Humanity: Raw & Unfiltered
I stopped being a child at the age of ten. The age when I learned that my armpits, like my intimate parts, must be hidden from the public eye. But of course, my armpits are much more inconvenient to hide, especially in a tropical country. I remember each moment I Read more
Brazilian Wax. The distinctiveness of this practice only dawned on me after leaving my home country. In Brazil, wax is simply wax—just as there, I am a citizen, not a Latina, a South American, or an immigrant. Seeing the name of my homeland advertised on chalkboards outside gringo beauty salons Read more
It is New Year’s Eve so we dressed up to go out dancing, my best friend Mary and I, and headed out to some bar out in the country we’d never been to before, but we—M&M was how we were known (“we’re not plain, we’re nuts” we’d tell most everyone Read more
Dear Slightly Self-Conscious Self, I am about to present you with a tale of juvenile hilarity and intrigue. Feel free to read this whenever your life’s sunlight begins to dim a few shades darker than usual. Although this is your first attempt at an epistolary essay, it is not your Read more
I always see at least one handsome man at the DMV. It’s never one of the workers (bitter civil servants who never give you adequate time to prepare for that little picture they take of you because it is the one joy they have left) but some other poor, unfortunate Read more
Wandering the first few rows, she tried to act natural, as if she perused such stores all the time. She thought of her parents, who did their best to raise her normally. It was okay, she thought. She was dirty; it was fine.
“He has about six quality months left.” “And then?” “Hmm . . . would you like a glass of water?” “No. What then?” “He will lose his speech and, eventually, he will be paralyzed. Would you like a tissue?” Aby blinked very fast. “Are you saying he will,” she swallowed Read more