rominagarber

[rominagarber]

“We follow him down an elevator to the hotel’s black-and-white lobby. The place is startlingly empty, and the few Librans who are here all glare at Hysan, their expressions ranging from distrusting to disdainful. Yet Hysan holds his head high and meets their eyes.”  This is some king shit right there 

[rominagarber]

The breathing exercise reminds me of Perla. She used to say most of our ailments could be cured just by breathing—if we can suck the oxygen in deep enough, we can sanitize our darkest places. —Romina Garber/Lobizona

[rominagarber]

If you’re undocumented, you’re unwritten. Embrace that. —Romina Garber/Lobizona

[rominagarber]

When someone deviates from an accepted norm, they signal a gap in the system. A hole that hasn’t been plugged. The danger with exposing a foundation’s failings is it opens the door to the possibility that it’s a faulty structure altogether and should be torn down and built anew. —Romina Garber/Lobizona

[rominagarber]

It makes me think about how much sentimentality we attach to plots of land, when it’s actually the seeds we plant there that give it meaning. —Romina Garber/Cazadora

[rominagarber]

But why settle for being a son of the system, when you can mother a movement? —Romina Garber/Lobizona

[rominagarber]

“My fucking life is ruled by more protocols than a Jane Austen character!” It might have been the nerdiest meltdown in history. I knew better than to curse in front of Ma; Perla, on the other hand, is too old to be rattled by words. “One of these days you should read a book written after the nineteenth century,” was all she said to me. —Romina Garber/Lobizona

[rominagarber]

As much as I might try repressing that part of me, adopting a new culture doesn’t magically erase the old one. They get braided together. —Romina Garber/Cazadora

[rominagarber]

Tiago’s face splits into his heartbreaking grin, and I feel a pang in my chest, like I do when I’m close to finishing a favorite book—elated to experience something so exquisite, but devastated that there will never be more than these few moments between us. —Romina Garber/Cazadora

[rominagarber]

Growing up in El Retiro, I’ve learned that dialects and vocabularies vary enough from country to country that Spanish is a living, breathing language. It’s a different melody everywhere it’s spoken. —Romina Garber/Lobizona

[rominagarber]

For someone who’s gone invisibly through life, it’s unsettling to suddenly be all anyone sees. —Romina Garber/Lobizona

[rominagarber]

It’s easy to long for the life you didn’t live, Manu. It can never disappoint you. —Romina Garber/Cazadora

[rominagarber]

A pride like I’ve never felt before fills my chest, and I’m both surprised and embarrassed by my reaction to their praise. It shouldn’t matter, and I shouldn’t need the validation, and yet I can’t deny it feels good to be admired for something I have some semblance of control over. —Romina Garber/Cazadora

[rominagarber]

But it’s hard to find the magic in bubbles when you’ve seen how easily they pop. —Romina Garber/Cazadora

[rominagarber]

“You’re confusing progress with politics,” she says, leaning into the table. “We have no platform because we’re not trying to build a new system. We’re trying to tear down the existing one.” —Romina Garber/Cazadora

[rominagarber]

Maybe I can try shaping the truth into a different design. —Romina Garber/Lobizona

[rominagarber]

Even though it’s a fake, just holding this paperwork makes me feel like less of a forgery myself. Growing up, there were no photographs of Ma and me around the apartment, no documents of any kind proving I exist. And while the details in this Huella may be falsified, at least it’s my face inside. Evidence I’m real. I exist. —Romina Garber/Cazadora