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I'd rather be in outer space 🛸
❣ Chile in a Photography ❣
izzy's playlists!
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almost home
shark vs the universe
Monterey Bay Aquarium
KIROKAZE
pixel skylines
hello vonnie
@theartofmadeline
Not today Justin
cherry valley forever
taylor price
Misplaced Lens Cap
ellievsbear
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#extradirty
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
seen from Israel
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@iwastheiramericandream
“My Relationship With Rice”
I like big fluffy clouds of rice, steaming and fragrant and wonderful, heaped high on my plate. I like eating a bite of #ulam followed by a BIG spoon of rice. I like dancing around the rice cooker waiting for the switch to go from "cook" to "warm." I like all kinds of rice: garlic fried rice, Chinese fried rice, #koshary, #paella, #biryani, #sinanag ... but my favorite is always plain white Milagrosa rice. Oh my beautiful rice!
What was it like spending my childhood summers in Egypt? Surreal, frenetic, high-energy. Even though I'd been so many times it was always a bit of a culture shock coming from suburban California. Egyptians are loud, fast-talkers; making jokes, telling stories and arguing while smoking and drinking tea. The women in my family were always offering me sweets, kissing on me and trying to do my hair (or wax my eyebrows or put makeup on me or teach me to bellydance or ask me which cousin I wanted to marry). It was a multisensory experience. I miss it, but I have it in my heart forever.
“The Cigarette”
My last encounter with my stepmother. Read the full cartoon here.
“My Dad, The Muslim Egyptian Who America Fears”
“Proud American”
“Stuff My Family Has Felt The Need To Comment On”
Nothing about my appearance is off limits in the Mercene family. I can always count on my mom, aunts, uncles and grandparents to tell me with what's wrong with how I look.
“Things That Are Still Too White For Me”
I tried for years to get into these things because I thought they'd make me cool/ fit in. But I just don't get it. So imma do me and like what I'm gonna like.
“Tito Maro’s Last Advice”
My family pooled all their money together to send me to Syracuse. This is what my Tito Maro told me on one of my last nights home in #Cerritos. At first I scoffed at his words, but they stayed with me. Syracuse is a mostly white school in upstate NY, and I learned a lot of things I didn't know growing up in an Asian bubble: how to greet people hello, how to make small talk, how to eat cheese, how to skirt conversation topics that are taboo (weight/ appearance, money, grades), how to dress for interviews, cocktail parties and formal events, how to interact with parents and professors and people outside of my age group. It's easy to say I could have just been myself, that I didn't have to learn any of that. But it was crucial when I moved to Washington, where I've been a minority in almost every place I've worked. Tito Maro was right: In this society, I have to take on a white persona to fit into the workplace.
“Stuff I Had To Explain To My Parents Bingo”
“My Sister And Me”
My sister and I grew up in the same bedroom in the same hometown, yet we are two completely different people. She, like many Filipino-Americans, felt more comfortable adopting urban culture as part of her identity. I, on the other hand, remember kids in high school calling me "#whitewashed." I wonder now if that's because I didn't "pass" as a Filipino girl (being half-Egyptian) so sought acceptance with outside social groups.
“Things I Miss About Egypt”
This project has made me realize how little I know about the ins and outs of Egyptian culture, although I grew up spending so much time in Egypt. In the summers my mom would send me to my dad in Cairo, where we went on road trips as a family to Ismailia, El Rafaa, Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada, Marsa Matrough and of course, Alexandria. We swam and stayed up late and went out to the nadi -- the sporting club -- and ate street food in the car. I haven't been back since 2009, but inshaAllah me and Darren will be going there in April and I can show him all these things... except for checking out boys at the mall. That was my favorite thing to do as a teenager, haha.
“Check All You’ve Eaten Rice With”
“Words I Say In Tagalog”
“Things My Mom Says I Can Do”
The reality is that I've turned into an H&M-wearing, crooked-toothed non-doctor who is sort of OK at writing and just OK at drawing.
“Games My Dad Used To Play”
Haha, I realize now that this was a priming exercise for my future marriage to a Muslim man. #alwayspickmohammed#fungamesfor7yearolds
“What Are You?”
For some people of color, this question is super annoying. But for others, like me, it's annoying *not* to ask this question. I think it's one of the only openings in a conversation to talk about ethnicity, a huge part of my identity and worldview. Understanding that would mean understanding me. What do you think?
“Am I Asian Or Just Coopting Asian Culture Checklist”