Package Day

I had a late meeting after school yesterday and, as I climbed the steps from the street to my front door, I was delighted  to see a package sitting on my stoop.

My twin sister and I send each other packages in the mail for no reason. We collect things (books, tea, etc.)that we know the other likes. When we have enough, we ship it off. It is a tradition that has evolved over time.

I have lived away from my family for decades. I taught in Colombia for several years and my sister and I sent letters. Later, when I’d moved to Portland, OR, letters evolved into socks, and socks evolved into packages.I can’t tell you when or why or how, but the tradition continues.

Today’s package contained a replacement for a favorite mug I’d broken a few months ago. And there was tea (2 kinds) and some Cadbury’s Easter candy I can’t get here. I’ve got to pace myself on that.

I have a package on the go for her, too. I need to get more packing tape, but I hope to mail it on Friday, so it will arrive after she and her family get home from their Spring Break vacation. I hope she will be as excited to get this one as I was to get hers.

A sequel

Very often, I am disappointed by sequels. At best, I find a sequel equal to the first book. I was pleasantly surprised to find Sisters by Raina Telgemeier BETTER than Smile, which was excellent.

 

Perhaps that’s because it brought back memories of car trips as a child, sharing the backseat with my twin sister, and the love-hate relationships only sisters can have.

The story is centered around a family summer car trip to Colorado, without Dad. embedded into the stories are flashbacks of Raina’s desire for a baby sister and the reality of what having one actually means.Their relationship is rocky and doesn’t improve when a baby brother arrives. It is only once in Colorado that they begin to realize what it means to be a sister and start working on building a better relationship.

A fun, quick read in Telgemeier’s trademark style.

Sisterhood

As I work my way through the Jacky Faber  audiobooks (I’m on #6 now and still loving the series) I can’t help but remark on how Jacky always refers to other girls as “sister”.  Sisterhood is a funny thing. This little ditty sums it up quite nicely.

I recently read  I Love, I Hate, I Miss My Sister  by Amélie Sarn, which was originally published in France, but has recently been translated into English and published in the US.

This not as amusing a story as the Hanes’ sisters song. Based on real events in France, it tells the story of two girls of Algerian descent, Djelila and Sohane, born & raised in France. it skips back and forth in time to gently peel away the layers of the tragedy. Djelila wants to be French, playing basketball, staying out late, distancing herself from her family and their traditional views. Sohane is more traditional, but wants to be part of both worlds. She wants to go to college and get away from their tough predominantly Muslim neighborhood, but reads the Koran and goes to the mosque and thinks her younger sister should be more respectful. They love each other, but have such different world views and Sohane keeps a watch over her sister, trying to keep her safe from rough characters who bully her sister for her non-conformity. When Sohane decides to start wearing a head scarf, in spite of the recent passage of a law banning such things at public schools, Djelila supports her right to do so, but thinks she is misguided.

What I really liked about the book is that it doesn’t present each girls decision as right or wrong. The arguments for each side are laid out in a natural way and the reader can really see each side’s point of view. We often look at these issues in such a black and white way. This book shows us the grey and the hard choices people have to make when cultures collide.