"...because I had a habit of aligning myself with men." This struck me.
I've given myself a lot of grief over the years about doing this in my own life. Having older kids now, I've been able to see many girls who also do this. I watch lots of gorilla videos, too (my fav) and loads of female gorillas also align themselves first with males for many valid reasons!
Fighting genetics, generational learning, and the animal instincts lurking in the amygdala are an uphill battle. (That said, now I want to be a girls' girl every chance I get, like a lot of older female gorillas ;)
So many vivid memories! The paragraph about the 2 women and the drunken man is incredible!
The stress of learning a new language, trying to understand young roommates (difficult in the same language!)....so many details...and what it means to be a woman in any language, any country...really good writing, Sarah. Bev
What a brave young girl you were! Great story. Waiting for your memoir.
Cindy, comments like that keep me writing. Thanks so much!
Excellent short story, Sarah! You make the characters seem so real…;-) Seriously, have you ever written fiction? I bet you could spin a good tale!
Thank you! I like writing nonfiction but you’re right that a lot of the same writing techniques apply. Thank you for reading, Uncle Ben!
"...because I had a habit of aligning myself with men." This struck me.
I've given myself a lot of grief over the years about doing this in my own life. Having older kids now, I've been able to see many girls who also do this. I watch lots of gorilla videos, too (my fav) and loads of female gorillas also align themselves first with males for many valid reasons!
Fighting genetics, generational learning, and the animal instincts lurking in the amygdala are an uphill battle. (That said, now I want to be a girls' girl every chance I get, like a lot of older female gorillas ;)
Same, Nina! Let us be older female gorillas together.
What a treat to find this well written story this Sunday morning.
Great story. Had no idea (or more likely had forgotten) that you took a trip to Russia.
Thanks, cuz!
So many vivid memories! The paragraph about the 2 women and the drunken man is incredible!
The stress of learning a new language, trying to understand young roommates (difficult in the same language!)....so many details...and what it means to be a woman in any language, any country...really good writing, Sarah. Bev