My family arrived at the monastery in Belém on Sunday morning. It was the first thing we did after arriving in Lisbon besides dropping our bags at our hotel. We were exhausted, definitely, but we were also thrilled to be in a new place with nothing to do but experience its culture. The monastery in Belém…
I’ve been in Lisbon, Portugal for less than 48 hours and I’m already frustrated. The problem is the language. I speak Spanish, which is extraordinarily similar to written Portuguese, but my Spanish background doesn’t actually help me communicate with anyone here. The pronunciation is so different: s sounds like sh, h sounds like y, and…
“Don’t blink, you might miss it.” I have a lot of trouble with this phrase. The fear of missing out is a crippling one, and “don’t blink” only empowers the anxiety we naturally feel about not being able to do everything. While the phrase is supposed to encourage us to live in the moment and…
I love when a film is tragic and moves everyone in the theater to tears, and then ends abruptly, leaving nothing but the slow scrolling white text of the credits and the sounds of sniffling, soft comforting whispers, and the rustling of jackets. People will linger a few moments longer than necessary, because the theater is heavy with…
I love prospective students. From my dorm window I can see the soon-to-be college freshmen huddling in small tour groups, listening to the obscure facts rapidly spewing from their guide’s mouth and trying to discern which slivers of information makes my college more special than any other medium-sized liberal arts college in the mid-Atlantic region.…
I have a lot of day-to-day expectations. Some are basic, like having adequate food and water and a place to sleep. Others are higher-level, like that I can communicate with people around me and they will understand and respect me. I rarely consciously think about these day-to-day expectations, and that’s because they stem from various…
One of my favorite involvements on campus is writing for Buzzsaw magazine. Right now, I’m in the process of writing an article about equal opportunity for disability in the workplace. Every interview I’ve done for my article has been thought-provoking, but I especially enjoyed my visit to the Finger Lakes Independence Center. I spoke with Program Director Larry…
Dear Sabina, for future sad days or scared days or self-critical days, Sometimes you may feel disappointed in others or yourself. You may feel like you aren’t good enough, or like your failures are constantly being scrutinized. You may feel uncomfortable in your body or self-conscious about a strange bump in your hair. It’s okay to…
Ignorance is not bliss. At least when it comes to your health. The past few days for me have been characterized by no appetite, fairly severe exhaustion, and confusion about what my body is trying to tell me with its bizarre and painful symptoms. The fatigue is at levels you would expect from a mono patient,…
Every now and then I get asked how I got the name Sabina. The question doesn’t bother me: it’s an unusual name and people often assume that it has an interesting background. The trick is knowing whether they want the short answer or the long answer. The short answer is that my parents first heard the…
Victim to Charm 