acceptance

Those of you who followed my old blog while I was in Turkey last summer will recall my (somewhat sarcastic) commentary on how my trip there was actually a less than cleverly disguised fat camp. One of the main components of this fat camp was the power of words on one’s own self image, namely the fact that two different Turkish women came up to me to ask me when my baby was due. To make matters worse, when I explained to them that there was no baby, they became adamant, and kept pointing to my stomach and saying the word for “baby.” I can laugh about it now, but at the time it was no laughing matter.

I can’t believe I did not mention this sooner (because I was actually elated when this occurred), but on my first full day here at Alabanza, one of the girls who works here, Dora, commented on my body. Dora lives here with her mother during the week, and they travel back to Adderageville on the weekends. She is slightly shorter than me, black, with very short hair and a thick build. She is very sweet, hilariously funny, and hopes to be contributing as an artist to our store here soon. On our first meeting, I noticed her staring at me. She looked back over her shoulder at one point while doing dishes, got my attention, and said, “I like your shape.”

I just stood there and stared back, this entire thing not making any sense to me at all. She smiled and struck a pose and repeated herself. I understood. A huge smile spread across my face and I nodded and thanked her. It was at that moment that I knew I loved this place ;-)
Disclaimer to my grandmother: Gran, I am still joining the gym here and will be working out several times a week with the other people my age that live at Alabanza. Don’t worry!