Places to Leave

This week, I have a piece out in CultureStrike on transnational adoption. It’s a very personal piece and it took a lot of work to put together (thanks, Michelle!) so please give it a read. Now, back to the action.

A mala (floral necklace) made of red roses, orange and yellow accent flowers.

I’ve left a lot of places this month. Since I last wrote here, I’ve been living out of suitcases traveling to different family homes across Dhaka and across Bangladesh. New Year’s came and went. My father came and went. While he was here, we knit together his partner’s family and ours through a series of dinners and celebrations. Car ride after car ride after car ride – no wonder my stomach got upset and took me out of commission for a few days at the end!

It’s been a real honor to meet with so many new faces and travel to places I have not yet seen, but adjusting back to the quiet of everyday life has been its own delicious treat. I’ve been thinking (and reading) a lot about emotional labor and am working on a much larger piece chronicling some of those thoughts and feelings. But that’s all for later. For now, I leave you with some selected photos and images from my various trips.

My father (in a suit) and Raina (in a bright pink sari) seated and smiling with red and white malas.

Me and two friends laughing.

Meeting everyone in our Kushtia village - many people and children gathered around plastic chairs in our courtyard.

A bunch of mohish (water buffalo) on the shores of the Padma at Raita Ghat (a landing spot made by the British for boats to dock)

A kukur (dog) looking back at my camera as I take a picture of rice paddies in Noakhali.

Plants in red pots lined up against a wall at Noakhali Science and Technology University.

Two young children on stools looking deep in thought as they sit next to a pukur (pond) in Noakhali.

A Week in Pictures: Child's Play

Ending the week with another feet-related piece of fiction!

Clipping Annalisa's toenails was a nightmare. She would squirm back and forth, wriggling her smelly 6-year-old feet, and her eyes would grow wide at the sight of the nail clippers. No promise of "it won't hurt" or "it will take just a second" would placate her. She would run down the hall, her bare feet making little wet footprints on the tile floor, until her pursuers stopped chasing. When she was older, her feet were always crammed into unforgiving pointy-toed heels in a medley of colors. Jade, coral, cerulean, and burgundy would be printed in all black typeface on the sides of shoe boxes shipped to her door. Somehow, they always looked stunning.

A Week in Pictures: "Every Day I See Something New"

It's (a little after) the middle of the week: take a moment today to create a sense of novelty in your day. What does creating novelty mean exactly? Perhaps you check out a website/book/image that you've never seen before but that has been recommended. Perhaps you do something different with whatever break time you have in the day. Perhaps you do one thing out of step with your daily routine - go on a different route home, visit a different coffee shop, use a different bowl in the cabinet. Whatever makes you feel new today, do it.

A Week in Pictures & Socks and Shoes

This week is the final one before spring break for me, in which time I have to devote my brain power to studying for a tough midterm and readying myself for the visit of my best friend, Heathy. It's going to be a great (and tiring) week, so instead of posting my usual series of long written posts, I'm going to do short fiction and opinion pieces relating to pictures that I have taken throughout 2011 and 2012. Let me know what you think of the change of pace!

When Mara Mori made that special pair of socks, she never thought about the shoes that would go with them. The shoes I had were worn down at the heels and patchy, like someone had mended them again and again with whatever stiff cloth they could find. I wore those shoes day in and day out, trudging back and forth from school with a scowl on my face to keep people from asking questions. "Where are your winter boots, Aubergine? Why are you wearing such strange socks?" At the time, I couldn't think of a sound reply other than "mind your own business." Even when I got a new pair of shoes that year, I still felt just as protective.

Project x Project: Chugging Along

At one point in my academic career, I wasn't going out. I would haul up in my room, do my school activities, and come home. And, while this might work for some people (my boyfriend included), I get a serious case of cabin fever.
So, although it's not technically a "project," my personal goal for these last few weeks has been to go out somewhere and do something cool each week. Last weekend, I kicked it into overdrive by going to Brooklyn for a Refuse the Silence interview and going back to a park that brings up a lot of memories for me - mostly from pre-college, when a hip hop festival was being hosted there! So, enjoy the photos below and let me know what you think about personal time versus work time management.

Speak: In Pictures

Check out some more posts featuring my photography.