#my tuny TODDLER

[snicketsquadron]

Witness to Departures

Jacques believed one should bring three gifts to a baby’s first birthday celebration: something practical (an unseemly amount of diapers), a favorite childhood book for the baby (Pippi Longstocking) and something for the parents to remind them of their own existence as adults and sentient beings in the post-baby haze (Samuel Beckett’s Molloy).

When he arrived, Beatrice was seated in the back yard, infant son on her lap, surrounded by a gaggle of cooing friends. Little two year old Violet toddled around, gently shepherded by the watchful eyes of her mother and the guests. She seemed to be fascinated by the screws holding the lawn furniture together, poking at them with pudgy toddler fingers.

Bertrand met Jacques at the back porch with a handshake, clap on the back and a smile. 

“Good to see you” Jacques began. 

“You, too. I take it you’re here representing the Snicket delegation? I bet Beatrice it would only be you.” 

“I’m sure my siblings would be here if they could. Kit’s preoccupied in Tunis and...well, no one knows about Lemony.”

Bertrand let out a little sigh. Both men leaned on the porch railing, standing side by side, looking at the guests rather than each other. “I know your siblings, Jacques. You don’t have to lie on their behalf. Even if they were both in the city, Lemony couldn’t stand to see Beatrice, and Kit’s indignant that we’re leaving VFD. ...We do think he’s alive” Bertrand added a little more gently. “We almost named Violet ‘Lemony’. But once Klaus was born there were enough rumors...we don’t know for sure. If I knew anything for sure I would have told you already. But we believe he’s alive, for what it’s worth.”

“Hope is worth a great deal. And Lemony still thinks the world of you. He can be happy for you both and sad for himself at the same time. The same goes for Kit’s anger. That’s the troublesome part- it’s because they love you both that they feel hurt.”

“But not you? You’re not here to try to talk us back into the fold?”

“You know I take the ‘voluntary’ part of VFD very seriously, Bert. I’ll miss your work, and your presence. But I’m grateful that you two left, because it means you had a choice. Many of our enemies don’t.”

“But?” Bertrand prompted, a wry tone sneaking into the word. 

“But it doesn’t have to be either-or. You know you could do both. Plenty of volunteers have taken parental leave until their children are old enough. The Quagmires had triplets last year- they’re not going deep-sea diving anytime soon but they can still coordinate correspondence. My parents-”

And you Snickets are so well-adjusted Betrand thinks. But what he says aloud is “You mean ‘until their children are recruited’. You’re telling me we can do both as if that’s some novel idea instead of the status quo that’s been expected of volunteers for decades. As if we didn’t try.” Violet had probably overheard some VFD coded phrases in her scant two years, though Bertrand hoped she would forget them as she grew older. “And if it was just me and Bea, we’d still be in the mountains. The entire point is the children. The neophyte system was falling apart when we were in it, Jacques, and it’s only gotten worse. And even if it was in perfect working order...it feels like fattening a cow for the slaughterhouse. I’m not raising my children just for them to be snatched away as soon as they can walk and talk.” 

“Shouldn’t that be up to them?”

“Jacques!” the anger in Bert’s tone was more than a hint.

“I mean it. Like I said, I take the voluntary aspect very seriously, and that goes both ways. If you get to choose to leave, they get to choose to join. The neophyte fostering system is a mess, and you know I never liked the tattoos. I’ll respect your wishes. I can promise I won’t be standing out of your windows making wolf noises. But I know you and B, and I’ve seen your library. Any children raised in this household are going to be well-read, clever, and kind. They will be a force for justice and nobility in the world, even if they never learn a single code.”

“Being well-read and noble isn’t the same as being a member of VFD.”

“We’ll have to disagree on that. It’s the only part that matters. The rest is affectation.”

#JS #snicket stories #bertrand baudelaire #title is from Mort de A.D. by Samuel Beckett

[sit-studyabroadblog]

L’histoire - Mardi dernier, j’ai visité la Medina à Tunis avec quelques amis. Après notre cours, nous avons pris le TGM (le train entre Tunis, Gammarth, et La Marsa). En arrivant à la Medina, nous avons du marcher dans la Rue Habib Bourguiba. La rue était très animée, il y avait des Tunisiens qui prenaient leur pause déjeuner et les touristes qui se promenaient sur la rue. Nous sommes entrés dans la Medina à l’entrée par [la porte de la mer], qui avant la colonisation Français était l’entrée de Tunis. Une fois dans la Medina, nous étions bombardés par les senteurs des bonbons et des épices et des cries vendeurs. C’était un dépaysement complet de la ville nouvelle, mais c’était une scène vivifiante. Dans la Medina, les rues sont un labyrinthe qui serpente. Il serait très facile de se perdre dans les rues et les boutiques. J’ai trouvé une boutique qui vendait les plus beaux tapis berbères. Il y avait un tapis orange que j’aimais le plus. Je voulais acheter le tapis, mais il n’y avait aucun moyen que je peux l’acheter, c’était trop grand et trop cher. J’aurais pu négocier, et le vendeur était très génial et enthousiaste, mais je savais que je ne pouvais pas payer un prix juste. Néanmoins, j’ai parlé avec le vendeur et il m’a dit que les tapis sont tissés par les femmes berbères.

Le blague - I am not sure if this is technically a joke, but during my visit to the medina, I noticed that “PUB-elle” is written across all the words in the medina. This is a play off of the french word, poubelle (the word for trash can). I tried to research why PUB-elle is written on all of Tunis’s poubelles, but could not find any information. In french, the word “pub” is an abreviation for publicise. It could be that this is an advertising joke: part of the cities efforts to encourage people to use trash cans rather than litter. I’ve been asking around for conclusive answers, but with no success. So, while I’m not yet sure if this is technically a joke, it makes me giggle when I see poubelles in the Medina.

Baby talk - I am very lucky to be the only student with a toddler in my homestay; it has made my time here so much fun. However, it is not always the most conducive to learning Tunsie. I learned this pretty early on when I would try to speak with cab drivers and vendors just to get met with blank stares. Apparently, I have been learning baby tunsie, which just like baby english, includes a lot of mispronunciations and mixed up words. As it turns out, habibi is not the word for milk in Tunsie; that would be halibi. It’s fascinating to watch a toddler in Tunisia start to learn language. From a young age, kids here are often exposed to Tunsie (and other arabic dialects), french, and sometimes english. That means they are speaking and understanding words from all of these languages, and often using each language in just one sentence. My host sister loves to sing happy birthday, and she’ll frequently sing in Tunsie, English, French, and Egyptian Arabic. Sometimes she’ll sing in one language at a time, but more often than not, she mixes the 4 languages. It is very different from the US, where kids typically grow up around just one language.

#tunisia #studyabroad #language #cultural learning #cultural experiences #language and culture

[the-firebird69]

and was sick yes.  and heals now and is better too fat has a passneger and wow it is hell we are  a mess and yes get destroyed a lot.  tough times..we fall.   and gunry is tommy f his enemy too. too hardon him we are has no avenue no recourse and we are way out there on others....so he did what he had to.now we want itbackhe says go ask a demon and politely...and i say no yuor not welcome put it in wrtng  taeyou shop for your gay coments and dscrminatoin and more...and we say ok you holdthat..and   i say nah.  we issue papers.  and  i shalll Bitol sends them and his Goddess Wife..you use profanity near him ok.  this is what it is intimidation and forced to go there.and they hold otehr places out macs nted daniel did..and tries and wrote it up today. they are terrors he is overun tommy f said cant get t back zpac tried two and ate well adnheals..tons say it out and in and out..and good.  and thn days they will be on hm brush daily hourly..and they see and help they say by runiing his teeth this sucks we all sue you faggot your a dick too.  up ther emessing iwth our ships.  we ht you now.  see it.ok. and we saw it outlinne it bililum say and send it now.  first ad lst in line are ronnie james dio.  and we see he uses our name so wehit he is not us in any way.  and Gunray is at it and grabs here attract here ok this is jesus place and we use it and pull you in and we see he is humourous we fall easy then are noxous, and true. we are sorry we faied the monsters are at us and we dont thinnk they exist are stupid the disease too. and our tude ad its bad ai ad thats all reach self awareness and such...you cant bja no. it will see you..oh. ok.  and youtwo then we know what to do...and then it is settled..what wil they do release and try controolling it with the code..hard yes..and difficult...we see it seal out hermetically and we do it...then we areoff andwatch you melt..your a faggot do you get it ityet...tried yourpatience for years builtyours upfor you yes...ok got it..and to a degree wedont want wecantsee...but ok we did.  isee  a few things..not much..oh well that is us...you were there fool you saw a laser poke out ffried you you felll yours destroyed...what he hell...ok we saw that and hold it...the fleetsmostly gone easily. alright we see..mostly gone. done easy..now i say it is mine but could be ghwb ando rjesus ou see bg the godof hellfire..yes aht is itnow the use stuff and you fallfro itok that works....Hoth and jessus the pyramid my old freind who hatesme bg...and we work togethe rnow and see how itgoes...ok ok we ttyr tommy f at us...and he is hot and draws usin. to many true yes forhim he is ugly too due toour chiding we ridehim hard he is getting brutal ifts pulls rips his are huge or his clan..so we run out there ok...see jesus shaul nad see what it does hmm maybe nothing...and tommy f runs in...now too to IItaly hs wife grabbed saw nute do it and he is not hiim...saw the look...and was embarrassed....and we saw it in vendetta too ken adds..and we hera you this sucs he s here doing that and thm.  so we fight over it..daft ou are to draw mne here they want..nad wont and send deadly stuff.  they the macs hold t and you all die daily where are theythey keep it up im told allover.  and we see..this sucks they say and here.  die daly huh you do....mac says well well it is the child how wonderful your here for class it is 22 minutes then you step off into lava why you suck so bad..your hstory you see no need for us to be here physcially and years ago yet you do iit dayly hourly secondly and with purpose no you dont know why now...i see we donttrue it si for that and to lose ad we arego see  a ball idiot ad none we thnk so good we see we suced to long cor supplies hte suckng nd not thevery he forced  it and yeh overboard too..so we face t we are shitty adn suck and eep itup.now too.  all the whle we lose it all...and hope wont come uness we try failed mserably and on a bg move...tons see it us working you to hate and then you turn on us are smart we cant stop you wont tyr no we do and it is wrong nd ths sucks we are at the whim of cork...mac says. we fght too are at it here and he says it it happens we get that on me ok off..no so you opeed your mouth asshole as he did you leed in fuc we send it all after younow toddler...and we do Thor says tons and all of it we take it all your out cork f off... we pull your card all over he ordered it it is on you bully us you cheesy dick your done slow poe shit wantst to call me names so i hit his areas hard.  any who wnt to join me do so clear tag and blast it to hell...now...and we shall wehave orders now. we go to it Duke Nukem Blockbuster ad we hear it too why not offmy case he is sucha dweeb stole my teensy stuff obstructs money and we reward Bitol and Goddess Wife and see hsi work it is stupdendous...and we seehis work up and yours too his race...tons do and it is Frank Castle Hardcastle as well as Duke Nukem Blockbuster....we head in  they run out there are late lame and useless yes...but the empire has tons up and tommy f tries to say he is justin nope yoiur out buddy...hit us you die...he doesn now they are at him. and the senate was called and she went again, no will though. and for them to lose so she says and we agree. his are lame.  so we see need forg in and they wont so we help and cork is a fool as always.... and we hit them now.  they pour in.  cork does and you should see it wonderful loser he is..bouncing about and trhey laguh theri gay laugh and it is funny to hear they die so easy. fall and die and run die.  and are at it too get hiit fast. useless in combat mostly but we fight a hug force and needrobots ours are defunct or not here andso on.it i s jesus hwo they need to ht so f ire up the lasers hit morlock ships and then direct them to therobots taking the gems and stones..they see it and are at it now..and we use it.  they seekme for the woman and will try hard . got well and to hit these suck so badly...do yes.  and pour into tunis and italy in waves of several nonillion an area...take it and tey do and lose and we are there fighting too and as Darth Maul and hit hard have several stars up and fire on them and draw and use it and run a pattern now...tons see no.  we are hittinghard fast and solid  replace Starz on occasion.  tons see huge able bodied men fring giant weapons into crowds of corks ad eliminating them fast.  tons of thems ay planned ti and yes saw who nute gunray was saw they used me her husband as cover..and we use it now too hs racism to win...and we hit you now due to your idiocy.  yoru a fag loserand die now ok.  and off to venus lol. so.  we hit you hear you too you expose your father again.  and we hit you freak. you fn freak cork we hity ou anakin and ilike to say he named you but w edid you act like annie but worse. you faggot.  so we ht you ok..blab bqb we see you fall easy weht your clonnig oiu fn shithead i like him hateyou..no he is an Immortal not us. you are us and should not evoke any uyuo do it all the time you faggot forg ad his an you faggot...so im a fagot..boy oh boy you sure get it bja you ninny sht...silence hahaha silence or what you will die on me...ok itis funy i get rouwdy..nah your  a stinkin snake think it is an excuse..for the house and such...casl we see that orhter clans are there if he falls likemike daniel and macs own....prob run it as this is hilarious...float tommy but need in andneed out of mental health wehre you rot tommy you are exposed as we nneed but are selfish adn spoiled. and im sharper no but say it more confident see his work adn others catch up.....Hera says.. and she is awesome huh she is i say and others..wow and spunk and he doesnt do a thnig but egotarian stuff lol and use it ok lol and lose it no but ok she was taught, he is one ad she does a lot of wor and we see it hod off the kkey for k and we say that  and you die now you siimple shts there..we see why macs take t over and hell. so it makes sense yes.  gunray has her and more of them.  and has trump.  and we use it and take his fleet and thryms noise maker goes tongth now ok we take it out. tons say it it is a weapon. tons . and weant it or himout. now.  fast too...he wll yell and ten out lot will go fast too long this sat hard here and amped up sh stuff too.  we use it and report in and make suggestions now. and he is relievedhimtoo waht a bear handleing but need mroe of all stuff..now in all here. we need to do this now.  here is important we are coming in.  i can remotely doing it and have a way.. yes you know Hera says to me Zues Thor Freya

https://www.starwars.com/video/gunray-s-prisoner

[canadachronicles]

“It was a sunny afternoon and families were out. Small children happily running about everywhere on the road, -Queen Street East had been closed up between Woodbine Avenue and Munro- sporting their bunny hears, chanting, dancing, jumping, doing cartwheels, or drawing on the macadam with colourful chalk. A girl put her stressed bunny ears on her dog, who magnanimously posed for pictures but then adamantly got rid off the bloody thing, glancing around hoping no one had witnessed his humiliation. A toddler reserved the same fate to her mother, who laughed and embraced her. She didn’t mind being seen. 

A small girl who mustn’t have been older than seven or eight, caught my attention so vividly I registered her name. Esmé -it is a beautiful name- had short black hair, perfectly framing her heart-shaped little face. She was wearing a cap, a red tee and blue leggings, and was running around, an untamed ball of energy. I liked her instantly. I liked the way she taught younger kids how to do cartwheels when I observed she didn’t master the art herself, the way she bossed her (older) brother around –and how he placidly complied- how she successfully coaxed her mother into giving her a tunie to buy bunny ears, and how she proudly introduced her father to anyone within earshot. She is a boisterous little girl, she has the confidence of a hundred strong men (or women) and I admire that. All of a sudden, I came to think of them. I never do and when I do, I rarely think of them as persons, but think of it as a situation. I never mourn them, nor do I regret my decision. But as I stood in the midst of happy families on a sunny Easter Sunday, with high-pitched laughs bursting all around me; for a minute, I did. 

The parade started and distracted my mind from the sour thought. It was a gay affair with colourful, marching bands, cheerleaders, ancers, musicians… Adults clapped for firemen, paramedics and rescue forces, children cheered at the mascots, and ran in a joyful mess, arms outstretched, for a hug. The neighbourhood MPP, Arthur Potts, whom I’d met the week prior at the Lights Out Festival was here, shaking hands, in a top hat.(…) Children and adults alike celebrated the arrival, in great ceremony, of Easter Bunny!” - Diary Entry, March 27th, 2016

#Easter Parade #Beaches Easter Parade #Easter #Easter Sunday #Easter 2016 #Queen Street #Queen Street E #Queen Street East #Herbert Street #The Beaches #The Beach #Toronto #Ontario #Pictures #Photos #Photography #Street Photography #My Photography #Words #Writing #Diary Entry #Diary Journal #Diary #Canada #Canada Chronicles

[sit-studyabroadblog]

L’histoire -

Mardi dernier, j’ai visité la Medina à Tunis avec quelques amis. Après notre cours, nous avons pris le TGM (le train entre Tunis, Gammarth, et La Marsa). En arrivant à la Medina, nous avons du marcher dans la Rue Habib Bourguiba. La rue était très animée, il y avait des Tunisiens qui prenaient leur pause déjeuner et les touristes qui se promenaient sur la rue. Nous sommes entrés dans la Medina à l’entrée par [la porte de la mer], qui avant la colonisation Français était l’entrée de Tunis. Une fois dans la Medina, nous étions bombardés par les senteurs des bonbons et des épices et des cries vendeurs. C’était un dépaysement complet de la ville nouvelle, mais c’était une scène vivifiante. Dans la Medina, les rues sont un labyrinthe qui serpente. Il serait très facile de se perdre dans les rues et les boutiques.

J’ai trouvé une boutique qui vendait les plus beaux tapis berbères. Il y avait un tapis orange que j’aimais le plus. Je voulais acheter le tapis, mais il n’y avait aucun moyen que je peux l’acheter, c’était trop grand et trop cher. J’aurais pu négocier, et le vendeur était très génial et enthousiaste, mais je savais que je ne pouvais pas payer un prix juste. Néanmoins, j’ai parlé avec le vendeur et il m’a dit que les tapis sont tissés par les femmes berbères.   

Le blague -

I am not sure if this is technically a joke, but during my visit to the medina, I noticed that “PUB-elle” is written across all the words in the medina. This is a play off of the french word, poubelle (the word for trash can). I tried to research why PUB-elle is written on all of Tunis’s poubelles, but could not find any information. In french, the word “pub” is an abreviation for publicise. It could be that this is an advertising joke: part of the cities efforts to encourage people to use trash cans rather than litter. I’ve been asking around for conclusive answers, but with no success. So, while I’m not yet sure if this is technically a joke, it makes me giggle when I see poubelles in the Medina.

Baby talk -

I am very lucky to be the only student with a toddler in my homestay; it has made my time here so much fun. However, it is not always the most conducive to learning Tunsie. I learned this pretty early on when I would try to speak with cab drivers and vendors just to get met with blank stares. Apparently, I have been learning baby tunsie, which just like baby english, includes a lot of mispronunciations and mixed up words. As it turns out, habibi is not the word for milk in Tunsie; that would be halibi.

It’s fascinating to watch a toddler in Tunisia start to learn language. From a young age, kids here are often exposed to Tunsie (and other arabic dialects), french, and sometimes english. That means they are speaking and understanding words from all of these languages, and often using each language in just one sentence. My host sister loves to sing happy birthday, and she’ll frequently sing in Tunsie, English, French, and Egyptian Arabic. Sometimes she’ll sing in one language at a time, but more often than not, she mixes the 4 languages together. It is very different from the US, where kids typically grow up around just one language. 

Anna

march 2023

#TUNISIA #CULTURE #Language