#AND IM NOT EVEN SURE IF ILL BE ABLE TO FINISH THE HOMEWORK TOMORROW SINCE TODAY FUCKED ME OVER EMOTIONALLY AND MENTALLY

[morizoras-cave]

Big Smile (Request)

Tom Hiddleston x Teen!Co-star!Reader

Genre: Angst, fluff

Request Description: maybe some Tom Hiddleston who is close to reader cause hes like her mentor and shes a very happy person, goofy and silly as well but nothing can make her cry. Like, it's genuinely hard to make her cry so maybe him seeing her cry for the first time? and it's pretty bad? maybe its cause she goes to a normal high school along with a catch up high school (basically a school where u go to if youre SERIOUSLY behind) and the pressure is way too much for her to handle and her emotions exploded? ty!!

Warnings: depression, anxiety about school, stress

(A/N): im very excited to be going on vacation!! dont worry ill still update, im just going to another city nothing too big (of course with the ‘rona still out here). I wrote like half of this on my phone btw so if anything looks weird that’s why

“Why would you say it like that?” you laughed loudly, falling back on your bed. Tom giggled too, watching as you got into a laughing fit.

“I’m just demonstrating that you can say each line differently!” he defended, but your laughter didn’t falter. Tom smiled and shook his head, waiting for you to be done. “Can you hurry that up, we have a couple more lines to go through,” he joked.

You held your stomach and shook your head. Finally, the laughter died down and you tried desperately not to start it again, as Tom continued helping you with the script. You forced your mouth into a frown, but that only reinforced your need to laugh. 

Tom looked and saw your expression and sighed, making you laugh again. 

“This is impossible,” he muttered, but he was smiling. He thought you were so incredibly sweet and bright, although lacking a little seriousness. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” you finally stopped laughing AGAIN, “we’re done. Those were all the lines I had questions about.”

“You sure?” 

“Yeah,” you said and both of you stood up. Tom grabbed his jacket and his bag from the counter of your hotel room. He smiled at you and hugged you as a farewell. 

“See you on set tomorrow,” and then he was out of your room. You smiled softly thinking about how much fun you two had, but the sweet moment was over far too fast. 

You had school. You’d never been a top student or anything, but before this whole movie-thing you’d been able to keep up. A couple of weeks ago you started Catch-Up-High-School, which you’d been required to start, since you grades had all dropped. 

And since then you’d felt awful. You felt so stupid and useless. And on top of that, you were stressed. With both regular high school teachings and catch up school, you seemed to spend every waking moment working, either on the movie or on school, and you’d only sleep once you were done. Which could take a while. 

It was getting to you. You were phenomenal at hiding it, truthfully. Because your personality was too bright and blinding for anyone to see anything behind it. 

You weren’t one to cry, but you felt it behind your eyes, constantly. All day, when you remembered your school situation, it started coming. You never cried, not when watching movies or reading books, you didn’t even really cry when you were sad. The stress was simply getting to you. 

You pulled out both your math books, both regular high school and catch up high school, which you had neatly tucked away when Tom came, and started doing your assignments for the day. 

Your head hurt, as you did it, and it was so hard for you to understand. You wished you could ask Tom for help, but you couldn’t tell him. It was simply too embarrassing. ‘Hey Tom, I’m too stupid for regular school, please help?’ What would he even think of you?

You hadn’t even done your assignments for long, when you started crying. You were just writing the answer to a question, when a tear slid down your face. You wiped it away as quick as it came and continued. 

But so did your tears. You cried silently as you worked, ignoring them, eventually not even wiping them away. You were just trying to get through it, chewing through your lip. 

Just as you failed to figure an assignment out, your pencil broke on the paper, and you threw it away from your, putting your head in your hands. Then you sobbed, and you weren’t trying to ignore it, you were doing it. You were sitting there, and all of your focus was on the seemingly never ending stream of tears from your eyes. 

God, what kind of person are you if you can’t even do your catch up school work? You felt so unbelievably heavy, heart wrenching and tingling. 

Meanwhile Tom had hauled down a cab, making it about a third of the way to his meeting, when he realized he’d left his phone at your place. He sighed and asked the driver to drive back to your hotel, knowing he’d need it.

Tom drove back there, and then stepped out of the cab, telling the driver to wait for him. He entered and pulled out his keycard. Your room had had two keycards and you’d given him your second one, which had made his heart melt. 

He walked down the corridor, reading the room numbers, and then reached your door. He grabbed the handle and scanned the keycard, effectively cracking open the door.

And there you were. Tom blinked rapidly, refusing to believe that that was you, so immersed in your own crying that you hadn’t heard him come in. That couldn’t be you, not the smiling, laughing, happy Y/n he knew. You were sitting there so dark and alone, hugging your legs and wailing. 

You never cried. Never. It had gotten to the point where him and his coworkers had discussed it, whether you were some robot or something. But you were crying. You were alone. 

“Y/n?”

His voice made you flinch and you didn’t have to look at him, to know you’d exposed yourself. You, although knowing it was useless, wiped your tears, before raising your head.

Tom was heartbroken. He’d never thought about how he’d actually feel once he finally did see you cry. But it was such a gut wrenching image, something he could feel in both his stomach and heart and throat.

“What’s going on?” He asked. You shook your head. He simply stepped inside and saw your regular high school math book, immediately knowing you were probably stressed. “Do you need help with your homework?”

You laughed bitterly, another tear sliding down your cheek. Tom walked to you, sitting down next to you, so he could wipe away the tear.

“What’s wrong? Come on, talk to me.. What happened?” He searches your eyes.

“I’m just stressed, Tom, it’s stupid,” you avoided his gaze. Tom knew it wasn’t stupid. If it was you wouldn’t be balling your eyes out.

“So, let me help you with it,” He heard how his voice was shaking.

“Tom, no.”

“Yes-“

“No!”

Silence. Tom pulled away from you. He was simply shocked. You weren’t you. He closed his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered, voice breaking, as you started crying again. When you yelled at Tom, you felt your heart withering. What a horrible feeling.

“I’m sorry for yelling. It’s just- I feel so useless. All the time. I’m failing school! I mean, for God’s sake, I have mandatory catch-up-school. Do you know how embarrassing that is? God, how can I be so stupid?”

Tom finally understood why you were crying. Why you were so stressed, why you were crying like that.

It was tough.

“You’re not stupid, Y/n,” you immediately shook your head at his attempt to console you, “You’re not! I’m serious. You’re smarts come from your understanding of people, and your talents in acting and everything you love. Not from your schoolwork. Your grades are not your worth. You’re the smartest kid I’ve ever met! I mean it.”

Your crying turned to sniffles and you finally nodded. You agreed. You hadn’t felt so sure of yourself in a long time. A small smile found your lips.

“Thank you, Tom, I-I really needed that.”

“Oh, of course, N/n,” he mumbled and pulled you into a hug, burying your head in his chest. You wrapped your arms around him.

“Now my offer still stands. Do you want my help doing the homework?” This time you nodded, and the two of you spent the rest of the day doing all of your homework.

When you were finished, you apologised profusely, but Tom just smiled and said he’d do it any day. Every day onward while you were working on that movie, he’d ask you after shooting if you needed any help, and always insisted it was his pleasure. With Tom around, you never had to feel useless again.

[alright--okay]

you ever been to a basement show? pt. 4

tsukishima kei x reader

summary: Tsukishima sees you everywhere, and for a big school thats weird. And it’s not like he’s gonna do anything, that’d be even weirder, but one day in your shared lecture he sees you wearing a shirt with some small band’s name. A band he know. And well, now he has to know who you are.

word count: ~2.7 k

a/n: the first five chapters are already on ao3 so imma post them here real quick, hope anyone reading enjoys!

read on ao3!

pt. 4 Go Home. Play Music. Feel Better. - Michael Cera Palin

“Ohoho, look who decided to show up,” you said to Tsukishima as he moved to sit beside you in the lecture hall.

Tsukishima gave you an exasperated look, “class didn’t even start yet. Also please don’t take on those idiots’ mannerisms.”

“Why not? I think it’s fun. And completely unrelated, but want to come to the store with me after class? Bokuto recommended me this hair gel and I’ve always wanted to try-”

“Please stop,” Tsukishima turned to face the front of the class as you broke out into quiet giggles.

“Seriously though, I didn’t get to eat breakfast this morning so I’m gonna get something at that cafe near our apartments if you want to join.”

This wasn’t a date. Tsukishima knew this. That didn’t stop his heart from beating a tad bit faster or the apples of his cheeks growing rosier.

Tsukishima shifted his arm to one of the uncomfortable arm rests of the seat, leaning his head against his hand to hopefully help cover any of the heat on his cheeks, “yeah, I’m down.”

“Cool,” from the corner of his eye, Tsukishima saw you give your own small smile as you turned to focus on the professor about to start the lecture.

This wasn’t a date.

~~~~~~

Class dragged on, but soon enough you and Tsukishima were making the short journey to the cafe.

“Did you finish the paper for that class?” Tsukishima asked.

“What paper?”

“The one he assigned last week? Due on Wednesday? The one on that civilization-”

“Wait, no, no, no. That paper’s due on the 18th.”

“y/n…” Tsukshima slowed his pace to look you in your eyes, “Wednesday is the 18th.”

You let a quiet “fuck” slip from your mouth as you faced forward, moving quickly to the cafe now only a few shops away, “then no, I haven’t even started it.”

“Yeah that seemed pretty obvious,” Tsukishima said with a smirk.

“He never mentioned it again! I can’t keep track of everything!”

“Yeah, not even the date apparently,” Tsukishima snickered, opening the door for the two of you.

“Alright, listen!” Tsukishima’s laugh only grew louder, “I thought this class was gonna be fun and easy, and now I have to write a paper in like two days. Disgusting,” your attentioned moved to the menu hanging above the register.

“It’s short, you’re being dramatic.”

“Fuck you,” Tsukishima let out a startled laugh while you moved forward to give your order and pay then stood off to the side waiting for Tsukishima to do the same.

Tsukishima silently pointed to a table off in the corner that was free, “what is your major anyway?” he said as the two of you settled down into the seats.

You told him your major with a small shrug, “Nothing too special, but I liked it in high school so I figured I’d just keep up with it. Are you actually archeology or are you also just in this class for the hell of it?”

Tsukishima rolled his eyes, “Yes, I’m an archeology major, but this class doesn’t count for much since it's pretty entry level.”

“So what you’re saying is that you’re good at this stuff?”

“I’m not writing your paper.” “I wouldn’t ask that!” you said with a frown, “I was wondering if you could at least help me though. Read it over, give me some advice, make sure it’ll give me a decent grade, stuff like that. Come on, I’ll make you cookies.”

Tsukishima paused for a moment, “What about a strawberry shortcake?”

“I mean I’ll have to go to the store…” Tsukishima continued to stare at you, “but fine! Yes, I’ll make you a strawberry shortcake, you bastard.” You mumbled the last part under your breath as you got up to get yours and Tsukishima’s orders.

Making a cake would be a small price to pay for a good grade in a class you honestly didn’t care about. Spending time with Tsukishima didn’t hurt either.

“Get as much of it done as you can tonight, I’m done with class pretty early tomorrow so we can work on it together at my place whenever you’re free,” Tsukishima gave you the short rundown as you place the food on the table.

“Why don’t we do it at my place? You have like three roommates. I have Yachi.”

“Good point, text me tomorrow when you’re good,” Tsukishima said with a small nod.

~~~

It was a little past one on tuesday when you decided to text Tsukishima.

To Tsukishima archeology:

hey im walking home now so feel free to come over whenever

From Tsukishima archeology:

alright ill be there soon

You slid your phone back into your pocket, trying to turn your focus on the music flowing through your headphones and not on the lanky blonde that would be spending the rest of the day in your apartment.

You saw Tsukishima at least three times a week and most of that time was spent alone with each other in class or recitation, but this was… different. You were going to be actually alone with the guy. No distractions from a professor or a friend or a cafe worker calling out names. And okay Tsukishima was mildly attractive… Okay he was attractive but you wouldn’t let that come between you and the new friend you made in the snarky asshole.

It's not like anything would happen anyway. Tsukishima definitely didn’t like you like that, and no amount of daydreaming him confessing to you would make it come true (even if it was a very nice daydream).

It wasn’t long before you made it up to your apartment. Yachi had a late class today so you weren’t expecting her back until tonight, hopefully after Tsukishima had already left. It wasn’t that you didn’t want Yachi to know… but Yachi had already been making assumptions and Tsukishima coming over to “do work” alone in your room would do nothing but feed her imagination (even if it was the truth).

In the middle of eating a quick snack, Tsukishima sent you a text saying he was at your building.

You scrambled down the staircase of your building to meet Tsukishima who was waiting (somewhat) patiently on the stoop of your building.

“Finally,” he muttered as you widened the door for him to pass.

“You gave me no warning! Should’ve left you out here longer.”

“Should I just leave then? Seems like you don’t want me here so I’ll just-”

You put your hands on Tsukishima’s back, pushing him further into the building, “Nope, you’re helping me. You already agreed, no backing out.”

Tsukishima let out a dramatic sigh, now trailing behind you, “Did you at least start it?”

“Yes, in fact, I did. Almost done too, just need one more paragraph to push me over the word minimum.”

“What am I supposed to do in the meantime? I thought I was just gonna read it over?” Tsukishima asked as you let him into your and Yachi’s apartment, leading him to your small kitchen table.

“I dunno, dude; do other homework, work on your own paper, pick an album to listen to,” you gestured lazily towards your bedroom door, “all my vinyl is in the crates to the right.”

You could tell Tsukishima tried very hard to hide his excitement, “well, I already submitted my paper,” he ‘casually’ slid his backpack off his shoulders and made his way to the door you just pointed out.

You followed him over, showing him the milk crates you were talking about, your record player sitting on the dresser nearby.

“If you're gonna be sitting here, I’ll work at my desk,” you gathered your laptop and the notebook you had used to organize your paper, settling at the small desk, “if you need any help let me know.”

Tsukishima gave you a small smile and proceeded to get down on the floor to sit cross legged, flipping through the crate closest to him.

The two of you continued in silence for a while until Tsukishima gave a light poke to your shoulder, a recognizable album in his hand.

“I’ve never actually used a record player, so can you…” he trailed off, pushing the album towards you.

You tried to contain your amusement. Tsukishima clearly did not want to be asking you this, but you were glad he took this route instead of trying it and scratching up your records.

“Yeah sure, good pick by the way,” you got up from your desk chair and took the album, sliding the sleeve out to get to the vinyl itself, this one in particular being a bright blue as opposed to the typical black.

You ran him through how to handle the records and how to work your particular player so he would be able to flip and change the records whenever, and soon enough the beginning of Just Friends’ album Nothing but Love began to play.

You smiled again, making your way back to your desk to finish up your paper while Tsukishima went back to sitting on your floor, alternating between listening to the music and playing on his phone.

By the time the album came to an end you placed your laptop in Tsukishima’s lap, “be gentle,” you said, moving to grab an album at random and replace the one coming to an end.

“I’m not gonna promise anything,” he replied, adjusting his glasses to begin reading your paper.

You wandered off to the kitchen for a glass of water, not wanting to be in the room while Tsukishima was judging your writing.

“It’s not that bad!” Tsukishima called from your room, you walked over to lean in the door frame, “I marked some stuff you should reword and you should probably include that thing he mentioned a while ago…” Tsukishima continued to talk about your paper, flipping through notes to bring up examples and point out which parts he found errors in.

“But not bad?” you questioned again with a small smile, taking your laptop back.

“Not great, but not bad,” he said getting up to get his own stuff from the kitchen.

“I’ll take it!” you took it as a win when you heard Tsukishima’s laughter from the other room.

~~~

It was well into the evening by now, Tsukishima had helped fully finalize your paper a while ago but the two of you continued to talk and do work in your room. At this point you knew Yachi was going to be here soon. You would have to kick Tsukishima out now if you didn’t want her to notice just how long the boy had spent here and that just seemed rude and unnecessary (plus you didn’t really want Tsukishima to go just yet).

“Did you want to just stay for dinner? Yachi said she's picking something up, so if you want anything speak now.”

Tsukishima paused shortly at your question, “where’s she stopping?”

You relayed your and Tsukishima’s order to Yachi hoping she’d get home soon so you could have a proper meal.

You and Tsukishima were back to the floor, sifting through albums and talking over the music in the background.

“I wish you had A Flourish and a Spoil,” Tsukishima said, examining the art of one particular album.

“By The Districts?” Tsukishima’s eyes darted over to you, making you laugh, “I have that one, just probably got misplaced if it’s not with the D’s,” you took a minute to think back to the last time you had listened to the album, trying to place where it currently was.

You hauled yourself up and went to your dresser. Beside your record player was a short stack of albums you had been listening to the other day but were too lazy at the time to properly put away. Sure enough, the dark album art peaked from the pile.

You took the whole stack over to your crates, passing the album to Tsukishima’s waiting hands.

“We’re listening to this next,” Tsukishima said, eyes roaming the back of the album, examining all the details.

“We can definitely do that,” you replied, sorting the albums, “but Yachi’s gonna be here soon so you good with waiting a little bit?”

He gave you a small nod and the two of you resumed your quiet activities with the current record coming to an end. It wasn’t long after you heard the apartment’s door open with Yachi making her presence known.

The three of you sat around the small kitchen table, eating your food and talking about your days. You tried to ignore all of Yachi’s “subtle” looks in favor of asking about the class she just got out of.

“I hate that it lets out so late!” Yachi complained, dropping her head to the table, “I’m so tired and the walk home gets scary in the dark.”

“You can always ask me or Yamaguchi to walk with you,” Tsukishima said, looking up from his food, “if you’re really anxious we really wouldn’t mind, it’s a short walk.”

“Tsukki!” Yachi let out a cry, tears gathering in her eyes, “don’t listen to them, you’re so sweet, I love you.”

“Wait, listen to who-” Yachi interrupted his questions by giving his stiff posture a hug, “what are people saying about me?”

Yachi continued her hug, Tsukishima slowly raising a hand to pat her back, “nothing, nothing, it doesn’t matter anyway.”

You laughed at Tsukishima’s confused and irked expression, clearly not knowing how to interpret Yachi’s words.

Yachi removed herself from Tsukishima, “well, I am exhausted, goodnight,” Yachi said, giving you both a smile.

“Goodnight, Yachi, see you tomorrow,” you said, Tsukishima giving his own goodnight before turning to look you in the eye.

“It’s time,” he said, quickly cleaning up your plates and then heading to your room.

You laughed as you trailed behind him. He was already setting up the vinyl so you settled on your bed, letting your back fall into the comforter sitting atop your mattress.

The opening beats of the first song gently filled your room, quiet enough to not disturb Yachi but loud enough that the thumping drums still hit in your chest. Tsukishima turned around and you patted the spot beside you. He seemed to hesitate for a second before making his way over, letting his body lay beside your own.

“I used to listen to this album all the time in high school,” Tsukishima said to the ceiling. You turned your head to look at his side profile, “I think at the time it was just cause I liked how it sounded,” he paused for a particular chorus to pass, “but now I actually listen to it.”

You turned your head back to the ceiling, “I get that. A lot of albums have changed meaning for me over the years. This always felt like a new beginning though.”

Tsukishima hummed beside you. You let the music fill the room, you and Tsukishima each focusing on the lyrics of each song and how one connected to another.

Side A came to its gentle end, so you got up to slowly flip it, not wanting to break the calm atmosphere your room held at the moment. You took your spot beside Tsukishima again, trying not to disturb him.

“God, this album slaps,” Tsukishima mumbled under his breath at the crescendo of the song, making you break out into a laugh. Tsukishima surprisingly let out a chuckle of his own, “what? You know it's true.”

“I know, I know,” you let your giggles peter out, “I feel like you have to save that for Young Blood though.”

“It can be applied in a variety of places, don’t go around constricting me.”

“Fair enough,” you smiled at him, scooting your legs further on the bed to get more comfortable.

Young Blood, as good of a song as it was, was eight minutes long and by the final words of it, you could feel yourself drifting. It started with just resting your eyes, but soon your body was trying to catch up on the lack of sleep.

As your mind was shutting down, you heard a soft snore beside you. I’ll deal with this tomorrow, you thought to yourself before succumbing to the warmth of your room and the body beside you, letting the final song of the album lull you to sleep.

[tuupii]

my shite day just got way worse and i can’t afford having insomnia due to anxiety 

[isaacathom]

ok i THINK we’re actually on top of shit. the video is basically edited barring subtitles, which can either be added tomorrow or tuesday depending on whether i need to evacuate my internal organs or not (-.-). 5/6 cube sides means i only have one side to do, which i will likely do either thursday OR some time before then? i can technically do it ON friday, since ill be at uni anyway for my study class and to print the cube, but id prefer to have the whole cube done before i show up. just so i dont have to spend longer than necessary fucking around with the manual fill on the printer??? im dreading that already. i might actually need to go talk to the library techs about manual filling to make sure im like. actually allowed to do that? i have paper and everything. i just need to bring it. so. yknow.

but thats good. i DO need to do a write up for the video but ill wait until its done for that, or until friday night which is uhhhh when its due..... eh. ill do it at some point i suppose? it depends how long it takes to add subtitles and the balloon footage AND the poem thing that they want to add. i do really like the idea of ending on a poem or quote. but since ive had a lot of the creative control as video editor, i want my partners to find that. i dont wanna sorta take over? thatd feel bad. i dont wanna be like, controlling and shit.

it shouldnt take long since my edits are rudimentary, so lets say i get balloon footage tomorrow AND im not puking out my liver, i can finish that in an evening, if it takes even that long. should be easy. should have plenty of time to at least START a write up. so, tomorrow - finish video (footage allowing) and start write up. tuesday - possibly video tweaks as needed (im likely gonna render the footage on tuesday just in case theres any delays on ANYTHING like balloons or subs or poem shit), probably finish the 6th side of the cube (THOUGH i may finish that in class tomorrow? assuming, again, im not puking out a liver, my body isnt giving me any hints and its driving me Bonkers).  wednesday night - paint your little heart out. thursday - also paint your heart out a/o finish that cube if you havent. friday - print The Cube, finish + submit write up. now, the question is then, with the remaining time, whether i digital paint (for art:body) or compile and submit the pdf for design skills. i think design skills might be the best idea? come home, take a brief break from it by doing the write up, then finish the design thing by creating The Cube and doing all the funky shit that entails. and then i can submit it either friday night or saturday afternoon (who the fuck wakes up before noon am i right? christ). easy shit. then i digital paint all fucking weekend.

monday 28th is a fucking weird day for the simple fact that i dont know when i have to get to school???? like.... when do i go? how long will the room be open? i find out this thursday and its critical. depending on a lot of factors, we’re just gonna have to wing it honestly. i need to print the digi painting once i get there, though i can print the wips at home because Who Gives a Shit, ink print that bollocks, its illustrative. no matter what, once i get home, im almost a free fucking Enby. whats left will be to compile my direction journal (which uhhh Ho boy. thats gonna be rough shit, i te-ell you. holy shit. im failing that shit hardcore) and watch the old study lectures to prepare for the test on the weekend.

also i have to compile my journal for the 28th for that class and thats not scaring the shit outta me at allll. terrifying. ideally id have all the journal stuff done on sunday as well as the painting, with only the paint print left? that should hopefully work out fine. i should be able to do that. it should be ok. in fact, it Will be ok. anyone tries to interrupt me doing homework gets a fucking slap in the face, eh???

he-ell yea.

[carmenhekima]

Arrival: I arrived late around 8:15pm. I was picked up by Alex (the taxi driver). Alex is 22 and believe he is aspiring to be a planter or something. But for now he is a driver.The drive from the airport to kisieran was about 30-40 minutes. I passed Mama Ndinda house and it brought back so many memories. I am excited to see them soon. From Ngong to Kiersian is about 20 miles give or take I’m not sure. When I approached the green gate, I believe it was Steven that was there at the gate ready to greet me! He welcomed me with a huge smile and a Karibu. I then met Jenny, the incoming director who was waiting for my outside in the cold. She was very welcoming and gave me nothing but smiles. Once I entered the guest house I met three ladies from Erie. Stacey, Katie, and Jennifer. They are in hopes of starting their own Non-Profit. They are donating tablets to the girls for educational purposes. This is suppose to help them with their studies and accesses where they need help. Hekima Place is the first home they visited. Day 1:

I was given some personal time so my body could adjust to the time difference. I woke up to Katie, one of the volunteers, cooking us breakfast. After that we walked around the compound and I met baby hope and baby Mercy Medivia. Mercy has never seen white people before so when they approach her she begins to cry. I introduced myself to her she liked me and let me hold her. The mum said I was a lucky one. Then Katie and stacie showed me their tablets that brought over. They brought over 25 tablets for grades 5-8 to play on and get help tutoring. I played the games and they seem great. I think the dilemma is two things: 1. We cannot push western culture onto a group that has not asked for it. And 2. Kate the director does not want to introduce a new element to the program that might deter the girls from the goal. In the US I believe girls and boys in low income neighbors and even unemployed neighborhoods could use this program. But after watching them be engaged with it they loved it. I hope that it goes well. Today I got to meet most of the girls. They are extremely friendly and well mannered. At dinner they danced for us. I believe it was a Somali dance. They sung a prayer too. I hope to better my Kiswahili while I am here.

Day 2.

I woke up at 6am to get ready for 7:30am prayer and staff meeting. I made myself a sandwich and cleaned the dishes. I don’t like bugs so if the kitchen stays clean that means less bugs. I went to the staff meeting. We began with a bible verse from James 3:1-4 afterwards we prayed and started the staff meeting. Mum Kate said today will be going to Smith Hotel with the Mums and the Laura and her daughters will be left behind to take care of the children. Baby Mercy does not like Muzungus (white people) so I would like to see how that goes. I hope that the Smith Hotel has wifi so I can in contact with my family and friends here in Kenya. I talked to Lucy and she said she would come by on Sunday.  

Day 3:

We did not go to the Smith, but we did go out to the Hub. Which is a really expensive mall for tourist and people who have money (so not me). Yesterday I was frustrated because the visitors here from GW keep asking the girls to speak English. This frustrates me because one: the language of the country is Swahili. And they are mad when they girls speak the language of their country like I think when visitors come they should try to learn their language.

Day 4:

We taught the 4-8 how to use the LeapFrog tablets.  I normally get up at 7am for the staff meeting then I ask the mums if the need help with chores. On weekends the girls wake up later and start chores for the house. They do things like clean the kitchen and bathroom, sweep the floors etc.  Like today I washed the dishes with the red house. Then I played soccer with some of the girls. Then in the afternoon I pealed and plucked corn my thumb started to bleed. The other volunteers did not come until the chores were finished. The girls expressed to us how they were bored. Laura one of the members on the board suggested a dance party. This was especially nice because all the girl were home. Some of the girls from university were here and most of the girls from high school were on break. It was a Huge celebration! We had a chocolate Party everyone danced and laughed. Day 5:

Today was long, It began with mass at 11am. we set up the cafeteria like a church and the priest flew in from Tanzania. The sermon itself was not long but the formalities were long, like prayer and the songs. After that we had some time to relax but not much because we had to transform the cafeteria into a celebration ceremony. Some of the Kenyan board arrived and almost all of the staff was there. Once we began, it lasted until dinner time. all the house sung songs and the older presented speeches. They even choose me to speak and I've only been her for five days! I was really nervous. After the ceremony we had dinner and finally went to sleep. Day 6:

I woke up early to teach preschool. Todays lesson was about recognizing number. After that we had to train the house mums on how to use the tablets and set the child protection settings. At the end of the night Laura and her daughters left there were only here for about 3 days it was not long. But they have been to Hekima before.

Day7:  

Today was relaxed, I woke up late then went into town to one of the local malls. I had KFC which probably wasn’t the best choose for my digestive system but at least I had a taste of home (sort of). Then I came back to prepare the actual tablet pilot to allow the girls to see them. One of the volunteers had an emergency at home which caused her a lot of stress. Jenny friend also had an emergency which caused her to leave the compound. But Laura (Hekima board member) said she would write me a recommendation letter so thats nice. I’ve learned that networking is not that hard. Ms. Laura just saw my work ethic and pulled me to the side and told me how impressed she was with me.

Day 8:

I went into town with Edith and Ruth we took about 6 Matatu altogether. Things I noticed was that gas is 99 cents here but really lower than that because of the conversion. Once we arrived into town I got touched like 3 times, once I was called a Muzungu then one guy tried to touch my arm to get my attention. It made me quiet angry because I’m use to having my own space and for the most part being respected. In town we attended a play.Of course we missed the one in English so I watched a Play in Swahili, I was surprised because I understood some of it. I managed to follow along. It was really intense. It was about abortion, domestic violence, college. Several pressing issue that plague this country. Afterward it started to rain and we needed something to eat. So we went to Big Square. I got Fish and Chips (fries) . The others got chicken and chips. After, while walking in the rain we Sam (the driver) and he didn’t pick us up, that was unfortunate because I was cold and it was raining. But Jenny picked up us in Ngong at the mall. This morning I taught Preschool and they are learning to spell their names. Since that cut short because of the trip to Nairobi. I gave them biscuits. They were so happy.

June 23-25:  

This weekend I went out with some friends I met from my last trip we went to a rugby game. I ran into some of my friends I made last year. It was like a reunion. There's some days, I never want to leave this place. Its truly a paradise. The only things I would change is the convenience of little things like reception wifi everywhere. Knowing the lay of the land. But I love Kenya. Im learning more Swahili everyday. I could see myself living here. Sometimes I consider it. The other girls. Katie, Stacey and Jess left for Uganda but there are coming back! June 26:When I returned to Hekima Place I was. Welcomed with many arms. I also met Aku and Bravon they are Jenny friends! Afterwards Maddie, myself and the girls went on a hike and you could see EVERYTHING even the city. It’s so nice. I also braided Tracey’s hair everyone was impressed I knew how to cornrows here they call shiku or something like that.

June 28: 

Today is really cold and rainy, I was to work in the office but because Jenny is working on policy paper work and mum Sophie is gone it looks like I will be doing my own thing today. Dilemma, I really want to make a trip to Mombasa! We shall see I’m not sure the next time ill be able to come back. Time goes fast here I only have 3 more weeks. It was uneventful today. I mostly colored. It was also very cold like winter almost. I might work in the kitchen. Today they have slaughtered chickens. But I did not want to see. Tomorrow we are suppose to do the inventory for clothes and donations. Which should be all day, at least it’s not the shamba or animals so I’m kind of happy. Although I was suppose to have personal time Friday we are going out to elephants and bead factory. Id rather just be allowed to roam myself.  Sometime you can get such tourist aspect of Kenya. I also felt like the house mum I helped with homework made sure some of the littles ones were to bed. Little grace and I even did homework that was ahead so she is free tomorrow.

June 29: 

Today was FUN. First I sorted clothes, there were so many clothes then I helped Maddie cook vegetable pasta. I do not think I introduced Maddie she lives near Pittsburgh and goes to Penn State she is an aspiring doctor and has traveled a lot. After Pasta I read Sisters Solidjah Im at the part where winter loses everything and is pretty much alone. Reading has been so exciting when you have nothing else to do but kill time, I feel like such a book worm. After I read I took a nap. Thought about the movie La La Land and how the couple did not end up together but it was for the best because they would not have lived out their dream. After Rabin, Bravon and Maddie we all cook chapati with egg. Rabin and Bravon are around 27 and 28. It was probably the best thing I’ve had in a long time. It was not soon after the girls were home and we ate dinner. I have pimples, and everyone asks me what's wrong with my face. I think for the most part everyone's skin is here pretty much perfectly smooth like no blemishes. The know what pimples are but I guess they don’t show often. They ask are they mosquitoes bite is it rash. At this point I don’t even get angry over it. I just play it  off. Soon Ill be helping with homework again! Last night I was not feeling well. My stomach was very upset from all the food I ate but it turns out it was just gas