#when my mom and i went to europe and then vancouver a few years later-- i planned 100% of that basically. enjoyed every minute of it

[quaranmine]

i am such a type a "everything must be planned perfectly down to the minute" type of person when i do trip planning unless my dad is facilitating the trip in which case i just immediately check out and go "well if i die i die cause he's in charge"

[daydreamingabouthockey]

Somewhere in Stockholm Chapter 2

Word count:1,775

Masterlist.

Chapter 1

Note: chapter 2 of Somewhere in Stockholm sorry this took awhile. I’m refreshed I took a holiday to Stockholm so I have some new inspiration. Ft Alex Nylander (sorry about the weird formatting I’m trying to fix it atm)

Maggie stood outside a yellow painted apartment block on a deserted quiet street. She stared at the buzzers until she found the one labelled Altelius . A small buzzer sounded, She pushed the door and found herself in a small but grand hallway with a large chandelier and a grand staircase. Damn this was fancy and this was his second home where he only came in the off season?

She hauled her suitcase up the flights of stairs Stopping on the fourth floor and a white doors with the numbers ninety written on it, she knocked on the door and waited. It was opened by a young blonde boy, he had a half asleep expression on his face, wearing only a pair of sweatpants and was mid way through brushing his teeth. “Hi, i’m Maggie?” she said unsure.

“Sorry wrong flat” he said or at least that is what she thought he said before slamming the door in her face.Maggie stood there stunned for a moment unsure what to think apart from she must have been at the wrong place, but Will had definitely text her flat ninety. She knocked again. This time she could hear from inside the flat two boys arguing in Swedish. The door eventually opened again but this time, a different blonde answered the door and Maggie swore her heart skipped a beat. This guy was handsome, tall, Blue eyes a flow of long blonde hair and was naked from the waist up and from what she could see this guy was ripped. Suddenly she understood Morgan’s warning. Oh boy she was in trouble. “Hi I’m Maggie,” She said a little unsure. Her cheeks burning. “Ah Maggie, Mo’s erm friend, hi,I’m Willy ” he said pulling her in for a hug and Maggie had never felt more awkward. Why had he said friend like that? Also she was hugging a topless stranger in a hallway and damn how ripped what this dude? “Come in,” he said grinning, he grabbing her suitcase and pulling it in.“You don’t have to do that, its ok, it’s kind of heavy,” she said trying to pull it off him but in the process losing the tug of war, I mean duh, he was a pro athlete. “It’s okay, hey Alex come say hey,” he yelled out. The younger boy from earlier returned into the hallway still only wearing his sweatpants. What was up with these boys? Was wearing clothes optional or something? If so she was not going to complain. “Eh?” the younger boy Alex asked.“We have a guest young Nylander,”Will said hitting his brother over the head. Alex turned to stare at Maggie “Oh hi, sorry I erm slammed the door in your face,” he said and she got the feeling Alex Nylander didn’t like her very much. “Its okay,” she spluttered still distracted by the two blondes. She could feel her cheeks flushing. “We’ve had a couple of fans turn up to our flat recently, so now we’re a bit wary,hence the name change on the buzzer to Altelius instead of Nylander,”. “Oh wow, people really do that,” “Yeah, I had a grandma chase me down the road last week,” Will joked at least she thought he was. She really couldn’t tell.“So you can take my room it’s just through here,” Will said pointing to the door “Oh,”. “Something wrong?” He asked running his hands through his hair. Something she found very distracting. “I mean I know Morgan said your a bit of a charmer but I think you got me a bit wrong,I can’t share a bed, with you I don’t know you and” Maggie blabbered nervously . He stopped her and laughed “Chill Maggie, I’ll sleep on the sofa, I’m not trying to, wait what did Mo say about me?” He asked with a cheeky grin and a laugh. “Oh nothing,” she said suddenly turning red as a tomato. He gave her the full tour of the place, kitchen, living room, a swish bathroom which was all in true scandivanian style and looked like it had come straight out of an ikea catalogue. He showed her Alex’s room which looked chaotic. Clothes all overspilling from his suitcase and cans of red bull dotted around any available surface, papers haphazardly piled on the desk in the corner.When Maggie was finally led into William’s room she was surprised at the contrast of the two brother’s rooms. She surveyed the room around her, double bed with grey sheets, a bedside cabinet, the room was clean and sparse like no-one really lived in this room apart from a few personal items. A blue maple leafs duffle bag identical to the one, she had seen at Morgan’s place. Beside the bed was a photo of she assumed his family given they all looked identical, blonde hair blue eyed, mum, sisters, Alex and a bald man who he guessed must of been his dad. Apart from that the room didn’t seem very lived in. Maggie flopped down on the bed, picking up her phone to text her family to let them all know she was safe.

To: Mom

From: Maggie

Hey Mom just telling you know, I arrived in Stockholm. I’ll call you in a couple of days love you! M x

Then she quickly typed out a message to Morgan.

To: Mo Bro

From: Maggie

Made it safely to Willy’s of course I’ve embarrassed myself already. Also does erm Willy think clothes are something optional?

Her phone pinged back immediately.

To: Maggie

From: Mo Bro

Oh no what did you do? I forgot to warn you about that, he is very liberal with clothing must be a European thing. He walks around half naked at lot at the rink. You get used to it. X

She was pulled out of her daze by Will wandering into the room, who was thankfully now wearing a t-shirt. “Hey,” he said smiling widely “So i’m not sure if you had anything planned whilst you were here but me and Alex were going to and watch the Eurovision later, if you want to come, there doing this big event in Kungsträdgården Park” Willy asked sitting down on the bed. “Sure I’ve never seen the eurovision before,”

“Your in for a treat then,” he said and she could have sworn he winked at her. Was William Nylander flirting with her? She sat on the bed, she had only just met this guy. She had met a fair few hockey boys growing up and being friends with one and she had sworn off dating hockey players after learning the hard way with Leo Mustang the star player for the Giants in Vancouver. She had met him through Morgan and despite his warning she had dated him anyway something which backfired massively on her later when he brutally dumped her for a hotter skinner blonde girl at a party in front of all of his friends. The only saving grace was that Morgan had been there to pick her up and defend her. Like the true best friend he was. He hadn’t ever once told her I told you so even though she knew he was thinking it. She loved Morgan for that. An hour later Maggie had showered, power nap and was ready to go out on a new adventure. William effortlessly weaved through the winding streets of the buildings were coloured white, yellows and reds. Maggie looked around in joy. There was nothing like this at home. This place was beautiful. “I don’t understand the deal with this Eurovision,” she sighed putting another mouthful of strawberry ice cream in her mouth. They had stopped off at what Alex had described as the best ice cream in Stockholm. “I didn’t either at first when I moved here from Canada, it’s weird, countries singing weird songs and perform in the strangest outfits then everyone gets angry when neighbouring countries vote for each other, for us it’s a night we watch tv and get drunk, it’s just even more hyped up this year because it’s in our city,”

“Ah well it sounds like fun so, Mo said you live out in Sweden during the off season you live here all the time you are here?”

“Some of the time, I spend a lot of time at my parents, this is just mine and Alex’s place,”

“Oh wow it’s so nice,” she said, nodding. In Seattle, she shared a tiny apartment with her best friend Molly and her boyfriend, Brad. She had become excellent at being third wheel to them. She could only dream of owning her own place.“So how did you meet Morgan? I thought a pretty girl like you he’s been showing you off?”

“Oh I live in Seattle but me and Morgs go way back we met at school in Couver,”

“Ah makes sense,” she said blushing.

“What brings you to Sweden apart from you know meeting me?” He asked with a playful grin. She laughed and pushed Willy.

“I’m interrailing around Europe,”

“And Mo didn’t want to come?”

“Nah he’d rather sit on his butt, see Maggie, his dog, play golf and go fishing,”

“Wait he named his dog after you?”

“Yeah well, he refuses to admit it,” she said with a shrug.

“So when he’s talking about Maggie,” he said, his eyes suddenly lighting up like it makes sense. “He was talking about you and not the dog?”

“Yes,” she said bursting out into laughter.

“That makes a lot more sense I wondered why he told me me and Maggie got dressed up and went for dinner,” he shrugged. “Did you have a bath with him?”

“Ew no” Maggie said with a laugh “that one was the dog,that is weird, I would never shower with him,”wrinkling her nose as she laughed.

“You and Morgan aren’t?” He asked his tilting head.

“God no he’s my best friend,”

“Oh okay good, I mean not good cool,” he said blushing and running through his hands through his hair again and awkwardly laughing. The pair went silent for a moment until Alex suddenly said goodbye turning to walk away.

“Where is he going? Are we not..” she trailed pointing to Alex walking up the hill

“Oh Alex is going to meet some of his friends, I said we’d meet back later, but I was thinking you might be hungry?”

It was that moment when Maggie’s stomach had decided to loudly gurgle. “Well I think that settles it and I know just the place,” he said with a wide grin.

[onestowatch]

Meet Yu Su, the Multicultural Electronic Artist Blending the East and West

Yu Su (苏玉) was born and raised in Kaifeng, a city in central China’s Henan province, just south of the Yellow River. After highschool, she moved to Vancouver to continue her education, later on discovering her passion for making electronic music, which, she’ll admit she never imagined becoming her career. Fast forward a few years later and Yu insisted is doing what many thought impossible and staying true to herself, creating a place for herself in the electronic music realm.

We caught up with Yu to speak about her music, life outside of music, her hometown, and plenty more.

01. “Home” as she remembers 

After hearing Yu was born and raised in Kaifeng, people who aren’t from China might be curious about the city, but people who are from China might actually be shocked... because generally speaking, Kaifeng, a beautiful historical city that is filled with ancient attractions, has nothing much to do with electronic music.

Although Yu’s hometown might not have a thriving electronic music scene, her unique upbringing makes her the artist she is today. “If a person who is trying to create art but doesn’t have a certain area of experience that is rich enough, then the creative output must be bland and empty. Therefore people (artists) must thrive to be multifaceted, only in that way can we add depth to our creations,” shares Yu. She used to dislike emphasizing her background when she first started out as an artist, thinking that kind of distinction would put tags and labels on her and potentially influence how audiences received her work. Later on, she realized instead of fighting it, she would rather let people get to know who she is through her work and let the music speak for itself.

Yu continues, “I want to let my music convey the stories that I want to portray. Perhaps it is hard to understand what’s in a person’s head, but I can use my art to make people get me, understand what I’m trying to say, and that I can deliver my own uniqueness.”

02. How did your music career start?

Like many Chinese families, parents tend to have some sort of obsession for their children to be somewhat artistic. Growing up as Chinese kids, we would always be signed up to all sorts of extracurriculars — piano lessons, dance classes, exoctic Chinese instrument practices... afraid that we would not be competitive enough later on in the world. Yu was no exception; her mom bought her a piano when she was four, and that opened up her door to music.

The first time Yu went to a club was when she was in college in Vancouver, after a friend dragged her out one random night. As an anthropology major at the time, she didn’t have much knowledge of EDM, let alone the club scene. However, that one night completely initiated her curiosity in this culture. She started researching online what equipment and software one needs to make electronic music before diving headfirst into the scene. 

In Summer 2018, she decided to quit her job at the museum doing archive work and focused on making music full-time as an artist, including taking on gigs as a DJ.

When asked about her plans on whether she would want to keep touring and DJing, she said yes if she doesn’t have any major life changes, although she might put a pause on it when she decides to have children. “I’m very much looking forward to raising my child under a creative environment, that’s why I want to have kids,” she explains

We asked Yu what the differences are between performing in China and Europe, saying “In other countries [outside of China], I just need to fulfill my job as a DJ and perform a good set, and people will dance to my music; but in China, there are so many inconsistencies, not many people are familiar with electronic music, the audiences are less well-versed in this genre, therefore to me, they are like blank sheets of papers. It is interesting that I can bring new experiences to them during my sets.”

03. The Eastern elements in Yu Su’s music

Yu’s cultural roots are actually already explored in her latest body of work. Her album that was released January of this year, Yellow River Blue, contains a lot of eastern cultural nuances in the title itself.

Curious if the album is related to home or being homesick, we asked and Yu replied, “If you think it is then it is, if you think it’s not then it’s ok too. I like when people read my work subjectively in their own ways. Like the first track on my album ‘Xiu’, the word ‘xiu’ is actually taken from my mother’s name. And in terms of Yellow River Blue, it’s just what the words literally mean by themselves, nothing too deep.”

04. Breaking boundaries as an artist

In this stage of Yu’s career, she wants to be challenged creatively in different areas. For example, she designed the music for Chinese fashion designer SAMUEL GUÌ YANG’s fashion show. SAMUEL GUÌ YANG is a fashion house that mixes and merges Chinese, western historic, and contemporary references in their designs. With Yu’s music creation aligning with the brand’s ideology, it created a dynamic that flowed seamlessly in both worlds.

“It was 2019 since I last performed in China, later on COVID hit and then I just stopped. If there is an opportunity to tour in China again, I’d like to perform in Arnaya. It’ll be a destination where I can enjoy what the coast has to offer while performing. Besides music, I really enjoy the environment outside the cities,” shares Yu.

Yu currently wants to stay in Vancouver and keep making music for the foreseeable future. To her, Vancouver is the perfect place where she can tune in with nature and be from not the distraction that plagues major metropolitan cities. What Yu longs for in her musical journey and her work is like a river stream that is subtle and sustainable, and not like a bloom of firework that’s here today and gone tomorrow.

We look forward to what Yu will bring us in 2022, and hopefully we can catch her at one of her performances soon. For now, you can find her curated sets on her NTS monthly residency.

[sparkstudy]

92 Questions Tag

Thank you @estudiear for the tag <3

Rules : answer these 92 questions and tag 20 people.

Last

Drink : earl grey latte

Phone call : probably my mom

Text message : “I’m so proud of us <3″ (last facebook message because I actually use facebook messenger more than texting)

song you listened : I thiiiiink it was New Years Day by Taylor Swift (reputation is my finals study soundtrack this year haha)

time you cried : a few weeks ago while watching gilmore girls a year in the life and being REALLY OVERWHELMED by my life at the same time lol

Have You…

dated someone twice : definitely. not.

kissed someone and regretted it : mm. kinda

being cheated on : no

lost someone special : yeah, for sure

been depressed : I don’t know if I want to answer this, I’m not sure what qualifies. maybe

gotten drunk and thrown up : unfortunately, yes. not an experience I’m eager to repeat

Three favorite colors :

dark blue, grey, cream

In the last year , have you :

made new friends : yes! friends from all over the world, at that

fallen out of love : if getting over a breakup counts, yes

laughed until you cried : 100% yes

found out someone was talking about you : I don’t think os

meet someone who changed you : yes

found out who your friends are : yeah I think so

kissed someone on your Facebook list : haha two

General :

how many of your Facebook friends do you know in your real life : all of them

any pets : used to have some fish, but that’s it

do you want to change your name : no, I like my name!

what did you do for your last birthday : hung out at a lake in BC with my family

what time do you wake up : recently, like 8 or 9 because I’ve got a whacky sleep schedule right now, but I’m going to have to get it back to like 6:30 for next semester when I have 8am class EVERY DAY :|

what were you doing at midnight last night : studying photovoltaics yay

Something you cant wait for : this semester to be OVER

last time you saw your mom : this morning!

what is one thing you wish you could change in your life : my tendency to settle, and also the lack of balance in my academic life

what are you listening to right now : silence

have you ever talked to a person named tom : ummm I mean I’ve met some people named Tom before haha but I don’t know any of them well

something that is getting on your nerves : the fact that I have to study for another final even though I’m exhausted

most visited websites : Facebook, Tumblr, d2l

Other info about myself ….

mole/s : a few

mark/s : nope

childhood dream : marine biologist

hair color : blonde

long or short hair : it’s sort of long right now. I wish I was brave enough to cut it really short

do you have a crush on someone : tRYinG to figure that out right now lol boys are the worst tbh

what do you like about yourself : that I work hard, that I’m kind to people, that I’m trying to be better

piercings : ears

blood type : I don’t know!

nickname : I don’t really have any

relationship status : single... ish

zodiac :  virgo? I’ve never really cared

pronouns : she/her

favorite TV show : gilmore girls <3 also brooklyn 99

tattoos : nope

right or left hand : right-handed

surgery : none

hair dyed in different color : neverrrrr

sport : currently, I’m pretty into bouldering/climbing, and a little bit of swimming and running too

vacation : do you really want me to list all the places I went last year while I was on internship and living in Switzerland because I could but like, it’s a long list. so we’ll just say “a good portion of Europe” + lots of places in BC/the Albertan Rockies, Vancouver, Ottawa, Hawaii, and a few other places in the states.

I could ALSO give you a massive list of places I want to go, but we’ll save that for another day haha. Travel is everythingggg.

sneakers : I’m definitely a toms or converse girl

More General ….

eating : breakfast food, all the eggs, and also pasta is my true love <3

drinking : lattes, drip coffee, bellinis or red wine for alcohol

i’m about to : studyyyyyyy

waiting for : finals to be over :(

want : to do better

get married : yes. I wouldn’t mind if it was sooner rather than later

career : engineer

hugs or kisses : hugs are good

lips or eyes : eyes

shorter or taller : taller

older or younger : older

nice arms or nice stomach : arms for sure

sensitive or loud : sensitive

hook up or relationship : relationship 100%

troublemaker or hesitant : haha I don’t mind a little bit of trouble

Have You Ever….

kissed a Stranger : no

drank hard liquor : a little

lost glasses/contact lenses : nope

turned someone down : yep

sex on the first date : definitely not

broken someone’s heart : I think so

had your heart broken : yeah

been arrested : noooo way

cried when someone died : no one very close to me has died

fallen for a friend : oh yes oh yes oh yes. still getting over that one, tbh.

Do You Believe In ….

yourself : trying to

miracles : definitely

love at first sight : not sure

santa claus : lol no but I believe in Christmas magic ;)

kiss on the first date : hm. depends on the guy

Other.…

current best friend name : I don’t know, I have a lot of great friends <3

eye color : bluuuuue

favorite movie : gosh I don’t know. I don’t like picking favourites but probably the Harry Potter movies, Pride and Prejudice, Home Alone (a christmas classic in my house haha)

20 People I Tag …..

tagging some of my followers + some of my favourite blogs!

@1degreeoffreedom @caffenotes @bscn-studies @constellationstudy @aoademic @architstudy @gloomstudy @honeststudying @ahrtstudy @hannybstudies @astudyinphd ++ anyone else who wants to do it!

[texanpeanut]

Not Normal

I’m thinking about the Peace Corps a lot these days. I’m thinking about my experience, the organization, volunteers, and my experience with life in my village and returning to my life in the United States. It’s taken me a while to process everything, and it’s mostly come in bursts. But since I haven’t been working due to the stay-home order, I’ve been reflecting in full force. I finally don’t have anything left to distract me from confronting the past and my present reality.

When I came home in September, I wanted everything to be normal. I wanted to wear cute clothes. I wanted to be fit. I wanted to have a car, a job, and a romantic partner. I wanted to forget all the messiness and cringe-worthy moments of the previous two years. And in doing so, also tried to ignore my messy and non-normal career and academic plans. Even though I applied and got into my top graduate program, which I had been eyeing since 2017 and involves living a year each in Wales and Vancouver, I kept denying that it was my reality because moving abroad once again for this program would disrupt the charade of normalcy I was desperately trying to keep up. However, so many things are not normal now that I can’t pretend anymore. To be fair I do have some cute clothes, I am fit, and I still have my car. But I don’t have my job for the moment, and I am accepting that I will probably not have a romantic partner for a long time. However, I’ve found that choosing to simply accept all of this has been liberating. I don’t care about trying to be normal anymore. My Peace Corps experience was messy as hell. My career and school plans are messy as hell. Everything is messy! But that’s the entire point of living. Liveliness is change and messiness and unpredictability. When we first arrived in Senegal, the staff members and older volunteers told us to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. And I’m finally starting to do just that.

In this post, I’m going to attempt to reconcile the good times and the bad times of my Peace Corps experience, explain my reasoning for going home a couple months early, and reflect on the past 7 months I’ve been home. There’s a lot to unpack and it will get personal, so buckle up.

 I don’t remember my last blog post. Maybe it was something about vacation or future projects planned… I don’t want to read it. Ha! To be completely candid, my second year of the Peace Corps was a bit of a shit show. It was difficult. I think this is something a lot of Peace Corps volunteers don’t share with the world – the struggles we all face during our service. We want to post this amazing, picture perfect story to all social media. An Instagram post with our favorite work partner, a Facebook post about the amazing ceremony we went to, a blog post about our project that’s going fantastically. We’re changing the world! We’re learning so much! This is life changing! Well, it definitely is life changing. And we probably are helping some people. We’ve made at least a few friends in our village. And we’re experiencing so many new cultural traditions. But it’s also far from perfect for a lot of us.

 I started the second year strong. I had just come back from vacation in Europe – a week in Austria with the boy I was completely in love with at the time, and a week in Rome with my family whom I will love forever. To conclude my two weeks abroad, my two best friends from college came to visit me in Senegal and went all the way to Medina Arsas, the village I called home for two years. We spent New Year’s Eve in my hut, playing bonanza, eating rice, and going to bed at 10 pm. I loved having two people I loved so much see my space and meet the village that welcomed me. It was a very special time.

My mom, sister, and me drunk on several carafes of house wine on our last cold night in Italy (dad taking the picture).

Melissa and me hugging in the Kedougou sunrise.

Caro and me on the single road that went in and out of my village.

After so many refreshing fun weeks with people I cared about, I was ready to dive into work and move onto some bigger projects. In my first year I had stayed small, focusing mostly on 1-on-1 trainings with neighbors, showing them how to create tree nurseries and plant trees on their compounds. It was fun and fulfilling, but I felt like I could do more. I wish I had stayed small. Or maybe I’m glad I tried. Either way, in January I had a community meeting to discuss potential projects, and everyone suggested a community garden. I explained that we could do this, but I would need to write a grant and it may take a while for the money to come in. And most importantly that I would need the collaboration and support of everyone in the village for this to work out. That’s the thing about Peace Corps – we don’t come in and do work for other people. And we don’t force people to change their ways. We are invited to come in, and we work with our communities to plan projects and build upon their resources to make them happen.

A realistic depiction of a training - straight up lounging after teaching about cashews and eating some chicken.

However, this is very difficult to translate to your village. Or at least it was for me. I think because of the long history of European, North American, and Asian NGOs coming in to “help,” which really means just building something and then quickly leaving most of the time, that’s what was expected of me. I was essentially expected to come in and wave my magic American wand to fix all the problems in the village and build infrastructure and just make things happen in the blink of an eye. But that’s not how I wanted to work, or even COULD work for that matter. And this ultimately caused problems. I had told my tech team (basically my supervisors) about the plans my village and I came up with, and they were on board and willing to help, but my village didn’t understand how long it would take to get resources from the Peace Corps and weren’t doing the things I asked of them to move the project along. So, things kind of fell apart, and they decided to get immediate help from another NGO. I was devastated. Not so much for the project – I knew my village was getting the well they wanted and I was glad they could connect with an organization that moved faster on things like that. I was mostly worried about my tech team thinking I was an idiot. Two of them were very understanding and supportive, but the head of my tech team, basically my boss, was extremely unsupportive. He said some things to me that were absolutely heartbreaking, and I remember at the time just feeling devastated at his disapproval. What’s funny now is that I can’t even remember what he said. Just goes to show what can simply blow over in a year.

 Anyway, this totally wrecked me. I went into the Peace Corps thinking I was going to use the skills I learned in college, learn new skills, and help a community make the changes they desired. I had tried so hard during pre-service training and worked so hard during my first year to learn the language, make connections, start small, all so I could just do a project. And it didn’t work out. I felt that all my efforts were for nothing. On top of this I had lost my dog to a botched spaying surgery in the previous year’s fall and felt responsible for not preventing it, even though I felt at the time I was trying my best, and then later that spring the boy I was in love with for two years broke my heart by telling me he wasn’t ready for our relationship. It felt like everything was crumbling around me. I had no idea how to deal with it. Part of me was productive in work – I held a few more trainings in neighboring villages where I felt less shameful about the failed project in my own village. But a bigger part of me shut down my emotions and just grew more and more anxious each week. On top of this I started to feel the pressure of “what the hell am I going to do when I get back?”. I began putting pressure on myself to get accepted into a good graduate program, to move out of the house, to find a good job. And I wasted an obscene amount of energy trying to figure out why the hell this guy wasn’t in love with me when I had been so in love with him and trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with me? And I kept mostly all of this inside, to myself. I would only talk about it occasionally in explosive, usually drunken, bursts when I just couldn’t handle it anymore. Hardly productive.

 So, I started to binge drink more and I started to have panic attacks. I have had anxiety for a long time, and in college occasionally suffered mild to moderate anxiety-fueled panic attacks. However, these new panic attacks were drastically different and more severe than what I was used to. I began having nightmares in which I thought I was dying. I would wake up with my heart racing convinced I was having a heart attack, but could always blame it on a bad dream. Until I had one while I was awake, and thought that it was the single 1mg tablet of alprazolam I took earlier that morning that was going to kill me. Which is hilarious, considering alprazolam is what’s commonly prescribed to TREAT anxiety and panic disorders. I called one of the Peace Corps Medical Officers and explained that I thought I was dying (I mean wouldn’t you, if you had a racing heart, couldn’t stop shaking uncontrollably, and had sweated so much you were basically swimming in it?), and she explained to me that no, that was just a panic attack, everything’s fine. Well I had never had a panic attack like that during my waking hours and it freaked me out to say the least. All the near-death nightmares started to make sense. I had kept my anxiety in long enough that it started to make its way out into the form of violent shakes and sweats and a frantically beating heart. I realized that if this was going to keep going on, I couldn’t stay in Senegal. I couldn’t live in my village constantly in fear of collapsing. I couldn’t do it anymore.

 So, I went to Dakar and talked to the PCMO I spoke with on the phone. She suggested I stay and told me that volunteers have panic attacks at site all the time. I thought well who the hell are they and why haven’t they gone home yet? Or maybe she didn’t understand the severity of my symptoms, because panic attacks with such severe physical symptoms are the absolute worst. Then I spoke with the counselor the Peace Corps worked with, and she validated my desire to go home. And I felt okay about it. So, I went back to Kedougou, cried a lot, spent one last night with my village and packed my things, cried some more, and spent one last night with my friends. These last few days were the hardest and most emotional. I had really grown to love so many people in my village and so many of my fellow volunteers. So, even though I knew I was making the right decision, it was a very difficult one.

The dungeons girls helping me get two years worth of stuff out of my hut in a single night.

Over the past 7 months that I’ve been home, I’ve found myself in tears on more than one occasion over how much I miss Senegal. This was surprising to me at first, because during the second half of my service I blamed Senegal for a lot of my unhappiness and anxiety. But Senegal had nothing to do with it. Maybe the expectations from my Peace Corps tech team had something to do with it, or the lack of mental health resources offered to us. But when I really think about it, my tech team hardly put any pressure on me. My village didn’t really care that much about the work I did or didn’t do. All the pressure was coming from within myself and I just didn’t know how to stop it. It’s true, a lot of things about Senegal did stress me out – the heat and dust, hectic and unpredictable public transportation, the lack of privacy, corporal punishment, men in general, etc. But the things I miss are so much more powerful. I miss hosting trainings with my friends and neighbors who were interested in growing trees. I miss sitting with my host family around the fire after dinner during cold season. I miss my host siblings laughing at me for not being able to pound corn the right way. I miss sitting with my counterpart in his compound and playing with the chickens. I miss my host sister’s son greeting me every morning. I miss sitting with my neighbors and cracking peanuts. I miss the kindness from strangers. I miss feeling welcomed and part of a community. Sometimes I wish I could go back and do it all over again without the pressure I had put on myself to be perfect. I may or may not have gotten any more work done, but I have a feeling I may have been able to cherish the small, sweet moments so much more.

My host family and me on my very last morning. Back row from left to right: Binta, me, Khadija/Neene, Neene, Mariama. Front row from left to right: Baaba, Bailo, Diariatou. <3

To end this post I’d like to say I think I’ve come a long way with self-acceptance and compassion since leaving Senegal, but most of this growth has happened over the past few weeks. I’ve recently started to feel a sense of being liberated, as I mentioned at the beginning of the post. And I love it. I’m forgiving myself for all the things I did wrong during my service, I’m accepting the things that didn’t work out the way I wanted them to, celebrating the things that went well, and I’m looking forward to my next few months in Houston and my next couple years abroad. I know there will probably be some hard moments, things may go wrong, and it won’t always be sunshine, but I’m more than okay with that. I’m comfortable being uncomfortable, and ready for a messy, amazing, lively future.

Me just vibing in the backyard smiling the day I finally got my official grad school acceptance. I’m excited for the next big step. Love y’all. xoxo

[katiebruce]

Year of the Silver Star

It’s taken me a while to sit down and right my annual end-of-the-year post. Normally, I’ve got this post done in the weeks leading up to New Year’s Eve, or, at the very least, the night before. Yet, here we are.

 I think part of it is my fear of letting go of what was such an incredible year for me. I know I’m basically alone in having had a great 2017—that’s okay, I’m usually an outcast anyways—but also a sense that I’ve peaked and will now plateau, if not avalanche, downwards into both my Saturn Return and my thirties. Whatever it may be, I owe it to both one of the best years of my life and one of the strangest starts to a new year I’ve ever had to document it.

 So, here it is.

 I started 2017 doing one of my favorite things: being out of the country. Sure, I was working, and sure, I wasn’t with my most favorite people, or in one of my favorite cities (not to shade Toronto, by any means)—but I had a good time. I had this overall feeling of excitement and change and that air of “anything is possible” that often accompanies the completion of a year--but somehow more than ever before. Something just felt right.

 I knew that starting the year off out of the country would provide ample travel opportunities and I made no hesitation in starting that right away. My best friend and I flew to Philly for a weekend—to see one of our favorite emo bands, mind you—and explored the frigid city in all its historic glory. About a week later, I flew to Vegas for my roommate’s bachelorette party, which, in and of itself, was easily one of the most eventful things that happened last year…

 February came and I turned 28 and celebrated with my girl gang at a library themed, Oscar Wilde bar. We got LIT-erary. I still find that fucking hilarious. We ended the night at our favorite watering hole, The good old Owl and ended up getting called The Spice Girls which was actually such a revelation for us (and even though Nicole wasn’t there, she somehow was the fifth we needed and the universe fucking knew it.)

 About a week or so later, me, Bethany and Lo flew across the fucking pond. We traveled London, Liverpool and Edinburgh for a week and froze our bloody arse’s off. In London, Lauren and I had a most memorable night where we were both kissed by a rose and wound up and a Beyonce bash, complete with face masks of Bey and all. I was catcalled in the most British way possible: “Oi, that’s a big bottom!” and I ended up meeting a guy we referred to as Mr. Grey for the better part of the year. He and I would, uh, well, fuck it. We’d have facetime sex at like, the most awkward hours and tbh it was sexy and made me feel great and I walked a little lighter and enjoyed how silly it was for a while. Of course, it ended a few months in, as these things often do, but I can’t deny the fun I had and I feel like I shouldn’t. Everyone should have sex with a sex monster (yes, that’s what I’m going to refer to him as now) at least once in their life. It was a wild ride.

 Beebs and I got inked in Liverpool on an absolute whim, and I had a sixty-year-old man tell me about the time he saw Bowie on the Ziggy Stardust tour as we listened to Lorde and he forever immortalized my love of The Thin White Duke on my forearm. This is when I really started letting go last year; I’m not very good at being impulsive. I may appear to be, but deep down I have grave anxiety about pretty much anything I do. I’ve just been lucky enough to have people who are willing to tolerate it and help me work past it in my adult life. But something changed in me in Liverpool, that drunken night where I not only decided I would get inked but thought up the concept mere hours before having it forever, and I can say I completely allowed this new girl to inhabit me and take over for the remainder of the year.

 I fell in love with Edinburgh and decided that, should I pursue a Master’s degree in the next few years, I’ll be going to school there. I’ve never felt quite as home as I did there. (I realize I’ve always said that about London, but trust me, if something was ever going to top Lahndo, it must be true love.)

 Me and the girls (all sexed up from chatting with all the foreign boys we did) had a most memorable night when we got home getting drunk at a sex store together and spending a collective $800 or so dollars on toys and lingerie. Self-care, bitches.

 In March, I watched as my roommates committed to a beautiful forever together. It was also my first time as a bridesmaid, and holy cow are weddings a lot of work. I’ve always said I’ll have a tiny wedding, if not just elope, but holy hell the experience from the inside only solidified that in my mind.

 Spring came and went and I grew my hair longer and cut it short again, yearned for warmth and visited my sister in Florida & flew to visit Kris in his newly adopted city of Denver. This is also around the time where I went on a few Tinder dates (Lord, help me) and fell, soul-crushingly head over heels for a guy I met one fleeting day at work…

 I took Acid on a third date which resulted in it also being The Last Date, but it made me see text messages as bubbles and I battled a dragon trying to get money from and ATM and watched a Star Wars for the first time (and last time) and had an evening of bad, trippy sex. Nothing like hallucinogenics to make you realize you are not in sync with another person, lol.

 So it goes.

 I traveled Europe for two weeks with Ellie which was lovely and exhausting. I returned to my beloved Italy, which was huge for me, as I always wanted to go before it had been ten years since the last time I stepped foot in the first foreign country I ever visited. We got drunk in San Marco Square and listened to battling string quartets and fell in love with foreign men we were too afraid to talk to and I was old enough this time around to know not to order a Long Island iced tea from a bartender who barely understood English in the first place…

 We eventually, by some form of absolute witchcraft, caught a flight to the tiny Greek island of Santorini and legit lived in a cave house for five days. We walked all over that tiny island and I let the sea breeze cleanse my skin and my hair and my heart and my mind. We watched the sunset every evening as if it were a spectacle to behold (it was—it always is) and just really let ourselves tell time by nature, and how it made our bodies feel. It was really a humbling experience to be in a place that’s so, so small. Going to Athens (via a ten hour ferry ride, mind you) was a bit of culture shock after being so confined for so long. Being in one of the most Eastern cities in Europe, however, really just made my itching to go to the middle east even more dire.

 I had a rough summer in terms of mental health; I hate summer flying (& the debilitating crush I mentioned above seemingly saved me—for like a week—and then left just as fleetingly as it arrived and left me in a pretty low place. I still dream about the guy regularly; I had two separate one’s last night.)

 I started taking Xanax again. Because, well, life is hard and my roommate has a prescription.

 I got to explore the beautiful, beautiful part of Wyoming that is Yellowstone National Park and got to see the beautiful, beautiful human being my best friend is becoming in the process. For a few days we camped, explored, and just really took in nature—even a death storm that threatened to turn our tent into a boat—it was a beautiful experience and I’m glad Nicole has found a place to call her home surrounding her with such beautiful, expressive people.

 August came and with the promise of September on its heels, I started to feel like myself again. Virgo season always does it to me; it’s my polar opposite and therefore, my most compatible sign. Ellie and I got another round of impulsive tattoos; strawberries—a quote stolen from Shakespeare that really just became a euphemism for our friendship throughout the year. We went to riot fest and I saw New Order and cried and Paramore (for the first time since I was, like, nineteen… and while we’re in a side note, let me just mention how much After Laughter was very much the soundtrack to my year and I’m not ashamed to admit it) and Ellie cried and we just had a very fun few days in the hot Chicago heat.

 I chose to recover from this by getting yet another tattoo; my largest & most intricate to date, so that made for an interesting, but wonderful day. It’s also worth noting that I got it in the south side of Chicago so, like, if I ever go to prison at least I’ve got that going for me.

 I returned to Milwaukee and had a riotous night with my girls where I got hit on by two famous band members and it was like, the stuff dreams are made of. I know it’s silly to assign worth to someone’s fame, but you have someone hit on you who has, like, a million Instagram followers & songs in like fifty different movies and see how it makes you feel & then judge me. This also started my love affair with the lesser famous band member who I’ve now entered into some weird “see you around Chicago” love affair thing for the past few months where we both flirt and ignore each other simultaneously. It’s wild.

 I saw so many bands and cried to so many songs and discovered so many artists and felt all the things.

 Friendsgiving came, and Nicole came, & along with her came The Con X tour. Without getting too into it, that was a huge shifting point for me & 2017 in general. The Con was an album that saved my life both metaphorically & also, like, physically, and to be able to stand outside of the depression that nearly took my life ten years prior and say, loudly, “I am still here and I like my life and sort of like the person I am but I am also trying to become better each and every day and it’s all very much worth it” is beautiful and powerful thing.

 My mom and I spent a wonderful weekend in Vancouver, exploring the cold north and even got to go whale watching, which was, honestly, one of the most breathtaking, awe inspiring experiences I’ve ever taken part in. Nothing will make you feel as small as floating in a yellow zodiac in the middle of the ocean surrounded by six Orcas and a baby (but fucking huge!) humpback whale will. Nature does a good job of reminding us of just how insignificant we are.

 The holidays just passed and I forgot about two ex-lover’s birthdays until days after each had past. I’m a big fan of dates; so this, too, was a huge thing for me. My Saturn Return stressed me out for months, yet finally arrived, subtlety, yet very directly. I assigned all my turmoil the Mercury Retrograde and the moon’s rotation yet also tried to use that bad air as a way to propel myself further into becoming better in some odd way. 

I spent a week at home in Tampa and the past week here in Chicago and I’ve been reflective and passive towards the new year, which is new for me. I celebrated the end of one of my favorite years, Year of the Silver Star, seeing Twin Peaks at one of my favorite venues in the world. I’ve lately adopted such a deep, profound love for Chicago that I can’t say was always there. I’ve always loved it here; don’t get me wrong. But lately I’ve just got this overwhelming sense of pride about living here and the person it’s shaped me to be. I truly live in the greatest city in America; it’s such a quiet, best kept-secret and it’s all fucking mine.

 So, in saying goodbye, I realize I am also going to be mourning the death of a good friend to me—2017—in the process. There’s a certain amount of fear that comes after having such a good year. Can anything else compare? Where will I go from here? What does the future hold for my small, insignificant experience on this planet?

 At least David Bowie can’t die again.

 2018 has had a slow, humble start. I think that’s going to be the theme, though—slow and steady. I’m cautious because I’m aging (twenty-nine in a few weeks. twenty-fucking-nine!) but also because of my fear and understanding of Saturn Return. I was just becoming comfortable with impulsive kb, and am now being faced with a wise, considerate version of myself. I’m really trying to act thoughtfully & with reason.

 I will not invite toxic relationships, old or new, into my life. I will not settle for less than what I what, just because I am afraid to voice what I do want. I will not let anything stop my travel plans—and boy, do I have a lot of them for this year.

 I will move out of my apartment, my home for the last seven years, in four short months. I will turn a new leaf. I will (finally) graduate college. I will likely have bad sex. But, I will also have good sex. Really, really good sex. I can feel it; it’s vaginal intuition. I will visit India and bask in the beauty of the Taj Mahal and dream of a love so wild that someone might dream of building me something so grand in order to express their feelings for me some day. I will visit Australia and New Zealand, Iceland, China and who knows where else. I will continue to learn about myself, slowly, humbly, and try to embrace the woman I am and the one I want to become.

So, 2018, Year of the Stardust, I salute you and your intrinsic ability to control what’s next for me. I know it’s going to be a transitional year; that’s inevitable. But I will do my best to accept your place in my life with open arms and love. I will try every day to better understand my place in this world, and what’s next for me. I will continue to grow up. I will end my twenties with you!

 I eagerly await your lessons and turmoil, & burn sage in beginning you, officially, tonight. (After all, it’s a full moon and that feels more like a fresh start than some mortal-made calendar, anyways.)

Cheers to you, Stardust. May the crumbling of my Silver Star bring only beauty within you.

[speaknowslut13]

Hi honey bunches!

I really appreciate that! I’ve always kind of thought no kids/no marriage, and then I went through an identity crisis and finally came to terms with my sexuality in my early 20s and then I was like “yeah definitely no” haha. So many people are like “you’ll definitely change your mind” and I find it rather obnoxious. And while I’m pretty sure I don’t want biological children, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about becoming a foster parent, and would love to get to a place in my life where I could do that.

Feel free to talk about the complicated family situation if you want! (Or not, totally no pressure, but I definitely understand having a complicated family.) my parents also did a courthouse wedding and I honestly love their wedding photos, they’re so cute! Do you have any pictures of your dress that you can/want to share?

Gosh that sounds awful! I’m glad you were okay though. Out of my sibling/cousins (there’s 5 of us and all pretty close!) I’m actually the only one who *hasn’t* been in a major wreck. I still vividly remember getting a phone call from my sister after she rolled her pickup (she was thankfully okay, somehow walked away without a scratch even though the car was totaled, and this happened like one week after she’d gotten her drivers license.) but on to happier things!

I love that though, I think it’s so important to actually *like* your partner haha. What kind of video games do you like to play? And what’s your go to movie for movie night? And that’s literally the sweetest thing that you do his nails and makeup 🥺 how are things with the pandemic in your area?

Panic! puts on a great show, I saw them in Seattle during their death of a bachelor tour in 2017 and it was so much fun. I hope you get the chance to go! Who else is on your concert bucket list?

Omggg okay I will have to add Rijeka to my list of stops 👀 if everything goes according to plan, I want to do a road trip down the Croatian coast starting in Zagreb and ending up in Dubrovnik. My birthday is mid august, so it would be end of august to be a birthday trip! I love Munich, it’s only a couple hours from me by train so I’ve been there several times since I moved here! Because of travel restrictions, I haven’t been able to visit some of the places like Dachau yet, but I really want to. That history is heavy but so so important.

I adore the PNW, and I was originally planning on moving to Oregon for grad school before I ended up in Europe haha. I have a lot of good friends in that area and I can’t wait to be able to visit them in again! Where in Canada would you like to end up? The polar express thing sounds soso cool, honestly might book a seat for myself hahaha.

I think a lot of writing poetry is just accepting that a lot of it is going to be bad and then going from there haha. Like one of my professors told me, it’s always easier to work with something than it is with nothing so I have years and pages worth of bad poems and then some that I’ve turned into really good ones. Ohhh those all sound really interesting! I especially like the idea of a paranormal mystery. Do you have a particular tag that you post your writing under?

That sounds like an excellent weekend! What kind of project? And do you have your own pool or do you go somewhere? What a crazy coincidence for us to be paired together!! I actually didn’t start marching until college, my high school wasn’t big enough to have a marching band, just a pep band, and then I got involved with the music program for fun when I started college and ended up marching my sophomore through senior years. It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of hard work!! I can definitely understand how that could cause burn out. Mono sounds horrendous in the best case scenario, let alone what you were dealing with. Oh the EMT thing sounds like a cool program though!

Hahahaha yeah my sister is an amazing singer but it just missed me. I do perform well in the shower, when I’m out hiking in the woods, or alone in the car. Well I think you’d do well even without knowing everything single instrument ahdjshs i believe in you! ✨

Hope your week is off to a great start! 💖 Drew

Let's get the family stuff out of the way. Chase and I met in September of 2013, got engaged in January of 2014, and then married February of 2014. His brother was not pleased with that. There was a massive fight and its the only time I've seen Chase really truly angry. They were living together at the time and when we told him we decided to get engaged and that I was essentially moving in he flipped out. He was also drunk that night. We were excited, our parents were excited for us. We hadn't planned on getting married until May of 2015 but that didn't matter. He said some pretty horrendous things to Chase and then to my face. So Chase kind of snapped. After that, Chase wasn't sure he wanted to tell his family about the ceremony. He didn't want to rock the boat any more than he already did. My BIL moved out quickly after that fight. Chase and I always planned on having a ceremony with everyone later. That never worked out. Its something we regret, not inviting his parents. His Dad passed in 2016 after I found out I was pregnant. So he'll never get to have that. Even though we all moved past that, in that last year things have gotten tense between them again. I try not to get involved. My BIL eventually apologized and we all got really close especially when my FIL got sick. Even though we've both forgiven him, I don't know if Chase will ever really forget the hurt that situation caused me and him. It didn't stop us though. We knew our minds. We're both Taurus signs. So there really was no stopping us.

We didn't mean to get married on Valentines day. I had just been fired from Express for the stupidest reason, partly because of my relationship. We just decided on a Monday to get married that following Friday. When we went to get the license, that's when we realized it was going to be Valentines Day. We laughed pretty hard about it. We still do. I joke that because I always had such a rough time on Valentines Day, the universe made up for it.

Even though we jumped head first into commitment, we waited on expanding our family. And it wasn't an easy journey for us. Now, its a completely unrealistic option for me to carry another pregnancy. So, if we ever change our minds about having another kid, we'll adopt. I grew up with a messy extended family and so my tolerance for the behavior I've seen of late is non existent. I don't need that negativity. I don't have enough spoons! So, we keep our head down and mow our own lawn, so to speak.

I will make a post of pictures under my tag themodren . All of my personal posts are under that tag because I reblog a lot. However, the story excerpt is also under the tag brownandgreenandgold because it corrresponds to a poem I wrote. I'll put that one up for you too. Some of my other tags are: renreacts , folklorethemusical , and relativelyricalanalysis . I've started these tags hoping to follow up on them with more content but I haven't yet. You can find them all under themodren though. I'm trying to talk myself into sharing more.

Chase was really into WOW. I prefer games that are RPG in nature. I've played Castle Crashers, Baulder's gate, Torchlight, and currently Portal. I like Pokemon. Chase really grew up around video games. I didn't. He's so good at them. He's great at figuring out how things work whereas I'm the player that spins in circles.

I'd like to move to Vancouver or anywhere around that area. It looks so pretty.

The EMT program was amazing and I had a real knack for it. I was originally going to go pre-med. I wanted to be a Doctor. But I was thrown some curve balls and ended up in a Fashion Design program that no longer exists. Didn't finish that one either because I got pregnant and my postpartum period is where my autoimmune disease really jumped out. If I thought I could handle it, I'd go back and finish the nursing program I was going to go through, too. Or ideally I'd just go do pre-med again. Unfortunately I don't think that's in the cards. I'm still struggling to get my body under control and stress has a tendency to deplete my spoons quickly. The pandemic really hit me hard because I wanted to help but couldn't.

I try to focus on the good in my life. I try to remember to honor my limitations. I tell my husband that I feel like a ten cylinder engine that's being forced to only use four. It can be frustrating. So I laugh at myself and try to focus on other things. Like the recent succulent collection I've started. I might have a problem. We have a pool in our backyard. It was out of order until recently. I'm enjoying it a lot since that last few years I haven't been able to. Despite my struggles, my life is incredibly blessed. I always feel weird talking about the pain and disappointments of my life because I feel ungrateful.

The pandemic feels stale here. I'm sure the numbers are going down because there are so many people being vaccinated now, but unfortunately there is still too large a number of vaccine resistant or hesitant people. That frustrates me. Both my husband and I are vaccinated now, but we still wear our masks. We also avoid interacting with others outside our circle because our daughter hasn't been vaccinated yet. Hopefully come September that will change. Our state lifted mask mandates too soon, I think. We're a mostly republican state. I wish that didn't matter but it does. People are starting to act like the virus isn't still an issue even though it definitely is. Its been especially rough on my kid. She's been in virtual preschool for a year. She goes back in person in August, which I'm very nervous about. She has an IEP for speech therapy, so she needs to go, otherwise I'd find another solution. She doesn't get to go out much either. Its been tough on her. Her safety is of utmost importance though. I've heard too many horror stories of mom's acting like this virus isn't just as potentially life altering for children as it is for adults. At the beginning, parents were even hosting "covid parties" so all their kids would catch the virus. Horrified would be an understatement in describing my reaction to those articles.

The project is a memorial for my grandma. She passed recently. Its okay. She was old and we were expecting it.

Chase and I will watch things that we've wanted to watch for awhile. I haven't seen all the Marvel movies yet and there are a slew of older movies he's seen that he wants me to see. So, we typically pick something we haven't seen.

Lorde announced music today! So once she starts touring, I'd like to see her. Honestly, I'd like to see Twenty One Pilots. Halsey is another. I like Halsey. My best friend likes Marianas Trench, so it'd be fun to see them with her. If N'Sync ever toured again, I'd go see it. I would have loved to see Prince in concert. There's just so many different musicians I like that I'd love to see.

Are things getting any better where you're at, Drew? I hope your week goes well!

[footballghana]

Alphonso Davies: From refugee camp in Ghana and becoming a Bayern Munich star

Alphonso Davies' stellar first season at Bayern Munich caught the eye and earned him a new five-year deal - but his determination to succeed was forged in an upbringing shaped by war and poverty.

From moving across the world to start a new life aged five, to being chased by Manchester United, to rewriting the books of sporting history in North America and now shining in Germany, here is the story of Alphonso Davies, as told by some of the people who know him best.

"If I look back, where we came from, a refugee camp with no food, no clothes, and now here we are today. I'm proud of him."

The year is 2000, but there is little fanfare for a new millennium in Buduburam. This Ghanaian refugee camp, often compared to a prison by its residents, is a haven for immigrants from neighbouring Liberia, fleeing a second civil war in a decade.

Most people here have harrowing tales to tell - many too graphic to recall, some to even consider. But one ray of happiness belongs to two of the camp's newest residents, Debeah and Victoria Davies, who have just given birth to a son, Alphonso.

The thought of bringing up their newborn in their home country, in an environment where carrying a gun has become a necessity, is too much to bear. "At home in Liberia, you had to cross over bodies to go and find food," Victoria later recalls. "It was very scary. The best thing was to get out."

You may recognise the name of their child. Less than two decades later, he will light up Stamford Bridge dressed in the shirt of one of the world's most decorated clubs, Bayern Munich - having already been courted by Manchester United even before his professional debut.

"What a player this boy is," the commentator will proclaim as Davies leaves the Chelsea backline in his wake.

But for the first years of his life, Alphonso Davies will go without school, sometimes with scant food too, with the young family's minimal income barely enough to support them all.

"It was safe in Ghana," says Debeah years on, looking back more fondly than he might on the family's time in Buduburam. "But it was hard to live there. We were worried; people starve in the camp, not just in the war zone.

"For us, we can drink water and sleep. But Alphonso couldn't make it. Every day we had to make sure we had something for him to make it in life."

At the end of that special night in London, it will take coaxing by striker Robert Lewandowski, a man far more at home in the spotlight, to convince Alphonso to take in the adulation of Bayern's fans before he disappears down the tunnel.

He will still be the same shy young man who began life in that camp, who has grown and matured with responsibilities few his age ever have to deal with, and forever holding that reminder from his parents - for whom life in Buduburam is all too memorable. How different it all could have been.

It took five years to finally see life outside of Buduburam. The family's route out of Ghana and poverty came via a place on a re-settlement programme to Canada, where a school-aged Alphonso soon found a love of football.

Having played for a number of teams around his city of Edmonton, Alberta, he joined the Edmonton Strikers, coached by IT professional Nick Huoseh, who had only taken the reins to help his son's team out when they needed a manager.

"Alphonso was always the quiet one," Huoseh told Sky Sports. "If I walked into a room, it was like a drill sergeant had just arrived.

"His mom and dad worked all hours of the day since they'd moved to Canada, so when he came back from school, he'd be taking care of his younger brother and sister.

"He was changing diapers before he was a teenager, warming up milk and whatever else. At a very young age, he was taught to be independent and responsible in a way most other 11-year-olds aren't doing."

Of anyone in his career, Huoseh still knows him better than most. "I kind of raised him a little bit," he smiled.

Alphonso spent as many as five days a week in the Huoseh household while his parents worked and he looked after his young siblings. While in many ways a surrogate carer to his young brother and sister, he could not do it all on his own.

Eventually, Alphonso began to come out of his shell. But he remained a thoughtful, respectful young man - as well as an increasingly talented athlete.

His parents would not let him forget the mantra they had drummed into him as a boy. "I was always talking to him," said Debeah. "Son, don't follow bad friends. Don't be a bad guy. If he joins a bad crew, it's over to him but I know he's not going to do that."

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My Familia❤️👑

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That added responsibility, whatever the weight it put on Alphonso, would give him an intangible boost on the pitch as his game developed. Already one of Alberta's best track sprinters of his age, his footballing technique started to turn heads too.

"He was like a sponge," said Huoseh. "With his maturity, he would absorb information a lot quicker, and capitalise on it too, a lot better than most of the boys."

It would not be long before professional clubs, at home and abroad, began to take note.

When the Vancouver Whitecaps offered a 14-year-old Davies a place on their residential academy scheme, his parents were not convinced - but he had earned their trust.

"I was afraid," Victoria told the club's YouTube channel. "I had seen some kids on the street, what they're doing. I didn't want him to become a bad boy. But he promised me - I will not go to Vancouver and change. I will make you proud."

By this point, an in-demand Alphonso needed an agent. Hopeful suitors were already sending boots, shirts and other gifts - enough to turn any teenager's head. But when Huoseh, still helping the family look after their son from a distance, laid the first contract in front of his parents, he was in for a shock.

"Can't you just do it?" asked Victoria. In spite of the promises of more luxurious gifts and lucrative contracts, it made sense to Alphonso to have Nick as a permanent mentor too. So that was that.

One more welcome admirer of Alphonso's talent was Manchester United's newly appointed North America scout, Jorge Avial. Here was a man who had watched the likes of James Rodriguez and Freddy Adu come through the ranks. Far from an easy man to impress.

But what started as a vague interest in another talented teenager on YouTube soon intensified when, less than a year after signing for the Whitecaps, Davies became the youngest goalscorer in the history of the USL, the North American second tier, barely 15 years and three months old.

"The first time I saw him it was a quick review, he was very athletic, had tremendous speed," Avial remembered fondly to Sky Sports.

"He looked good, but just one to keep an eye on. Later, just after I started working for Manchester United, I saw some videos of him when he had just started playing in the USL. Right away I got excited.

"I went to see him play and met up with Alphonso and Nick after the game. We went to a restaurant and from speaking to him, I knew right away he would be big, a big superstar here. I got the same feeling when I discovered Christian Pulisic, and took him to Chelsea for a trial. I told them he was just as good, if not better."

There was no doubt in Avial's mind that Davies had the talent. But where Adu and others he had seen in earlier years had faltered, there was something different about this teenager.

"It was about the kid as a person, as much as his talent," he said. "I saw he was a young boy wanting to learn, not the usual kid thinking about getting a brand new Porsche. Other kids wanted to become superstars, he just wanted to learn. It's very rare to see.

"When I believe in a player, I'm one of those guys telling my boss every day. I knew from the beginning he was going to be special, and little by little Manchester United started convincing themselves to look at the kid."

The Whitecaps knew they had a player on their hands too, and tied Davies down to a professional deal pronto, making him the youngest player in the MLS as a 15-year-old.

"I've seen thousands of players throughout my career, playing and managing, but you just know," Carl Robinson, who was then Whitecaps head coach, told Sky Sports.

"I thought he had a chance. Getting him into my training for the first time, he was 15 and with seasoned internationals who had played in World Cups. He wasn't out of place.

"He did things naturally, without me needing to teach him anything. It was one of the fresh things about him."

As Davies began to make his way in the MLS, Manchester United's interest soon firmed up but would prove more problematic than hoped. A three-week invitation to train at their Carrington base, organised through Huoseh, was vetoed by the Whitecaps who felt Davies was not ready. But with the teenager shining on the domestic scene, further interest was inevitable.

Huoseh put the feelers out among Europe's elite - and it was not long before Bayern were in touch with the Whitecaps about their young starlet.

"I met with one or two other clubs, but speaking with the Bayern guys and seeing their plan I thought it was the best place for Alphonso," he said.

"Honestly, I was being offered things that guys might jump on but Bayern had a small squad, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben were retiring, and it was just a good fit.

"One of the English clubs, I asked about their plan for Alphonso, and they said they might put him with the second team, or send him on loan because they weren't sure if he would get a work permit.

"But with Bayern, it wasn't just a phone call. It was a PowerPoint presentation, put together by [chief scout] Marco Neppe and [sporting director] Hasan Salihamidzic.

"They showed his position on the field, where he was going to play, they showed how they had 19 players in their squad, play 50 something games a year, play a lot of matches a year and the average player plays 80 per cent of the matches."

In the end, that proved enough to convince player, club and agent that the Allianz Arena was the best place to continue his development. Perhaps it left Manchester United wondering what might have been.

"When Jose Mourinho was there, he really wanted him but it never happened," added Huoseh. "They waited and waited, and at the end I don't think they had the same vision and belief as Munich."

The first half-season following his January 2019 move yielded only 74 minutes in the Bundesliga, a mental stumbling block for a teenager used to breaking records left, right and centre. Huoseh urged Davies to stay patient, having found himself on the sidelines for the first time in what had been an exponential rise to that point.

But his chance would come, and more emphatically than he could have ever expected.

Injuries to defenders Niklas Sule and Lucas Hernandez in the early weeks of 2019/20 saw left-back David Alaba shifted into the middle of the Bayern defence, and a gap open up in his position. Could Davies' pace and physicality fit the bill?

One of Niko Kovac's final actions as head coach was to find out. Although he was sacked within a fortnight of that decision, his parting gift was among the finer ones of his reign.

Assistant Hans Flick took up the reins and kept Davies in the side. He was rewarded instantly. Alphonso was still as spongey as ever, and flourished in his new position.

Davies has since started every single Bundesliga game during Flick's reign, and moved from hot-shot Canadian youngster to one of the world's brightest talents in a few short months.

"We didn't expect it to go this quickly," Huoseh beamed. "I've read in the German papers people saying it's the best signing Salihamidzic has made. Having coached him as a kid, on and off the field, through to this - it's worth more than anything."

That performance at Stamford Bridge in March set eager ears this side of the Channel pricking up to Davies' emerging ability, but Bayern soon cut any rumours off at their source by tying him down to a new deal until 2025.

Club legend Oliver Kahn, now a member of its board, was one of many to add their congratulations to the teenager. "He brings an incredible amount to the table and we are sure that we will still have a lot of joy with him," he said.

🗣️ @AlphonsoDavies "I am very happy. #FCBayern is one of the best clubs in the world, and for me it's a dream come true to play here. I felt happy from day one. I want to win as many titles as possible with this club." #Davies2025 ✌👌✌🖐 pic.twitter.com/PgzLOLJAMm

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) April 20, 2020

Even such praise from on-high isn't likely to go to Davies' head. There is already an ambassador role in the pipeline to work with the United Nations to help improve the lives of refugees like Debeah, Victoria and himself. He is now a proud Canadian international too - and the Porsches are still far from his mind.

"I'm so thankful and grateful for what my parents have done," said the man himself in a typically quiet, reserved interview. "Throughout the years, they carried the family to a safe environment, a safe country and I'm so happy they did that for us.

"You came from nothing and you're coming to something. You've got to keep that mindset going."

For all the sacrifices Debeah and Victoria made, all the decisions to give a better life to Alphonso and his siblings, the beaming look of pride on his parents' faces, and the tears welling up in their eyes tell you they wouldn't change a thing.

"I just thank God for his life and his strength," said Victoria. "I want him to keep on doing what he's doing. He promised me before he left here. I know he will fulfil that promise."

Source: skysports

source: https://footballghana.com/

[coreytravelogue]

Melbourne, Australia - September 12, 2018

I am 3/4s the way through my trip and I finally get to check in, what the hell right? Well for the last 10 days I have either been too busy, too tired or not in range of internet to post anything.

Right now I am on an express bus (sky bus) that will get me and my girlfriend to Avalon Airport. It’s there because the cheapest tickets were going to there and it seemed like it was the only option if you are going to and from Adelaide. I got an hour to kill now is as good of a time to report of the biggest adventure I have been on since Europe. I will talk about as much as I can on the way.

Last time you heard from me I was in the YVR Airport drinking good beer (would be the last good beer I have had since let’s just say) and onion rings. I took some melatonin and night time NyQuil and headed straight into the plane.

The plane didn’t seem quite the same as I expected it looked like another airline’s plane but given the issues Air New Zealand had with their planes it was expected. It was still of the same template like Air Canada but I think it was originally Air Singapore, meaning they were using Air Singapore planes. Either way I got onto the plane and immediately passed out hoping that I would wake up right before landing but it didn’t end that way. They wound up waking me up one hour later to feed me my first meal. The stewardess was rather cheeky/sassy all through the trip with me I felt. After the mean which was ok I immediately forced myself back to sleep. For the next 8 hours I would go in and out of sleep till breakfast came along. After breakfast I watched a movie named Tully which wasn’t what I hoped it would be then half of Justice League which was no better.

I finally arrived in Auckland at around 5:30 am, this airport though in a different country I feel now gave a starters taste to the country I was going to. The airport itself looked very modern and new, also very clean but I had one or two problems with it. First was them not telling me where I would be boarding until 30 min before boarding. Thankfully my girlfriend was on top of it for me and let me know where I should have been for me. However the main issue I had with Auckland Airport was it only gave you 45 minutes of free wifi. Given I had about 2 hours to kill there, no NZ currency and most places were closed that wasn’t cool to me. I think that place was the first place I ever been to yet to do that and I hope to last. I think that is a bit of a dick move on Auckland Airport’s part. Thankfully I was only there for two hours versus 24 hours like in Bucaresti. Thankfully I got through it, told my mom I was safely across the pacific and now heading to Adelaide.

The plane to Adelaide was the typical flight time that I am used to at the

Is point. With the amount of times I have flown through Toronto or Montreal from Vancouver or even my flights this year alone 5 hour flights have become normal to me. I watched the rest of the Justice League movie, I then tried to watch Suicide Squad only to find out how horrible that movie is. Tried to doze off for an hour but failed and spent the last hour watching half of the documentary on Steven Spielberg which started to inspire me to want to make film again if only for the day maybe.

I arrived in Adelaide finally on September 2, I was expecting lukewarm reception at tcustoms. Why? I guess because going through US and Canadian customs is slightly more strict (US more so than Canada) and I have remembered my times going through US and Turkey more than going through others only to find that going through Australian customers was probably the easiest I have ever been through. Mind you I was very prepared by this time and my record squeaky clean anyway but I was expecting the worst but I got through customs within 15 minutes.

Not too long later met up with my girlfriend, we hadn’t been in each other’s presence since early March. We took two buses to her place to drop my shit off and headed off to Adelaide.

As of today I have been in Adelaide for about 3 days so given the amount of time I have spent in other cities it is enough to get a beginning gist of the city and to compare it to other cities it felt like Edmonton.a major city in the country but not as big or as fast as other cities comparatively speaking and the people around gave me the Edmonton vibe, not so much the Alberta Anger though which was good. The first day was spent with me Jayne hatting as many places as I could and walking the streets. My girlfriend nearly lost her transit pass before we were heading out, it was a good thing she didn’t listen to me. We did wind up finding it on the ground somewhere where I suggested we just give up.

My friend Christina warned me of two things, one I was already aware of but one if was rather naive of; one was that things were going to be expensive and second that Australia can get rather cold at night. I knew coming in Australia was going to be expensive so it was not a surprise mind you after thinking about it the prices are nearly comparable to Canada the only difference is you do t have to tip and the price on the tag is the price you pay. So in the end when you think you are paying more no that is the price you pay with everything on it. I think it’s only considered expensive to me and Christina because we come from a country that lists prices before they tax you and one is expected to tip in Canada. I prefer the Australian way now myself.

As for being colder I should have expected especially heading in during their spring time but I didn’t.all I can say is I am glad I came with two pairs of jeans because whenever I have wore my shorts while during the day time it’s been ok as soon as the sunsets it’s not ok. Lesson learned.

Day two in Adelaide was spent at the Royal Show there that they have every year. To describe it to someone who has never been there think Playland At The Fair season in Vancouver or Octoberfest minus the beer. It is your standard issue festival with rides, carnival activities and what not. It was interesting seeing it from the aaustralian cultural perspective. I have been to a Canadian carnival and it seems very basic especially when compared to Australian and German carnivals. They are all the same at their core the differences are only cultural. We didn’t go on any rides however because like Octoberfest it was pay per ride and I thought fuck that. I ain’t paying 7 bucks to ride a 2 min ride.

Day 3 was to be the road trip from Adelaide to what I thought would be Roxby Downs but instead was to Andamooka. It would be the first time I had been on a legit road trip since me and my parents embarked from Fort McMurray to Vancouver. This one felt very reminiscent of my road trips from Fort Mac to Edmonton and back with my dad however this time it was with my girlfriend and her dad. The trip for the most part went smoothly as me and her dad got along pretty well but the trip in of itself felt more like ten hours instead of 5 hours and maybe it was because the car did break down a third of the way into the trip taking about an hour to solve. We did eventually get to Roxby Downs/Andamooka where we spent the next few days which so far has been the highlight of the trip.

However I will leave all that to be continued later as I arrived at the Avalon Airport. Until next time, shazbot nanu nanu.

[alegendarystudentwonderland-blog]

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Advice on cheap car insurance ? UK?

hello i am a 17 year old who is currently learning to drive and hoping to buy a car afterwards, however insurance is very expensive and am seeking advice on how to get cheap car insurance, E.G. what car to buy, where to look etc.""

Is it possible to get affordable life insurance and dental insurance if i am not employed?

.........and if so, roughly how much money would this cost per month?""

What is an average insurance cost for two cars in dallas?

What is an average insurance cost for two cars in dallas?

affordability insurance opt-out payment irs.gov

affordability insurance opt-out payment irs.gov

""Should you be allowed to buy car insurance only AFTER you have a car accident, and save your money beforehand?""

Isn't denying car insurance AFTER a car accident denying it for a pre-existing condition ? If this health care bill passes, I don't know why anyone would car insurance on an undamaged car or house insurance on a house that isn't on fire. Save your money until the event happens and then fight them on the legality of coverage denial for pre-existing conditions. This is the lunacy that Obama wants to bring to America.""

Motorcycle insurance in italy?

i will be moving to rome next month and i need to know how i should go about getting my vespa insured. im getting my bike trucked to me and i want to ride the bike. does anyone know about insurance etc. there. i only hold a UK provisional licence. have completed my CBT but not sure if this will be valid to ride in Italy or not. please help!!! :) thanks

Can I switch Car Insurance 2 weeks later if I am financing a car?

I bought a car and I am financing it through the dealership. I got it insured but now I found a cheaper premium through a different Insurance Company, so I would like to switch. This is about 2 weeks after I put it on the original Insurance Company. And is there a fee for canceling the Insurance so I could switch to the other company?""

How much would my insurance be for Mercury Insurance ?

I'm 16 years old, and my parents Insurance is Mercury.. How much would they have to pay for me. And my car would be a Nissan Maxima 95' so it wouldnt be a new car so how much would my insurance be ?""

What car insurance should I use?

I'm 17, I live in Texas, and my mom is making me get my own car insurance. which would be the best and cheapest for me?""

How much is insurance if your under 18?

In Ohio and my sister wont b quiet cuz she dont have a job and is broke but I am younger than her and i have 600 dollars 2 save for a car. and she is whining cuz she dont have a job so i was wondering how much is insurance in Ohio

Does anyone know of a good /cheap health insurance?

I need to get health ins. for a nursing program I'm going into, do you know of a cheap one? I have no pre-existing ailments, an 46yrs. old and in good health. I live in San Antonio, Tx. thx.""

Who thinks eligibility for car insurance/rates should be based solely on your driving record?

I read a story that says that insurance companies are trying to base their rates for car insurance on your credit rating, age, and gender etc. Is that right/do you agree or disagree with the practice, what do you think the right way is to determine insurance rates etc?""

What kind of motorcycle should I get? Is insurance expensive?

I recently got a job about an hour away and would like to make my commute cheaper. I was thinking of buying a motorcycle for $3500 or less but I have never done this before. I want to know what would be the best for the size person I am. I am 6'5 and 300 lbs. So i need a big bike. Also is insurance generally more expensive than car insurance or not? Any suggestions will help me know what to look for. Thank you

""Non owner SR22 insurance for TEXAS, what is a cheap website?

I don't own a car so I don't know what to do... Help! Thanks

Question about unemployment Insurance In california?

I have to send my form on the 12 of december. If i dont send it by that time.say about a week later will it be a problem? when is the latest i can send it through the mail? anyone know?

Is life insurance for people over 70 available?

Is life insurance for people over 70 available?

Accident with no insurance?

Hi I got in an accident in linconwood with out any insurance but the accident was his fault and there's no police report and now his car insurance company is during me b.c they said it was my fault. Can somebody please help me out here

I would like a rough idea of how much it will cost to insure my 17 year old son to learn then drive my car?

I have a peugeot 206 1.4 2005 plate car, it is the only car we own and I would like to put my son on the insurance. He will be 17 in Jan 2011 and we need to gage how much it will cost to have him as a named driver of my car""

Car insurance for 16 yr old boy?

I want to get a white 5 speed subaru impreza WRX (wagon sport) with turbo (standard). How much do you think this would cost considering that i'm 16 yrs old and the car is white and i get good grades? thanks

17 and HIP insurance?

Im 17 and I need some type of health insurance because my parents dont carry on me. My mom is applying again for HIP health insurance because she missed her reevaluation. So can I apply for HIP health insurance? thanks!

Should I sue my parents...?

When I was 4 years old I was in a car accident and my parents had a settlement with the drunk drivers insurance and recieved 100,000 dollars for me. At such a young age I didnt really know what was going on and they told me that it had to be put up till I was 18 and I couldnt have it. Well that money is no longer there and I am now 20. As I grew up they told me that it all just went to lawyer fees but obviously I am old enough now to know better. I found out from other family members that they just blew it. I am now married and have three month old baby and I could have used that money to help get a house for us or help with the financial problems that come with being a new parent or newlywed. Should I sue them to get what was mine to begin with and if so how do I go about it and what are the chances that I will win?""

How can I find cheap car insurance?

I have a policy with RBC. They just jacked me up by 400 a year....

Whats the average motorcycle insurance cost for an 18 year old guy?

Whats the average motorcycle insurance cost for an 18 year old guy?

What do u think if a young man married a woman 74yrs older than him. and its his frist marraige. and her 21st?

i herd this on the radio and i wanted other people's opinions!

Car insurance termination?

I got a very weird letter from Allstate. It was written in bold black text, basically saying that my car insurance will be terminated at the end of my current 6 months period, attached was a copy of a claim I had 2 years ago for a fender bender ($90). When I talked to my agent, he tells me that Allstate cancels everyone who have had a claim within the last 3 years. Can that really be the truth, are insurance companies really legally allowed to drop you due to a claim over a 3 years period? AND will I have problems getting signed up at another company due to this? The state is NY""

How do I sue my car insurance company?

I was in a car accident in March 2008 in a parking lot. The insurance companies BOTH decided that we were 50/50 at fault for the accident. During this process I kept getting phone calls asking me to verify WHY a person not on my policy was driving my car at the time of the accident. I repeatedly corrected the insurance companies...yes BOTH of them...saying that I AM AN INSURED DRIVER and I was driving my car. I had no passengers. I was in an accident with another single driver with no passengers. Eventually it seemed like everything was fine. The claim closed on May 2 and I thought it was all over. BUT today, May 29, I received a letter in the mail telling me that policy is being cancelled because WE HAD REQUESTED INFORMATION REGARDING --------- AS THE DRIVER OF THE 03/27/2008 CLAIM. TO DATE, THIS HAS NOT BEEN RECEIVED. I have NO IDEA what they are talking about. He is the OTHER driver. However, they are pretty much ignoring my calls and emails. What can I do???""

What's the best life insurance company? why?

What's the best life insurance company? why?

Can i ask my insurance company if my rate will go up before i decide to have them cover it?

Recently my windshield was smashed and I dont want to have my insurance cover the replacement if my rates are going to go up. Can i just call them and ask or is that just a stupid question?

Cheapest car insurance for a young driver?

im 20..i own a car. no tickets and no accidents i have had my license for a yr and half where can i find the cheapest car insurance?

affordability insurance opt-out payment irs.gov

affordability insurance opt-out payment irs.gov

How far back in your driving record do insurance agents look when determining your car insurance rate?

How far back in your driving record do insurance agents look when determining your car insurance rate?

Can anyone explain life insurance to me?

Can you insure the whole family? As if, if any of them passes away the rest get the money?""

Color of vehicle and insurance rates?

Does the color of your vehicle really play a part in dictating your car insurance rates?

Vehicle with no insurance MINNESOTA?

My girlfriend got pulled over tonight after having a brand new car for two days after selling her first car she drove for two and a half years, her mother apparently told her that she had 7 days to get insurance so sure enough we got cited for no insurance. I guess I was curious to know if liability covers her driving a vehicle without insurance? It probably doesn't but I know there is a form of insurance that does. If this is going to slide downhill I would also like to know some advice you have to word it nicely to a judge to help avoid a 30 day license suspension. I heard earlier tonight that in mn it's mandatory but I'm hoping not. Thanks for your help and time!""

What is the average insurance cost for a 04 lexus rx 330?

What is the average insurance cost for a 04 lexus rx 330?

Why are insurance rates going up even if its not your fault?

I work in claims department of a big insurance company. And I found out that even though it is not your fault or if its a comp claim, there is still a possibility that your rates would go up. Why is that so?!?""

Affordable health insurance?

What are some affordable Health Insurance Options in NYC for Latin American father and his child to be? My friend doesn't have health insurance and is planning on putting his new baby (born around Oct.) on his policy with him. He's Latin American and has his permanent residence card, but is not yet a citizen. Anyone know of any affordable plans for him to look into in the Manhattan area?""

How Can I Get Cheap Auto Insurance?

im 18 i just got my lisence i have a 93 ford ranger that my dad can put in my name. my parents are seperated. my mom has excellent driving record and good policy. if i get on her policy. can i drive the truck if its in my name ? im not sure im just trying to get auto insurance. and i have no one to help :(

Does Mercury Car Insurance give instant proof of insurance?

Does Mercury Car Insurance give instant proof of insurance?

Car insurance...........?

Right.. my mom already has a car and is the named driver of it. I have got a ford ka and have been looking on insurance company's and it is cheaper for my mom to be the named driver of my car but for me to go on the insurance.. Can my mom own to cars or is this not possible UK only please.

16 Year old Illinois Insurance Rates?

Im 16 now, and i may be buying a truck soon. Its a 1994 Ford f-150. Im trying to find where the cheapest rates are. I only want liability insurance because im short on $$$$$. Im not doing so hot in school so that will raise my rates a bit, but what would be my best bet and finding insurance?""

Does lojack reduce auto insurance rates?

Does lojack reduce auto insurance rates?

How much will I have to pay mom for Insurance!?

Ok, my mom agreed with me to let me get on her car insurance because I'm under 25 and if I was to get my own insurance it would cost a fortune. She uses Drive Insurance through Progressive. She has a 2007 Ford Edge and I think she's paying 185/mth. I'm getting a 1999-2000 Pontiac Grand Am and I'm not getting full coverage insurance just half (I guess)..How much do YOU think it will cost for me? I live in Michigan if that helps.""

Is my newborn covered under my insurance plan?

my baby was born on 7/2/09 and was in the NICU for 9 days. Yesterday we received a statement stating that our insurance company has not paid our claim, do they usually pay for something like this or are we responsible to pay?""

How much will car insurance go up for me?

im 15 and i live in FL so i can get my permit but my mom said shes not letting me unless i get put onto theyre insurance (statefarm) but she also said shes not getting me insurance if its super expencive.....any1 know a estimated amount it will go up????

Is there a car insurance that will give a young driver a reasonably quote?

i recently purchased a mk1 ford fiesta. theres no mods to the car and tax wise i think its a classic. its a 1984. i have wanted a mk1 fiesta for years now and its the car i want to drive. im 17 and the cheapest quote on any car ive been given is 2000. are there any companies that will give me a good quote on my fiesta

How much would my insurance cost . . .?

If I am 16 and driving a 2007 Scion TC that is completely paid for ?

Do you need insurance if your car has insurance?

I'm about to get my license but my family doesn't want to pay for my insurance. My brother says that the car he's giving me has insurance on it under his name and that if i get into an accident all the blame goes to him. He said its okay, is this true?""

How much will a porsche 944 be in 4 years time and what will the insurance be if I'm 18?

It doesn't matter about fixing it as my uncle is a mechanic and I will be training soon.My uncle has got one now and I love it !!!

Best room insurance for a University student?

Which company provides the best deal on room insurance for students? Cheers

Where to Find Really Cheap Health Care Insurance?

I know a lot of sites that offer health insurance, but need to know really cheap health care insurance.Thank you in advance.""

How do I go about getting insurance at 18? In WI?

I'm 18. I work two jobs unfortunately with no insurance or benefits! How can I get health insurance? I live in Wi.

Would this be legal ? start own car insurance company and insure self.?

We were talking about the price of car insurance at work today about how the cost is becoming ridiculous. I came up with this idea its entirely hypothetical but it got me wondering if it was possible. Just say i started and registered a insurance business. I offered 3rd party only insurance to my close friends and family people that i know personally are careful drivers.Say 50 people get a years cover for just 100 and i insure my self for free. Now i know what you might be thinking what happens if some one has a bump? Well i have 5000 in the business account so it should cover minor repairs however and hear comes the is it legal part if someone puts in a large claim that i cannot cover.Say my grandma writes off some rich mans Bentley. I just declare the company bankrupt ! Thinking about it its not to different to what the bankers have been doing .

How much should i pay for insurance premium for an indoor playground business?

How much should i pay for insurance premium for an indoor playground business?

Liability insurance for an online vitamin store. Do I need it? And how can I get it?

Hi yahoo friends, I have a new website. I want to sell vitamin and supplements. One of a whole sellers asked me for copy of liability insurance. What is it? Do I need it since I sell their products, should the liability go to them? How can I get it? Please help me , if you know the answer. Thank you.""

affordability insurance opt-out payment irs.gov

affordability insurance opt-out payment irs.gov

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