Tag Archives: lessons

Mamma Mia: A Mother’s Day Post

Posted in My life by

Teenaged She and Mami

Now-a-days, it’s hard living in a different state than my mother does. Mostly around the holidays. It’s hard to believe we have not lived in the same state for almost 10 years.

To be honest, distance has done my mother and I well. I had a very strict upbringing, especially around my pre-teen and teenage years. My mother and I could not get along. We could not communicate, and I believed at that age that my mother’s sole purpose was to make my life miserable. Eventually I learned it was pretty typical for mothers and daughters to be at war during puberty. And when she got married and moved to her husband’s state when I was 18, I felt a type of freedom I had wanted to experience but couldn’t while she was still around.

Betty, as I was allowed to call her before the age of 7 and before we moved to the United States where other people thought it inappropriate, was the strict disciplinarian, teacher, enforcer, provider and nurturer most of my life. When it came to school work, she was a perfectionist. No excessive eraser marks, no sloppiness, no bent pages. She was a very involved parent through most of my formal schooling, only stepping back when I got to High School and was supposed to exhibit independence. To her, academics were #1.

At this age, although I may not have understood her parenting techniques, I cannot deny the fact that considering what she had, she did damn good. She herself had a distant relationship with her mother, got pregnant at 16, moved to the United States at age 23 to live with said mother, worked demeaning and off-the-books jobs just to made sure I had what I needed.

To this day, I am still learning my mother. That’s the beauty of building a relationship with her as an adult. We visit each other as often as we can, and we make the best of every moment. I joke around and say I can only take her in doses. This is partly true.

Distance does makes us closer. This year I’m going to be 28 years old. I’m not yet a mother. But I pray, when I do become one, I possess just half my mother’s strength and endurance.

Happy Mother’s day to all the wonderful moms who make the job look so easy!

Best,

She

What are you built for?: Prepping for Haiti

Posted in My life, My reading, My travels, My writing by

I am soooooo excited about my Alternative Spring Break that I can hardly focus on the work that needs to get done before I leave  (namely, a 10-page paper).

I travel to Haiti on next Sunday, March 10th through Monday, March 18th. This will be the first place I go where I officially don’t speak the language, and English is not very common there.

I can understand and say some basic French phrases, but not so much Haitian Kreyol (besides the ever-famous Sak Pase?!). Kreyol is one of two official languages in Haiti (the other being French). Kreyol is a mix of French, some African Languages as well as other languages such as Spanish, English, Portuguese (according to Wikipedia.)

So, over the next few days I’ll be using YouTube and some Haitian friends to assist teaching me some conversational phrases. So far, I have:

Bonjou- Good morning

Mwe rele Tracey- My name is Tracey.

Mwe pa pale Kreyol- I don’t speak Kreyol.

Pa de kwa- You’re welcome.

Also, this week Howard welcomed Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat for a lecture entitled “Our Stories, Ourselves.” I got a chance to meet her, and was very excited since I am a fan of her work!

(L-R) Esther, Edwige Danticat, Dr. Elie, me

(L-R) Esther, Edwidge Danticat, Dr. Elie, me

In her lecture she told an anecdote of a time she was flying and her plane got hit by lightning. She said it felt like the floor was on fire, everything went black and there was silence.

Then the pilot came over the speaker:

“Uhh..folks. Everything is fine. The plane was built for this.”

The question Mrs. Danticat took away from this experience, is one I’ve begun asking myself… I believe we are all built to withstand many things.

What am I built for?

What in life, were you built to endure? I believe many of us come to discover that, if we don’t already know.  I think Haiti might be able to help me with that answer.

What’s Rocking My World: Announcement

Posted in My life, My travels by

Whew! What a month. And it’s over today, can you believe it? How has February been to you?

Well, friends. The word of the month for me was STRESS. Second semester crept up on me like a beast. January breezed on by, only to welcome February where I partook in festivities like 1 Neurogenic Speech Disorders Midterm, 1 Stuttering exam in-class and one-take home, one Early intervention observation, 1 Clinical Practicum Midterm and next week I have a 10-page paper due for my Sociolinguistics class. You really don’t know what you can endure, until you are…well, enduring!

Time has been flying, but I wanted to take a couple of minutes to let you know the developments of Spring Break, which is right around the corner! (Second week of March)

Initially, I was all for New Orleans. I know Mardi Gras is over, but there’s something very appealing about NOLA, even after the festivities. I have already been warned about ‘sweet bread’…but I still want to go and eat to my heart’s desire.

Then, I wanted to take a trip to Toronto. I’ve only been to Montreal, so I figured I’d keep going west. Funds were looking tight, especially with my best friend’s destination wedding in May. So, Toronto is going back on the to do list.

I thought I’d have to settle for a weekend local trip.

Last semester, I expressed interest in an alternative Spring Break trip, but I hadn’t heard any developments so I just waited.

And waited.

And then Midterms kicked in.

Didn’t book anything. Then, the opportunity availed itself.

A service trip. All expenses paid courtesy of my school. 9 days. A multidisciplinary effort including medical students, dental students, and the allied health services. Working with the community, a school, learning a new culture, opening our eyes.

Next up. Destination:

H A I T I

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Too excited,

She