#and i used to be on the spanish linguistics track but have since switched to lit/culture. but we love both in this household!!

[feelbokkie]

No it's fine, don't be sorry for rambling since we can both ramble! lol (I was worried before that my asks were getting long for no reason 😭 but it's fun to just have conversations). You literally did grad school, write so well, are fluent in 3 languages (so cool how easily you picked up French!), and are learning your 4th and 5th languages so I'm sure you're not stupid at all.

I'm fully fluent in Tagalog and English, and then my brain decided to only be partially proficient in several other languages whether I Iearned them for several years or only a couple months: conversational listening in Spanish (from 4 years in middle school), only translating and reading aloud in Latin (despite 4 years in high school and 1 in college), reading French (from 2 semesters + sporadic Duolingo), reading and translating Old English (from just 1 semester but one of my niche/useless in daily life expertise is Medieval European History lol), and Japanese and Korean in the capacities I explained before.

I seriously considered doing linguistics in college since languages are so fun and interesting, but I was already on track to disappoint my parents by majoring in History and then doing Education for grad school lol.

It sounds like you're pretty close already to being able to watch Japanese shows in the background, you probably understand more than you realize! But yeah, I'm more an immersion/listening learner too so I'm def picking up more Korean from watching and listening to stuff (I'm a fast subtitle reader👍) than the workbook I got, although me taking notes with colorful pens is what fast tracked my learning Hangul so quickly.

There's so many things I wanna read in Japanese that people online haven't translated yet so I'm suffering too but I can't get myself to even consider learning hiragana/katakana/kanji until I get better at Korean since I have a limited summer time (the school year fills my brain with too many other things 😔).

Hope everyone else doesn't mind all the random infodumping I'm doing on your skz blog lol

-👻✌️

I apologize to everyone who has my post notifications on who are now being subjected to feelbokkie nerd hours, lol

Fluent in creole and French is a stretch. I can mostly understand and kinda read and write but I'm not actively using them so I'm losing them again. and I think me picking up French quickly is cheating since I technically already knew the language mostly. But I will give myself props for trying to learn 2 more languages. Idk, I think I'm spiraling because I'm done with school until I convince myself that I actually do want a Phd and I love learning and need something to do with my free time.

I wish I could learn latin. I had so much fun when we were learning Greek and Latin root words and etymology in middle school (God, I'm such a nerd) and I did Shakespeare acting competitions for 3 years in hs school so I got really well versed in reading Shakespearean English. Like I have a collection of all his plays and sonnets that I'm reading and analyzing for fun (again, I'm a nerd).

Linguistics wasn't an option for me in undergrad because my school didn't have a linguistics program. But it's amazing that you studied History! I would have switched to History but I already disappointed everyone by switching from criminal justice to English and then doing more English in grad school lol.

I'm so excited to do my color coded notes and all that again. I found a box of mine a few days ago from when I was relearning French full of all my note cards so I can only imagine how bad it's going to be this time.

I can also imagine how little time you have outside of teaching to pursue your hobbies and special interest. But at least you have time during the summer to work on your Korean.

[dippedanddripped]

Rap folklórico palenquero represents the voice of the people, says Andris Padilla Julio, leader of the Afro-Colombian hip-hop group Kombilesa Mi. The crew rapidly switches between Spanish and another language – but it is not English, the international language of hip-hop.

The other language is Palenquero, one of the two creole languages native to Colombia. There are 68 indigenous languages in the country, and many of them are under threat of going extinct from “pressure to assimilate” or Colombia’s long-running internal conflict with drug cartels and paramilitary forces.

Palenquero traces its linguistic roots to the Bantu language family native to sub-Saharan Africa, and includes influence from several romance languages as well. It is centuries old, and hip-hop might help it survive further into the 21st Century.

“At one point, Palenquero was considered poorly spoken Spanish, and because of that, people felt bad and decided not to speak it,” says Padilla Julio, who goes by the name Afro Netto. A grassroots revival in the latter half of the 20th Century sought to fight these negative stereotypes while at the same time re-establishing the language among the town’s roughly 3,500 inhabitants.

Similarly, Kombilesa Mi places an emphasis on language and identity through its music, partly making Palenquero words and phrases accessible to audiences. “If we want people to learn how to say goodbye, we do it by singing, adding some rhythm, and people enjoy that,” says Padilla Julia. This common didactic approach also explains why, for Padilla Julio, hip-hop is such a natural foundation for a rap version of  folklórico palenquero: “With hip-hop, people can dance but they also listen, and since I’m interested in delivering a message... hip-hop allows me to do that and that’s why I love it.”

Adapting the rhythmic elements of hip-hop to traditional Palenque music and instruments cements it into the community. Though ultimately, it is hip-hop’s legacy as a form of social protest that gives rap folklórico palenquero its sense of immediacy. “People see in us [Kombilesa Mi] that courage, that voice of support, that voice of protest, struggle,” adds Padilla Julio. “And the way that we’re using hip-hop, we’re not just protesting, but making ourselves stronger, too.” This is important given both the social context and history of San Basilio de Palenque, a town of 3500 people at the base of the Montes de María and the home of Kombilesa Mi.

For centuries, San Basilio de Palenque has been a symbol of resistance, one that manifests in its language, culture, and identity

Kombilesa Mi (“my friends” in Palenquero) was formed in 2011 and boasts nine members. The group released their debut album Así es Palenque in 2016, recording in San Basilio de Palenque’s first and only music studio. Along the way, they’ve forged relationships with Afro-Colombian groups doing similar work in other cities across Colombia, such as Rostros Urbanos in Buenaventura and Son Batá in Medellín. Kombilesa Mi also has a strong presence, says Padilla Julio, among the Palenque diaspora in the capital Bogotá. In addition, the group has toured abroad, establishing rap folklórico palenquero not just as a musical genre, but a broader social movement connecting past to present for audiences both inside and outside Palenque.

For centuries, San Basilio de Palenque has been a symbol of resistance, one that shines through in its language, culture, and identity. The small town is known historically as the first free settlement in the Americas; escaped African slaves bound for Colombian plantations settled the town in the 17th Century and were granted their freedom in perpetuity in the 18th Century after nearly a century of fighting Spanish colonialists. It's the only settlement of its kind that survives into the present.

As a result, In 2005, Unesco recognised San Basilio de Palenque by adding it to the List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Kombilesa Mi have dedicated themselves to preserving this legacy, in the same way it was passed on to the group’s members. “That’s what our teachers used to tell us, that Palenque culture goes from generation to generation,” says Padilla Julio.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, for example, workshops on language, hairstyling, and community identity are held. On the remaining weekdays, the groups offers music and dance classes. “We do this so that the kids can grow up with a solid identity,” says Guillermo Camacho, manager of Kombilesa Mi. “Our work is to strengthen Palenquero identity through music and language has always been an element that’s allowed us to strengthen our community.” The group also works on community murals, which often feature phrases in Palenquero.

This is what the town’s residents have been looking for a long time – Padilla Julio

Rap folklórico palenquero is at the heart of these initiatives. As such, hip-hop has been embraced into the community in a big way, especially among the youth, says Padilla Julio. This, he explains, is a byproduct of its fusion with Palenque culture and tradition rather than prior attempts to imitate hip-hop from other countries, such as Venezuela, Cuba, or the United States. Above all, rap folklórico palenquero has helped the community learn that hip-hop is a genre that encourages its listeners to “raise your voice and protest”.

For Camacho, this ability to question the status quo resonates with the lives of Palenque speakers, from poor water and electric systems to cultural appropriation. “What does it mean to be free when you don’t have access to education, to healthcare, to good jobs?” he asks. “What does freedom mean when they discriminate against you because of the colour of your skin?”

Though longstanding, these systemic issues – to an extent – are magnified following the 2016 peace accords, which ended a 52-year insurgency by guerrilla rebels from the left-wing Farc. “The problem isn’t just the guerrilla,” says Camacho. There are other forms of violence wrought against the community, racism and discrimination notwithstanding. Camacho adds that the ongoing murder of social activists and leaders in Afro and Indigenous communities – hundreds since the 2016 deal – is nothing new. “It’s better to take away our path, because we are awakening other communities, other leaders,” says Padilla Julio. That is why music has become such a powerful tool.

Kombilesa Mi are currently preparing for the release of their second album, entitled Esa Palenquera. A celebration of women and their contributions to Palenque, the album was recorded in the mountains of Minca, at the studio of producer Cristián Castaño.

The change of scenery coincided with an overall shift to a more organic sound. There are no guitars, nor digital instruments, just rap folklórico palenquero in its purest form, with tracks named for traditional dances such as Mapalé and Pica Pica, or a popular traditional beverage in the case of Ñeque. Others, such as No Más Siscriminación, carry an explicit social message. Los Peinados, in turn, takes a didactic approach, instructing the listener on the history of routes braided into the hair of escaped slaves, with a reference to Los Montes de María where the first palenque settlements were established.

In the end, each of these kinds of tracks fulfills the purpose of rap folklórico palenquero. “This is what the town’s residents have been looking for a long time,” says Padilla Julio, “a way for the younger generation to guarantee, in part, the future of San Basilio de Palenque’s traditions.”

[lady-poppy-verona-blog]

hell is where i dreamt of you and woke up alone

“i miss the ocean, and i know it’s weird to say. i grew up there, moved to l.a.”

((aka, challenge one. mentions of @nathaniel-schreave, @mistylane059, @sailor-shone and probably others but i’m tired. title and quote creds to blackbear))

🌸

this not what she wants.

she wants to go through the selection without dealing with the chaos of old loves, attractive loves, loves she still loves. instead, she gets to deal with seeing her ex boyfriend in the place she went to get over him.

she breathes out a quiet “andrew” and power walks over to him- it’s not as if she can run in these pretty jeweled heels they’ve put her in. he looks handsome in his uniform, professional and mature. his hair isn’t tidy, but it never was. he glances over, flushing when he realizes it's her.

“poppy?” he moves to run his hand through his hair, an old nervous habit, before letting it fall to his side to maintain his appearance. “what-what are you doi…” he trails of as he realizes. “right… you were selected.” he’s obviously not happy about this, almost as if he didn’t want her to show up at all.

poppy frowns at him. “it’s almost as if you don’t want me here at all. sorry, pal, but i’m here now, so you’re gonna have to get over it.”

he winces at the word ‘pal’. “you’re right, p, i don’t want you here. i just want to do my job and get out.” he turns and starts to walk away.

“if i had known you were here, i wouldn’t have signed up,” she calls after him.

“then i guess neither of us want to see each other then,” he responds before turning a corner.

she makes a frustrated noise before turning around and thinking about her words. if i had known you were here, i wouldn’t have signed up. a total lie, obviously, but it was what she wants-no, needs- to believe to keep herself sane while she’s here. a girl- misty lane, if she remembers correctly- is walking towards her. they had talked so loud, and so many things could be insinuated. “you didn’t hear any of that, right?”

misty opens her mouth, a confused look on her face, when another voice comes from behind them. “hear what?” she glanced behind her as a younger girl walks over to them.

“no,” says misty curiously. “you’re poppy right? and sailor?”

sailor looks over at misty, almost as if she hadn’t noticed them before.  “oh, um, i am. you are?”

“misty of waverly. nice to meet you! i love your name btw.” this girl is so excited, it’s almost excruciating. poppy has never been one to be overly happy, and tends to get annoyed by people like that. suffer through, she tells herself.

sailor smiles shyly. “sailor moon, right?”

“i live for sailor moon!”

poppy tries her best to break into the conversation by being a total loser. “sorry, resident linguistics nerd,” she starts with a bit of a laugh. “it’s odd that your last name is in past tense, isn't it? where does that trace back to?” she says before realizing that hey nerd, not everyone is into etymology. “unless you don't know, which makes a lot more sense. sorry, that was an odd question.”

sailor takes it in stride, bless her. “good question. i have no clue, actually. it's my mother's last name. my father took her name.”

“same with my last name, lane,” misty says.  

poppy shrugs. “verona is from my dad, otherwise i'd be poppy mendoza.” a terrifying prospect.

the conversation begins to only revolve around sailor and misty, so poppy quietly excuses herself before a maid catches her eye. the maid rushes over to her, looking relieved. “lady poppy, i’m caroline. i’m your head maid, and i’m here to escort you to your room.”

“oh, it’s fine caroline. i know what hall it is, i’m sure i can find the room from there,” poppy says, flushing slightly. “why don’t you take a few hours off?” poppy doesn’t want to walk with this girl- not only is she still unsettled by the interaction with andrew, she’s a little pissed that she hadn’t been involved in the conversation between the other two selected.

also, caroline is fine as hell. as in, this level of attractiveness should be illegal. she’s all bright eyes, a careful and beautiful smile, pretty hair twisted into a neat braid wrapping around her head. “my lady, i’m sorry, but miss corinne-my boss- would like me too.” she brushes the front of her skirt with her hands. “if you would please follow me, i can get you there in a jiffy.”

poppy gives up and nods. at least she can walk with someone pretty. she mumbles that a jiffy is actually a sixtieth of a second, so you can’t do anything in a jiffy, but follows her without complaint. they enter her hall, noticing that she’s rather close to the stairs, before they finally get to her room. caroline opens the door revealing two more maids standing at attention in a gorgeous, yet rather sparse, room. “this is marissa,” caroline says, gesturing to a tall blonde woman, “and laurel,” her arm moving over toward a skinny, curly haired girl who doesn’t look much older than 16. they both curtsy and murmur something along the lines of “my lady.”

poppy already hates this. everytime someone calls her “lady poppy” she feels like a stuck up bitch. she’s not famous (well, she is, but still), and she’s only one caste above these ladies. she wants to tell them to just call her poppy, but she knows that it’s probably going to be “unladylike” or whatever. she can deal with it.

that’s what she’s going to tell herself his entire process, honestly. she just hopes she can keep to it.

🌸

she didn’t realize how absolutely boring etiquette could be (although she loves that word).

lady collette, a pretty woman who was introduced as a former selected (and jace’s mother), has been put in charge of making sure the selected behave themselves and don’t embarrass their country if foreign dignitaries visit.

as she talks on and on about manners and curtsies, poppy gazes out the window, starving for a more interesting activity and breakfast.

the “more interesting activity” ends up being interviews with prince nate. one by one, the girls are sent to a secluded corner to talk to him, and pretty much all of them come back smiling and giggling. poppy sits in on conversations and contributes a little before she’s called over.

nate stands up as she approaches, giving her a small bow. “hello lady poppy, i'm prince nate.”

way to state the obvious, dude.  poppy gives a slight curtsy. “salve, prince nate. how are you today?”

“i'm doing great and how are you?”

she smiles slightly. its pretty much impossible to tell the guy she’s supposed to be here to win that she’s only there to forget about an ex. “i'm doing pretty well myself. a bit of a culture shock, but overall pretty good.”

he gives her a curious glance. “what's so dramatically different for you?”

she shrugs. “i think the biggest thing is the environment. i'm so used to walking five minutes to the beach, and now it's a half hour drive from here. plus, i miss my family and friends, but an old friend of mine is actually a guard here, so that helps a little bit.” an old friend? that’s one way to put it.

“oh, who is he?”

“oh, um…” she trails off, not quite expecting a question about it. “his names andrew, andrew moore. he's only been here for a few months, though.”

“oh, i've heard his name before,” nate says with a bit of a smile.

“really?” she’s a little surprised. “that's interesting. is he high ranking or something? he doesn't really talk much about this job.”

“i'm not sure,” he says. “walking around the palace and hearing guards talk to one another, you pick up on all their names.”

she needs to change the subject. “that makes a lot more sense. this is a weird question, but i’m really interested in languages and linguistics. do you speak any foreign languages?” she didn’t need to be a fucking /loser/, but a subject was a subject.

“yeah, i can speak a little spanish and quite a bit of italian. i know phrases of others, but i can't speak them.” he gives her a gentle smile.

“i’ve always wanted to learn italian,” she says thoughtfully. “it’s very close to spanish and latin, so it would be pretty easy for me to learn.”

“are you, like, very into languages and such?” he asks, seeming like he’s actually interested.

“yeah!” poppy says excitedly. “my mom speaks four languages and passed on most of those to me. i grew up pretty much trilingual, and started learning latin and welsh afterwards.” she smiles. this is something she enjoys, unlike talking about her friends. languages have always been something she likes.

he looks impressed. “wow, trilingual. never heard that one before.”

she lists them, counting on her fingers. “english, portuguese, spanish. i kind of needed to know spanish, because most of the sevens and eights in honduragua only speak that, and portuguese for my mom’s family. some of them don’t speak english, or its very broken.”

he chuckles. “i couldn't be able to keep track of all that.”

“i do tend to switch languages in the middle of a sentence sometimes,” she starts with a laugh, “but it's fun for me. they’re all so different, but welsh is the most fun.”

“welsh,” he says with a chuckle.  “that's not one i would've expected.”

he glances over to the other girls. “sorry, but i have quite a few more girls to meet, this conversation has been wonderful.” he stands up.

she stood as well. “it's been great talking to you, eich uchelder.” she walks back to the seats with a waggle of her fingers. she’s absolutely starving. there’s a bunch of girls left, and she cannot wait for breakfast.

when that finally arrives, she’s only a few seats away from the royals. it flies by as girls whisper excitedly about their interviews and the attractive guards they’ve seen. a table away, she heard someone mention an officer moore, but as soon as she tunes in, the conversation shifts topics. she goes back to the conversation surrounding her, participating half heartedly.

🌸

it’s been three days since the interviews. they’ve been entertaining themselves in the women’s room, but god, she’s bored stiff. all there is to do is watch tv, or read, or, god forbid, talk to people. she needs to get out of there before she starts nerding out over latin roots or something.

as she walks to the powder room (even the selected need to pee), she’s pulled aside by a head of red hair and a guard uniform.

“we need to talk,” andrew whispers quietly. “soon.”

poppy nods, responding with “seven pm. my room,” before letting out a delicate laugh and saying, “why, officer, aren’t you a smart one? i can see why they would offer you a job here.” she makes her way back to the women’s room, ready to sit through the boring, repetitive conversations and old drama over and over again and waiting to see andrew.

and see him she did. she had told her maids that she had a bad headache and needed to be alone, getting the room all to herself after lunch. she reads and subconsciously counts the hours until it’s time.

running about three minutes late as usual, he finally shows up, closes the door, and sits down on her bed as she sits up, putting pillows behind her to prop up her back. “sorry i’m late.”

“it’s fine,” she responds, trying to sound casual even though she’s panicking on the inside. “what did you want to talk about?”

“well, i… fuck, i don’t know. it’s hard to explain. it’s just… god i missed you, poppy.” his face is so close to hers. she’d only have to lean over slightly to kiss him like she wants to, to go back to the way they were before july.

“i missed you too. why are you telling me this now, instead of before i signed up for this?” she asks him, a little angry but mostly excited that he’s still into her.

“because i couldn’t apologize for being such an asshole. i’m sorry, p, i didn’t want to hurt you.” he leans closer and suddenly they’re the way they used to be, fitting together almost perfectly, her arms draping over his neck and his fingers digging into her hips as she straddles him.

it’s not as though they mean to go as far as they do, but when there’s an intense romantic reunion going on, typically sex is involved. she wakes up the next morning alone, however, which would make sense considering he probably has guard-ly duties or whatever. she manages to yank herself out of bed and into the shower, blushing and giggling, and in the back of her mind, panicking.

she never notices that it didn’t feel right, that he isn’t the one, that now that she’s here, she doesn’t want him like that anymore. but god knows, poppy is a stubborn bitch, when it comes to feelings and actions, and she’s never going to admit that they’re not going to be together forever.

she’s in for a cruel awakening.