#anyways i really need to move so i can have a sewing machine instead haha

[neon-zoologist]

[ID: photo of a handsewn Superboy jumper. The base is a bought dark blue jumper. Sewn on top is a red cape, trim and stripes on the sleeves. Towards the top is a red and yellow S-shield. Stripes of lighter blue follow the base of the S-shield and down the zip, forming a Y-shape before branching out a short distance towards the end. /end ID]

thought I might share some more of my cosplay stuff here :)

[pynkhues]

It’s officially ~spooky szn~ which means we need a brio Halloween fic, pleaaasee!! Like can you imagine Beth insisting on making costumes for all five kids?? Anyways, even if you don’t have time for this just want you to know that I love your writing and I look forward to any and all fic updates :)

Thank you so much! And haha, happy spooky season, anon. Hope you like it. :-) 

Set in The Centre and Circumference / Domestic Fic universe

“You know, I actually think it looks kind of cool,” Annie tells her, eyes on Beth’s blue-dyed fingers as Beth fiddles with her makeup palette, comparing the shades of skin toned foundation a few shades lighter than Annie’s own. “Like you’ve been finger banging one of those aliens from Avatar or something.”

And just - - god. Beth blanches before she can stop herself, stopping in her ministrations long enough to shoot Annie a look, before refocusing on the task at hand.

“Please never say that again,” Beth says, shaking her head as she throws a dash of grey face paint into her mixing palette with the foundation – gets it all thick and moonish. She tests it a little on her own hand before grabbing her make-up brush, lathering it up and starting on Annie’s face.

“Fine, sorry I’m trying to make your weird blue monster hands less terrifying.”

Rolling her eyes, Beth uses those weird blue monster hands to lay the first layer of ghoulish foundation on Annie’s face. It’s not like Beth isn’t used to it anyway – has dyed enough fabric in her time to know that dying your hands is just an unfortunate side effect. Still, she’s tried everything to get it off – all her tried and true measures, but nothing’s worked, so Beth has resigned herself to the fact that it’s just going to take time.

It’d all been worth it anyway – to see Marcus’ face light up as soon as his eyes had locked onto the Captain America costume. She feels like she’s spent the better part of the month making costumes – dying and sewing and cutting up fabrics, and sure, it’d been exhausting, but somehow not as exhausting as previous years, even with the extra one to make. And god, as weird as it is to think about, she’s pretty sure that that comes down to Rio more than anything else. The second he’d realised he couldn’t talk her out of making them from scratch herself, he’d been more helpful than she thinks even he’d realised – whether that was in organising dinner so she could work on them, or stopping by the craft store, or distracting the kids so she could work, or even just staying up with her, reading on the couch while Beth poured over her sewing machine, taking them both to bed when she stopped making any sense.

“All I’m saying is you could throw something together if you really wanted to come out with us,” Annie says, sucking in her lips when Beth does in instruction, twitching back when Beth paints the make-up hard over her mouth. And Beth knows she shouldn’t be annoyed by this – knows there’s no accusation there, no shame, more just a double check that Beth is really happy for Annie to take the kids trick or treating without her.

It’d become something of a tradition years ago – that Annie would show up and bundle all the kids together and take them out – her endless energy when candy was involved meaning they didn’t turn around until all the kids were dragging their feet, instead of after three or four houses when Beth’s own exhaustion from the lead-up would inevitably start begging her for bed. Annie was forever the Fun Aunt, and Beth was forever - - well, not the Boring Mom, but the Mom Mom. The mom you wanted making costumes, not the one you wanted tagging along to trick or treating and asking if you really needed that extra houseworth of candy, and honestly? Beth was pretty much fine with that.

Anyway, Annie had seemed extra keen this year.

(“With this new neighbourhood?” Annie had said with a scoff when she’d offered. “You know they’re handing out the good stuff, and Sadie deserves every opportunity to gorge on fancy candy as your kids do.”

“Sadie?” Beth asked, arching an eyebrow, and Annie had replied with a shit-eating grin.)

“I’m good,” Beth says now. “Seriously. I have a date with a glass of bourbon, a pizza and whatever spooky movie is playing on TV.”

“You know you don’t have to play Russian Roulette with basic cable anymore, you can actually like, choose your spooky movie now. It’s through this brand-new start-up – I think it’s called - - Netfilm - - no wait, Netflix, I think? Gotta tell you – I think those guys are onto something.”

Beth snorts, getting more make-up / facepaint onto her brush, and opening her mouth to reply, when Emma twirls back into the dining room, her golden dress billowing as she moves. She comes to a stop in front of Annie and Beth, who are sitting opposite each other on the same side of the dining room table – their chairs turned to face each other, the tools of Beth’s day – make-up, sewing kit, hot glue gun, curling iron, sprawled out across the table beside them.

“Mommy, I can’t find my tea set,” she says with a pout. “I want to take Mrs. Potts.”

Emma’s Belle costume from Beauty and the Beast had come together surprisingly well – or not surprising, Beth corrects herself, remembering Ruby’s words earlier that day (“What? Something you made looks amazing? Shocker. You gotta learn to own your talents, B, seriously.”). She’s good at this, after all, and she already had the fabric templates from Emma being Anna from Frozen last year (although Beth had added a few more layers to the Belle skirt to give it volume).

“I think it’s in the playroom, honey,” Beth says, and Emma darts out of the room in a puff of glitter hairspray and gold satin. Turning back to Annie, Beth grabs a small sponge, finds the bruise-purple eyeshadow she’d set aside earlier, only to blink at the look on her sister’s face.

“Okay, so, please remind me why we were robbing grocery stores when you can do that. That costume is - -” Annie kisses her fingers, and Beth grins, batting her hands away from her mouth.

“You’re going to smudge your make-up.”

Which wouldn’t be ideal, Beth thinks, shifting back in her seat. It’d be good to get the kids out of here – Annie’s the last one after all. Beth has already put the finishing touches on Kenny’s Hopper costume from Stranger Things (fake beard and all), Danny’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle one, and Jane’s, which was - - weird, to say the least. Or - - maybe not. The shiny-obsessed crab from Moana feels pretty on brand for her. Hell, she’d even put together Sadie’s - although deciding to go as Karl Marx meant it mostly only entailed getting him a suit which Annie had done, and finding the right wig and faux beard which fell strictly in Beth’s jurisdiction.

At the thought of Sadie, Beth glances out of the dining room, down into the living room, where he’s helping Danny play Jacks (Glenvale Elementary has a Retro Games Club, which is intensely sweet, but also makes Beth feel about a million years old. It’s not like she played Jacks, but she knew what it was.)

She’s pulled from her thoughts by the front door springing open, and she knows who it is from the delighted reactions on the kids’ faces more than anything else. Doesn’t see him though until he steps light-footed through the living room, carrying the seven plastic, pumpkin-head candy buckets and an enormous bag of ghost-shaped candies – each individually wrapped for any trick or treaters they might get tonight. She sighs in relief, mouthing a thank you as Rio spots her, tilting his chin up in acknowledgement. God, she can’t even believe she’d forgotten to pick them up in the stress of finishing the costumes.

Leaning down to fist bump Sadie, then Danny, Rio promptly gives Kenny the pumpkin buckets, directing him to pass them out to the other kids before they head out. Darting over into the dining room, Rio moves easily into Beth’s space, leaning down to give her a quick kiss that makes her blush despite herself, before glancing over at Annie, who’s zombie hillbilly look is almost complete.

“Thought you said your sister was wearin’ a costume?” Rio asks her, forehead furrowed in faux confusion, and Beth bites back a grin, rolls her eyes a little as Annie yanks out her prosthetic teeth to scoff.

“Funny,” Annie says with a snort, scowling over at Rio. “You should take that act on the - - wait. Was that a dad joke?”

Her jaw briefly hangs open, and Rio huffs out a laugh, adjusting his grip on the bag of candy in his arms and heading into the kitchen, away from them. It’s enough to make Annie surge up in her seat, briefly checking the kids aren’t listening before whisper yelling:  

“Don’t give up your day job as violent gangleader, I think your career in comedy is lacking!”

Rio just waves an arm out at her, jogging over to where Marcus and Jane are sprawled out on the kitchen floor, colouring in an enormous haunted house picture Beth had picked up from the PTA. They grin as they see him, and Rio ruffles Marcus’ perfectly quaffed Captain America hair just to make his son gasp, and then immediately starts laughing as he gets his first real look at Jane’s blinged out crab costume. Red cheeked and outraged at Rio’s response, Jane opens her mouth to yell, but then Rio’s swinging her up into his arms, rocking her around, making her cackle like a little lunatic, and just - -

Beth exhales happily, turns back to Annie only to pause.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Annie says, then shrugs, smiling. “Your face. Weirdo.”

“What?” Beth repeats, rubbing at her cheek, like there might be something on it, but she knows whatever Annie saw wasn’t - - well. Beth blushes, dips the sponge back in the bruise coloured eyeshadow and finishes the last one off. “I think I’m done, anyway, so you should probably get the kids out of here.”

“Sure sure,” Annie says knowingly, and when Beth squints at her, she adds: “So you can bone daddy over there.”

“Annie,” Beth groans, a bright flush finding her cheeks as Annie leaps to her feet, grabbing the vanity mirror off the table to check out Beth’s work.

“Not bad, not bad,” Annie says, shoving her prosthetic teeth back in and grinning at Beth in a way that just makes her shake her head, not quite able to hide the affection in her grin. With her messy hair and her pallid skin and her buck teeth and her flannel shirt - - she sort of has the zombie hillbilly look down.

“To the streets, my pretties,” Annie calls, and the kids seem to materialise around her like she’s summoned them, a bustle of energy and attention and joy, and Beth’s grin only falters when Annie leans down and adds: “I’ll text you when we’re on our way back so you can, y’know, hide your shame.”

With that, they’re all out the door and into the bustle of the night.

Beth huffs out a breath, briefly collapsing back into her seat at the dining room table, furiously swiping at her face, the exhaustion of the last few weeks finally catching up to her. Still, it had felt too good, giving them all what they wanted – her four and Marcus and Sadie and Annie too – making them feel so good. She can’t bite back her grin, can’t help but feel the worth in it, even as she leans forwards to start to bundle up her make-up and her craft supplies to pack away.

Only she’s interrupted when Rio suddenly leans over the table in front of her, his body bent as he eyes her off, lips twisted into a soft, barely-there grin. Beth raises an eyebrow at him, her fingers curling around her make-up brush again,

“Sorry, did you want me to do you too?” she asks, brandishing the brush in his face, and Rio rolls his eyes, but grins, pinching the brush from her fingers, grabbing a tissue from her collection to wipe off the last of the make-up. He makes neat, easy work of it and - - right, Beth reminds herself. Sisters.

“You gonna chill now?” he asks her, and it takes Beth a minute to process the words, to lean back in her seat, looking up at him, but then - - she nods, leaning back into her chair at the dining room table, folding her arms over her chest. She looks a little wistfully at the door, that contentedness she’d felt seeing them out of it warming in her belly all over again. But then again - - she wrinkles her nose. 

“At this time of year? Maybe for a week,” she says, her voice dry. “Thanksgiving is just around the corner, after all, and then there’s Christmas, and New Year’s too.”

She’d already found at least four new recipes she wanted to try too – experiments alongside old favourites. The menu for both Thanksgiving and Christmas already half-set in her head.  

“Thanksgivin’, we gonna go to my sister’s place.”

The words are enough to jerk Beth out of her own thoughts, to blink up at Rio, surprise evident in her look, and Rio stares back at her, then away, twirling the make-up brush in his hand.

“Carmen’s always wantin’ to host it, but she’s usually workin’ at the hospital. She got it off this year. Wanted to let her do her thing. Only found out yesterday.”

Beth turns the thought over in her head. It’s not that she’s adverse to it, rather - - she’s just not used to it. Annie’s never wanted to host, and Thanksgiving is the only holiday that Stan’s parents insist on, meaning Beth hasn’t had a Thanksgiving with Ruby since her and Stan were married. And after Dean’s dad died - - well, the expectation was that he’d host it, as the eldest son, and Dean hosting it always meant Beth hosting it, but - - but she’s not married to Dean anymore, she’s with Rio, and all the rules are out the window.

She looks back at Rio, who seems almost a little uncertain, like this wasn’t how he planned on broaching this with her, like maybe he expects a fight, and in the end - -

Well.

“We still have to take something,” Beth says, and Rio’s gaze darts up towards her, filled with a look that he gives her too often – something between amused and annoyed, before it gives way to something that’s just - - just deep and warm, and Beth can’t even begin to explain the feeling it unlocks in her own chest. But then Rio’s flicking the tip of her nose with the end of her make-up brush, and Beth rolls her eyes, going to grab it off him, but he holds it steadily out of her grip.

“I’m givin’ you a cap then, mami. One dessert, one side.”

“There are seven of us,” Beth counters easily. “Plus, Annie’ll need to come, so eight – maybe even nine if she has Sadie too.”

“Then Annie can go buy that nasty ass pasta salad she always does and bring that too.”

“Your son loves that nasty ass pasta salad.”

“He does, and if you don’t think I hold that against your sister, you kiddin’ yourself, darlin’.”

And Beth just laughs, wrinkling her nose, because the pasta salad really is awful, so she figures it’s fair, and her reaction is enough to make Rio boop her nose again with her make-up brush.

“One dessert, one side,” he repeats, dropping the brush back into her make-up bag before flicking off her hot glue gun and her curling iron. “That’s an order.”

And - - well, Beth arches an eyebrow at that, folding back into her seat, staring up at him, still mostly amused.

“An order?”

“Mmm,” he hums, pushing her crafting gear and make-up palettes aside before planting his ass on the table in front of her, kicking his legs out briefly like she’s seen Marcus do, before he’s knitting his hands together in front of him, dipping his head. “It’s a thing bosses do, yeah? Delegatin’. I know you’re allergic to it or somethin’, but - -”

“Last I checked, you weren’t the boss of me,” Beth interrupts, tone a lot less amused now, and Rio just laughs, the sound easy and lyrical in a way that makes her heart leap and also tells her that he fundamentally disagrees with that statement, and Beth rolls her eyes, opening her mouth to tell him all the ways he isn’t, when Rio smacks his hands down on his knees and looks over at her.

“So in all this craftin’ and knittin’ and stitchin’, you get yourself a costume?”

And just - - what? Beth blinks, head reeling back as she eyes Rio off. They’d had only the briefest conversations about Halloween – one that mostly revolved around the kids, or Annie (hell, she’d been surprised by the visible pleasure he’d taken in the prospect of Annie taking Marcus as a part of the Boland kid tradition, but then - - Marcus seems a little more enamoured with Annie than she thinks Rio’s realised). Still, she’d figured it wasn’t really his thing, and she’d been glad for it, particularly since Dean had always insisted on the goofiest, most embarrassing ways of celebrating it.

“I don’t really do costumes,” she says slowly, and Rio arches an eyebrow at her, before pointedly looking behind himself at the stacks of fabric offcuts and the make-up and her sewing kit.

“I mean, for me,” she replies. “Honestly, I just always run out of time, and I can’t exactly just run out and buy something. Nothing ever fits.”

He lowers his gaze to her chest then, reaches out, hooks a finger in the top of her blouse in a way that makes her breath catch. He tilts his head from side-to-side, considering.

“Worse things than a shirt that don’t fit.”

And well – that’s enough to make Beth laugh out loud, her hand finding his wrist, pushing it out of her top.

“I’m not talking about sexy, tight things, I mean like - - buttons that won’t do up and like - - too much fabric in places, and not enough in others and - - okay, you are not hearing me at all.”

Because he’s not, if the hot, amused look on his face is anything to go by, and it figures, she thinks. Guys really don’t get the intricacies of how much women’s clothing has never seen a woman’s body. She hits his leg, and he laughs, head back, and her gaze travels his throat, the long line of his neck, and she really must be tired because all she can think about is how much she wants to lick it.

She shakes her head, cringing a little at herself, before she looks away from him, out across the dining room, towards the kitchen, where Jane and Marcus’ colouring in is still sprawled out across the floor.

“Did you want to dress up?” she asks Rio tentatively, because maybe he does, maybe she assumed too much, but then he barks on a laugh, and Beth jerks her head back around to look at him, wrinkled nose and all.

“Fuck no.”

“You just said - -”

“Wanna see you in a costume. Well,” he laughs hoarsely in a way that pools hot and low in her. “Want to get you into one to get you outta one.”

He hums a little, considering, and it really is incredible, she thinks, a little hysterically, how easily he seems to be able to undress her in every sense of the word.

“Nurse Elizabeth,” he drawls. “You could give me a bath.”

And god - - that pulls her out of any reverie. She knows him sick now, knows him fevered, knows exactly the kind of patient he is, and just - -  

“You would hate that,” Beth says, laughing, and he huffs out a breath, but agrees all the same.

“Hmm,” he tries instead. “Maybe a witch then, huh? Or a librarian?”

Beth snorts, looking up at him, and immediately regretting it. There’s a heat in his look that she’s too used to – but - - there’s something else too, something she can’t place, something that runs deeper, and she shifts a little in her seat, electricity bolting from her knee when he knocks it with his calf.

“Mermaid or some shit.”

“You are not creative with costumes,” she says, trying to lower her temperature, and Rio hums in agreement. The next thing she knows, he’s tugging her up by the arm, and Beth lets herself be tugged, lets him move her between his legs, lets him brush her hair back, lets him unbutton her blouse to her belly button, pull it open enough to press a kiss against the top of her chest.

“Panty model,” he decides, and Beth scoffs – a sound which quickly turns into a gasp when Rio bites the curve of her breast. “Centrefold.”

“You’d hate that too,” she breathes, and Rio laughs.

“Mmm, don’t want nobody else lookin’ at you,” he agrees, and Beth shivers when his hands slip around her back, unhooking her bra with a practiced ease. “Then shit, it’s just pretend, ain’t it? We ain’t us.”

“I like being us though,” Beth breathes, and Rio exhales against her breast.

“Me too, ma. Don’t mean I don’t want to see you in some sea shell bra though, huh?”

And that’s enough to make Beth laugh, to rock against him as he unbuttons her shirt the rest of the way, slips it off her shoulders, and pulls off her bra. He makes a sound in his throat which is just - - so pleased, and it makes Beth keen before she even realises she’s doing it, makes her breathless, makes her shift a little closer, and then he’s sucking a hickey into her breast, his hands groping at her ass, pulling her closer - - so close that his half-hard cock digs into her lower belly, and her own nails are scratching through his short hair, her panties soaking, and god, she thinks, this isn’t fair, how quickly they get here, how much this - -

A yelp suddenly pulls her from her thoughts, and Beth’s head jerks around to find Annie standing in the doorway, her eyes wide and her lips broken into a sort of mortified grin. Beth jerks backwards, covering herself, before changing her mind and throwing herself at Rio instead, poking her head up over his shoulder, using him as a human shield.

“Is this a haunted house, because this is certainly straight out of my nightmares,” Annie says, with a half laugh, and Beth scowls at her.

“What are you doing back here?!” she hisses, and Annie rolls her eyes, striding into the living room and plucking an orange pumpkin bucket off the coffee table.

“Relax, sis, I just forgot my candy collector, not to be confused with your vagina, or like - - gangfriend’s mouth right now, apparently.”

“Annie.”

“I’m going, I’m going, jeez, I thought you were supposed to lighten up when you were getting some on the regular.”

“Ain’t you babysittin’?” Rio asks sharply, hand at Beth’s back, pulling her safely into his chest, and Annie huffs out a breath.

“Yes, sir, I have briefly tagged Sadie in, but I’m going straight back. Right now, in fact. So. Anyway, enjoy your - - this.”

Annie steps back, and Beth glances up at her, her blush only deepening when Annie offers her a pointed thumbs up before disappearing back out the front door. Briefly, Beth hears the chatter of her children, of Marcus and Sadie too – buzzing with excitement still for the night and just - -  

“Oh my god,” Beth says with a groan, burying her face back in Rio’s shoulder, feeling him shift beneath her, before suddenly leaning back, heaving her up off her feet, on top of him on the table.

“Don’t stress,” he tells her, settling her weight on top of him, his fingers gliding over her thighs, briefly squeezing her ass, and Beth just laughs emptily, cringing, because god, Annie will never forget this, and there’s no way she won’t immediately tell Ruby - - hell, she’s probably already texted her.

“I - -”

“No,” Rio says beneath her, kissing her. “Nuh-uh.”

He kisses her again, longer this time, harder, and when it breaks, Beth blinks down at him, her cheeks still flushed, his hand warm now on her back.

“I will stress about it after.”

“I know,” Rio tells her, letting her push up off his chest, folding her arms across her own as she straddles him lightly.

“I can never sit with Annie at this table again.”  

“Don’t think about it too much.”

“I  - - ”  

“Elizabeth.”

Beth stops, looks down at him – at the length of him, his handsome face, his tapered torso. Her blush briefly deepens, the heat in her resparking.  

“We got maybe an hour and a half til they get back.”

She blinks, surprised, almost flails an arm out to gesture but then remembers that her arms are the only things covering her (and god – her hands are still so fucking blue). She shakes her head instead.  

“That’s a lot of time.”

Making a noise in the back of his throat like he disagrees, Rio lowers his hands, settling them on her hips. He nudges up against her, his cock shifting against her cunt through both their jeans, and really - - it shouldn’t be legal – how much she wants him.

“You ain’t got no costume,” he drawls after a moment. “But you can try me on if you want.”

And well - - that’s enough to make Beth snort. She looks down at him, wrinkling her nose, and Rio just gives her a shit eating grin in reply.

“That was bad,” she tells him, and he hums in agreement, before surging up and closing the distance between them.

“Yeah, but shit, ma. Works for us.”

And well, she thinks, pressing her lips hard against his.

He’s not wrong.

[supes9]

I was tagged by @ravenwald roughly, oh, I think it was about five years ago (I’m moving so very slowly over here, haha!) and then by @nygmobbleblog as well! Thank you Raven and Monty! : )

5 things you’ll find in my bag: 

- My keys which include an Eiffel Tower keychain my best friend got for me during her trip to Paris back in the day, and a cute little Cyclops from X-Men keychain : )

- My Supergirl wallet

- Some chapsticks and lip glosses

- A bunch of flashdrives that are constantly being dragged back and forth to work and home

- Some rings and necklace chains and charms that I’ve apparently decided should stay in my purse instead of my jewelry box. ; ) Every now and then I’ll put some jewelry on at work, but most of the time it’s all just stashed away in there.

5 things you’ll find in my bedroom: 

 - Well, let’s start with the piece that really ties the whole room together... my big sitting chair complete with many of my clothes sprawled all over it. No matter how many times I clear everything off of it, it’s only a matter of days until I’m just back in the same predicament, so... whatever. ; )

- Some various Superman wall art and one of my superhero paintings I had done as a high school senior project with my best friend. My two canvases have superheroes, hers have the villains!

- My desk that’s rarely ever used (thought I’d do editing there for whenever I’m working at home, but I prefer to stay in the living room or kitchen around the rest of the family), but it also has some shelving that holds many of my superhero related books and comics, including my DC and Marvel encyclopedias. : )

-   A set of drawer compartments that store art and craft items, like fabrics and threads for sewing (although it’s been forever since I’ve done any sewing), and old sketchbooks, colored pencils, markers, materials for my Silhouette cutting machine, things of this nature...

- I have a chai latte candle that I feel needs to be mentioned because it smells so good. It’s so nice when I have more time to just chill in my room and have that burning, very comforting. : )

5 things that make me happy: 

- Spending time with family and friends. Always the best! : )

- Branching off from the first one, I’m happy when I get to talk with either of my two closest friends on the phone. The one lives on the other side of the country now, but we usually get to chat with each other once every week or two. My other best friend is in New York, which isn’t very far from me, but we haven’t seen each other for a few years now. We don’t get to talk on the phone as frequently, but a few weeks back I called her and we talked for (we’re pretty sure a record-breaking) five hours, catching up and laughing about all kinds of random stuff!

- My sister’s cats always bring me great joy! She got a little crazy and has five of them, but they are all super cute and very sweet! I love snuggling with them when I visit. : )

- When I have the time, I like baking, especially cupcakes! I like to make ones that have a filling inside for extra yumminess, lol! One of my favorites that I made a few years back are the strawberry lemonade cupcakes that have strawberry icing and a lemonade filling!

- I have fun creating gifsets to contribute to the Gotham/Nygmobblepot fandom, as well as editing together fanvids, but I haven’t had a lot of free time for that. There are several Nygmobblepot videos that I’ve started and have yet to finish... whenever I want to continue editing any of them before bed on a weeknight, it ends up being too late and I’m just ready to fall asleep at that point... lol

5 things I’m currently into: 

- Well, Gotham and Nygmobblepot of course. ; )

-  As far as other shows go, I still watch The Flash, and I love The Gifted (a shoutout to Farah for recommending that one to me - thank you, darling!) and The Good Doctor, which just, leaves you an emotional wreck after each episode (Lee knows what I’m talking about!) but it’s a really good show.

- Also watched Stranger Things with my brother a couple of months ago, and I’ve really enjoyed that as well. We binge-watched its two seasons within like three days, and now I’m just waiting for the third season...

- I’m still into watching classic movies and finding new ones through TCM. I especially like ones that include any of my main men, like Gregory Peck, Jimmy Stewart, Glenn Ford and Robert Montgomery. Love ‘em. ; )

- Since our football team (Philadelphia Eagles) have somehow been continuing to stay alive this season, I’m all for watching the games every weekend with the family. I mean, we do that anyway, but now we’re in the championship game that will lead us to the Super Bowl if they win tonight, which would be pretty exciting! Not sure if they can pull it off, but we shall see! The main thing is that the games are just always fun to watch with the family. : )

I think just about everyone has been tagged for this and already done it, but, I’ll tag some of you lovelies anyway, lol! @mymycorrhizae, @ponchik-mops-superpes, @riddlerbird, and @thenerdiestmanalive 

[mzungu-in-tanzania-blog]

Karibu Tanzania: claim to fame, cockroaches and Zanzibar

Habari za jioni marafiki! Or: good evening friends!

So much has happened in the past weeks, I don’t know where to start! Some days it feels like time is flying, other days pass really slowly. But all in all, now that I’ve managed to meet more people, life has become way more fun! In this blog I’ll tell you a bit more about my work and the Tanzanian society (with emphasis on Tanzánian), some trips I’ve made and life in Dar. 

To start off with some good news: I finally got my residence permit today. Since last Thursday I was residing in the country illegally, so this was a relief. However, when they gave the permit, something went ‘wrong’: instead of giving me a permit for six months, I am now allowed to stay for two years! It was too much hassle for them to change it, haha. Quite ironic, since many foreigners have to leave because they aren’t allowed a permit, but guess which intern did..! Also very nicely, it is written that ‘my wife and children’ are not allowed to be employed. You of course all know that only male expats are allowed in this emancipated country… ;)

Things at the embassy are going very well and I am enjoying (nearly) every day. On the one hand I feel like I have figured out a lot already about how everything works, on the other hand half of the time I still don’t understand the conversations going on during lunch. But I am getting there! So in my daily work, I have a few set tasks: handling the applications for small development projects, updating the website and facebook (like like please!) and writing a concise report of the weekly policy staff meeting (which was cancelled for my first five weeks or so, but oh well). Besides that, I take up anything that comes along: I’ve attended two UNHCR meetings about the situation in Burundi and have written reports about it, I am working on a project for Mauritius, I went to a conference about the circular economy (finally something about sustainability!), and so on. By the way, did you know that Tanzania hosts some of the largest refugee camps in the world, where over 240,000 refugees from Burundi stay? Mind-blowing, isn’t it.

In general, I just try to attend interesting meetings when- and wherever I can. For example, I went to this huge health conference organised in the Hyatt hotel, where the former president Mr Jakaya Kikwete was the keynote speaker. Obviously, he was late and consequently the program was completely messed up. When he walked in, everyone got up and started clapping and cheering, after which he gave a speech for over an hour! Even though I might not have completely grasped the importance of this celebrity moment, the Tanzanians were véry excited. Luckily for me, he spoke in English – I’ve already been to a few events which are announced in English but turn out to be in Swahili, so I just try to look attentive and interested. ;) A few weeks ago, we went to the launch of a project by a local NGO, called Children Dignity Forum, to end child marriages in a district here in Dar es Salaam. Since the Embassy is a partner, our Deputy Ambassador also spoke a few words, but the other two hours were in Swahili. But there it was, my claim to fame: the next day I saw myself on tv (trying to seem like I was paying attention, haha)! I’ve also already encountered myself in the newspaper, so soon I won’t be able to walk around here anymore. Which I am not anyway, so in that sense nothing will change. And then there are the meetings with diplomats from different embassies, often EU, about politics, economics or development work. I am learning more and more about politics and economics here, and it turns out to be incredibly complicated. I don’t think I have ever tried so hard to understand a country and a society at such a profound level, when I compare it to the previous times I spent abroad as a student or volunteer. But I am really enjoying trying to get a real grasp on everything, even though it is quite the challenge. The Embassy also organised an event for almost a hundred Tanzanians who are going study in the Netherlands for a couple of months or a year, with support of the Netherlands Fellowship Programme. It was hosted at one of the expat’s houses, with speeches, information sessions and drinks, and it was really nice to meet all these excited and nervous students-to-be (picture: Joel Labadie). Oh, and rather important: our ambassador has left! We had a lovely potluck lunch to say goodbye, and our new ambassador just arrived last week.

Now, what about the fun stuff? In my first weekend I went to Kariakoo market with some people from the embassy. This is the biggest market in Dar es Salaam, and like any big African market, which is always fun to me: dark, busy alleys where you can buy anything you can dream of: from dried fish to sewing machines, from baobab seeds to any household item, or beautiful fabrics for a dress. Or what about a cool pair of jeans from Abrecromby & Ftich? It turned out to be a really huge market, including a ‘secret’ underground part. We didn’t bring any valuables to avoid theft, but everyone was very friendly, and we were often welcomed to Tanzania. People say that here very often (‘karibu’, which must be the word used most often in Tanzania!), and I find it so incredibly nice: imagine you would welcome a random stranger to the Netherlands! So after two quiet weekends, my life became a bit more social! I ran into a Canadian woman on the street – immediately pounced on her with my phone number (desperate times require desperate measures!), and now I went out a couple of times for dinner with her and her, so that was really nice. Going out for dinner is rather funny, because here in the expat neighbourhood there are a lot of good restaurants, where the waiters try to be very (overly) courteous. This means on average they come to check on you 10 times per meal, including the manager himself. Quite the contrast with the outside world! I also tracked down a couple of other interns, by stalking their embassy staff for their phone numbers, so I went out with them for drinks and dinner. Many of them will be leaving soon again, so I guess making and keeping your friends is a constant challenge here, but for now it’s been really pleasant. And then I rolled into this group of Nordic interns: Swedes, Danes, Norwegians, and we are meeting up regularly and it’s a lot of fun. We finally discovered a beach close by which is quiet and peaceful, meaning we can just go there and swim and tan without being the main attraction! I also went to an evening organised by an art centre, where four local bands performed. The audience was a mixture of foreigners and locals, and everyone was dancing, and it was amazing to watch all the dance moves. That evening was the first time that I had my ‘this is why I love being in Africa’ feeling back. 

Aaand we also went to this little paradise which is only 17 km away from here (but takes 1.5 hours to get there, haha): Kipepeo. Here you find a huge beach, in a crescent-shaped bay, which is so beautiful and peaceful and quiet that it makes you feel like you’re really away from the city. This weekend I stayed overnight, in a lovely thatched roof cottage right on the beach. On Friday and Saturday it was a national holiday, Eid El Haj (sacrifice feast), so the beach was completely packed with people wearing their most beautiful outfits. It is funny to observe people on the beach here: they don’t lie in the sun like we do, but just stroll around, sit down (obviously fully dressed), while the kids jump around in the ocean. Almost no one knows how to swim though, so I can imagine this goes wrong from time to time… But at least everyone is having great fun. Oh, and they also love wearing twin outfits: you’ll often see two friends/sisters/mother and daughter in exactly the same dress.

Then about my biggest trip so far: a couple of weeks ago I went to Zanzibar for the weekend. It takes only two hours by ferry from Dar, so this is ideal to really explore the island. On Zanzibar I would meet up with Mahtab, a girl from high school. We hadn’t seen each other for six years, but since she was staying there with a group of Belgians after a medical student conference, I could tag along! I took the ferry after work, struggling my way through the chaos and confusion at the port, where everyone wants something from you and is constantly pulling your sleeve and your bags and is offering help which is of course never for free. You just have to stand your ground, I guess. I embarked on the ferry, which is surprisingly modern, and managed to not get sick so that was something! After it had taken me an hour to find my taxi driver in Stonetown, a fun guy named Yussuf (or Mr. Datch) who spoke so little English that I learned a lot of Swahili, we drove for 1.5 hours up north towards the tip of the island, to a small town called Nungwi. On the way there we were stopped three times by police men, looking for some small bribe money, although one time we managed to get rid of them by giving lychees. ;) These moments do make you realise you really are in Africa, no matter how nice your holiday may be. That again happened when I arrived at the hotel: they were ‘overbooked’, I had to go somewhere else which in terms of quality did not even get close to the hotel I originally booked, and I had to complain for ages before I got a 10 dollar discount (woohoo). I don’t mean to say that I didn’t have a lovely weekend, but it just reminded me of all the times in Ghana or wherever that hotel owners deceived us and all the endless discussions you need to have, and that going for a trip here is always a tad more difficult than it would be in Europe for example. Anyway, Nungwi turned out to be a tourist paradise with snow white beaches and a turquoise sea. Although I think tourism had spoiled the place a bit (it took an hour to get a drink, beach boys all over the place), I really enjoyed just going to the beach and relaxing. It made me realise how good it was to finally be out of the city, away from all the noise and traffic. We did a bit of dancing in the evening on the beach, swam in the really warm ocean and enjoyed the view of dhows (traditional sailing boats). Beach boys tried to make moves on us, and while it was quite entertaining to see how several older women immediately fell for this while the hypocrisy was just dripping off, it was sad at the same time. There were also a lot of Maasai beach boys walking around, but many of them are fake Maasai exploiting the situation, which of course doesn’t add to the appreciation and acceptance of their real culture. Still, it can’t be a fun job, walking around on the beach all day, begging tourists for their attention, of which half waves you away like a fly. Then there are also the countless beach sellers, who try to convince you into buying necklaces, coconuts, massages, day trips, sunglasses… In that sense the beach always evokes mixed feelings for me, because while all the mzungus are having a good time, the contrast with these people who just walk up and down all day long in the burning sun, making almost no money, is so big and confrontational. It is really easy to forget about all this on your bounty beach and just ignore them, but the reality is that we are in a very poor country where a lot of people struggle to make a living. And then suddenly the beach may feel a bit less nice. Nevertheless, I do want to stress that I really enjoyed Zanzibar and seeing Mahtab!

Finally, a few funny and peculiar things about life in Tanzania. For one, let me tell you about the Uber drivers. Since a few months, the Uber app has settled here, which is really great since I use it nearly every day and it’s cheaper than taxis. But it, of course, doesn’t work the way we are used to. The drivers almost never immediately come to you: I always have to call them, or they call me, to ask where I am. Which one would assume, they can see on the map. But I get the feeling that people really don’t know how to read maps here, since they keep staring in a confused way at Google Maps and then drive the wrong way, haha. Sometimes I also call them and they’ll tell me they’re actually not coming, because it is too far, or their car is broken, or they just don’t feel like it… Last week, I got cancelled five times in a row! And once, it took ages for this one driver to pick me up, so I asked what was going on: turned out he was still at home, sleeping, but had already logged on… Funny stories to tell in the evening, but not so much at 6:30 AM… ;) But now, I have the same driver every morning, Kisoro, who is friendly and reliable so that saves some early morning frustration. Then there are the cockroaches. In general, I am very lucky with my apartment compared to my previous experiences in Africa. For one, there’s almost always electricity and water (except last week, when I was in the shower and I had of course just put shampoo all over my hair… Water ran out!). A few weeks ago, however, I spotted the first cockroach in my bathroom. Most bathrooms in Tanzania are infested with them, so I guess I’m pretty lucky, but still they are very big so I freaked out a little. I trapped it under a bucket and went to get my housemate, but he let it escape and tried to drown it. Turns out, after a little Google research (tip: NEVER google pictures of cockroaches), that they truly are super animals: they can live without food for a month, without water for a week, can hold their breath under water for half an hour (no wonder we didn’t get it to drown), and if you squash them (which I do) you spread their eggs: clever! So if North-Korea does decide to use a nuclear bomb, we can be sure the cockroach survives. Oh and what’s also an experience is going to the cinema here. I went there with the husband of my boss, since she was in the Netherlands, to a film that was a mixture of an English drama and a Bollywood movie. When we walked in, they were playing commercials at war volume – I was seriously wishing I had brought earplugs. But when the movie started, they turned the volume down so much no one could hear anything! You would say there’s a person sitting there with one task…but no, haha. So my movie buddy dashed outside, yelled at someone, and the volume went back to normal. Then as soon as the last sentence was said, the lights went on, cleaners ran in, and the screen was turned off, haha. We don’t watch the subtitles here or let the movie sink in a bit, I suppose. Finally, even though it’s the dry season, it does sometimes rain. And when it rains, it’s pouring down, and immediately the entire city falls into chaos: no one seems to know how to drive anymore, traffic jams double or triple in time, everyone starts honking. On one of these days, it turned out the Egyptian president was in town, which means the police blocks half of the city centre for hours, and no one can go anywhere anymore. If you’ll wait long enough, a huge entourage of cars and soldiers will pass by at high speed with blaring sirens, and that’s it. Whenever the president moves around town, this happens, so the big shots cause quite a bit of traffic. Some interesting dishes that I encountered: chips mayai (omelette with fries) and fluorescent yoghurt!

So, that’s enough I guess! I’m already busy writing my next blog, because I really really have to tell you about the trade mission I was allowed to join (yes so cool!), and I also very much have to tell you more about the situation in Tanzania. But for now, I thank you for reaching the end of this story, and I’ll update you soon again!

Love, Julie