I drew this on my fridge white board to express my love for my new friend, the space heater.
Monday, November 9, 2015
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Fall is here!
It's that time of the year again! Time to get excited about the joys of Fall in order to distract myself from the impending doom of winter.
Today I'm working from home with hot apple cider, a candle, a pumpkin, and a pine cone. :)
Friday, September 18, 2015
Reflections from my time in Uganda
I just came across this draft of a blog post that I wrote while I was in Uganda last year. It really surprises me how much I had forgotten about from my experience there. Here are my reflections on spending a month living and volunteering in Kampala, the capital of Uganda in 2014.
I keep searching for some sort of point I want to make based on my experiences here, but for the most part nothing is coming up. I've thought about writing about how it feels to be white in a country that's something like 99.5% indigenous, or how confusing I've found the social norms about touching, or how sometimes people seem more friendly here than in Boston.
I'm scared to write about my experiences in Uganda, because I'm pretty sure there are books about how offensive the ways that Westerners tend to write about Africa are. Since I'm white and relatively rich, I'm the perfect candidate for being ignorant about this sort of thing.
Also, I don't really know what to say. I haven't learned any concrete life lessons that I can think of, and I don't have any insightful observations. I guess this is because Africa, Uganda, Kampala are real places with all different kinds of people, places, and things. I don't want to make it into a caricature of a place just so I have something definitive to say.
I'm just going to share with you some general observations and reflections, and if I'm coming at it from an offensive angle, it could be good to get constructive criticism on that.
1. Touching seems to have very different connotations here. I still don't really understand it. Men that I work with (I mostly work with men) sometimes hold my hand for minutes at a time, or rub my arm while they're talking to me. I'm told that hand holding is not considered romantic here, but I always feel like they're coming onto me when this happens. I'm not sure if it's a gendered thing; I hear men hold hands casually with each other, too.
2. There are a lot of large, concrete walls with barbed wire separating properties. Also, there are lots of men with gigantic guns standing around; I'm told they're security guards, hired by local businesses.
3. People (mostly men) call out to me constantly as I walk down the street. They say, "Hello, how are you?" or, "Muzungu, how are you?" (muzungu = white person; I'm told it's not a derogatory term). At first I thought this was street harassment, so I didn't respond, but then I saw that my female friend just said hello back. I tried that, and found that the conversation usually ends there. Sometimes people are trying to sell me things, but often it seems like they're just curious. Every once in a while it's, "Hello baby!" and then I don't respond.
4. I feel like an outsider, but not really in a bad way. I expected people here to resent me for having so much more privilege and resources than most of them, but I haven't gotten that impression from anyone. People do seem to assume that I'm rich because I'm white, but they aren't hostile to me; they just want me to buy their products/services.
And they're right -- I am rich here. It's really weird for me. I can go to the fanciest restaurant I find (there are plenty of fancy restaurants here), buy an entree, a cocktail, and dessert, and it might cost me around 40,000 shillings (about $16).
In Boston, I'm more frugal than most of the people I know. I try to limit my unnecessary spending because it seems unfair for me to have much more than I need, while so many other people in the world don't have enough. But I'm skeptical of charity, and haven't found a way to combat financial inequality that I feel confident in. So I end up not spending much, and not donating much, and having money leftover.*
While I'm in one of the poorer countries in the world, it seems to me like it makes sense to spend money more frivolously. Isn't supporting local businesses a pretty direct way to get money to people with less money and resources?
Shopping at the market feels like a very direct way of supporting local Ugandans. I don't know what the shop owners' financial situations are like, but most of the shops are shacks that resemble the houses in the nearby slums, so I'm under the impression that they're not on the richer end of the Ugandan wealth spectrum. Conveniently, I really like shopping at the market. It's full secondhand clothes (my favorite), local produce, and often cute animals wandering around.
I usually barter when buying something at the market, partly because everyone I know tells me to. Also, I get the impression that people expect you to barter, so they jack up the price when you ask how much something is (prices are rarely marked). If I take it for the first price, I feel like I'm getting ripped off. But it seems weird to try to pay less for something when I can afford the higher price, and the money is likely worth much less to me than it is to the person I'm bartering with. On the other hand, I wonder if it would be ostentatious for me not to barter, because it is a part of the shopping experience.
5. I regularly find myself at fancy restaurants and touristy stores, which feels uncomfortable. Sometimes almost everyone in those spaces is white, and I wonder why I've gotten myself into a white people bubble in the middle of a 99.5% brown country. Sometimes when I go to these places it's because someone I know invites me to them, and other times it's because I feel physically safe going there alone, and they have things I'm used to (i.e. they take credit cards, I don't need the menu items explained to me, etc.).
*Note: At the time of publication, this is no longer the case. I spend a lot more money on housing than I used to, and I make less money than I used to because of irregular work hours.
***
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| Kampala, Uganda |
I keep searching for some sort of point I want to make based on my experiences here, but for the most part nothing is coming up. I've thought about writing about how it feels to be white in a country that's something like 99.5% indigenous, or how confusing I've found the social norms about touching, or how sometimes people seem more friendly here than in Boston.
I'm scared to write about my experiences in Uganda, because I'm pretty sure there are books about how offensive the ways that Westerners tend to write about Africa are. Since I'm white and relatively rich, I'm the perfect candidate for being ignorant about this sort of thing.
Also, I don't really know what to say. I haven't learned any concrete life lessons that I can think of, and I don't have any insightful observations. I guess this is because Africa, Uganda, Kampala are real places with all different kinds of people, places, and things. I don't want to make it into a caricature of a place just so I have something definitive to say.
I'm just going to share with you some general observations and reflections, and if I'm coming at it from an offensive angle, it could be good to get constructive criticism on that.
1. Touching seems to have very different connotations here. I still don't really understand it. Men that I work with (I mostly work with men) sometimes hold my hand for minutes at a time, or rub my arm while they're talking to me. I'm told that hand holding is not considered romantic here, but I always feel like they're coming onto me when this happens. I'm not sure if it's a gendered thing; I hear men hold hands casually with each other, too.
2. There are a lot of large, concrete walls with barbed wire separating properties. Also, there are lots of men with gigantic guns standing around; I'm told they're security guards, hired by local businesses.
3. People (mostly men) call out to me constantly as I walk down the street. They say, "Hello, how are you?" or, "Muzungu, how are you?" (muzungu = white person; I'm told it's not a derogatory term). At first I thought this was street harassment, so I didn't respond, but then I saw that my female friend just said hello back. I tried that, and found that the conversation usually ends there. Sometimes people are trying to sell me things, but often it seems like they're just curious. Every once in a while it's, "Hello baby!" and then I don't respond.
4. I feel like an outsider, but not really in a bad way. I expected people here to resent me for having so much more privilege and resources than most of them, but I haven't gotten that impression from anyone. People do seem to assume that I'm rich because I'm white, but they aren't hostile to me; they just want me to buy their products/services.
And they're right -- I am rich here. It's really weird for me. I can go to the fanciest restaurant I find (there are plenty of fancy restaurants here), buy an entree, a cocktail, and dessert, and it might cost me around 40,000 shillings (about $16).
In Boston, I'm more frugal than most of the people I know. I try to limit my unnecessary spending because it seems unfair for me to have much more than I need, while so many other people in the world don't have enough. But I'm skeptical of charity, and haven't found a way to combat financial inequality that I feel confident in. So I end up not spending much, and not donating much, and having money leftover.*
While I'm in one of the poorer countries in the world, it seems to me like it makes sense to spend money more frivolously. Isn't supporting local businesses a pretty direct way to get money to people with less money and resources?
Shopping at the market feels like a very direct way of supporting local Ugandans. I don't know what the shop owners' financial situations are like, but most of the shops are shacks that resemble the houses in the nearby slums, so I'm under the impression that they're not on the richer end of the Ugandan wealth spectrum. Conveniently, I really like shopping at the market. It's full secondhand clothes (my favorite), local produce, and often cute animals wandering around.
I usually barter when buying something at the market, partly because everyone I know tells me to. Also, I get the impression that people expect you to barter, so they jack up the price when you ask how much something is (prices are rarely marked). If I take it for the first price, I feel like I'm getting ripped off. But it seems weird to try to pay less for something when I can afford the higher price, and the money is likely worth much less to me than it is to the person I'm bartering with. On the other hand, I wonder if it would be ostentatious for me not to barter, because it is a part of the shopping experience.
5. I regularly find myself at fancy restaurants and touristy stores, which feels uncomfortable. Sometimes almost everyone in those spaces is white, and I wonder why I've gotten myself into a white people bubble in the middle of a 99.5% brown country. Sometimes when I go to these places it's because someone I know invites me to them, and other times it's because I feel physically safe going there alone, and they have things I'm used to (i.e. they take credit cards, I don't need the menu items explained to me, etc.).
*Note: At the time of publication, this is no longer the case. I spend a lot more money on housing than I used to, and I make less money than I used to because of irregular work hours.
A 30th birthday present and card
It was recently my partner Eric's birthday. He was really hung up on the grave significance of turning 30, so I made sure to make an extra special card to commemorate the occasion.
I made the card using magazine clippings (some from vintage National Geographics), a cellophane bag that was originally used to package a greeting card from a store I used to work at, and a sewing machine to close it at the top.
I made the card using magazine clippings (some from vintage National Geographics), a cellophane bag that was originally used to package a greeting card from a store I used to work at, and a sewing machine to close it at the top.
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| The note reads from left to right. |
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Healthy, Adult Easter Egg Hunt
Things to put in Easter eggs for adults of varying ages and genders:
1. Equal Exchange dark and milk chocolate minis
These are fair trade and organic.
2. Annie's Homegrown Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks
To make them fit in an average sized Easter egg, I had to poke a hole in each package with a safety pin and let the air out through the hole.
3. Annie's Homegrown Bunny Cookies
These don't come individually wrapped, so I cut saran wrap into small squares, put a handful of bunny cookies in the middle of each square, and then tie each square closed at the top with ribbon.
4. Ginger chews
5. Grapes
6. Tiny clementines
I bought some tiny clementines last year and the smaller ones fit into average sized Easter eggs. They're really delicious; everyone loved them. One brand is called Cuties.
7. Archer Farms Real Fruit Twists
I got these at Target last year in individual packages. Like the other fruit snacks, I had to poke a tiny hole in each package and let some air out in order for them to fit in the Easter eggs.
8. Grape tomatoes
9. Nuts
11. Incense (the little triangle kind)
12. Bath fizzy things
13. Elastic headbands
14. Guitar picks
15. Jewelry
16. Hair clips
17. Packs of seeds
18. Tea bags
19. The little things that go on the backs of earrings (sometimes called earnuts)
20. Magnets
21. Rolled up movie tickets
22. Little fabric coin purses
23. Chapsticks that come in round containers
24. Wine charms
25. Keychains
26. Matches
27. Stickers
28. Pins
29. Buttons
30. Tiny clothespins
31. Mini Larabars
32. Gum
33. Salt water taffy
34. Condoms (if appropriate)
35. Vintage stamps
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Collages: Mail Art and Collaged Binder
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| Collaged envelope |
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| I used to have an aversion to using binders, so I collaged this one to avoid hating it. |
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Fall Festivities
It is now November--fall--and I am scrounging up reasons to be enthused despite the onset of cold weather and, worse, the apprehension of winter. It's time to indulge in photos of cozy, earthy decor and comfort food recipes.
Acorns
[are so charming they get their own section]
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| Felt acorn flowers! (from Fairyfolk on Etsy) |
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| Acorn napkin ties (from Martha Stewart, sorry) |
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Saturday, October 11, 2014
New Art at Fiore's
Eric and I went for some pie and coffee at Fiore's in Jamaica Plain yesterday. There was one piece of art in particular that made me smile.
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| I also enjoyed this exciting announcement |
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