#Nuns chillin in the convent

[tapwaterenthusiast]

So I was a new student at a Catholic school, and I was not at all familiar with Catholicism. A student named Emily showed me around, and it was quite... Quirky. So was she. She said she was a part of rabies pride, and shoved a flag in my face. Also, the entire school seemed to also have rabies. They would only eat huge slabs of meat for lunch, even the bones. Anyway, our headmaster has an assembly about the uproar of rabies pride, and pride in general. She was extremely Rabiophobic. So, as she stood on stage, she said

"Our godly father, remove the sin and disease from these poor unfortunate souls" as she begun to break out into a religious chant. Her eyes glowed blood red, and she rose into the air holding the golden Cross. The other Nuns joined hands while laying down on the floor in a circle around the headmaster, and begun floating too and rapidly spinning, chanting. The tables started flying and the roof almost flew off the building. Suddenly, a group of rebellious Nuns of the convent behind our school rushed in, wearing racoon mascot heads while wearing their Nun outfits too.

"ALL RISE FOR THE ORDER OF THE RABIE" they bellowed as they charged towards the spectacle of Nuns, the rest of the rabies kids following after. "RABIES PRIDE, YOU RABIOPHOBES!". Suddenly, the two crowds clashed and all out war started, nuns versus Nuns. Kids fought fiercely as they pulled out their racoon tails and suits, some even biting people.

Finally, one bit the headmaster and she begun to take new form. She mutated horribly, her hair falling out and being replaced with fur, which spread across her whole body. "RABIES PRIDE" they all chanted as she transformed, but as she was about to descend onto the crowd and crush them all, the cis bus came and killed them all! ALL SPLATTED TO THE GROUND. Sadly, the engine exploded and the down with cis people ran out, all on fire. It spread to the rest of the school, and once it hit the boiler room, the whole building exploded and collapsed. Huge debris fell onto the convent like meteors, setting it ablaze.

The nuns left inside fled and begun to chant, but the flaming down with cis people ran at them, setting them on fire! Then, the whole hill the place was built on landslided into the lake below, destroying all traces of the satanic ongoing at the Catholic school.

Everybody clapped.

Sometimes i think if any of the down with cis people survived. They really are my heroes.

[ordinary-wonder]

Former Spanish-held territory.

“If only I could be in Africa and Europe at the same time… Oh, wait! I can! I can go to Melilla!”

I’m a fan of the odd, the unusual, the out of the ordinary, but when you combine that with some history, I’m hooked to the point of obsession. North Africa, or alternatively the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, has seen its share of invaders and occupiers, most of which came from across the selfsame sea. The Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Romans were here, as were the Arabs, or course, but more recently, within the last century, the area was occupied variously by European powers such as England, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and France. Even Italy wanted in on the action. Ultimately, the French and Spanish prevailed and divided the country into different spheres of influence with the Spanish having the north and south while France occupied the middle. The exception being Tangier which, for all intents and purposes, was an international zone.

“Mapa del sur de España neutral” by Ecemaml – From Polish Wikipedia, translated to Spanish and neutralized.. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons

Eventually, the occupiers left. The French, though they left their language, ceded the whole of their claims to the country back to Morocco, The Spanish, however, gave back only 99%. They kept little bits and pieces along the coast.

Along the northern coast of Morocco, there are numerous land holdings that Spain still considers part of its territory, part of larger Spain. Two of them, Ceuta and Melilla, are autonomous cities, while the many islands off the coast, and one tiny peninsula, are predominately used as military bases. (See the map at the left for more details.)

From below

Morocco, to no one’s surprise, disagrees with Spanish claims and argues that the land should be given back to them as was the rest of their former northern claims. They are fond of comparing the status of Gibraltar, a territory of the United Kingdom, which has long been s thorn in Spanish pride. Spain did return a small southern, coastal claim, Sidi Ifni, (See the Ifni War) in 1969 after increasing tensions in the area and due to international pressure, but the littoral areas remain Spanish as does a small island in the middle of the sea between the two countries. The Spanish Sahara, now sometimes called the Western Sahara, was relinquished to Morocco after the Green March in 1975 in which “some 350,000 Moroccans advanced several miles into the Western Sahara territory, escorted by nearly 20,000 Moroccan troops…” (Wikipedia). More recently (2002), there was a minor crisis between the two countries surrounding Perejil Island which Moroccan soldiers occupied and which Spanish commandos retook without casualties.

The bell on the old convent.

The population of Melilla, in speaking with locals, is divided roughly 50/50 with people of Spanish decent and people of Rif Mountain Amazigh (Rifian) decent in fairly equal proportions. Thankfully, since I don’t speak a lick of Spanish, I was able easily find Arabic speakers when I needed help or directions. In fact, it was a bit surreal. Here I was ostensibly in Spain, but surrounded by what looked like everyday Moroccans in both dress and complexion. It was the best of both worlds.

Being on the African continent has its challenges as ell. Both Melilla and its sister city Ceuta have become focal points for refugees seeking asylum.Refugees from sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East come seeking sanctuary in Europe through the gates of the cities, as was mistakenly made famous by Donald Trump in a rant about immigration in America.

Being a strategic peninsula, Melilla is dominated by an ancient citadel, or fortified city, overlooking the sea from a craggy outcropping of stone. Over the years, it has grown and been added to in six distinct phases, each with its own architectural touches. The museum I went to showed each stage and highlighted each variation. It was a nice little museum that dedicated an entire wing to Sephardic and Amazigh heritage. I met and spoke with one of the curators, an Amazigh, who was very helpful in showing me around.

The citadel

In fact, the entire citadel is quite well-preserved and interesting. There are large, cavernous cisterns for holding water in ancient times, an archaic chimney jutting up from the shore, an old, though functioning, drawbridge, as well as extensive cave systems used by nuns who lived in the convent and in which they would spend the time in contemplation. It was quite impressive, but best of all is that it’s completely free to visit and see all the areas, even the museums, such as the military museum.

The official imprint of Melilla that honors its multifaith population living in harmony.

Perhaps the best part of Melilla, since it is steeped in Spanish cuture, is the tapas. Across from my hotel was a little tapas bar that for between €5-10 I could get four or five delicious tapas and a few beers. I had intentions to dine out for a more formal birthday dinner, but I was more than contented visiting the various tapas offerings than blowing a wad of cash on something fancier. And Hell, it was my birthday, after all.

Not really Spain and not really Morocco, Melilla is a wonderful little anomaly not to be missed. Despite its divergent cultures, its people live in harmony. Most telling of this, perhaps, is in the city’s official logo. In it, one can see a melding of the four dominant religions within the city. (See left) Above the city name are the four sounds of “m” in each of the four languages, Hindi/Sanskrit, Arabic, Hebrew, and Spanish.

It’s a beautiful town. There are lovely beaches, great food, and plenty of interesting history.

An older citadel

Cannon face the sea

The citadel

Within the citadel

Grafitti

Grafitti

Amazigh and Jewish museum

A church atop, and within, the citadel that was also used as a convent

Excavations

Cactus tree

Ancient Arabic coins

Promontory

The citadel

The citadel

Rooftops

Coastline

Coastline and chimney

A new citadel on a different hill

American Dreams

The citadel

The citadel

An old chimney

From the citadel

The citadel

Rif definition

The citadel

Cannon

Chillin’

A Gaudiesque bulding.

From below

Citadel facade

The bell on the old convent.

Steeples

City mural

Jewish Amazigh-style pins

Atop the citadel

Palm trees

The citadel

City plan

Community park

Standing guard

One of several churches

Within the citadel

An old lighthouse along the coast

The official imprint of Melilla that honors its multifaith population living in harmony.

Canada House

Cannon and lighthouse

Coastline

Another citadel on a different hill, built later

Excavation

The citadel

The oldest part of the citadel dating from the 14th century

Many houses have tiles above their doors.

Carthaginian boat docks as depicted in the museum

Statue of a Spanish explorer

A monument that, on each side, has words written in the four languages of faith within the city

The citadel

Cannon

Perching seagull

The citadel

An odd statue of a boy and his cat in the city park

The town rambla

Melilla "If only I could be in Africa and Europe at the same time... Oh, wait! I can!

[lilnasxvevo]

i’m reading a thing for class about like 1500s european monastic life

and at the time a lot of men and women got forced into being monks or nuns because their families wanted them to, or their families just didn’t want them around, or because they had been educated at a convent or monastery and just kind of forced to stay

which led to the phenomenon of rogue monks, just, dudes who were supposed to be in a monastery somewhere but didn’t want to be a monk, so they ran away and were just like chillin and laying low and hoping the pope didn’t find them

[pmcurtis]

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sO

a little story time here,,,,,

My first uni class took place in a monastery called Sisters of the Precious Blood. It used to be a convent for nuns.

And I’m just sitting in the stairwell, chillin’ by myself and then out of nOWHERE a fucking BAT flies in my face, chases, jumps around at me, and then hisses at me.

I am officially being condemned for my sins in the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost. Jesus knows about my afterdark blog and he sent a bAT to attack.