#then I was starting to speak Spanish with my mom and pedro because we were comparing it to Portuguese (my auntie is from there and so is her

[machiavellli]

had another weird (but kinda funny dream) and I want to document it again so that i don’t forget it

[browneyes-issac]

Memphis pt 6: My protector

Frankie Morales x f!reader

Warnings: fluffy cuteness. Protective Frankie. Asshole family. Mention of addiction,non descriptive, just mentioned. Make out sessionnnn!!! I think that's it. If I missed anything, please fell free to shoot me a DM or ask. 💞

AN: Ok so in July I had to go to a family thing. I have never known why but when I'm at family things, I am always hiding next to my mom and anytime I try to speak or be included in conversations.. I am always ignored. So this time around, I was really irritated with my aunt and some of her family that came over ( she's my adoptive aunt, btw.) So I instantly thought, I really wish I had Frankie or one of the Pedro boys here to comfort me, etc. So I started this series. 💞 As I say in the last paragraph in this, I'll explain what I changed, etc for the story a bit in my second AN.

I don't remember if there is an actual name for his kid in the movie.. Soooo we are naming her Nola.

Just like I've been doing I left some parts open for you to imagine what happens next. 💞

There is a part where I talked about Frankie, I went into a lot of detail because it looked sooo cute in my head sooo I wanted to get all the details for ya.. 🤣💞

Ok so.. This is my first time using dividers, Idk the appropriate amount to use/when the use them.. 😆 So I just decided to do them when the scene changes. I hope it'll make sense how I did it, lol. 🤗💞

Ok so the big part... I changed it around like 96%. There is some stuff that actually happened ( I'll put it in my after reading AN) and then I added in stuff that I think would have happened if I actually had my own Frankie there, meaning a boyfriend that is two + decades older then me. Will add something else to the end AN about a part in it, also. 💞

I decided not to have anyone read through this.. Just throwing it in the universe and running away. 💞🏃💨 too nervous about this part.. 🙈😆

Some keynotes/translations:

When there is words in this font and have (") it is internal thoughts. When it is the font by itself it's me describing what the setting looks like, more in depth of what's going in their head, stuff like that. ���

All translation is from Spanish. I just went to Google and asked what it was in Spanish, lol. If I got it wrong shot me an ask or a DM. 🤗

Mi Cielito - my darling

hermosa - beautiful

cariño - sweetheart

Summary: Frankie gets to meet your family.

Inspo of the gif ~ this the best I could find that captures how he looks in my head during the part in this where he's saving the day for reader.

( being very blunt and no context at all with that I know... But it'll make sense after you read. 💞 )

Memphis masterlist

Main masterlist

Around three months of you guys being together you guys decided randomly that you both were ready to tell each other the reasons you moved to Memphis.

It just came up out of the blue one day, but both of you trust each other unconditionally and feel safe sharing that kind of stuff about yourselves.

~

You go first.

Frankie listens so patiently. You still don't understand how he does it with how bad you ramble, but that makes you love him even more.

He asks questions here and there. Gets defensive at times also. Just like you, he doesn't understand why family members have to be such assholes.

But in the end he is so understanding of everything. Why you think its annoying people when you ramble. He thinks it's endlessly adorable. Why you are very shy around anyone, especially the boys. Which you're getting better at feeling more comfortable. Frankie told them why one day while he was out with them, you're ok with it, because you know he'll always protect you and the boys would never do anything to hurt you. Among other things. He always takes his time with you in any aspect of anything, makes sure you're doing ok, etc.

Frankie's turn

You are kinda shocked.

He had told you about his daughter, Nola like the second week of dating because he had to go out of town to visit her.

But the addiction shocked you, only because he is such a sweetheart and you would never had thought he had one in the past.

You absolutely don't look at him different. He's still your sweet goofy Frankie.

He was so so nervous while he was telling you and more so after he finished. Because you had a neutral facial expression and you took a little while to answer him..

But of course you reassured him that he was safe and always will be safe with you. That he can talk to you about anything that bothers him and when he is having urgers to relapse.

You and Frankie have been together for about six months now. You're practically living at his house now. The job at the vintage store is going amazing, you're already manager. Best thing you ever did was move to Memphis. It's been absolutely fantastic and everything. Still have to make plans to go to Graceland though, cost a lot so got to save up ; but you aren't in a rush to get there.

One day you get an a Facebook invitation to an event. It's for your aunt's birthday. Yours is 10 days before hers, but ya know she has to be the most important thing during the month, so yours always gets over looked unless it's a big number. So youve always held a grudge against her for that, always kept to yourself because you don't want to cause a fight.

You're sitting on the couch reading what it is. You instantly groan in irritation while pinching the bridge of your nose.

" mi cielito, is everything ok? " Frankie says as he's walking into the living room with your snacks and drinks for the movie night you're having.

It has became a tradition for you two. Every Friday you have a movie night. Get all the goodies and pick out a few movies for the night.

Tonight it is Over the Top, Dirty Dancing, Top gun.

" yeah I guess. Just family crap.. Let's watch the movies, I don't wanna talk about it. " you say with a smile that isn't very reassuring, Frankie can instantly tell something is up and it's bothering you.

" you know you can always talk to me mi amor. Always gonna be safe with me. Will have to be a lotttt to me to run away screaming. " he says with that precious smile that melts your heart because he is saying hes here for you always just with his facial expression. And while he's caressing your legs that you draped over his lap once he sat down, then leans over and kisses your cheek and forehead, then sneaks a little peck to your lips.

" you're so lucky I love you. " You say while smiling that smile that is only held for Frankie. Then you playfully hit him with a pillow.

You show him your phone. He let's out a little huff because he knows how much your family irritates you. You tell him all about her because she hasn't ever came up in your discussions about family.. He is flabbergasted that she acts like such a child and she's twice your age. Most definitely is on your side and dislikes her just as much as you do.

" no way I'm letting you go to that by yourself. I'm coming with you. Itll be fun to see your hometown. " he says with such a warm smile then it fades into a teasing one in the second part. Because ya know he's a brat.

You just look at him in shock... He almost gets worried because you haven't said anything but then you leap forward and kiss and hug him.

" what is this for, hermosa? " he says while cuddling up closer to you as you crawl into his lap to be even closer.

I just.. I love you so much. I seriously don't know what the hell I did to deserve you. You are always so sweet and amazing to me. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a dream because it feels so beautiful and I don't even know a word, just so perfect. " you say while tearing up a bit because it's just so crazy but magical that you have Frankie.

He pulls you closer and kisses your tears away then says; " I feel the same way all the time. You're way out of my league, soooo damn gorgeous, wayyyy to good to me. But you're stuck with me cariño, as long as you'll have me. "

~

You guys make plans to go; get work off, you decide to take your car since we know it can make the trip already, get all the things you need packed, book a hotel, get your aunt a present. ( even though she doesn't deserve one)

It's finally time to go.

You're pretty excited for the trip. It's your first long trip with Frankie so you're excited for more fun and goofy stuff on the way. Maybe some spicy stuff since it's a twenty hour drive. 😏

But there is a good amount of nervousness. You're worried your family won't like Frankie or approve of him. Since he is twenty-four years older then you. There is a little bit of hope they won't be too flabbergasted by it, you have always liked and had crushes on older men; so maybe you won't have to worry about it...

Then there is this thing... You haven't told any family about him.. Youve mentioned you're seeing someone, just no details or pictures. The reason so is, because ya just know someone is gonna have an opinion about the age gap or that you jumped into a relationship so quickly after moving to Memphis, there is endlessly possibilities. Sooo you just kept it to yourself so nothing can ruin the amazingness.

You get to town finally. The nerves are in full swing now. It ended up being your turn to drive when it got to last bit. Which is ok since its your home town. And... It's an excuse to see Frankie sleeping.

~

He is the most adorable sleeper. Since he was in the military, he is able to sleep anywhere; since the sleeping places were always so uncomfortable. So in other words he passes out completely anywhere and in any position.

Your favorite ones, always have to take a picture to save the moment. You make a mental note that at some point you want to make a collage of them.

~

Of course this time it's a picture perfect one. Still buckled up. ( gotta stay safe of course) He has the seat leaned all the way back. Stole your comfort travel pillow without you even realizing it and is cuddling with it. Little did you know he grabbed it to sleep with because it smells like you which brings him comfort, and it is sooooo comfy and floofy. And his hat is pushed down all the way to his nose to hide away the sun. But now it's pushed up all goofy like because he's cuddled deeper into your pillow.

You pull over on the side of the highway right out of town to wake him up so he can have the full experience, lol.

You take the picture with the biggest smile on your face from seeing him look so adorable. Your heart always swells 1000x bigger because you love him more then words and can never get over how nice and sweet he is to you.

Then you lean over to take off his hat. Smoothly and sweetly caresse his hair out of his face. Give some sweet delicate kisses to slowly wake him up. When youre done giving him kisses you lightly rock him to wake him up while saying; " sweetie we are here outside of town. Do you want to wake up so you can see? "

He cuddles into your touch while lovingly humming at your warm comforting touch. " hmmm. Sure, hermosa. He yawns and stretches some. That was the best nap I've ever had in a car before. " he says while chuckling and fulling sitting up.

After he is sat up and back to a comfortable position in the seat he leans over and gives you a kiss. It's sweet and delicate at first then turns a little steamy.

He hums at how your lips feel and how they always feel like heaven, even after being with you for six months he still isn't used to them.

Then he slowly moves his hand to your neck to craddle your neck and lower cheek. You instantly put one hand in his curls ( can never get enough of them). And the other hand goes to his torso and caresse all over. You of course let him in when he ask to enter your mouth. Instantly releasing a mixture of a moan and whimper at how amazing and skilled he is with his tongue. Never get tired of that, he's such an evil god at using it.

That goes on for about five minutes or longer, it feels like forever. It always does because you both are alwaysss so focused on each other and in love.

" ok as much as I want to keep doing this, especially after the long drive.. We really need to get settled in at the hotel. Then we can go explore wherever you want my love. " you say slightly out of breath. As you say the exploring part you playfully pinch his nose and smile a bit. Because you know he's dying to see your hometown.

You run through the basics of showing him around. He asks questions here and there. After you're done you ask him if he wants to see anywhere in particular. Thinks for a second then adorably says your favorite get away when you needed to do so. You get choked up a little bit at that, because it is one of the things you love about Frankie, he always asks such deep but meaningful questions that make you fall for him even more. You agree to show him.

" now don't make fun of me because of the odd randomness of it. " You tell him as you're pulling up to a cemetery. You nervously giggle while saying it.

" mi cielito, is this where you kill me?? " he says in a joking worrisome voice while dramatically ( but adorably) clutching his heart.

" oh totally, sweetness. I got a spot and everything for ya. " you say while wiggling your eye brows all goofy and then winking.

After that you both burst into a laughing fit. Yeah it's an odd place but it makes sense after you tell him why.

" I've always loved being in nature and have been fascinating about cemetery things. Like the badass headstones people get, the different resting places you can choose to be laid, the creepy but cool ways Hollywood showed them. All kinds of things. One day I went to visit a family friend at this cemetery, I hadn't seen his headstone in person yet. When I was walking away I noticed how crappy the grass looked, two metal ones sinking into the ground, and how many things just looked sad. So I decided to see what was required to become a groundskeeper here and I did all the requirements, and became one when I was 18. There is something so soothing about doing grounds work and taking care of these people, so I always felt at peace here. Even before I started working here, I always came to walk around saying hellos to all the groups I passed and when I had the time I would always go and get flowers for everyone in the cemetery. Because ya never know who doesn't get visitors, so I always wanted to be nice and give them something sweet, I still did it even working there. You probably think I'm crazy but it's true I always feel so peaceful here no matter what... " you tell him after you have parked at the groundskeeper house.

He just sits there listening to you so intently and lovingly. You think you've just word vomited the most you've ever done to him, and think he's gonna be weirded out. Little did you know he thought it was the sweetest thing ever and loved you had something so unique for yourself to have a safe place.

He grabes your hands from your lap where you're nervously fiddling with them and says; I don't think you're crazy at all, cariño. Yes it's different but it is beautiful in its own way. You helped the place look more colorful and comforting. I bet if we could talk to the residents here they would say such wonderful things about you mi amor. " he then leans over to give you a reassuring kiss on the cheeks, nose, and then your lips.

You smile into the kiss and let a tear run down your cheek from feeling so loved and everything from this angel of a man..

It's time to go the party.

As you walk into the house, its already a little crowed. You forgot how much crap your aunt has in her house, plus her family.. Will always blow your mind how they live there. No one really pays mind to you because the family that sees you first are ones that don't really care about anything or saying hi like a polite person..

As soon as you get to the kitchen you can hear your aunt talking a mile a minute about her new obsession, you don't even care enough to listen what is. You go say hi to her and your mom, and introduce Frankie to them.

They both have a shocked look on their faces. You already know what they are thinking which causes you to tense up. Which Frankie sees and comes to hug you and ground you so you won't loose it this early.

" Y/N sweetie! I've missed youuu!! I didn't expect you to bring your boyfriend. But I'm happy to meet him. " your aunt says in a very fake excited voice. Which causes you to Internerly scream at her. 😤

~

The party is going as normal as they always do when it comes to parties in your family. You tucked away in a corner, practically invisible to everyone. At least Frankie is here to keep you company and help it not be as bad.

You think to yourself as you're looking up at Frankie, because he's holding you all protective like; " I am so thankful to have you, idk what I would have done here if you weren't with me. My handsome savior. " you smile and then cuddle into Frankie some more because he's the best cuddler ever and you always feel so soo safe wrapped up in his arms.

" what are you thinking about mi amor? " he says with that sweet like honey comforting voice while kissing the top of your head and nuzzling your neck, then leaves a few kisses there.

You tell him what you were thinking about. He smiles and has that look in his eyes that says he loves you endlessly and he's always gonna be here for you no matter what. You lean up and give him a kiss, a kiss that says thank you infinitely and I love you endlessly.

~

Some more time passes, it's time to eat. You and Frankie get up to get food. He is behind you hugging you while you make your plates. Giving you kisses along your neck all cute like and soothingly caressing you where his hands lay.

You go and sit down to eat. But you hear someone say something in a whisper; " he's so much older then her.. Why did she bring him? There has to be something fishy going on there. I just know it. " it's your aunt talking to her husband your uncle.

Frankie looks at you. Sure enough you have that broken look on your face. The one that he knows is caused by something that hurts you deep. So he reassuringly rubbs your back and then takes your hand and says;

" I know this is the first time we are meeting, probably will be the last after I say what Im about to. Why does it matter our age gap? We are infinitely happy, we both are adults. Can't you just be happy for your niece for once? And for your information, I came with her so this lame fucking party would at least be a little bearable. Unlike every other party she's told me about, that she's always in the corner pretty much being ignored. You all are real assholes to Y/N, she doesn't deserve what you guys put her through. And I'm gonna always try to prove and show her that real family doesn't do this shit.

Let's go hermosa. "

He ofers his hand for you to take so you guys can leave. You don't even say anything, you're in shock but have so much love and adoration for him right now for standing up for you like that. Because you could never be that brave.

Your aunt on the other hand... She's utterly shocked.. You don't stay around to see what she has to say. You guys make it out of the house before she's able to say anything.

Frankie is still fuming when you get to the car. You're in shock but surprisingly ok. Because somehow that happening lifted such a weight off of your shoulders.

He looks over to you and grabs your hand and says; " Y/N, baby. I'm so sorry I did that.. I just couldn't take hearing her say that after you telling me everything they've put you through.. I hope your not made at me. " as he finishes the last sentence he stutters a little bit from holding back from crying because he starts to think that you'll he mad at him and will break up with him. Pretty much all things bad, he's thinking them in that short time.

" oh my goodness sweetie. No no you didn't do anything wrong and I'm not mad at you one bit. I'm very impressed and love you even more. You know why my love? He looks at you with such a worried face, but it's going away slowly. He sniffles a little and says what? in such a small whisper. Fuck them. I've been wanting to do that for years but I've been to scared that the family I am on somewhat good terms with will hate me for it. So in other words.. Thank you for being my protector, my savior, my angel, my everything. I love you x infinity and beyond Fransisco Morales. " as you are saying the everythings part you're getting all teary eyed. Then when you say the I love you, you lean over and give him such a beautiful loving kiss to show him you aren't mad one bit and you love him so so much.

After you've kissed for a little while, Frankie breaks it and says; " you think they'll want me to come to Christmas with you? " you both start laughing hysterically.

" oh I bet so, you made such a great impression. " you say between giggles.

" hey. I love you endlessly and infinitely. You deserve so much love and people that love you and care about you. You are always gonna have a place with me and my family. Yeah it's just the boys, me, and Nola. But hey we make it work and you will always be safe with us.

Now, let's go back to the hotel and get some rest and we can leave in the morning. How's that sound mi cielito? " he says while looking into your eyes and holding your hands the whole time rubbing reassuring sweet circles. Then kisses both of them when he's done talking.

" how do you always know how to make me speechless mister? I don't even know what to say. But yes let's go get some rest and then go home my love. " you lean over to him again and give him a kiss on the cheek and then a deeper one on his lips.

The end for now. 💞

AN after reading: ok so. Continuation of what I changed and such.. The birthday things is actually true, she has always been like that. Everything is about her no matter what. I won't bore you with more details about her. I do truly wish I could stand up to her, yes she has great aunt qualities but her assholeness over powers it sooooo much.

The cemetery thing. I do want to do that one day, lol. The visiting a family friend part actually happened. The cemetery is just so sad looking and it made me upset that day. Wanted to go complain and ask for a job that day... 😆😆

This was really really therapeutic to do. I hope you guys liked it. 💞 I still am blown away that I decided to start writing and how much I've done. 🥂 here's to more adventures! 💞

This is not the end of this series. But I might take a break from it to work on some other ideas I got brewing. 💞 I just wanted to thank you all that have shown love this story and my work in general. It means the worldddd to me! 🥰 I'll never be as amazing as all of you, but I'm truly honored I get to be here to share and read these stories with you all. 💞

I do apologize that it is mostly from readers point of view, I didn't show an equal amount of Frankie's. But like I've said a million times.. 😆 this was me word vomiting in a therapeutic way.. 🙈💞

Taglist : @supernaturalgirl20 @heythere-mel @stxrrylunatic @prolix-yuy

If you'd like to be added or removed. Just shot me an ask or dm. 💞

Got questions about the story or an idea for a new one? Well requests are open! Here's the rules for them.

[lethal-k]

Mi Corazón (JHS)

Hey all! Amanda here! I think I’m in love with this couple. I usually try not to define my character’s race, ethnicity, or nationality, but I really wanted to base this imagine loosely on my family’s old block parties. Plus, the lack of Hispanic representation within American literature is crazy, but it’s getting better as each day goes by! I just wanted to contribute to that! If you’re interested in me making imagines based on other cultures or anything, feel free to request it, just know that it may not be as rooted as this one, simply because this is my own heritage and I will have to do a lot of research on other cultures before diving in. Anyway, I also wanted an excuse to write an imagine where one of the members has to dance to Latin music because Latin music is so romantic. Hobi just seemed to fit the theme I was going for. Anyway, if you like this imagine please heart it, reblog it, and follow me! I love y’all, stay safe, and borahae <3

Genre: established relationship! au, fluff

Pairing: Hoseok x reader

Word Count: 4.3K

Warnings: swearing, google-translated Spanish, pining and simping, mentions of cartels and gangs, small mentions of immigration, literally one of the most endearing couples I have ever written.

Summary: Y/n takes Hobi to meet her family at one of their famous Miami block parties. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  “What if they don’t accept me..” Hobi mutters while you guys search for a parking spot on the street.

  You glance at him, “What do you mean? What is there to not like about you?” You flash him a smile before returning your attention to the street, “This is ridiculous, I’m literally their child, I should get VIP parking for God’s sake.” you mutter while shaking your head. 

  Hoseok chuckles at you, “There’s one,” He points out a spot and you quickly start parking in between the two cars. He sort of deflates in his passenger seat while looking at the street lined with cars and the house that bustled with life. “What if they don’t accept me because I’m Korean? What if they think I’m not good enough for you because I can’t speak Spanish or dance well like you? What if they think my career is too much and that I won’t be able to take care of you?” He expresses his worries out loud. 

  You put the car in park before turning to face him in the seat. Leaning towards him, you grab his chin in your hand and squish his cheeks together. “Don’t worry, mi amor. My family moved into the U.S. from Mexico so they know what it feels like to not fully know a language while surrounded by English-speakers. They won’t judge you.”

  “Bu-” he tried to cut in.

  “Shh,” you shush him and put your finger on his lips, “I taught you different latin dance styles last week and you caught on super quickly. You’re making an effort to learn my language and they already know I can damn well take care of my own self but if they mention anything negative about your career then I will step in and tell them off. Okay? Stop worrying, they will love you.” He sighed and nodded, looking a little nervous. “Good, now let us go.” You give him a quick peck before getting out of the car. 

  Your parents had moved into the U.S. from the dangerous city of Culiacán, Sinaloa in Mexico in 1992. Six years before you were born. They had moved due to the dangers of the infamous Sinaloa cartel. They decided, instead, to settle down in Miami, Florida. Where they had you, your little brother, and your baby brother and sister. The youngest two are twins. You are their oldest child, now at age 22. Your little brother, Pedro, is now 19 and the twins, Miguel and Rosalína, are both 15. All of you grew up in the house that you and your boyfriend of 11 months are walking up to now. 

  Two years ago, you had moved to Seoul, Korea in hopes of reaching your dream to become a fashion designer. You chose South Korea because, well c’mon, Korean fashion is to die for. It also was not as cliche as New York, California, or Paris. A year and some months into living in Seoul, you met Hobi. Of course you knew who he was, but you treated him as any individual, which he took a liking to. Fast forward another month or two and you two started dating and now you are here, walking on your childhood street, up to your childhood home, about to meet your family and childhood friends. Yeah, you could say today was pretty special. 

  You two were walking up when all of a sudden a young woman who seemed to be the same age popped up in front of you both. “Y/n!!” She squealed.

Your smile grew wide and you pulled the girl into a bone-crushing hug, “Ay, Carlita! Cómo has estado?” 

  “Bien, bien.” She smiled back before glancing at your boyfriend, “Who is this?”

  You looked next to you and saw Hobi standing there, hands behind his back, and a shy smile on his face. You held out your hand towards him and he quickly took it, “Carlita, this is my boyfriend, Hoseok. Hobi, this is my childhood best friend, Carlita.”

  She smiled warmly before holding out her hand which he shook, “Hello there! It’s nice to finally meet the mysterious boyfriend.”

  Hobi chuckled and nodded at her, “It’s nice to meet you too.” His accent came out a bit and you smiled at his shy behavior.

  “Would you happen to know where everyone else is?” You asked, sort of wanting to get introductions done and over with so you can party with your boyfriend and family. 

  She shrugged, “I know that Pedro is playing video games with the boys in his room, I have no idea where everyone else is at.” 

  You sighed and shook your head while smirking, “That boy and his video games.”

  Carlita giggled at you before walking off, “Well welcome back home and it was nice to meet you, Hoseok! Maybe we can catch up more later but right now I have to stop Tío Edgardo from skateboarding. Old man claims that he is trying to regain his youth.” she rolls her eyes.

  You laughed at her and nodded. 

  “She seems nice.” Hobi commented in Korean.

  You smiled at him before grabbing his hand, “C’mon, let's go meet my little brother.”

  The two of you walked throughout your home before coming to a door in the hallway. You open it without knocking and low and behold, there is Pedro and a couple of friends playing Mario Kart. From the looks of it, your brother is losing terribly.

  “Pedroo.” You sing out his name in hopes of getting his attention.

  “What is it?” He asks, not looking up from the screen. You scoff at his reaction.

  “What? No, ‘hello sister’, ‘how are you sister’, ‘who is that man with you sister’” You tease.

  He shrugs, “Dude. Mario Kart. Priorities.”

  Your jaw drops and Hobi starts laughing hysterically. “This is what I get after saving your ass from mom and dad for years. The complete and utter disrespect.” You say, mocking offense with your hand on your heart.

  He smirks at your comment but his eyes remain glued to the screen, “Yeah yeah whatever. I’ll talk to you later outside, close the door on your way out.” 

  You shake your head, “I’ll hold you to that!” You yell as you close the door. 

  Hobi looks at you with a raised eyebrow and the same smirk that Pedro wore, “Have you two always been like that?”

  You nodded and giggled, “Yeah, pretty much.” He shook his head at you and wrapped his arms around your waist, walking behind you back into the main area of the house. 

  The two of you passed a couple of neighbors, all of them who greeted both of you with open arms and hands full of alcohol. You lead him through the kitchen, not glancing at your surroundings. You are about to walk to the backyard before you hear a familiar voice.

  “Ah, mi hija, si sales por esa puerta sin saludar, no dudaré en conseguir mi chancleta.” (Ah, my daughter, if you walk out that door without saying hello, I won’t hesitate to get my flip flop.) You freeze at the sound of your mother’s voice and turn around to find her staring at you with a pointed look. You smile sheepishly and shrug your shoulders before waving at her.

  “Hi, mama.” The look she was giving you faded off her face and transformed into a smile. You walked over to her and gave her a hug. She pulled you in, wrapping her arms around you tighter. You sighed in content, realizing how much you missed her and your home. The picture of her in the kitchen, glaring at you, and threatening you with her flip flop put you on a nostalgia trip. Although you wouldn’t trade your life right now for the world - a beautiful penthouse apartment with your boyfriend in the middle of South Korea’s capital - you did find yourself missing the smell of huevos con carne and chorizo that drifted throughout your home. You found yourself missing the melodic voice of Romeo Santos on Sunday mornings that indicated it was time to wake up and start cleaning. You found yourself missing the company of your siblings and the embrace of your parents. But as said before, you are currently living a wonderful life in Seoul, with your career progressing fast and the man of your dreams right beside you. 

  “I’ve missed you, you barely call anymore.” She scolds you while simultaneously pulling you into her even more.

  You nuzzle your face into her shoulder, “I’ve missed you too, mama. I promise to try calling more often.”

  You pulled away to smile at her, only to find her checking out your boyfriend from head to toe. “Ay, hija. ¿Quién es ese buen pedazo de culo que trajiste?” (Who is that fine piece of ass you brought with you?)

  Your eyes widened and you lightly smacked her arm, “Mama!” 

  She giggled and looked at you, “What?” she complained.

  You sighed and shook your head. You glanced over to Hobi to find him smiling warmly at you and your mom, despite not knowing what you two are saying.

  “Mama, this is Hoseok. My boyfriend.” You said, putting emphasis on the word boyfriend.

  He awkwardly smiled at her and waved, “Hello ma’am.” 

She smiled warmly at him while walking over, pulling him into a hug. You laughed at Hobi’s shocked face and little ‘oof’ at the strength of her pull.

  “Call me mama, ma’am makes me feel old.” Hobi smiled at her acceptance and hugged her back, looking to you for reassurance. You give him a quick thumbs up before she let him go and turned to you. “While the two of you are here, mind helping me carry out these dishes to the table outside?”

  You scoffed, “I’ve been here for a matter of 10 minutes and you are already putting me to work like I’m 12 again.”

  She smiled and shook her head, “It’s cause you always act like you’re 12, hija, now get let's make use of your boyfriend and his muscles and carry these enchiladas to the table.”

  You laughed at her antics before translating to Hobi what his task was and putting the tray of food in his hands. You grabbed a plate of tortas and she grabbed the empanadas before you started heading out. 

  “Thank you, hija, Hobi. I will see you both later, I have to go yell at Pedro for hiding away in his room.” She walks off, shaking your head and you smile at her retreating figure.

  “Your whole family seems nice so far.” He said, taking you into his arms and holding you. You giggled and pulled back slightly.

  “They’ll be your family soon too, hopefully.” You whispered, giving him a quick peck on the lips.

  He smiled and nodded, “And I cannot wait for the day that they do.” 

  You blushed at his confession before your eye catches two heads of hair that were identical by the pool. You smiled at Hobi and took his hand in yours, leading him towards the edge of the pool.

  “Rosa! Miguel!” You exclaim and stand behind them. Rosalína looks up at you from behind her glasses and smiles.

  “Hey sis!” You hug her from behind and she holds your arm. You pull away and look at Miguel expectantly, only to find that his eyes are somewhere else. You follow his gaze to a very familiar girl and smirk. 

  Rosa smacks him on the back of the head and he flinches, glaring at her. She nods her head towards you and Hobi and he looks at you two before smiling sheepishly. “Oh hey, Y/n..” You kept smirking at him and his face flushed red under your gaze. 

  “Still being a simp, I see.” You tease. He looks away, face turning 10 shades redder.

  “Shut up.” He trailed off.

  Hobi tapped your waist, pulling your attention to him. He tilted his head in confusion. “What joke am I missing?” He asked.

  Rosa snorted. She turned her head towards Hobi, catching his attention. “You see that girl over there, with the blonde hair?” She said and pointed. He nodded slowly, following the direction and looking at the girl. “Her name is Lucy. Miguel here has been pining after her for like- 5 years. Since we were 10! Can you believe that? I say he should just grow some balls and tell her that he likes her.” 

  You laughed at her choice of words while Hobi smirked. Miguel shoved her side in embarrassment. 

  “I’m not pining,” he glared at her before glancing at you, “Nor am I simping.” He trailed off while looking at Lucy before glancing at Hobi, “She is just super pretty and totally out of my league.”

  You smirked and looked at him, “Nah man, you’re totally simping.”

  “Literally, shut up, Y/n.” He said, crossing his arms and pouting.

  Hoseok smirked and laughed, “No, you should totally do it, kid. You only live once and the worst is that she’ll say no. But if she says yes…” He trailed off, leaving the rest to Miguel’s imagination. 

  Rosa high-fived Hobi, “Thank you! I’ve only been saying that for years! I’m Rosalína by the way, but you can call me Rosa. This idiot over here is Miguel.” She introduced herself.

  Hoseok smiled at her, “I’m Hobi, Y/n’s boyfriend.”

  “You’re in that one band, right? BTS?” she asked, tilting her head.

  He nodded, “Yep, that’s me.”

  “Nice,” She nodded, “I like your song Dope.”

  He smiled, “Thank you.”

  You watched the interaction with a big smile on your face. It seemed that your boyfriend was becoming more comfortable. And that couldn’t make you any happier. 

  You shook your head at your thoughts before looking towards your sister, “Hey Rosa, where is dad, anyway? I want to introduce him to Hobi.”

  She rolled her eyes, “Where do you think?” She snorted and nodded her head towards the make-shift dance floor. A few people moved out of the way to reveal your father, Modelo in hand, dancing merengue to Suavemente. 

  Your eyes widened and you let out a laugh of embarrassment, “Oh. My. God.”

  She shook her head before looking towards Hobi who wore amusement on his face. “That would be our father. He’s been like that for the past hour, I think that’s his 6th beer.”

  You giggled at the ridiculous man that you called your father before grabbing Hobi’s wrist. “C’mon, let me introduce you to the ol’ man.” 

  Hobi’s face lost all color and looked uneasy. Rosa laughed as you two walked off, waving bye. You could tell your boyfriend was nervous, after all this was your dad. Your father. Keeper of your heart. The man who raised you. If he didn’t approve of Hobi then it would be devastating to the both of you. 

  “Wait-” he stopped you from going on, “What if he doesn’t like me? What if I’m not good enough for his daughter? Hold on, does my shirt look okay? What about my hair?” He panicked.

  You decided to shut him up with a kiss straight on the lips. He froze for a second before relaxing into it and wrapping his arms around your waist. You giggled at him, “He will love you, Hobi. You look perfect.”

  He nodded, still a little dazed from the kiss. You left him on the side of the dance floor and dodged dancing neighbors until you met your father in the middle.

  “Suavemente! BESAME!” He shouted as you tapped his shoulder. You giggled as he turned around and looked at you in pure glee. “Mi princesa! How are you, mi corázon? Dance with me!” He exclaimed and grabbed your hands, pulling you into the dance with him.

  You laughed and threw your head back. “I’m good, papa! I want to introduce you to someone!” 

  He nodded at you and grinned wolfishly, “Then lead the way, Princess.” He followed you off the dance floor and to Hobi.

  “Papa, this is my boyfriend, Hoseok.” Hobi visibly gulped.

  “Hello, sir.” He said, putting on a charming smile and holding out his hand. 

  Your father’s eyes narrowed, looking Hobi up and down, a poker face on. “Boyfriend, huh?”

  Hoseok faltered for a second, “Yes, sir…” He said, using his other hand to scratch the back of his neck out of nerves.

  Your dad suddenly smiled and took his hand, pulling him into a hug, “Well welcome to the family then! It’s nice to meet you!” 

  Hobi visibly relaxed into the hug, smiling at you with a big grin. All you could do is smile back, happy that he made a good impression on your dad. 

  Your father pulled back and squinted at Hobi, “You hurt my daughter and I’ll kill you.” He said, gruffly. 

  Hobi’s eyes widened, “N-never, sir.” He stuttered.

  Your dad broke out into another smile again, “Good!” He clapped him on the back, “Here, let’s go have some drinks!” He led you two to the bar before leaving to go dance some more. 

  It was later that night, after more less-stressful introductions, multiple plates of food, and a few drinks that you and Hobi were sitting together at a table, watching the party and enjoying each other’s company. You were staring at your parents, who were in the middle of the dance floor. Corazón sin cara was playing as your parents swayed to the music, your father’s arms wrapped around your mother’s waist and her head leaning against his chest. You smiled softly at them with a look of fondness in your eyes. 

  “They seem to really love each other.” Hobi said, looking from you to your parents.

  “They always have,” You said softly, laying your head on your arms and looking at them, “They’ve been through a lot together, a lot of trials and tribulations. When I was a little girl, I thought they were the purest definition and example of true love. They’ve always had each other, and I used to yearn for that as a teenager.” You explain.

  Hobi smiles and puts his arm around you, “Well, my love, now you can think of us when you think of love. I want to give you everything, the world, and I want to have your back just like your dad has your mom’s.” He says, pushing your hair behind your ear.

  You turn to him and smile, pulling him into a slow and passionate kiss.

  “I love you so much.” You mumble against his lips.

  He smiles against you, “I love you too, jagi.” 

  It’s when Obsesíon by Aventura comes on the speaker that you pull away with a gasp and wide eyes.

  “What is it?” Hobi frowns, confused by your sudden behavior.

  You giggle, “This is my song!” You get up and find Carlita before pulling her to the dance floor. Hobi smiles at you, and how your eyes shined with excitement. He watches you from afar, noting how natural you look among the people you grew up around. Although he may not know anyone and sticks out like a sore thumb, you are the complete opposite, blending in as if you had never moved away to begin with. He thinks that you have never looked so beautiful, than you do right now, at ease and having fun with your friends and family. He remembers how excited you were for him to meet all of them, going as far as to teach him some Spanish and give him some Latin dance lessons. You were so excited for this trip, and now that you both are here, Hobi doesn’t ever want to leave. Because you look so happy here, and all he wants is your happiness. 

  “You love her.” Hobi looked to his right to find your father, sitting down next to him with two beers in his hand. He said it more as a statement than a question.

  Hobi glanced back at you, “Yes, sir. I do, very much.” He sighed out, watching the way your eyes lit up and your smile grew as you sang along with the song. He watched how you moved with ease to the melody with your best friend and he could only admire you and think of how lucky he is, to call you his.

  “I could tell, you’re looking at her as if she’s your world right now.” Your dad smiled gently at Hoseok.

  Hobi blushed a little and looked down before looking back up at him. “She is my world, sir. She’s helped me through a lot, and she supports my career and always is there if I need her. I only hope that I’m the same for her.” 

  Your dad gently laid his hand on Hobi’s shoulder, smiling at him. “You are. The look that’s on her face right now,” He nodded at you on the dance floor, laughing with Carlita, “I haven’t seen that look in a very long time. She was going through a lot when she left, and now I can see that she’s happy again. You make her happy, Hoseok. That’s all I could ever ask of you.” 

  Hoseok smiled at him, “Thank you, sir. That means a lot.” He looked back at you, smiling at you when you looked at him and winked. He blew a kiss to you before leaning back in the chair. “I’m not going to lie, I was nervous when she said that I would be meeting you all.”

  Your dad chuckles at that, “Yeah, I could understand that,” he sighs, “I have always been the first man in her heart. I’m used to protecting her, to providing for her, to loving her. But now I’m not the sole man in her heart anymore, you are there too.” He says. Hobi looks at your father to find him staring back at him intensely. He looked him dead in the eye, “I believe you are a good man, Hoseok, and I fully give you my approval and welcome you into our family.”

  Hobi’s face breaks into a wide grin, “I’ll cherish her for the rest of my lifetime, sir.”

  The song changed to something more upbeat, and you were suddenly calling out to him, beckoning him over to dance. 

  “I have no doubt that you will, now go get your girl.” Your father clapped his back as Hobi stood up and made his way over to you. 

  You took his hand in yours and started moving along to Como la Flor.

  “Baby, remember how I taught you cumbia? Well this is an iconic cumbia song!” You smiled. Hoseok squeezed your hand and started moving along with you, getting the movement and rhythm pretty quickly. He laughed at your tipsy state. But that didn’t matter, what mattered is that you were having fun, and that you were happy. And despite the alcohol effects, you still managed to dance like a professional. You giggled when Hobi spun you, and it was the most beautiful sound on this earth to him. The two of you were in your own world, dancing together and laughing with each other. You were so caught up in each other that you almost didn’t notice how the song changed into a slow one. But when you did, Hobi pulled you closer and you nuzzled into his chest as you danced bachata with him. He took extra lessons in this dance style, without you knowing, just because he knew it’s your favorite.

  “I love this song so much.” you mumbled, slurring your words a bit.

  “What is it?” He asks, whispering in your ear.

  “Imitadora by Romeo Santos aka king of bachata.” You mumbled back.

  He smiled at your cuteness, leaning down to peck your forehead. You two kept moving to the music, and he spun you around. “What is it about?” he asked when he pulled you back in.

  “It’s about how his lover changed and turned cold, no longer giving him the same love that she once did.” You stated, smiling up at him.

  He frowned, “Well that’s..romantically depressing.” He said.

  You snorted, “Romantically depressing?” 

  “Yeah,” He smirked down at you, “it’s a romantic song, but it’s also super depressing.”

  You shook your head at his ridiculousness and pulled him into a kiss.

  “At least the melody is pretty.” You said after pulling back.

  He pulled you closer to him, “Indeed it is, jagi. Indeed it is.”

  As cliche as it sounds, the world faded around you two, as you both got lost in the dance and each other. You two held each other as if the world was ending. Your souls intertwined and the two of you vibed together. The moment itself was as intimate as it could be, and it would forever remain one of your favorite memories of you two.

  Later that night, after the party had ended and everyone had either gone home or gone to sleep, the two of you laid in your bed. Surrounded by darkness, you stared at each other, whispering about how well today went and how much fun you had.

  “I think they like me.” He whispers to you, intertwining your fingers with his. 

  “Oh they definitely do,” you giggled.

  “What do you mean?” he raised his eyebrow.

  “My mom thinks you’re a ‘fine piece of ass’ as she calls it.” You snort.

  Hobi let out a surprise laugh, his cheeks turning the slightest bit of pink. You moved closer to him, cuddling up against his chest.

  “I would have to agree with her though.” You whisper.

  “Oh yeah?” He smiles down at you.

  “Mhmm,” you mumble, falling deeper into your sleep, “You looked so sexy tonight, dancing to Latin music.”

  He smirked down at you, kissing the top of your head and closing his eyes.

  “Yeah?,” he mumbled back, falling deeper into his own sleep, “I might have to do it more often, then.”

[wetookanoath]

ooh what are your headcanons for the coco au?? 👀

Well, right now I have…

TW: Racism, implied homophobia and transphobia, sexism, way too many languages in one tiny family, necessary Major Character(s) Death(s), this is not a fanfic but a way too elavorated AU lol, Trans Male Character, trans pregnancy.

S/O to @faequill and @impossiblevvings for educating my ass by sharing his experiences as a trans parents. And also S/O to @from-one-fandom-to-the-other for making THIS and THIS wonderful art and talking about this AU with me. And also S/O to this anon for asking.

Set in the 30s, I’m thinking in maybe Baja California or Guadalajara. During this time, Mexico is still getting together after the Mexican Revolution left tons of deads and shattered states. In this time, the Golden Age of cinema flourishes and singers like Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete become famous. Enter the music theme of the story.

That said, Mexico has a long history of having good relations with european countries such as Germany, Ireland, Austria and Poland. During the Colony, tons of people came to Latinamerica because there was work, commerce and land (I mean, stolen land– you know how that goes), so entire families would come with the hopes of a better life. 

During this time, chinese people build a China Town in what will be Mexico City later (still stands and is a wonderful place), japanese people will came in their own commercial ships to either work or be with their families, since samurai getting jobs as big names spaniard’s bodyguards, and soon other business people came with their families.

I’m saying all this to then say that,

Ryan’s family has always had it bad because they are mixed. His father’s grandpa decided to move to a small community where most people is mixed near the principal city of their state, yet not so close. This is so they can all live in peace.

Ryan’s grandfather gets out the country, builds a life in the States where he meets Ryan’s grandma, an also mexican woman who went to live in the States. Years later, Steve, Ryan’s dad, meets Linda, daughter of immigrants too, and they build their own family.

When Ryan is a teenager, his parents understand he is trans and caliming economic problems, Steve decides to take his family back to the family’s ranch in Mexico, where they can protect their kid, so no one knows he is trans and they know him only as Ryan. They grow up learning from all their cultures and speaking very accented english and spanish. Ryan and Jake also talk a broken japanese their mom is always cheering. They cook strange stuff that convines all three cultures and people think they are weird, but it works.

To their little town comes a group of immigrants from Poland, men are there to work in the energy plant near the Bergara’s ranch.

Ryan and Jake met Shane then, he’s older than them and Ryan gets irritated at his funny spanish, but finds himself talking to him daily until Shane starts to work, too.

So, every day, Shane and his brother walk in front of the Bergara ranch and he can always see Ryan at the window with a guitar or just asleep. He always waves at him and soon, Ryan finds himself waiting for the boy to pass by his window.

There’s a lot of Ryan insulting Shane in either spanish or japanese, to what Shane always answers with polish and both look at each other like ¬¬

They fall in love eventually.

Both families get along well, it’s then when Linda and Sherry start to notice something between their kids. It’s unspoken and like a known secret, and only once did they tried to talk about it but, like it happens so often in remote places of Mexico, no one said a word.

Ryan’s family is well known, names move sea, dirt and sky in Mexican societies, and so life goes on– of course, leaving the santity of their small town means dead and treats, and so none go.

Scott and Jake both leave eventually, it is known then that Ryan will take the ranch. When he’s already an adult, Shane and his mom move to the ranch after his father dies and Scott leaves.

Later in life, Scott gets married in the ranch, and they are all such a funny and curious mix of a family.

They have a few happy years where Ryan and Shane are together, dream of music and suddenly, something changes.

When Ryan realizes he’s pregnant, he’s worried shit will go down. Shane is actually pretty happy and excited, and after the initial shock, both feel good about it. With his mother’s support, he is able to tell his father, and to his freakin’ surprise, he’s happy. 

Ryan has to stay in the ranch to protect himself and the baby, seeing the struggle, fear starts flourishing in Shane and instead of saying something, he keeps it all in him. He needs an actual job, not just his music delucions, and he needs to do better and make sure nothing ever happens to Ryan and their baby.

They have a girl, they name her Alejandra, and she grews up listening to her parents sing together and even with economic struggles, they were happy.

Then Shane leaves.

When Alejandra was little, Shane met bitch ass Ernesto who used to listen to him at the local bar where he sang with Ryan and other pals they had. Shane originally didn’t want to become a singer, but he wanted to keep writing songs, Ernesto made him believe they could be both singers.

Note: Mexico has a big time problem with colorism and favoritism of whites™, but when it comes to music and so, especially at that time, the mexican public wanted to the men who sang to be the stereotype of a Strong Mexican Man™, like Jorge Negrete and Pedro Infante (this doesn’t mean they weren’t talented and amazing at their art, because they sure as hell were). A man like Shane would had never find fame and acceptance at that time, so this bitch ass Ernesto fooled him deeply.

Ryan doesn’t like Ernesto one bit, and feels him fake as shit with his “support” of their family when Shane is idiot enough to tell him the truth. This causes their first big fight, since Ryan didn’t want a man like this bitch to know about him and that Ale is their biological daughter.

Fights start to become terrible, and finally Shane tells Ryan he wants to try this and if it doesn’t work, he’s coming back right away. If in six months he hasn’t done shit, he is coming back. 

Ultimately, Ryan believes in Shane’s talent and lets him go. At first, they write to each other constantly and Ryan always reads part of Shane’s laters to Ale.

Eventually, the letters stop and a year later, Ernesto is in everyone’s TV and Ryan tries his best to find out what happened to Shane. When he finds out he was murdered, Ernesto tells him some story about being mugged and what not, and in his pain he believes it.

In the back of his head, there’s always the tiny voice that says this is not true, but the pain and his pride are stronger, and so he decides to keep going.

He makes the ranch prosper with his bare hands and the whole family helps, as years goes by, they can mantain themselves with the ranch’s production of meat and leather.

Note: totally not based on my own ranch, lol.

Ryan dies later in life, having his daughter carry his name when he decided to change her name to take away Shane’s (because we mexicans are petty and this was super common. Your husband left you? Change your kids’ name to yours– my name should be Rivera, guys, but my great grandma said fuck you to his father, and changed her name to León -her mom’s name- and here we are…) and the ranch.

~ The After Life ~

Shane is there before anyone else. He could be send to his polish family, he could find the other Bergaras, but he is not sure of what to do. His situation as someone his family has decided to forget mantains him in the streets with the ones without a family, which is bullshit because he knows his family must be somwhere.

His first years, he forgets about the Día de los Muertos tradition, among other traditions, and is only worried to find a way to know if Ryan and Ale are okay, and soon he’s hit with a newspaper from a maxican lady that has hear his story of having his family in Mexico, she reminds him of the bridge that opens on November 2.

That’s when he starts trying and when he’s told his family doesn’t put a picture of him, that breaks his heart and spirit more than he cares to admit. He gives up after.

Years later, re-animated by the fact that he needs to let Ale know he loves her more than anything in the world, he keeps trying. This is when he recognizes Ryan for the first time.

He is an emotional mess, trying to reach him and when he sees he is with their entire family, he is a rying mess. But then, Ryan looks at him and there’s complete silence– it’s unspoken that Ryan is kind of the family’s head, so the others wave at him but don’t do much when Ryan finallly turns around to cross the bridge without saying a word to Shane.

His heart is shattered to not repair that night and on.

Shane concentrates then into getting to the Human World to see Ale. His parents and other family members would talk to him from time to time, and at least he gets to know his daughter grow well, but also gets to know Ryan had it bad for a while and will take him time to accept him back.

He tries to tell Ryan about Ernesto more than once. He courts him, and sings, and does all he can until Ryan is tired of him and finally tells him he doesn’t want excuses, he doesn’t want to see him and he should go right now.

Shane is not sure anymore if there’s more heart to break, but it hurts all the same.

Ryan, when in the After Life, woke to his family and only accepted to himself to be disappointed of not seeing Shane there. He finds out later about his situation, and for a while decided to not search. It’s better this way.

When he hears Ernesto has died and it’s there among them, he tries to find Shane, and maybe clear things once and for all. But he finally drops the idea and lets it go.

His no-life goes on, and when he sees Shane for the first time before the bridge, all he wants is to slap the idiot and kiss him, but his pride is stronger and so he turns around and leaves.

He cried all the way to the Human World.

When he realized their great-great grandson was a lot like Shane, a lot like both of them, he couldn’t help but smile.

After Ryan finds out the truth, Shane’s picture is put on the Altar of their family and he goes to no-live with them in the Land of the Death, they have a long talk about their lives and cry together for having found their way to each other again, no matter what.

Both feel guilty for a while, though. Shane for leaving and never finding a way to let Ryan know what happened. And Ryan for closing himself and not believing in Shane’s love for him and Ale, and for their family forgetting him for such a long time.

Eventually, they can heal together. They have all the time in the world now.

At some point, Ryan looks up at Shane with a smirk and goes, “See? Ghosts are real” and Shane wants to die again.

When Ale dies and she reuinites with her parents, there’s a crying fest. 

It hurts Shane that he didn’t get to see his Alejandrita grow up, and that she thought for a long time that he decided to leave them and was selfish enough to never look back to his family.

But seeing Ale’s happiness to see him again and all the love of his family, helps him slowly heal. Now they can all be together.

Shane’s first Día de los Muertos is so funny to everyone, because he doesn’t know what to do and still gets all ?? with some tradition, but he enjoys it all the same.

Life goes on in the Human World, their great-great grandson grows up, he gets married and has his own children than still put their picture in their Altar, and like that, things are okay.

[offtosavetheearth]

July 20th, 2018

This morning I got up super late and didn’t have time to eat breakfast with Rina this morning. I was supposed to go to the café at 7am, but of course I didn’t get up. I met the class at 9am to go to the ETAPA Sustag Water Treatment Plant. ETAPA is Cuenca’s water agency, and they operate more than thirty water treatment plants. They also help protect the watersheds that are important to Cuenca’s water supply, and play an important role in managing Cajas National Park.

Our visit was guided by the workers of the plant. This modern plant in the southwest of Cuenca provides water to over 35,000 people; part of it comes from Cajas National Park, protected by this agency.

This plant operates according to ISO, the international standard of water quality. Javier, a chemical engineer, explained to us that the water comes from the river and is relatively pure because of the short distance it travels down the mountain. Once the water flows into the plant, at 200 liters a second, it passes through a sediment filter and then the inorganic coagulant aluminum sulfate is added, which creates clumps of bacteria and debris at the top. This process causes several simultaneous chemical and physical interactions on and among the particles. Within seconds, negative charges on the particles are neutralized by inorganic coagulants. Also within seconds, metal hydroxide precipitates of the iron and aluminum ions begin to form. These precipitates combine into larger particles under natural processes such as Brownian motion and through induced mixing, otherwise known as flocculation. During flocculation, aluminum and hydroxide absorb and enmesh particles in suspension and facilitate the removal of particles by subsequent processes of sedimentation and filtration.

From here, the water exiting the flocculation enters a sedimentation basin, also called a clarifier. It is a large tank with low water velocities that allows excess floc to settle at the bottom. The one we save was circular, where the flow of the water was center outward. As particles settle to the bottom of a sedimentation basin, a layer of sludge/mud forms on the floor. This mud is removed and dehydrated, to later return to landfills, instead of putting it back in the river as most water treatment plants do. While the sludge is separated, water runs to a rapid sand filter, moving vertically through sand which often has a layer of activated carbon above it. The top layer removes organic compounds which contribute to taste and odor.

The last disinfection method involves small amount of chlorine. The water must be moved to storage tanks, where for every one million parts water, 1 part chlorine is injected. This strong oxidant rapidly kills many harmful micro-organisms.

The international standard for turbidity is 5, but ETAPA exceeds all expectations by delivering water to Cuenca at .3. Since this water is cheap and subsidized, Cuencans use about 200 liters per person per day. Those in the suburbs (poorer people) pay 5 dollars a month, while richer folks pay about 15. Created nine years ago, this is one of the most modern plants, of the three large and thirty small ones with lower quality water. Monitored by 2 people every 8 hour shift, they are responsible for the drinking water of 40,000 people.

In between lunch and the second lecture of the day, I went to NY Pizza and got a Pepperoni pizza and a coke. I know this is stupid, but I am a regular at that store because American food is the only thing that is keeping me sane while away. It makes me feel more relaxed, and I have Ecuadorian food all the time with Rina, so I don’t think it’s necessarily a waste of this opportunity. Also, it was one of the first times I ventured out alone without a group. I purposefully got lost twice before I had pizza, so I could learn how to find my way back and navigate the city. Let me tell you, it was a proud moment when I found my school again for the second time in a row. I got even braver, and went past CEDEI to a really beautiful coffee shop.

I came to get an iced latte and work on my logbook, but something really…unsettling… happened to me while I was waiting for my drink. A little Ecuadorian girl ran into the shop and made a bee-line straight for my table. She was talking really fast and making a texting motion with her hands, because I had my iphone out. But, she wouldn’t make eye contact with me. I simply said “no habla espanol”, but I did catch the drift of the question. She needed to use my phone to text her mom. But she didn’t appear frightened? Or lost? She kept waiting at my table and I said again, “lo siento, no habla espanol” and looked away from her. I looked up a second later, and she was nowhere to be found.

A couple of friends from the group came to meet me at the coffee shop (LOOK WHO IS INDEPENDENT & LEADING THE PACK NOW), and we talked about how we were starting to get over the whole foreign country thing and the daily annoyances in life were getting to us. I think that means we are comfortable here? Anyways, I talked about how the wooden bed that I sleep on is killing my back and my neck, and another student talked about how they were ready for homestays to be over. I agreed, I felt that I had gotten all that I could out of my homestay experience, and there was not really anything left to observe. I basically just say good morning and good night to Rina, and we visit after dinner for about 20 minutes talking about our day. It’s hard to get past the language barrier and bond, but we have a few times over things like politics and family.

It was the weirdest thing though….we were walking out of the coffee shop and I saw that girl again. Except she was with her mom a couple blocks down from the coffee shop, and they were walking the other direction really fast. I don’t want to assume the worst but I am 99% sure that her mom was sending her around the area to steal from tourists. Dr. Knapp was talking about it a couple days ago…and woah. Wow. Wtf. CHILDREN ARE SUPPOSED TO BE SACRED, INNOCENT, AND PURE!!

I am in another culture though. And even if I wasn’t in another culture, I don’t know the families situation or how badly they need money. I understand what it is like to be tight on money, but never to the point of that type of desperation. It is a sort of mixed feeling that I felt. Confused but…understanding at the same time…yet not understanding. I still don’t know what to make of it. At what point is it not wrong to steal, and is it different based on culture?

I got nice and calm though when we had our traditional medicinal lecture. Sisa Pacari Bacacela Guaman, a Quichua-speaking member of the Saraguro nation, lectured in Spanish on traditional and indigenous use of plants, with demonstrations.

I was REALLY liked this lecture because I’m into essential oils and smells as a source of meditation and relaxation.  

Sisa explained to us that the definition of sickness is when there is nonviolent conflict between the spiritual and physical world. We are simply molecules all interconnected, and our physical being experiences pain when there is an imbalance. Their traditional medicines have been used 18,000 years before the existence of Christ, and they classify plants in terms of power, gender, and altitude.

Plant introductions began with the altitude category. Chukirawaa, known to detoxify the body when consumed for nine days, is only found in the Andes at 2500 meters above sea level. Tipo, consumed as a tea for altitude sicknesss, is also found in the high Andes. Laurel, oxcilliar to Tipo can be rubbed into a pulp and smelled.

Gender was next, starting with Alpal Paleo, a feminine plant for allergies that is a symbol for earth, and can be consumed as a tea or applied as a salve. The feminine plant Yerba, or San Antonio, is used for the skin, throat problems, and contains penicillin. Caballo Chupa or horse hair can be feminine or masculine, with the masculine type being thicker and used for digestion and detoxification. Shuyu, a refreshing feminine plant that helps with fever, works well with the Caballo Chupa plant. A masculine plant, flor de tio, helps with respiratory issues and bronchitis. You use three flowers, three eucalyptus leaves, and three nettle leaves in a tea for nine days.

Lastly, Power classification discussed the San Pedro cactus, which can range from three to fifteen spines, with the most powerful ones having the most spines. It can grow 1-7 meters tall and only the most advanced shaman, at level 7, can handle this plant. Druda, mixed with other medicinal plants, is used for external cleansing and looks like a bunch of tea leaves. Machua, for anemia and mineral deficiencies, is related to the potato and can be used for menstruation and prostate issues.

A cleanse was preformed after the lecture on Autumn. Sisa discussed the four elements, earth, fire, wind, and water, which are used in cleansings, typically preformed in sacred places. Ours was of course of simulation of the actual performance, but similar to how it would be practiced. Fire is the most important element in this representation, and is masculine because it represents the sun god and nucleus of energy. Water is feminine and ties to the physical world, air is masculine and important for every civilization ever founded on earth. Lastly, earth is feminine, and strongly interrelated to water. All societies recognize these elements, but some have stopped caring about pivotal points of nature for financial gain. For most medicinal plants, they must be taken for nine days total. This is because the ninth constellation in space is the most balanced. You may not take the medicine for more than 27 days.

Rose water was applied to our hands once the cleanse was finished. I really enjoyed the smells, such as the burning of the plants, and the scents that filled the room during the ritual. I hope to use more natural oils and plants when I return home, to relax and meditate.

This is kind of weird but after the cleanse I walked around Cuenca for three hours. It didn’t really seem like anyone was doing something I wanted to be a part of, and I didn’t want to go home either. I felt that I needed to venture out as well, since I was becoming braver about my whereabouts in the city. I was proud of myself because I found all of the places we visited during the city store, even the piti mas shop. I zoomed out of my own perspective, and realized that everything in Cuenca is about two blocks away. I am located in the central part of the city, and even if I did get lost again, it would not be that hard to find my way back.

It also helped that I used my maps; before I didn’t know that T-mobile allows free international data roaming, so now I can use my location on the maps to walk back home. I spent most of the time walking back and forth from the plaza near my house, and I sat there for a while watching the community participate in free salsa classes. What was weird to me was the actions of the local police during these classes. They all hung around the ladies salsa dancing, and took group pictures together. I thought that these classes happened pretty much every day, so why they would feel the need to document it was a mystery to me.

Rina texted me around 9 pm, wondering where I was. I felt guilty because she thought that Ginger and I were going to watch a movie with her, but we just dipped. My burner didn’t work so Autumn texted her for me. More guilt came when I arrived home and realized that I missed Abuela’s birthday dinner. Things like this repeatedly happen because we just can’t understand each other. Usually when I say I have plans or am going somewhere later, it is just ignored. A lot of times I feel like I’m the family baby being carried around on errands.

But nothing can really be done about that, unless CEDEI decides to give everyone bilingual families since this is an English program. I feel that somewhere between UT and CEDEI there is a miscommunication about the purpose to this program. Dinner was pasta with cut up hot dogs, which was nice because of how heavy pasta makes you feel. Side note: I find it strange how often hotdogs are randomly incorporated into dishes; in America we usually serve babies little cut up hotdogs. Most likely I am assuming it is because they don’t have access to a lot of quality meat. As was mentioned before, the cows they raise up here typically taste pretty tough since they are walking up and down the slopes of the Andes. The proportion of the meat is something I am definitely not used to. In Texas the majority of my plate is meat, but here the meat is the smallest portion, with most of the plate being potatoes, rice, and vegetables. VERY carb heavy, but in a different way than the United States. I miss big steaks and pulled pork sandwiches, but also feel healthier and more energized here.

Listening to my playlists and walking around maximized comfort in this city, and gave me the breath of America I needed. This is also the longest I have been away from my boyfriend, so I got emotional walking around. I think a lot about how much fun he would have here, and how I wish he could experience this other world with me. But independence, self-reliance, and self-confidence is something I’ve always needed to work on. I generally focus on others needs rather than my own, so after this trip I think I will try to practice self-care, and do things for my own peace of mind. I have always wanted to be healthy mentally, physically, and emotionally.

So cheers to new goals and being selfish!

[dachi-chan25]

The Coco discourse from a Mexican's point of view

I was avoiding talking about this at all because I hate Tumblr's discourse but it is really pissing me off all this posts talking about how me and my people feel or should feel about Coco and the endless comparison's with the Book of Life so I'm writing this to say how *I* a mexican woman feel about all of this.

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Okay first off Pixar did try to copyright the name "El Día de Muertos" because that was gonna be the original title of the movie here's the source:

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/10/us/disney-trademark-day-dead/

Did they fuck up? YES, however they realized what a stupid idea that was (they were not trying to copyright the holiday that's literally impossible) and they changed it.

Now personally I LOVED the trailer, Coco portrays lots of things I love about Día de Muertos and my culture:

•The altar

•The movies from the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.

•Pedro Infante (okay maybe the Singer/actor is not Pedro but he looks a lot like him and I loved that)

•Dante being a Xoloitzuincle, why is this exciting for me?? Because of THIS: Xolos were considered sacred dogs by the Aztecs, Toltecs, Maya, and other groups. They were also useful companion animals. According to Aztec mythology, the god Xolotl (God of life and death) made the Xoloitzcuintli from a sliver of the Bone of Life from which all mankind was made. Xolotl gave this gift to Man with the instruction to guard it with his life and in exchange it would guide Man through the dangers of Mictlan, the world of Death, toward the Evening Star in the Heavens. Some people in Mexico continue to believe this breed has healing qualities.

•La Catrina, the design is being very criticized but I absolutely adored it because is much more alike to the image we have of the catrina, btw here's a link with the actual significance/origin of la catrina: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Calavera_Catrina

•Plus THIS article from Buzzfeed Mexico talking about how exited we actually are about Coco: https://www.buzzfeed.com/ximenarojo/nos-urge-ver-coco (YES it's in Spanish)

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Now onto the "Book of Life" I didn't want to talk about THIS but as people are So intent on pulling this movie out whenever any post concerning Coco comes out here I go, I'll be brutally honest here and say I didn't liked the movie.

YES the animation was beautiful, YES it was the work of a mexican artist and produced by a mexican BUT I couldn't connect with it at ALL.

The thing is for me 'The Book of Life' was a big deal because of all the things I mentioned above (And that I have the biggest crush on Diego Luna) but for me it fell short, now I have no intention of bashing the work of Jorge R. Gutiérrez because I know this was a very special movie for him and I admire him for that (also I was a huge fan of the Mucha Lucha series) but the Book of Life for me (And for my family And friends because I've asked a lot of people about this) was very very americanized, it didn't feel like Mexico at all, we felt like that's the way the USA sees Mexico and that didn't make us connect or have any love for this movie at all.

- For starters the design of the Catrina put me off from the moment I saw it (again I'm not bashing the hard work of the artists I'm merely stating how I felt) it felt some super sexy totally inaccurate portrayal of her nevermind she actually doesn't have any thing to do with any prehispanical myth she was created as political/social satire by José Guadalupe Posada and then, after she appeared in a mural by Diego Rivera, became an iconic figure of el Día de Muertos.

-Then Xibalba, I don't even know where to start, but right Xibalba is NOT a person is a PLACE. Xibalba (Mayan pronunciation: [ʃiɓalˈɓa]), roughly translated as "place of fear" is the name of the underworld in K'iche' Maya mythology, ruled by the Maya death gods and their helpers (there were 12 of them but the main ones were .Hun-Camé y Vucum-Camé ) And making him this mischief- causing-Loki-type God didn't amuse me in the least. Nor did his wierd ass romance with the Catrina.

-The story was boring for me, the love triangle was unnecesary and tiring and it actually felt a lot more like a retelling of the Orpheus myth than anything else to me, I didn't found myself, my culture or any resembling of it at all just vague nods and outright nonsense And even then I supported the movie because I wanted to support my people's work.

And I'll stop right there cause I'm begining to feel awfully salty, I was rooting for this movie SO hard And still I don't like it.

My point here is to respectfully ask of everyone to STOP putting 'the Book of Life' as the most amazing work of representation of el Día de Muertos (that would be La Leyenda de la Nahuala an amazing movie made by a Mexican studios that actually represents our culture And legends) because we (mexican people) don't feel like that at all.

Oh they have similar plots you say???

"Despite his family's generation-old ban on music, Miguel (a 12 years old boy from a rural community) dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt). Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the Land of the Dead. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Hector (Gael García Bernal) and together they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history".

On a superficial level at most because for one the Book of Life takes place on the Independency era (look at Joaquin's uniform) and Coco looks more like the 80's or 90's, besides that Coco is a 12 years old from a rural community!!! People from rural communities get SO little representation (And most of the time stereotypical And disrespectful) even in México!!! Pixar went to rural communities on Oaxaca And Guanajuato because they wanted to be respectful and accurate and excuse the hell outta me but no one in the Book of Life looks indigenous to me and Coco (his mom in the photos And the people around him totally do) that hey not all mexican people have brown skin or the same features but it's nice to see some that actually do on the media; also Land of the Remembered/Forgotten was a swell concept but had nothing to do with our beliefs, Land of Death sounds more accurate to our myths (Mictlan actually means Land of Death).

Pixar/Disney is gonna sell our culture And all that jazz? Yes And No, it's funny no one is saying THIS about Moana because they also have merchandise and no one bats an eye. Hypocritical much??? And well people's been appropiating our culture since forever (side eying 5 de mayo) and el Día de los Muertos is no exception:

https://es.pinterest.com/pin/482518547550492130/

https://es.pinterest.com/pin/469781804859997787/

https://es.pinterest.com/pin/450922981419738609/ (for the record piñatas have nothing to do with Día de Muertos Kay? Thnx)

And this:

https://es.pinterest.com/pin/328762841521321345

https://es.pinterest.com/pin/372884044133968829/ (the make up is awesome you go girl! But a Barbie in the hair? HELL NO!)

https://es.pinterest.com/pin/122089839878498731/ (don't do this please)

Let's stop pretending Pixar is gonna start with all of this, because for the looks of the movie is actual accurate and respectful appreciation/representation of my culture why is it any different from Moana??

What's my point?? STOP trying to tell the world how me or my people feel And actually ask!!!

We are angry?? Hell YES, some people feel Coco (And also the Book of Life) are too stereotypical because in American movies they never portray what México is like just THIS very tiring version where only small towns and poor but hopeful people exist not our cities or our cultural life, not the apportations we've made to science or maths or literature, the diversity of our people...

I'm all for people being our allys but not when they try to speak over us.

That being said I support Coco and I hope it's a great movie.

[smalltowngirlbigadventures]

Más espacio, por favor!

The whole language thing is still blowing my mind. It sometimes hurts my brain to think about how people grow up thinking in -not English- and when they learn a new language they relate everything to -not English-. Its obvious, of course, but I can’t begin to imagine how my life would be different if I thought in Spanish. I am extremely jealous but also deeply admire people who can speak 2 or more languages fluently. I want to know what kind of processes and frustrations the brain has to go to to get to that point. And those are the kind of challenges I’m interested in-the ones that slowly disrupt your entire way of life. I like to relate a lot of these experiences and goals to training for a marathon. Its easier to understand for people who have done it, but training for anything long-term like that, or practicing something in such repetition that you can pinpoint exact details and zoom back out to big-picture concepts. 

I have already felt some of this shift. Someone commented that they would like to hear how my journey of learning the Spanish language changes during my time here. Well, when I was preparing for the trip, I thought I would be great at Spanish. I had travelled to Spain twice prior to this trip, and I was able to maneuver through that area with the minimal Spanish I had. People also told me that Costa Rican Spanish would be much easier to pick up. They speak slower, and use the Spanish verbiage that many American-Spanish classes use.

All of those expectations were shattered.

I shared with my professor the initial shock when I arrived at my homestay on day 1. We had just gotten off the plane, stopped at Maximo, the institution, to meet up with a few other MSU students who had arrived early, and then almost immediately returned to the van to be dropped off at our homestays. I don’t know if it was a miscommunication on my part or on the ambiguity of the itinerary, but I was not prepared at all for the next step here. I was the second person in our van to get dropped off, and the lady who would be my San Pedro mom for 5 of the next 6 weeks unlocked the gate, a small dog nipped at my ankles, and I became part of a lovingly-aggressive hug and kiss on the cheek.

SP Mom, as she will henceforth be referred to, began speaking lots of Spanish at me. I say at me because that’s how it felt. I didn’t have time to switch my brain over to Spanish before missing 50 some words that were probably very important or at least welcoming to my stay here. The next segment of that event I essentially blacked out because I was so overwhelmed and really had no idea what was supposed to be happening at that time. SP Mom was trying to show me around the house and asked me which room I wanted. She was trying to ask if I would prefer the upstairs or downstairs room, and then elaborated on why I might want one or the other. I just agreed to the upstairs one, with not really any logic, and then began unpacking. 

Then SP Mom came upstairs to explain that the downstairs bathroom was currently being fixed and that I would have to share the upstairs bathroom with everyone this week, and then just my house brother for the remainder of my stay. But I did not know that. Luckily, said house brother came in at that time and hit me with the English I had been missing so badly for the last 30 minutes.

Long story short, I was not prepared at all to be constantly using Spanish and needing to understand Spanish. In the last 4 weeks, I have figured out some strategies to get by in Spanish on the streets, in the homestays, and in Spanish classes. I went from week 1, having really no idea what was being said at the dinner table, to now week 4 at least knowing what topic is being discussed, but usually following the general flow of discussion and often being able to contribute to the conversation, if given enough time.

For anyone interested, and especially for my own documentation, I would like to share some of the strategies I have come up with for improving your Spanish as needed.

1. You really need to be paying attention way more than you do in any English-speaking event. I have found that with some people, it helps to look at them and read their lips, see their gestures to pick up as much information as possible, while with others, its actually easier to look away to focus on listening to the words.

2. If possible, try to continuously learn more vocabulary as you go. This sounds really obvious, but as soon as I made some flashcards, or even looked up a couple words on Google Translate, I was able to recognize those words in conversations later. (Even if they were conversations I wasn’t necessarily a part of.)

3. When I’m trying to decipher a story or conversation, I kind of scan the first few sentences for words I know. If nothing else, I can hear at least one main theme I know, and then I can start to predict what kind of words I would look for. So if my host mother is talking about food, I can guess that she would ask if I have tried it, or like it, or she might talk about a recipe, etc.

4. I have noticed long-term that the more I talk with the same people in Spanish, the more they pick up on which words I know, which helps with listening later. This is especially true in instances where multiple words mean the same or similar things. (for example, “cup” has several translations depending on its use.)

5. Don’t be shy/scared/intimidated/embarrassed to ask for someone to speak slower or repeat several times. This is part of the learning process, idiot! (That is 100% directed at me because I get self-conscious every single time.)

6. Not everything is going to have a direct translation. You can’t just Google translate each individual word and expect the sentence to make sense. Get over it.

7. #1 Tip: Practice as much as possible. You will (slowly) get over all the uncomfortable feelings and develop confidence in the smallest victories. I have been able to pick up on and correct grammar, explain miscommunications, and help translate in other ways even though my knowledge is still minimal. I believe this is from literally being forced every day, from the waking hour to the late-night, maybe got locked out of the house hours of the night, to every time in between, to practice Spanish in order to get anything.

[cipherpolfiles]

One Piece 855 - ‘Grrrrrooowwwlll!‘

I know it’s late as hell and that no one will be interested in last chapter’s (OP 854) super late review/comment, but I’ll probably publish it anyway, ‘cause last week I could only make half of it on time, so I left it unpublished but I DO want to finish it because I had a few things I wanted to point out and couldn’t because life got in the way.

So in this chapter, just like in the last one, we have four main parts/events going on. On one side, Bobbin and his resolve to fix his blunder before Big Mom hears about it (1). On the other side, the ‘Brook Rescue Team’ needs to come up with a plan to rescue our beloved skeleton from the clutches of Charlotte Linlin (2) and finally, Brook’s big reveal (3) and Sanji’s whereabouts (4).

Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

First we have the cover page showing Cora-san and Law having some baked sweet potatoes. Of course, Cora is being Cora and has managed to light himself on fire. No surprise there. I have to say the request says Law should look worried but he looks more annoyed than worried to me...

With this Oda ripped my heart out and stomped on it. Seriously, Law needs Cora back. Better yet, we ALL need Cora back. Petition to bring Donquixote Rocinante back from the dead. Who’s with me? Oh well, moving on.

The chapter starts with Bobbin rocking from one side to the other as if he were a pendulum while he claims he will fix his mishap with Sanji, making all the guards that have come to his aid fall asleep. He seems to be some kind of hypnotist; whether it’s a devil fruit or just normal hypnosis skills - like Jango’s - we still don’t know.

We jump to the Brook Rescue Party‘s whereabouts. They’re in front of the mirror that leads directly to Big Mom’s sleeping chambers. The group looks aghast and in Pedro’s case, relieved at the same time.

Nami, darling, a piece of advice: do NOT word it like that in front of Mama, it’s not going to end well considering her apparent aversion to giants.

Big Mom’s sound asleep with Brook in her arms and Brook, in turn, is making use of the ‘I fall sleep anywhere’ ability grandpas all over the world seem to have, meaning he’s sleeping like a log too.

Brûlée explains there’s no way Mama would let a unique creature like him go and then she tries to get Big Mom to save her by screaming her lungs out, but the BRP (Brook Rescue Party) gag her and Diesel too, for good measure. It’s impossible to determine whose idea was it to gag them (maybe in the raws you can, sadly I cannot read Japanese), but from what we’ve seen so far, I have a feeling it was Pedro’s suggestion. Remember when he was all in for kidnapping Pudding when she revealed she’s Big Mom’s daughter?

I always thought they should have done as he suggested to be honest, even back then. They would have had a huge leverage against Mama that way.

Anyway, back to the chapter. There’s quite a tense moment when Linlin wakes up for a sec and they think they’re done for, but it turns out it was just a fly or at least that’s what Big Mom thinks woke her up. She slams her hand on the floor in an attempt to kill the fly while she falls back asleep, waking Zeus, Prometheus and Napoleon in the process. The three go crazy on the ‘perpetrator‘. The BRT are terrified by what they just witnessed.

So we already knew what Zeus (lightning) and Prometheus’ (fire) powers were, but what’s up with the freaking hat? Did it pick up a sword? Does it transform into a sword? What the effing hell is going on with Napoleon? I personally think it transforms, but you never know.

Scene cuts to Sanji who is running towards the site Luffy vowed to be waiting at. A dog attacks him, because apparently OP world dogs are all super hungry and violent and attack anyone they come across who is carrying food. Sanji should seriously stop going anywhere near dogs while delivering bentos on rainy days.

And after this short three panel interlude, we’re back with the BRP who have stolen a skeleton - they sound like grave robbers now even though, technically speaking, they found it laying around - to try and pass it for Brook while they rescue the real one. Shout out to Jinbe for revealing all the small tricks to bypass everyone’s devil fruit abilities and use them to their benefit (See the image below). The attemps are broken into different ‘challenges‘.

Challenge 1

Chopper is the first to try and sneak up to Big Mom’s bed. He suddenly has the urge to sneeze and Mama tries to squash the ‘disturbance’ while she’s still asleep.

Challenge 2

Carrot’s turn. She manages to go all the way to Brook’s side, but he won’t wake up and Big Mom’s giant snot bubble ‘chases‘ her away. Her startled exclamation wakes up Zeus enough to discharge a lightning bolt while still keeping him groggy enough to think he’s still dealing with the fly.

Challenge 3

Pedro’s situation is pretty much the same as Carrot’s. He manages to get to Brook but he’s driven away by Big Mom’s tossing and turning while she sleeps. The good thing that comes out of this is that she’s let go of Brook which makes things easier for Cat Burglar Nami.

Nami manages to get to Brook and wake him up, but when he sees his fake self, he screams at the top of his lungs (yes, you can insert a skull joke about not having lungs here). Big Mom is annoyed by the ‘fly’ and intends to use Prometheus to get rid of it.

And of course, Jinbe to the rescue! He grabs both, Nami and Brook and plunges back into the Mirror World.

Back to Sanji again. He has already reached the promised spot but can’t see Luffy anywhere, only the high number of soldiers he knocked out before being taken away by the army. I’d like to point out just how much Sanji believes in Luffy and trusts him to keep to his word. He knows that, if his captain makes a promise, he’ll do everything in his power not to break it. That’s honestly one of the best parts of the entire arc, seeing just how deep Sanji’s devotion for Luffy is. It’s beautiful.

And scene change again to see what’s going on with the BRT. Nami’s already lecturing him for nearly killing them because of his scream. Pedro just apologises for putting their lives in danger, even though we all know it wasn’t his fault and that the Straw Hats would have done all this anyway. Have I ever mentioned just how much I love Pedro?

Aaaaand there it is, the Big Reveal! Brook HAS the rubbings of the three Poneglyphs inside his skull.

I. Freaking. Called. It.

Well, I and a thousand other people, but that’s beside the point.

Pedro is VERY impressed and Brûlée, Diesel and everyone else (including the readers) are too. Jinbe praises him by saying that it’s already hard enough to get into the treasure room, even when you’re a family member.

Brook, you just had to ask about her panties, didn’t you?

Now that they have a copy of the Poneglyphs, the only thing they have left to do is get Sanji back, which is no easy task but at least they have half the job already done.

The scene cuts back to Sanji again. He’s heard a rather familiar growl and finds Luffy nestled against the remains of King Baum’s trunk, looking like he hasn’t eaten in a month. Personally his current ‘mummified’ appearance reminds of Slayers whenever Lina and/or Gourry didn’t have anything to eat and they ended up looking like that.

End of Chapter.

My God, that was long!

| Thanks for taking the time to read this |

| CPFiles |

Spanish version coming soon | Versión en español en breve

[snsmissionaries]

7/25/18 -- Elder Dalton Hall, Ecuador Mission

WHAT A WEEK!

WHAT A WEEK !!! Wow this week was loco but I learned a lot and had a great time! So Tuesday we got a call from the asistants to President Moreno and they told us that we were going to have an interchange for 2 days ! Usually the asistants only go on exchanges with the Zone Leaders for a day, but they just started to do them with all missionaries and for 2 days. So Elder Kreft (chill, from Idaho) came to Los Rios (my sector) and Elder Velasquez went with Elder Clark to their sector. Elder Kreft is super chill and super humble. He has like 19 months in the mission and his Spanish is great and knows how to teach really well. We had a great time and worked super hard. In one day we found 5 new investigators, put 4 baptismal dates and had 6 lessons ! I learned so much and had a great time. 

Something super loco: So I was talking with Elder Kreft about his sector and it is super ghetto (the Guasmo Sur) and he told me that these gangs had a huge gunfight in front of their house and this one gang shot up this guy 10 TIMES and then sped off in their car! They heard and saw everything ! Super crazy. One day I might see something crazy like that, but to be honest, Guayaquil is interesting. We always see something out of the normal here. 

So Maria de Lourdes had her interview for her baptism Thursday and she passed. Saturday was the baptism and it was crazy ! So we got to the building early to clean and fill the font and then the water stopped working and couldnt find a hose so we had to finish filling the baptismal font up with buckets of water ! So we were suppose to start at 6 but didnt start til 6:45 ! Then, we had the baptism. I got to baptize Maria and it was awesome to have my first baptism in the mission lol. So I baptized her the first time but her dress came up above the water, then we did it again, and they told me it was fine, but then when we were changing in the bathrooms, they came back and told us that her dress came up and that we had to do it again. So we did it again and the other missionaries were looking at me and joking, so I messed up, started over, and then finally baptized her and everything was alright. Almost all our zone was at our baptism and we all sang ¨Yo se que vive mi Señor¨. Then, Maria bore her testimony and cried a lot. She is so awesome. She is truly converted to the gospel. She shared a scripture that she loved and she also has finished the Book of Mormon and now shes studying it she said. She is excited to go to the temple this week and do Family History too. It was a great day. 

Sunday Maria received the Holy Ghost and Elder Velasquez gave the blessing. Also, Elder Velasquez and I got to give talks in church and it was awesome. I love giving talks. I love speaking and sharing a message with everyone at the pulpit. I talked on how we can help others strengthen their faith in Christ, a conference talk by L. Tom Perry. 

We are still talking to Manuel de Jesus and he is awesome, came to church again. Andreina left to live somewhere else with her mom and didnt tell us anything?? Amelia doesnt really want to talk too much with us because she told us that she is Catholic, but she still wants to have some charlas. We found lots of people and have a lot of baptismal dates. We are trying to grind. 

Spiritual Experience: So we had a little bit of a rough day yesterday, but last night we were walking around and came to this dark alley mas o menos and we decided to pray (this is how we found Maria de Lourdes) and we just said that we trust you and now we are going to knock some doors. So the first few didnt answer and then we knocked and another and a 36 year old guy answered and he is prepared by the Lord. He left the Catholic church because he saw some things he didnt like, and he didnt know antything about us, so we taught him the Restoration and about the Book of Mormon and he was super surprised and really wants to read. He is going through a hard time right now, but is really humble and wants to talk with us. He accpeted a baptismal date and we are going to meet with him Thursday. His name is Pedro. 

I know that the Lord will always answer our prayers. I know that if we keep the commamndments that he will bless us, he has to. I know that the Savior lives and that he loves each and every one of us, and I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that it testifies of Him. 

 Love ya all !!! 

Elder Dalton Hall

I bought a coconut, the baptism, church 

[alamante]

LA LIBERTAD, Honduras –  Baby Johan spent his first day home chasing his family’s kitten, bouncing to music and playing like any 15-month-old boy.

But his mom said Saturday he also seemed lost in his own home — not recognizing his favorite aunt and only able to sleep with the lights on after spending five months in U.S. custody forcibly separated from his parents.

“We have to give him time, be patient,” his mother, Adalicia Montecinos said with a tired smile after her first night back with her son, who only slept for a few hours.

He also seemed to be speaking words that his mom figured were likely in English.

For months, the couple watched their only son grow up in videos while he was kept at a U.S. government-contracted shelter in Phoenix. That’s where he took his first steps and spoke his first words.

Johan, who grabbed the world’s attention when he appeared in a U.S. courtroom in diapers, at first also didn’t recognize his mom and dad after he was flown to San Pedro Sula on Friday.

Adalicia broke down Friday in tears as she talked about how her son had become a poster child for outrage over the Trump administration’s policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“He suffered everything that we have been suffering,” she said.

His father soon won him over by playing ball. Within an hour, the tiny boy in an orange tank top, blue shorts but no shoes laughed as both parents kissed him outside a center where they finished final legal paperwork before heading home.

And so ended the extraordinary journey of a baby whose short life has ranged from Honduran poverty to a desperate dash across the U.S. border to the front pages of the world’s newspapers.

Captured by Border Patrol agents almost instantly upon arrival, Johan’s father was deported — and the 10-month-old was kept at the Arizona shelter. Over the next five months, he spoke and walked for the first time and had his first birthday; his parents, hundreds of miles away, would miss it all.

“The nightmare is over,” Adalicia said Saturday as she washed clothes in an outdoor sink outside their cement home in the steamy mountains in central Honduras.

But the family faces new challenges as their son readjusts and she fears the effects of their separation will be lasting.

Johan shook his head “no” over and over when his aunt who lives with the family picked him up. He has been fussier and Adalicia wondered if it was because of tiredness from his long journey or something more serious.

Only time will tell, said Clara Long, a researcher with Human Rights Watch. At least a dozen parents were deported back to their homelands without their children.

“I think we don’t know the future impact on these kids who were separated from their parents, but it could be life-long,” she said.

In early July, Johan went before an immigration judge. An Associated Press account of that court appearance — of the judge’s befuddlement over how to deal with this tiny detainee in diapers, sucking on a bottle — set off an international furor.

“I never thought they could be so cruel,” said his father, Rolando Antonio Bueso Castillo, 37.

Rolando said he thought his plan was a beautiful one. He would escape his hard life in the tiny town of Libertad — Freedom, in Spanish. His children would not grow up in the same poverty that he had endured — he had dropped out of the fourth grade to sell burritos to help his single mom support him and his four siblings.

His younger brother left the coffee-growing mountains of central Honduras for the United States seven years ago and thrived in Maryland with his wife and children. His sister followed, and also did well. Their eldest brother was killed in a drive-by shooting in San Pedro Sula, one of Latin America’s most dangerous cities.

Rolando earned $10 a day driving a bus; his brother in America sent back hundreds of dollars to help out.

An easy-going and hard-working man, Rolando was well aware of the dangers of crossing Mexico. Scores of Central Americans have fallen to their deaths jumping on trains or been shaken down by Mexican police, murdered, kidnapped, robbed or raped on their way to the United States.

He paid a smuggler $6,000, money his brother sent to him. Everything was supposed to be included — hotel stays, three meals daily and transport in an SUV with two other mothers and three children to the U.S. border. He packed five onesies, three jackets, a blue-and-white baby blanket, lotion, cream, 50 diapers, two bottles and cans of formula.

His wife, in her first trimester of pregnancy, would stay behind, working at her market stand selling Nike baseball hats, “California Dreaming” T-shirts and jewelry. In Maryland, their family would help mind Johan while Rolando worked. Adalicia would join them in a few months.

The father and son made it as far as Tampico, Mexico, 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the Texas border, when their beautiful plan started to unravel.

The smuggler drove them into a warehouse in the port city and told them to board a tractor trailer filled with scores of other parents and children from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Peru.

Rolando and his son would spend three days locked in the trailer, before arriving to the Mexican border city of Reynosa, where they boarded a makeshift raft and floated across the Rio Grande to Texas.

He thought the worst was over, but his troubles were only beginning.

Within minutes a Border Patrol agent stopped them and they were taken to a detention center.

On the fifth day, immigration officers told Rolando they needed to take him to an office for questioning. One agent removed Johan from his arms. As they walked away, Johan turned, reaching for his dad.

It would be the last time they would see each other for five months.

The agents told Rolando he was going to be separated from the boy and deported to Honduras because this was the fourth time he had attempted to enter the United States. Each time, he was caught almost immediately.

Rolando spent 22 days locked up in various detention centers along the Texas border. He knew nothing of his son.

His wife would wake up reaching for her baby and remember again what had happened. She watched videos of Johan over and over of him kicking and wiggling, laughing with his dad, staring into the camera.

Rolando said he had first been told by immigration authorities that the two would be deported together, so he agreed to go. Then, they told him his son would follow in two weeks. But months passed.

The boy’s parents learned he took his first steps from the social worker, who also sent a video of him on his first birthday, waking up and crying. From the AP’s news story on Johan’s appearance before a judge, they learned that he had started to talk.

The father said he was overwhelmed by guilt over the dismal failure of his beautiful plan. Someday, he knows, his son will ask what happened, and why he had left him in the United States.

“I’ll tell him the truth,” he said. “We thought we had a good plan to give him a better life.”

Will Rolando concoct yet another plan to reach America? He says only that he is a fighter and will work hard to survive, as he always has.

But he knows that his life and that of his family will never be the same.

“They broke something in me over there,” Rolando said. “This was never my son’s fault. Why did he have to be punished?”

___

Associated Press writer Astrid Galvan in Phoenix contributed to this report.

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   The post ‘Suffering’ ends with Honduran baby back in parents’ arms appeared first on MySourceSpot.

[investmart007]

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras | Honduran baby who appeared in US court is back in dad's arms

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/hhkArM

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras | Honduran baby who appeared in US court is back in dad's arms

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras — A year-old boy who became a poster child for the U.S. policy of separating immigrants and their children was back in the arms of his parents Friday, five months after he was taken from his father at the U.S. border.

Johan Bueso Montecinos arrived in San Pedro Sula and was reunited with his parents on a government bus. They were taken away for processing.

And so ended the extraordinary journey of a baby whose short life has ranged from Honduran poverty to a desperate dash across the U.S. border to the front pages of the world’s newspapers. Captured by Border Patrol agents almost instantly upon arrival, Johan’s father was deported — and the 10-month-old remained at an Arizona shelter, in the custody of the U.S. government. Over the next five months, he would take his first steps, speak his first words, have his first birthday; his parents, hundreds of miles away, would miss it all.

When his mother and father last saw him, he had two tiny teeth. Now he has a mouthful.

In early July, Johan went before an immigration judge. An Associated Press account of that court appearance — of the judge’s befuddlement over how to deal with this tiny detainee in diapers, sucking on a bottle — set off an international furor, embodying the Trump administration’s policy of separating immigrant children from their parents.

“I never thought they could be so cruel,” said his father, Rolando Antonio Bueso Castillo, 37. Rolando said he thought his plan was a beautiful one. He would escape his hard life in the tiny town of Libertad — Freedom, in Spanish. His children would not grow up in the same poverty that he had endured — he had dropped out of the fourth grade to sell burritos to help his single mom support him and his four siblings.

His younger brother left the coffee-growing mountains of central Honduras for the United States seven years ago and thrived in Maryland with his wife and children. His sister followed, and also did well. Their eldest brother was killed in a drive-by shooting in San Pedro Sula, one of Latin America’s most dangerous cities.

Rolando was left behind with his wife Adalicia Montecinos and his 35-year-old disabled sister in their pink, two-bedroom cement home with a corrugated metal roof. He earned $10 a day driving a bus; his brother in America sent back hundreds of dollars to help out. Rolando, an easy-going and hard-working man, was well aware of the dangers of crossing Mexico. Scores of Central Americans have fallen to their deaths jumping on trains or been shaken down by Mexican police, murdered, kidnapped, robbed or raped on their way to the United States.

He paid a smuggler $6,000, money his brother sent to him. Everything was supposed to be included — hotel stays, three meals daily and transport in an SUV with two other mothers and three children to the U.S. border. He packed five onesies, three jackets, a blue-and-white baby blanket, lotion, cream, 50 diapers, two bottles and cans of formula.

His wife, in her first trimester of pregnancy, would stay behind, working at her market stand selling Nike baseball hats, “California Dreaming” T-shirts and jewelry. In Maryland, their family would help mind Johan while Rolando worked. Adalicia would join them in a few months.

The father and son made it as far as Tampico, Mexico, 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the Texas border, when their beautiful plan started to unravel.

The smuggler drove them into a warehouse in the port city and told them to board a tractor trailer filled with scores of other parents and children from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Peru. Rolando and his son would spend three days locked in the trailer, shivering from the cold breeze from a buzzing machine they were told provided air for them to breathe. Buckets served as bathrooms. As other children cried, Rolando’s son sat next to him quietly, Rolando recalled. They huddled together in the dark; he changed Johan’s diapers by the glow of a flashlight. “We were carried like meat, but we had no choice by then. We had to do what we were told,” Rolando said. In the Mexican border city of Reynosa, they boarded a makeshift raft and floated across the Rio Grande. They trudged through the Texas brush. They had made it. But minutes later, a Border Patrol agent spotted them. “Where are you going?” the agent asked. Rolando said his response was simple, and sincere: “We’re going to search for the American dream.” The agent told him he was taking them to a detention center. Still, Rolando did not doubt his beautiful plan. He figured once he was processed he would be released with his son to fight his case in the courts. At worst, the two would be deported together back to Honduras. Inside a cell cordoned off by a chain-link fence, they slept on a mattress under a thin, reflective blanket issued to them. Rolando said he had to ask for three days before being allowed to bathe Johan. “He was covered with dirt,” Rolando said. On the fifth day, immigration officers told Rolando they needed to take him to an office for questioning. One agent removed Johan from his arms. As they walked away, Johan turned, reaching for his dad. It would be the last time they would see each other for five months. The agents told Rolando he was going to be separated from the boy and deported to Honduras because this was the fourth time he had attempted to enter the United States. Each time, he was caught almost immediately. “That’s criminal,” one of the agents told Rolando. “A criminal is someone who kills, robs, does things to harm people,” Rolando said later. “I just want to work and give my children opportunities.” Rolando spent 22 days locked up in various detention centers along the Texas border. He knew nothing of his son. He had no money to call his wife and tell her what had happened. Instead a social worker from the Arizona shelter holding Johan contacted her and asked if she was Johan’s mother. She told her to send his birth certificate and other documents to prove it. Adalicia could not believe it was true, and waited to hear from her husband. Five days later, another detainee lent him money so he could call her. “Baby, it’s me,” he said. “What happened to our son?” she asked, crying. Rolando broke down. “I don’t know what happened,” he said. “They took him from me. But it’ll be OK.” “How?” she cried. “When am I going to see my boy again?” She felt so alone. She would wake up reaching for her baby and remember again what had happened. She watched videos of Johan over and over of him kicking and wiggling, laughing with his dad, staring into the camera. When Rolando arrived in Honduras in April, he was shocked to see how thin she was — she said she lost 20 pounds and her doctor worried she could lose her baby. The first thing she said when she saw Rolando was “Where’s my boy?” Rolando said he had first been told by immigration authorities that the two would be deported together, so he agreed to go. Then, they told him his son would follow in two weeks. But months passed. Rolando called lawyers, the Honduran consulate and U.S. authorities to find out when his son was coming home. The social worker in the United States started sending weekly videos and making video calls. At first Johan would reach for his mom, as if wanting to embrace her through the screen. But as time passed, he grew distracted.

He is forgetting me, Adalicia thought. The boy’s parents learned he took his first steps from the social worker, who also sent a video of him on his first birthday, waking up and crying. From the AP’s news story on Johan’s appearance before a judge, they learned that he had started to talk.

“I will never see my son walk for the first time, or celebrate his first birthday,” Adalicia said, her voice shaking. “That’s what I lost — those memories every mom cherishes and tells their children years later.” At the hearing, Johan repeatedly asked for “agua” — water. At one point, he kicked off his shoes and stood in his socks.

Judge John W. Richardson could hardly contain his unease at having to ask the boy’s lawyer whether his client understood the proceedings.

“I’m embarrassed to ask it, because I don’t know who you would explain it to, unless you think that a 1-year-old could learn immigration law,” he told the lawyer.

In the end, Johan was granted a voluntary departure order that would allow the government to fly him to Honduras — back to the pink house with seven chickens pecking in the dirt outside, with the outdoor wood stove and the cement sink filled with water used to flush the toilet.

The father who awaited him Friday was overwhelmed by guilt over the dismal failure of his beautiful plan. Someday, he knows, his son will ask what happened, and why he had left him in the United States.

“I’ll tell him the truth,” he said. “We thought we had a good plan to give him a better life.”  Will Rolando concoct yet another plan to reach America? He says only that he is a fighter and will work hard to survive, as he always has.

But he knows that his life and that of his family will never be the same. “They broke something in me over there,” Rolando said. “This was never my son’s fault. Why did he have to be punished?” ___

By Associated Press

[investmart007]

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras | Baby who was in US court now will be back in dad's arms

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/4UpsBT

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras | Baby who was in US court now will be back in dad's arms

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras— A year-old boy who became a poster child for the U.S. policy of separating immigrants and their children was on his way home to the arms of his parents Friday, five months after he was taken from his father at the U.S. border.

Johan Bueso Montecinos was on a jet bound for San Pedro Sulas from the United States, after Honduran consular officials and U.S. authorities worked out arrangements.

And so ended the extraordinary journey of a baby whose short life has ranged from Honduran poverty to a desperate dash across the U.S. border to the front pages of the world’s newspapers.

Captured by Border Patrol agents almost instantly upon arrival, Johan’s father was deported — and the 10-month-old remained at an Arizona shelter, in the custody of the U.S. government. Over the next five months, he would take his first steps, speak his first words, have his first birthday; his parents, hundreds of miles away, would miss it all.

When his mother and father last saw him, he had two tiny teeth. Now he has a mouthful.

In early July, Johan went before an immigration judge. An Associated Press account of that court appearance — of the judge’s befuddlement over how to deal with this tiny detainee in diapers, sucking on a bottle — set off an international furor, embodying the Trump administration’s policy of separating immigrant children from their parents.

“I never thought they could be so cruel,” said his father, Rolando Antonio Bueso Castillo, 37.

Rolando said he thought his plan was a beautiful one. He would escape his hard life in the tiny town of Libertad — Freedom, in Spanish. His children would not grow up in the same poverty that he had endured — he had dropped out of the fourth grade to sell burritos to help his single mom support him and his four siblings.

His younger brother left the coffee-growing mountains of central Honduras for the United States seven years ago and thrived in Maryland with his wife and children. His sister followed, and also did well. Their eldest brother was killed in a drive-by shooting in San Pedro Sula, one of Latin America’s most dangerous cities.

Rolando was left behind with his wife Adalicia Montecinos and his 35-year-old disabled sister in their pink, two-bedroom cement home with a corrugated metal roof. He earned $10 a day driving a bus; his brother in America sent back hundreds of dollars to help out.

Rolando, an easy-going and hard-working man, was well aware of the dangers of crossing Mexico. Scores of Central Americans have fallen to their deaths jumping on trains or been shaken down by Mexican police, murdered, kidnapped, robbed or raped on their way to the United States.

He paid a smuggler $6,000, money his brother sent to him.

Everything was supposed to be included — hotel stays, three meals daily and transport in an SUV with two other mothers and three children to the U.S. border. He packed five onesies, three jackets, a blue-and-white baby blanket, lotion, cream, 50 diapers, two bottles and cans of formula.

His wife, in her first trimester of pregnancy, would stay behind, working at her market stand selling Nike baseball hats, “California Dreaming” T-shirts and jewelry. In Maryland, their family would help mind Johan while Rolando worked. Adalicia would join them in a few months.

The father and son made it as far as Tampico, Mexico, 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the Texas border, when their beautiful plan started to unravel.

The smuggler drove them into a warehouse in the port city and told them to board a tractor trailer filled with scores of other parents and children from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Peru.

Rolando and his son would spend three days locked in the trailer, shivering from the cold breeze from a buzzing machine they were told provided air for them to breathe. Buckets served as bathrooms.

As other children cried, Rolando’s son sat next to him quietly, Rolando recalled. They huddled together in the dark; he changed Johan’s diapers by the glow of a flashlight.

“We were carried like meat, but we had no choice by then. We had to do what we were told,” Rolando said.

In the Mexican border city of Reynosa, they boarded a makeshift raft and floated across the Rio Grande. They trudged through the Texas brush. They had made it.

But minutes later, a Border Patrol agent spotted them. “Where are you going?” the agent asked.

Rolando said his response was simple, and sincere: “We’re going to search for the American dream.”

The agent told him he was taking them to a detention center. Still, Rolando did not doubt his beautiful plan. He figured once he was processed he would be released with his son to fight his case in the courts. At worst, the two would be deported together back to Honduras.

Inside a cell cordoned off by a chain-link fence, they slept on a mattress under a thin, reflective blanket issued to them. Rolando said he had to ask for three days before being allowed to bathe Johan.

“He was covered with dirt,” Rolando said.

On the fifth day, immigration officers told Rolando they needed to take him to an office for questioning. One agent removed Johan from his arms. As they walked away, Johan turned, reaching for his dad.

It would be the last time they would see each other for five months. The agents told Rolando he was going to be separated from the boy and deported to Honduras because this was the fourth time he had attempted to enter the United States. Each time, he was caught almost immediately.

“That’s criminal,” one of the agents told Rolando. “A criminal is someone who kills, robs, does things to harm people,” Rolando said later. “I just want to work and give my children opportunities.”

Rolando spent 22 days locked up in various detention centers along the Texas border. He knew nothing of his son.

He had no money to call his wife and tell her what had happened. Instead a social worker from the Arizona shelter holding Johan contacted her and asked if she was Johan’s mother. She told her to send his birth certificate and other documents to prove it.

Adalicia could not believe it was true, and waited to hear from her husband. Five days later, another detainee lent him money so he could call her.

“Baby, it’s me,” he said.

“What happened to our son?” she asked, crying. Rolando broke down. “I don’t know what happened,” he said. “They took him from me. But it’ll be OK.”

“How?” she cried. “When am I going to see my boy again?” She felt so alone. She would wake up reaching for her baby and remember again what had happened. She watched videos of Johan over and over of him kicking and wiggling, laughing with his dad, staring into the camera.

When Rolando arrived in Honduras in April, he was shocked to see how thin she was — she said she lost 20 pounds and her doctor worried she could lose her baby. The first thing she said when she saw Rolando was “Where’s my boy?”

Rolando said he had first been told by immigration authorities that the two would be deported together, so he agreed to go. Then, they told him his son would follow in two weeks. But months passed. Rolando called lawyers, the Honduran consulate and U.S. authorities to find out when his son was coming home.

The social worker in the United States started sending weekly videos and making video calls. At first Johan would reach for his mom, as if wanting to embrace her through the screen. But as time passed, he grew distracted.

He is forgetting me, Adalicia thought.

The boy’s parents learned he took his first steps from the social worker, who also sent a video of him on his first birthday, waking up and crying. From the AP’s news story on Johan’s appearance before a judge, they learned that he had started to talk.

“I will never see my son walk for the first time, or celebrate his first birthday,” Adalicia said, her voice shaking. “That’s what I lost — those memories every mom cherishes and tells their children years later.” At the hearing, Johan repeatedly asked for “agua” — water. At one point, he kicked off his shoes and stood in his socks.

Judge John W. Richardson could hardly contain his unease at having to ask the boy’s lawyer whether his client understood the proceedings.

“I’m embarrassed to ask it, because I don’t know who you would explain it to, unless you think that a 1-year-old could learn immigration law,” he told the lawyer.

In the end, Johan was granted a voluntary departure order that would allow the government to fly him to Honduras — back to the pink house with seven chickens pecking in the dirt outside, with the outdoor wood stove and the cement sink filled with water used to flush the toilet .

The father who awaited him Friday was overwhelmed by guilt over the dismal failure of his beautiful plan. Someday, he knows, his son will ask what happened, and why he had left him in the United States.

“I’ll tell him the truth,” he said. “We thought we had a good plan to give him a better life.”

Will Rolando concoct yet another plan to reach America? He says only that he is a fighter and will work hard to survive, as he always has.

But he knows that his life and that of his family will never be the same.

“They broke something in me over there,” Rolando said. “This was never my son’s fault. Why did he have to be punished?”

By JULIE WATSON ,  Associated Press ___