influenced by class, since these kids (my age) have the leisure and money to drink hard on a Friday night. It should also be said that this entire weekend is a dry weekend; bars are closed and you can’t buy alcohol anywhere. The reason? There was a national referendum today, and I take it that for all elections, since voting is mandated by law, alcohol disappears so as to ensure people’s faithful compliance. Nonetheless these individuals had procured alcohol from somewhere and were indulging. The most fun I had was swapping party stories with this one guy who ended up getting so drunk he couldn’t stand by the end of the night, and talking with this truly intercultural young man who spoke English, Spanish, and German, had studied abroad almost as much as he had in Ecuador, and who has plans to continue his education in Europe. One other thing I learned was that marijuana is super taboo here, way different from the states lol.

Saturday morning, my friend’s host family dropped me off at my real host family, and I finally got to meet them! Their house is also enormous. Just like every other house I’ve seen in Pichincha province (which includes Quito and the surrounding towns I’ve visited, like Pifo and Tababela), their house is enclosed in a tall wall covered in spikes. It has three stories, including a large patio and a home office for the parents’ travel agency they’ve owned for over 20 years. The sitting rooms are spacious and filled with cool art, the kitchen is small but intimate, and the house is super well located: just a few minutes’ walk to Parque La Carolina, El Jardín Mall, and our class building. Two parents, a daughter, two sons, and their grandmother all live in this incredible house. There’s even room for a visiting aunt who lives in London who is also very charming. In addition, a lovely Japanese woman named Ayumi rents office space and works as a travel agent for Japanese tourists. Her office is right next to my room; she’s also super friendly! Everyone is so welcoming and nice! We talked, watched Black Mirror in Spanish lol, ate delish traditional Ecuadorian food, compared the Spanish and English in different countries across the world, and went out the shopping mall. More on the food. It’s all soo yummy. There’s like a mini corn-on-the-cob that’s called choclo, and it’s usually served with a slice of cheese. They brought out a cacao fruit, which looks really cool, and when you cut it open you expose the brown seeds that are covered in a white slime. You can suck on the seeds and ingest the white slime, which sounds kinda gross but is actually a good mixture of sweetness and tartness. Oritos are mini bananas that are super sweet. Habas reminded me of edamame, as they’re kinda a bean-looking food whose shell you bust open to reveal a kinda bland inside that you can scoop out and eat. It’s really good with just a pinch of salt added to it! The main course of lunch featured a sardine flank that was served cold in a red sauce with tiny round potatoes. At breakfast there was thick papaya juice which was really good, and with lunch there was this sparkling apple juice that somehow had no sugar whatsoever in it. Tonight for dinner I had pastel de plátano, which is exactly what is sounds like: a little pan-seared cake made of smooshed sweet plantains called maduros. Oh I guess should I explain how meals work lol. Lunch is the main course of the day, usually consisting of 3-4 dishes served around 1-2 pm. Breakfast and dinner are both very light. Coffee or tea is usually served at both, and I’ve had grilled cheese sandwiches served at both as well lol. At breakfast, they bring out the rich fruits, whether in slices or juiced. Dinner, if served at all, tends to be pretty late, like around 8 pm. Needless to say everything I’ve eaten so far is delish(;

But I have to say that moving in with the host family has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Saturday was one of the longest days of my life. I’m overwhelmed still from being here and being so far away from what’s comfortable; add to that the awkwardness of getting to know an established family unit so intimately and the mindfuck of re-socializing your brain to speak only another language. There was a lot of time to myself Saturday, which was hard. But, it was also very fun and I can’t say I regret it. I knew going in that this weekend would be the hardest, but once I get over this hump then it should be relatively smooth sailing. On the positive side, they treat me very well and I can hold my own in conversations with three generations of native speakers. Think about the differences in pronunciation that accompany age in English-speaking lands; well, I’m slowly building the satisfaction of mastering that in Spanish as well. I also get along very well with both sons, which is cool to think that I’m making international friends! It’s a long journey I’ve just begun, but I wouldn’t go back for anything.

Another cool thing was a conversation I had with the youngest son about voting today. This won’t be his first time voting (that came in Lenín Moreno’s election last year), but he nonetheless had some cool perspectives on the referendum. Voting is mandated by law for all those above age 18 and is optional for those aged 16 and 17. If you do not vote, you incur a steep fine. In addition, upon voting, one receives a certificate that one needs to do official citizen business like procure a passport or visa. The referendum consists of 7 questions that will amend the Constitution. These questions are:

1. Would prohibit those accused of corruption from ever serving in public office (Ecuador has a long history of political corruption, yet the last straw in adding this question to the referendum was the recent imprisonment of former vice president Jorge Glas on corruption charges)

2. Would limit all elected officials to only 2 terms in the same office (brought about by the last president, Rafael Correa, who changed the constitution to allow himself to run indefinitely)

3. Would replace all current members of the Citizens’ Participation and Social Control Council (the 5th branch of government here) and replace them all with new appointees (to flush out the last remaining allies of president Correa)

4. Would remove statute of limitation for sex crimes against minors (due to over 1,000 cases of sex crimes against minors brought to court over the last 2 years)

5. Would prohibit mining in protected areas, untouchable zones, and urban centers (mining is on the rise in Ecuador, yet this question might prove decisive for the young industry’s future)

6. Would get rid of the law of plusvalía, which essentially treats the sale of property of any kind as speculation, meaning that the seller must pay like 70% of the revenue from the sale to the state as tax

7. Would expand the protected areas of the Yasuní National Park, the single most biodiverse place on earth that also sadly houses much of Ecuador’s oil reserves (this question would thus prohibit future oil drilling in Yasuní)

The general populace was expected to vote to pass all of them in what many see as a middle finger to the last president, Rafael Correa, and a vote of confidence for Moreno’s young regime. Yet that’s not how my host brother necessarily sees it. He doesn’t support the current regime, and he certainly didn’t support the last. According to him, both presidents have raised taxes, especially on imports, which has raised the cost of living significantly. In addition, neither president supports/ed policies that are favorable toward foreigners, something he doesn’t like. His perspective is quite interesting and will need to be investigated further. Another interesting thing about the referendum came when Sebastián told me that many voters don’t understand the wording of the questions, not to mention all the annexes that are on the flipside of the ballot page. Very interesting. Also last night I watched a government news channel ahead of the vote today. After going into detail about each of the questions, the focus turned to the actual process itself. Even though this is the 11th national referendum since the return to democracy in 1979, there are some new and exciting steps being implemented in this referendum. For example, there is a new electronic rapid-response exit-poll-type technology designed to report trustworthy results ahead of the official tally. Lots of domestic and international observers were invited to oversee the polls. Something that I guess isn’t new is that all ballots are translated into indigenous languages, and for the many hard-to-access communities scattered across Ecuador, the government helicopters ballots in so people can still vote. Another highly promoted feature on this program was the accessibility of all voting stations so that people with different abilities can still vote. The temptation at looking at this at first was to dismiss it as government propaganda, which it no doubt is. After all, in the U.S., elections are a piece of cake and no one ever has reason to question the outcome (except Trump lol). But, I had to catch myself. This is a country whose democracy is relatively young. Building up these institutions is key for achieving long-lasting social justice. Who am I to come in and laugh at things that Ecuadorians take pride in? Nonviolent, inclusive elections aren’t a given. So, I learned a lot more than I thought I would watching that program last night.

Today I accompanied my host brother, Matías, as he went and voted. It was quite the process to get to his assigned voting place. We had to take a bus probably a mile or so (which, in Quito traffic, took about 30 minutes) and walk to the destination. Although we didn’t know at first which street the school was on, so we were walking around asking people where it was. Finally, we found it, and I watched as Matías showed his I.D., was handed the piece of paper with each question labeled and color-coded, walked over to a schooldesk on which stood a cardboard trifold to act as a privacy shield, and deposited the ballot in the cardboard box in which was cut a slit to slip in the ballot. And home we went. At night, nos reunimos para cenar y mirar los comentarios a cerca de la votación. As expected, all measures passed. Now the country awaits the implementation of each question.

After lunch I had the opportunity to talk to the ones I love most. I cannot overstate how happy I was to reconnect with them and catch up, even just to see their faces and hear their voices. No matter where I am on this earth, I know where home is (:

Classes finally begin tomorrow. I’m actually looking forward both to their content and the sense of routine they’ll bring.

¡Hasta luego!

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