#balcony talks

[itskaaaaaaaat]

"Maybe it's time to stop being protective of your writing and let your writing protect you."

[melvilleblues]

This otherness that we shared encouraged many to initiate conversations about the most difficult topics: the discomfort of spending endless nights on a foldable single bed or a mat on a balcony, the grueling work hours, the insecurity of negotiating an unfamiliar language, eating unfamiliar food, the severe restrictions on mobility, and the anxiety that there was nowhere and no one to run to. Oh yes, and the strong neck came in rather handy since these conversations, especially with live-in domestic workers, were seldom across a table. While the women stood on the balcony in their employers’ house—the only “public” space that some could access—I stood on the street below or on the balcony of a building across the street.

Amrita Pande, "Accessing the Invisible: Balcony Talks with Migrant Domestic Workers in Lebanon," January 12, 2015