#loved the way the light of dawn was playing across his sim so i took a little pic and then loved it so much i made it my icon

[mattodore]

kisses him goodnight

[writtenjewels]

Remote part 4

Part One, Part Two, Part Three

Nule read in one of his books that plants thrived if people spoke to them. The carbon dioxide that humans naturally expelled was used as nutrients. So he decided to practice with his new bellflower and tell it things about himself in preparation for John's next visit. Nule really had no idea what he should say; the only other person he ever spoke with before was Father, and he of course already knew what Nule liked and disliked.

It dawned on him far too late that he hadn't asked John to bring him anything or prepare descriptions to share on his next visit. In fact, it was the promise of Nule talking that was going to bring John back, and that made him a little nervous. He had examples of friendships in his books to take inspiration from. Friends told each other jokes sometimes or did things together. Maybe John would want to do something with Nule.

He went into the simulation room to look through all the programs. Being Alliance, would John enjoy a combat sim? Or did he encounter enough combat and would prefer something more relaxed? Obstacle courses, weights, and the new one that was supposed to help Nule train in biotic flotation. He paused on that option. He should start training right away; Father would be expecting a report on his next visit. His finger hovered over the command for a moment before swiping it away.

John's voice hailed him a few days later. Nule paced back and forth waiting eagerly for the man to dock. One last time he ran over all the things he planned to talk about: his favorite books, the music he listened to, the simulations. He wouldn't say anything about his biotic training, of course, but he could talk about the obstacle courses and the mazes Father had him run to keep him physically and mentally fit. John stepped inside cradling a rock in his hand.

“Another gift?” Nule asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, it's a geode. A lot more interesting than a Luna rock.” John handed it over and Nule studied the geode from different angles, marveling at how its crystals caught the light and caused it to glitter. It was quite possibly the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

“It's like what people must have imagined stars were made of,” he smiled. “Sit down, I'll make you some coffee.” John did as he was told and Nule joined him a moment later with two mugs of coffee. He noted that John chose the couch this time. Nule settled on a recliner and took a sip of coffee to prepare himself.

“I like to read,” he began. “Especially adventure stories. When I was younger I got into ones where the hero went through space fighting evil and falling in love. But I like reading about anything. Father brought me cookbooks once and sometimes brings me ingredients so I can cook things. I tried baking but I think I like cooking better. It encourages more experimenting and improvising.”

“What kind of things do you cook?” John asked him.

“Oh, just simple things. Rice curry, stir fry, steak.”

“Steak is not simple,” John interrupted with a laugh. “I've had some that tasted like I was chewing an old tire. If you can cook one that's edible, that's pretty amazing.” Nule smiled bashfully at that and rubbed his thumb along the crystals of his geode. John was so nice. Whatever Father said about the rest of the Alliance had to be wrong about John. Nule couldn't believe that this friendly man who brought him gifts would torture a biotic or make them addicted to red sand.

“I listen to music,” he continued. “I like instrumental the best, but I don't know if I like quarian or human the best. Do you know the song 'Vigil'?” A smile spread out over John's face and he nodded. “It's one of my favorites,” Nule confessed. “Here, let me play it now.” He walked over to the sound system and typed in a command. A few moments later music started filtering through the room.

“Beautiful,” John nodded. He clasped his hands together and leaned forward. “Nule, could you tell me something: who is your father protecting you from? Why are you in danger?”

“Oh.” Nule's good mood faded. “I shouldn't talk about that.”

“It's just... I've been thinking about it ever since you first mentioned it, and I've been really worried about you. Don't get me wrong, you can definitely handle yourself. I just want to know how I can help you. I can find these people who want to hurt you.”

“No.” Nule curled into himself. “You can't help me. You... the Alliance...

“Are you saying the Alliance wants to hurt you? But that doesn't make any sense.”

“It's... It's because...” No, he shouldn't say it. You're a biotic, Nule. A freak of nature. The Alliance will feed you red sand just to abuse your gift. He felt a hand touch his shoulder and he reacted without thinking, pushing away with his biotics. John went flying across the room and crashed into a bookshelf. “John! Shit, shit, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!” Panicked, he hurried over to the marine.

“I'm fine,” the man coughed. “Wish I was wearing my armor, though. That was a hell of a throw.” He groaned and managed to get to his feet.

“Are you sure? I have medi-gel.”

“I'm just a little winded.” John gave him an assessing look. “I did always wonder how it would feel to get tossed around by a biotic. So I guess that's one item checked off the bucket list.”

“How are you so calm about this?” Nule demanded. “Aren't you scared of me?”

“Why would I be?” John shrugged.

“Because...” Nule's head dropped. “Because I'm a biotic. I'm a freak of nature.”

“Nule, I swear I will wring your dad's neck if I ever meet him,” John growled. “I can't believe he taught you that bullshit. He's not wrong that people see biotics that way, but letting you see yourself that way? What an absolute asshole.” Nule opened his mouth but couldn't find any words. “Biotics are just people; nothing freaky about them at all.”

“Oh,” was all Nule could manage. Had Father lied to him? No, Father would never do that. He only wanted to protect Nule and keep him safe. He was just being overprotective, that was all. “But doesn't the Alliance use biotics?”

“Yeah, of course they do. They make great soldiers. Oh.” John nodded, as if understanding something. “That's what your father's worried about with you: that the Alliance will want to conscript you. But it's not like you'd be forced to join if you didn't want to. Isolating you like this is taking it to an extreme.” Again Nule was at a loss for words. Everything he thought he understood was being put into question.

“I think you should go,” he said quietly.

“Nule...”

“I need to think,” Nule insisted. “Please go.”

“Okay,” John agreed, taking a reluctant step back. “But I'm coming back.”

[sophygurl]

@wingedsaboteur asked: Unconventional end of year lists: Top 3 dreams you had this year (like, literally while you were asleep), top 5 amusing anecdotes from this year, top 10 characters or ships you obsessed over this year?

Part 2!

Top 5 amusing anecdotes. Hmmm. 

1. I’ve been taking paratransit a lot more this year and I’ve had some interesting drivers, from the young black man who nervously but daringly engaged me in a conversation about racism and gun violence to the gregarious guy who was driving several of us all over town and chatting about music and the various tragedies of the day (this was shortly after the Vegas shootings and Tom Petty’s death) to the guy who joined me in ranting over the loss of state funding for the paratransit program that is going to make it more difficult for both drivers and riders. 

But the most interesting was this older white lady who started right in laughing and joking with me and we found we aligned pretty closely on political lines pretty quick. We were discussing the fact that so many politicians want to deny the fact of global warming as she was setting something up on her phone’s GPS. Suddenly, the lovely voice on the phone said “I don’t know what to do about - people who don’t believe in global warming.” We both looked at each other and just cracked up laughing saying - we don’t either!! This lady was something else - told me half her life story in the 20 minutes it took to get me to my appointment. I hope I get her again sometime. 

2. This has been overall a very difficult year for many reasons, not least of which has been the diagnosis and treatment of my bestest friend’s breast cancer. She lives alone and in a different city as me and we both have health issues which make visiting one another difficult in the best of times, but when it dawned on me that she was going to need help after her surgery and that no one else was going to be available, I decided to make myself available and saved up those spoons and went and helped care for her for a week.

One of the things she needed help with that week was - okay this is gonna be about gross bodily functions here so skip to number 3 if you’d rather not read this part but - after a mastectomy, the body still keeps pumping blood and lymphatic fluid and stuff to the area the breasts once were so they install these tubes and drains for all of that to have a way out of the body. And the drains need to be milked, which is kinda grody but whatever, bodies. So a few times a day we’d have to milk the tubes coming out of her and measure what came out and what it looked like, etc. She got real tired of this real quick and I had to kind of be a cheerleader/drill sergeant about it. 

So one night as we’re emptying the drains she was skipping the milking part of the process and I was encouraging her to milk it and she just stopped and stared at me and yelled “YOU MILK IT!” - which caused us to both explode in giggles and is now one of our many running jokes. Sometimes you just have to laugh about this stuff. 

3. While playing Sims awhile back, I suddenly noticed that the Grim Reaper had moved into one of my empty houses. I thought this was hilarious enough that I started playing as him, got him a job, went to the park and made some friends, started teaching him various skills. IDK if it’s something I’ll come back to or not, but weirdly enough he picked this one ginormous house with many floors and a crapton of furniture and stuff that I’d made for a household of 8 so he’s just kinda rambling around in there by himself playing guitar and video games for now.

4. Oh! And this summer my roomie and I saved a baby bird that he had found right outside our apartment. It took the entire day, several trips out to the wildlife rehab place, and a great chunk of time watching lil birdie in the DIY nest we built tied up in a tree hoping it’s parents would come feed him (they didn’t, so the rehab place kept him and hopefully got him fed up and re-entered into the wild eventually). 

But in all that time sitting outside, I got to know some of my neighbors, including the dog owners across the way who informed me that their doggie loves our cats and gets excited whenever they’re in the window and a friendly if somewhat socially awkward guy who lives upstairs who kept me company for a lot of the time. 

Friendly but awkward guy quickly turned into creepy neighbor guy a few weeks later however, when he got drunk, sat down right outside my bedroom window at ten at night, and started trying to chat me up. He was all “remember the bird? and our conversation about the books?” And I was like - “uh, yea, are you drunk?” - to which he laughed and replied “toooootally.” Eventually my large male roomie came to my rescue and just as Awkward/Creepy? guy was saying “just tell me to go away” - roomie said gruffly “yea, go away!” and slammed the window down. 

That one incident I could maybe just excuse as not understanding social cues very well combined with the drunkenness, but a week or so later he started knocking on the door at 3am - repeatedly - until finally I woke up large male roomie to maybe do something to make him stop, but by then he had left on his own. We still think he probably didn’t have bad intentions - likely saw my light was on and figured I was awake and ??? somehow it was okay to knock on the door at 3am???? But still. I’ve been wary of him ever since. 

5. Other neighbor incidents included my usual Cranky Old Lady going out late at night in my pajamas and yelling at people to turn their music down bits. The funniest was when the teenager who had lived upstairs from us was apparently having a party and I went over to go tell them to keep it down. There was much girly squealing and laughing when the doorbell rang and then I could hear them wondering who could be at the door but not wanting to open it. Finally we were just yelling through the door at one another, and when I asked if there was an adult home, one of the girls yelled “we’re all adults!” Then another piped in “YEA!” So I just made a skeptical noise, said “okay then” and walked off. They quieted Real Fast after that though lmao. 

[some-thoughts-and-crosses]

And so it begins...

Week 1 in Rome and at the WFP

Alternative title: Things Jon Snow and I have in common…

Context: I have left South Africa in a complete whirlwind to take up my 6 month post with the World Food Programme. I cannot quite believe my luck. I am working in the IRM-O team (Integrated Roadmap - Operations). The IRM is a huge initiative that will change the way the WFP functions and touches every country office it operates in. It is aligned to meet the WFP’s aim of zero hunger by 2030. Among other things, it looks at creating sustainable models focusing on drives like food security and placing more control in the hands of the local country offices. 

I arrived in Rome on Saturday afternoon, 15th July. Took a shuttle from the airport to my address, where my landlord and his family were waiting for me. Since the wifi hadn’t been installed, they took me to get a local SIM card and train and tram tickets for the work week. Turns out I bought 10 extraneous train tickets since the tram ticket is valid on the train, so long as it’s within 100 minutes.

Getting around is not quite as seamless as in London for example. To get to work I walk 5 minutes to my tram stop, catch the tram for 5 stops, get to Trastevere station (train not metro / tube equivalent), and take the train to a stop that’s a 5 minute walk to the office. It usually takes around 45 – 50 minutes one way. Unless I walk to where I’m going, any trip will use a combination of these modes. This is true for most people who use the public transport. Driving is difficult (not that I plan on), as the streets are busy and usually single, narrow lanes.

Also bought an iron, hairdryer, and some grocery necessities. By the time I got back to the apartment, I felt sick and tired. After a cereal supper, I called it quits for the day. Sunday I decided to take a trial trip to work to make sure I wasn’t lost and flustered on work day 1. More groceries and errands, and that was day 2.

On Monday morning I realised I wouldn’t be sitting at head office but next door, since the project I’m working on has a large team, and there wasn’t room enough for all of them in one location. Security traded me a temporary access card for my passport and brought me into the offices. I was met by the lovely Sabrina, across from whom I’m sitting. She took me for coffee, showed me to the main building, got me my access card, and had lunch with me. Since then she��s been my go-to person for office matters and Italian vocab queries – all of which she has been unfailingly gracious about. It has struck me just how nice everyone is. Uber polite and friendly. All of them. It’s lovely…albeit a little unexpected. I was warned to be vigilant, especially around Termini train station in Rome central. I should be aware that gypsy thieves operate there! One ruse is to have a baby thrust upon you! While you stagger in confusion you are robbed. Good to know…

Between the dictionary app on my phone and pictures of what I need, I’ve been getting by. But a working knowledge of Italian would definitely make life easier. Thankfully everyone works in English but the majority of the WFP shops and canteen employees only speak Italian. Outside the WFP, I use my dictionary even more.

I completed my mandatory security training (hectic – based on if I was in remote locations on missions…there was stuff on how to recognise land mines! Luckily not much risk in Rome…). There are apparently other mandatory courses I should complete in a 6 week timeframe. I’ll get to them – there’s been loads of other admin. Tuesday I met my manager, and started going through meeting notes and compiling questions and acronyms for clarification. There are a lot of these. The UN has its own, very specific language. 

About this time I started feeling pretty stressed about ever being able to understand this world, this huge and seminal project, and being able to contribute anything worthwhile. Coupled with missing my people and not knowing how anything worked, the local unknown language, getting lost (was there ever any doubt), physically not at peak, and a clogged shower, I was feeling somewhat overwhelmed. Wednesday I had a chat with a colleague which helped ease the sense that I was supposed to be delivering immediately (a throwback from Consulting where you need to justify your existence and start delivering from the first).

Thursday dawned a lot brighter. Sat in on a cool “gazebo” session at head office with the Deputy Exec Director and the Country Manager for Ecuador, where they discussed the project, followed by a good meeting with my manager. Also applied for my compulsory Italian ID card and Fiscal Code. Also had coffee with 3 colleagues from the Gender Office who I met on the train home on Tuesday. They live in Trastevere too and gave me a google map printout with highlighted places to look out for, what to avoid, and some WFP insight too. Also went to the WFP doctor – both the medical centre and pharmacy are on site. Upon making the appointment I realised I was covered by a medical aid for my contract duration – bonus!

It is a very international community. This is a little borrower’s library nook I found. You can take a book and leave one if you can. I spotted English, German, French, Spanish, and Italian.

I also signed up for beginner Italian language classes at the office. They are twice a week until mid August. I’ve missed 4 lessons already but the teacher doesn’t seem like this is a problem. I’ve started a vocab list on my phone and love when an Italian word has roots I can recognise. E.g. Porta (portal) is door; portare via (is takeaway); attraversiamo (cross over – traverse). I said my first full sentence yesterday, “Uno cappuccino porta via per favorre”. The coffees come smaller than we’re used to and are very good J

My ‘hood

I live in Trastevere, which is a hip and happening area (referred to as mo vida!) that has medieval roots. Many parts are absurdly pretty! I have to remind myself that it’s not staged (like Monte!). The landmark closest to my apartment is Piazza de S’ Cosimato. There’s a screen set up to show movies in the evenings (all Italian). Mondays to Saturdays the square has fruit and vegetable vendors in the morning. The square also has a lovely little play area along one side.

Down the street is a gelateria I found and have been to twice. The gender trio rated this very highly and I found it on my own. Good to know I still have my instincts! Note the name on the cup…

Like the rest of Italy, this area has many little specialty food shops: one for cheeses and breads, one for meats etc. The grocery shops have limited stocks and brands. (The Polizia cordon is for construction…the cheese shop is not a crime scene).

In the parts of Rome I’ve been travelling around, people dress very casually and colourfully. The WFP dress code seems very relaxed too. What I find myself enjoying is the lack of self-consciousness from everyone…very much a live and let live kind of place. It’s one of the traits I’m adopting J The pace is also slower in general. You don’t catch Italians running to catch the train! Though it can be an undignified mob to get on and off public transport.

There’s an afternoon / early evening tradition called ‘aperitivo’. You have drinks with friends at restaurants and they bring you at the least small snacks – but often larger portions that end up serving as dinner.

My apartment is lovely! It’s spacious – rare considering the many other pics I’ve seen during my search. It’s painted white, has high ceilings, is airy, and gets lots of light. Tours will be conducted on request.

The apartment (as most do apparently) has a very strict recycling policy. There’s a camera in reception to monitor people don’t transgress! Using the wrong bins on wrong days etc. It’s a little odd considering the streets have litter and smoking isn’t as criminalised as I’m used to. (Remember this if you sit outside at a restaurant – actually any outside space is fair game to smoke).

This is a sign outside my street that gave me pause…

I went exploring a bit yesterday evening…herewith obligatory pasta pic (which was delicious!)

On the way back, just some guys sitting around a square…

After work today I will aim to get to a cheap home ware shop called “Flying Tiger”…a Copenhagen import. For the weekend I’m aiming for more exploring and settling in and eating gelato.

Despite some anxious moments, it’s been a good week overall. Ciao for now[1]

[1] Credit: Aatish

Disclaimer: “The information posted on this blog reflects my personal views and opinions and does not necessarily represent those of my employer.”