#I basically came down at 9am and forced my parents to listen to the whole thing over coffee

[astrangergivingthestrangewelcome]

...Watched Hadestown for the first time last night and now I’ve listened to the whole thing twice in 12 hours. 

#I basically came down at 9am and forced my parents to listen to the whole thing over coffee #hadestown

[with-love-anu]

Over a cup of coffee

Pairing: Sirius Black x Reader

Summary: Sirius falls for you as you start coming to their coffee shop regularly 

Warnings: A fluffy one-shot! No warnings to give ;)

Word Count: 1,912

Sirius groggily started to set up the coffee shop. As much as he loved making artisan coffee, getting up at 6am was always a nightmare. James was beside him, wiping the counter and Remus was gone to the market to get fresh whole milk, bacon and eggs.

Their college time had been amazing but they all had come to the conclusion that they liked the simpler things in life. James had the money; Sirius made the most excellent coffee, Remus baked mouth watering pastries and James had been making the best sandwiches for them since childhood. They opened up a small barista located at the peak point of the city (near colleges, offices) named the “The Marauders’ Eatery”; which had become quite famous through the years. The store opened at 8 and by 9am it bustled with life.

As the day progressed, the crowd got thinner and the boys finally got the time to breathe. Sirius sighed cleaning the mixer.

“Think Marlene will drop by today?” James asked wriggling his eyebrows and Sirius groaned. Over time, the shop had gained quite many patrons. That included some girls who would gush at one of them so very obviously. Marlene was one of the girls who constantly flirted with him. He did not know how he could ever make her understand that he was not interested in her. She couldn’t take a hint.

“Shove off James, go back to thinking how you would impress Lily because we are not giving her any more free coffee!”

“Ah-“James started but someone came to the counter.

“Hello, what can I get you?” Sirius asked with his customary smile. Shit, she was beautiful.

“Can I get a large iced-coffee. Dark. And the banana walnut muffin?”

“Of-course, your name?”

“(Y/n)” she said smiling and Sirius felt his heart flutter.

“Please have a seat, and we’ll call you when your order is up.” Sirius said, moving to do the order.

“Thank you.” She said and moved to sit down.

James raised an eyebrow at Sirius.

“What?”

“You find her cute, don’t you?” he asked and Sirius rolled his eyes.

“She’s okay.” He said, pouring the iced drink in a big cup and placing it on a tray with the muffin and some napkins.

“(Y/n)!!!” he called out as she paid and took the tray from him, thanking him again.

Sirius bit his lip. He constantly sneaked glances at her as she continued to work on her I-pad. She had her headphones on and worked in utmost concentration. She would bite her lip or run a hand through her hair occasionally. Remus snickered at him and he told him off and couldn’t help but blush. (Y/n) looked utterly adorable. She would come up a few times to order something and was incredibly polite each time.

It was almost 8 and James and Remus dealt with their last customers. Sirius straightened his apron and went towards (Y/n), gently patting on her shoulder. She looked up and removed her headphones.

“Can I get you something else? We are closing soon.” Sirius asked. She looked down at her watch and gasped.

“Oh my god! It’s almost 8. No, I don’t want anything else. And thank you for being so welcoming today, your coffee’s the best!” she said and Sirius smiled widely.

“Thank you and you’re welcome here every day.”

As she left the store he heard a clap and turned around to find his best friends smirking at him.

“The girl who Sirius thinks is ‘okay’” James said as Remus grinned.

“Oh and she is ‘welcome here every day’”

“Shove off both of you! That might be the last time she came here, she was just being polite.” He said and James scoffed.

“Doesn’t answer our question.”

***

To Sirius’s pleasant surprise that was in fact not the last time you came to the shop. You started coming to their barista every day, sitting at a corner and working. You drank coffee and tried different bakery products and some of the weirder sandwiches too, much to James delight.

“So, what prompted you all to start this barista?” you said as James worked around.

“Basically we used to be those college students who needed coffee to survive and whatever baristas there were, were either too expensive or the coffee was just too poor. Sirius bought a coffee machine after some time and started making way too excellent coffee.”

“That’s me!” Sirius called out and you giggled.

“Yeah, and I used to make all these midnight snacks for us three, so we just got the idea and did it.” James said as he handed you his newest bacon sandwich.

“Well, I am glad you did, because this place is amazing. The sandwiches too!” You said to the three of them bowed dramatically. You laughed shaking your head at their antics and went to sit at your spot continuing to edit the cover for the new comic.

You yawned and stretched taking a break from drawing. There was a tap on your shoulder and you looked to see Sirius, who offered you some coffee. You raised your eyebrows and he shrugged gesturing towards the seat in front of you.

“Yes, of course.” You said and he sat down in front of you.

“So, I always see you on your I-pad, what do you work on?”

“I actually design comic books for the Bachpan’s convention.” You said taking a sip of the coffe. God it tasted good.

“Bachpan?”

“So basically that’s an organization that researches on child’s behavior and how to help them build better personalities. The comics I make are based on the very same research.”

“Oooh. That’s cool. How do you do it?”

“Subtle references. Most children are driven by desire; they want something or the other. So, we create a very innocent character, which is seemingly just like them and starts to do things their parents warn them against. It helps with the ‘learn by making mistakes’.  And then we show them the consequences of doing that. I try not to incorporate a character speaking out the morale directly, so as for the children to figure it out themselves.”

“Can I see some?” he asked. His eyes were so bright right, you were sure you could have said yes to anything he requested.

You showed him your latest work and he laughed at how funny the characters were. Slowly, the conversation shifted and you talked about yourself and your life and Sirius told you how he had a temperament for arts before. You found yourself smiling and listening attentively as he rambled. He was charming. You couldn’t deny that. Those people whom you saw gushing over him had a reason. But there was so much more to him. He was extremely perceptive and intuitive. He was funny, in a very natural way.

“Oi Sirius!” you looked over to Remus who smiled at you. “Get your ass over here; you’ve been talking for over an hour.”

Your eyes widened. Did you really? Your cheeks flushed and you looked at Sirius, who slowly got up.

“Pretty, how time flies, right?” he said and you nodded.

“Well, I had good company.” You said as Sirius’s face erupted in a loopy grin.

***

Sirius and you started sitting and talking every day after that. Sometimes James and Remus joined you two, sometimes they didn’t. You got to know more and more about them. They may think they were they cool and stuff, but according to you, they were the sweetest, nerdiest group ever.

“So, like Sirius used to be the bad boy, playboy-“ James said as you all sat together on one of their breaks.

“Wait, playboy?” you said cocking an eyebrow at Sirius. Sirius flushed.

“Well, I liked sex, don’t blame me!” he said and you giggled.

And somehow, you saw yourself falling for Sirius. You couldn’t point your finger on when or how it happened, it just did. You found your heart fluttering when he flirted with you, your stomach bounced when he winked at you. You couldn’t help it.

Sirius was frustrated. He had started liking you, a lot. He had no idea how to tell you. ‘(Y/n) I love how cute you are and want to take you out on a date.’ Well, that did sound quite okay, but how was he to ask? He always became a blubbering mess whenever he came close to talk to you about liking you. You made him nervous.

There was a ring behind him and he turned enthusiastically, expecting it to be you. He couldn’t be more wrong. Marlene. She came to him with an extra sway of her hips and he winced. He forced a smile.

“Good Morning! What can I get you?”

“Oh Sirius, don’t act like we don’t know each other. Okay, what about you make me whatever you want to today? You know I like everything you do.” She cooed and Sirius stopped himself from rolling his eyes.

He went to work on an espresso and heard someone else come in.

“Hey, Sirius!” your voice came and he turned around excitedly. “Can I get my usual coffee and the cake Remus said he’ll bake today?”

“Of-course!” he said as you sighed, standing at the counter. You did not notice the woman standing beside you glaring at you.

“So did you guys watch it?” you asked referring to the movie, you lent them a day before.

“Oh yeah, it was fantastic! Thank you for recommending it.” he said placing Marlene’s order on the counter, giving her the bill. Sirius noticed how she hadn’t her eyes off you, judging your every move.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Marlene asked and you turned.

“I’m-“

“She’s my girlfriend!” Sirius interrupted and you looked at him wide eyed. You weren’t the only one.

“What?!?” Marlene demanded. Sirius pleaded you with his eyes and you huffed. Fine, you’d play along.

“She’s my girlfriend. Marlene, (Y/n). (Y/n), Marlene.” He gestured between the two of you and you gave her a smile. She shot daggers at you in return. She paid Sirius looking at him in a sickening sweet smile and huffed out of the store. You raised an eyebrow at Sirius.

“She wouldn’t leave me alone!” he whined and you let a little smile play on your lips.

“And the only way to get out of it seemed to be calling me your girlfriend?” you mused and Sirius blushed.

“Well, I mean we two would be quite believable a couple. You are cute and funny and smart and you are someone I want to take out on a date. I mean I LOVE TO. I MEAN I WOULD. HYPOTHETICALLY. I-” he ranted and you found yourself loving the red mess he had become into.

“Sirius.”

“Sirius.”

“SIRIUS!” you said and he finally stopped.

“There’s a new restaurant open just down the street. I hear the food is mouth watering. Would you like to go with me there tonight?”

Sirius’s eyes widened and you regretted the bout of confidence you were overcome with.

“Like on a date?” he asked and you nodded, gulping. Please don’t say no.

“I would love too.” He said as he started making you a big cup of dark iced coffee. As Sirius gave you the drink and a muffin the two of you smiled at each other. And years later, when people asked you two about your love story your reply was, “Over a cup of coffee.”

A/N: This was written for Riley’s ( @wreckofawriter ) Cliched Month Writing Challenge. Let me know what you think!

#sirius #sirius black #sirius x reader #sirius black x reader #the marauders #marauders #padfoot #marauders x reader #harry potter #hp #sirius black fanfiction #sirius fanfiction #Anu writes #cliche month

[remembermemorablememories]

Thursday, June 28, 2018

post #171

main points:

- volunteer painting/hang out with mentor + team

- lunch

- barely getting stuff set up to try iOS bug and then going to a meeting with secondary mentor

- intern archery event

- playing pool at the office/hanging around

- uber eats and watching the office at home

- fortnite

today i:

- woke up at 8:15am. snoozed until 8:30am again. forced myself out of bed a little earlier than i usually do, like around 8:45am instead of 9am. i needed to get to the office a little earlier to grab breakfast and then take the shuttle to the far 999 building. 

- i grabbed take out breakfast, sat at my desk reading through some emails really quick. then went downstairs and caught a shuttle to 999. once i got there i wasn’t really sure where to go. cause i didn’t see anyone. but a woman named candice luckily helped me contact the volunteer organizer cause i couldn’t on my phone (i have no corp emails or messaging). and i left my laptop on my desk so...

it turns out the volunteer organizer was just at the front of the building and i had already walked past her.

hopped on the shuttle for about 15 minutes and that took us to the elementary school we were volunteering at. i saw a vine this morning in bed to mine by bazzi (the meme song “u so fukin precious wen u smile”) and i listened to the whole song for once. it’s atually pretty catchy. i played it on repeat on the shuttle ride lmao

- got to the elementary school. registered and then got volunteer shirts. then we split up into groups to figure out who was doing what. i was in the group of people who were painting in the circles for the thing where you slap the ball around the pole. they wanted to color it with ROYGBV and there were 3 circles. we split up into pairs and i worked with my mentor

it was a lot of fun getting to know him more and hanging out with the team. i felt like i haven’t had an opportunity to get to know him since i started. some of our conversation topics from the time span of being there/commuting back: i learned that he was from the same part of china where my parents are from. and we talked about self driving cars, west coast vs east coast, post graduation travels, netflix, i told him about npr planet money cause it’s a cool podcast, and other random stuff

we worked on the 3 circles, it was basically filling in a pie chart. we put some tape down on the ground and then painted based on that

we were at the elementary school from 10:30am-1:45pm ish. they provided lunch (sandwich, banana, granola bar, water)

then we drove back to the office. we just missed the shuttle but fortunately he had driven his car to the school anyway, so we just hopped into the car to head back

- got back to my desk around 2:15pm ish. checked some emails and started my builds for the day. i had a meeting at 3 with my secondary mentor LOL rip

after 20 minutes everything was set up and i stepped through the debugger (again) in Xcode on the same code path (again) to see if i could understand it better. i did this like twice and then had to go to my meeting

- chatted with my secondary mentor. it was chill, we met in 900 at the coffee bar. i grabbed a yogurt thing, which still blows my mind that it’s free

we talked about our work stuff and just hanging out. we were there from around 3:10-3:50pm

- went back to my desk, then tried to focus on work again but everyone began to head out to happy hour. i would’ve gone but there was an intern archery event. xueyan came by around 4:05pm and we left to meet with the other interns

we ubered to an archery place about 15 minutes away. there were about 9 of us even though 15 of us were on the reservation. rip. got to the venue and learned how to shoot a bow and arrow. then we practiced against a wall. it was pretty cool, we wore the gear and everything and learned the proper techniques and stuff. i was a pretty bad shot though lmao

we had some friendly competitions at the end and we got rekt in all 3 by kylie (who’s previously only done a bit of archery in girl scout camp)

- ubered back to the office and got back around 6:45pm. i decided to hang around and play pool. i just kind of messed around and chilled for a bit. explored the office with some of its rooms, some more of the gaming setup that i never looked at cause i always go straight to the gamecube, and then i headed back home around 7:30pm

- ordered poke from uber eats and ot it around 8pm. then i watched the office S5E11 “moroccan christmas” and S5E12 “the duel”. it was when andy finds out that angela was cheating on him with dwight. i forgot how it played out but i got sucked into the story quite a bit

- switched to bootcamp and updated fortnite. i showered and watched some david dobrik vlogs to pass the time since the update took a while. played a few games on the new mode (12 teams of 8, where it ends not on the storm, but on the number of players still left standing at the end) 

now i’m ready to sleep (it’s 12:21am)

good night folks

today was a fun day, i feel like it was a good emotional and mental break. but i was unable to get anything done at all LOL

i hope i can solve the bug tomorrow finally. we’ll seeeeee

#post #june #2018 #memorable

[just-hazardous-thoughts]

Yet another confusing time of nothingness but not despair

I’m not depressed. It’s not the nothingness I’ve known a few years ago where nothing has taste and there’s a hole in your body and your soul. Nope. It’s just, weird af.

This time there’s no hole and empty sorrow. The best I can describe it is sitting on a chair, doing stuff, living, blinking, breathing but laughing at the thought that something is going on - obviously - that I can’t put my finger on. It’s weird but I’ll take it over listening my depressive playlist. It’s nicer to laugh.

So, 2021 onwards. Something big happened already, only one day after it started. I lost my V card. Who would’ve thought. Not me. I was the first surprised. Still wonder if it really happened to be honest. Been 4 days and I’m in a weird state of mind. At first I felt very awkward and ashamed for some reasons (and I still do to an extent). It wasn’t so much about the realisation, it was never a big deal for me but not to be seen as the prude and dysfunctional girl out of my girlfriends is kinda nice so I guess I can cross that of my list. But at the same time, idk. It was kinda boring and left me thinking "so what’s the big deal?". Didn’t really left me wanting more. I have more fun on my own.

Usually I’m all opened about what to write even without focus but this time it’s really hard to gather stuff. Feels like I want to hide them from myself even. But gonna force myself to expand a bit. It’s important stuff in a way.

So what happened.

Don’t really remember but I guess once again I felt lonely one night and desperate enough to swipe some guys on Tinder. It’s kinda my thing. It’s all alright until it isn’t and I feel a surge of swipe to justify that I’m at least trying to "fix" or at least improve my condition.

Anyways, ended up on some guy that was way too handsome to skip but I knew nothing would come of it since he was like 300km from me. Wanted to keep it as collection I guess. I try to keep the ones I find attractive to figure out "my type". Kinda silly.

Then, ofc, the one you expect the least is always the one to talk back. It wasn’t a striking message, he commented about my septum, and it just went on from that. Been talking for a month+ now (since the start of December) and I liked how it’s always been sporadic messages. Like not the kind where you send messages, get some answer back in 5mn and discuss live (like I do everyday on Discord). It’s way more sparse and I like it cause I can’t be dedicated to spending my whole life texting (even tho I do it on Discord but it feels different?).

Tbh I’ve never been "compelled" to this person like waiting his messages in anticipation or anything. Always been detached. Was the same with the guy I was texting before this summer and even before. It’s kinda nice cause there’s not much at stake. If he ever ghosts, it doesn’t really matter. But it’s also scaring me. Do I have a broken heart or what? I can’t seem to feel things. Apart from crushes (which are insignificant) and that one coworker I hanged out with, I’ve never been silly over texts. I would prefer to be. At least it makes you feel something. For sure at least I don’t get hurt, but I feel like a ghost.

Onwards. We finally decided to meet. Wasn’t particularly pleased to have him over my place cause I’ve never invited strangers there and what if it was awkward? At least in public you’re safe and if it goes terrible you can just leave and pretend to have something to do after to move on. Home, if you want an escape, you kinda have to be blunt and ask the person to go away or bare with it.

Sex was off the table - at least in my mind, even wore not sexy clothes and unmatched undies -. I thought I had been clear about that since I had said something like "Sure why not but only to get to know each other". Guess it had been taken in another way that what I was originally meaning.

Fatidic day comes, obligatory stress before a date, make yourself extra pretty. He arrives, super handsome, smells good, is nice. I make cocktails, he shakes them, we drink, it’s fine. But, cause there’s always a but, it seems so formal. Like I’m trying to be a good date and be ultra dynamic in the conversation but it feels like I’m leading too much and he’s not talking an awful lot, not even asking about me. Super different from how he was texting. I try to not mind it too much.

It gets physical at some point, he makes me hop on him, take me into his arms until he finally decides to go down on me and go PIV. It’s not like I didn’t want to and was forced to do so, I just let it happen. But I would’ve preferred it another way? Like further down the line? First talk a lot more and get a feel of each other, then eventually leading to that. Introducing that so fast, so quick made the possible spark die for me. I felt awkward and like nothing could go on from that point but to go the casual sex route or stop it there. I guess it made me realise that I’m really looking for a relationship. Prior to that I always said I wanted to see how things go into dating, so not specifically a relationship but that’s exactly what happened and now I know.

So here we are, the aftermath. Kinda ghosted him for two days. He was obviously super happy about what happened and casual about it but I wasn’t. So expressed that it made me uncomfortable and so forth. He said he was sorry and wasn’t usually like that… Wanted me to give him a second chance. Debated for a whole lot of time in my head, basically lost my peaceful sleep times for days now (and it’s still ongoing). Decided on a "maybe". And now we’re back to texting, more deep stuff, less emotes. Idk how I feel about that. I don’t know anything anymore.

————————

So I left this note unfinished kinda? But it’s an unfinished business so that’s fine. One week later. Where we at?

We continued texting and I guess the more time past the more I was forgetting about our first date, moving on in a kinda way. Focusing on other stuffs basically even tho that’s the core of my life rn. Like overthinking, thinking and thinking again about all this.

Eventually he asked if he could come back this weekend and I was like "mmmh maybe?", because I really was like maybe. Wasn’t really trying to tease him, just wasn’t sure. But in my mind, I was accepting that he’d come already. So fast-forward, second date planned on Sunday (first one was Saturday the week before). He asked if he could come a bit earlier to spend more time, and I agreed. Only if he didn’t come at like 9am or something cause y’a know, still need to make myself pretty and clean my apartment. Important stuff to me.

Today is Monday, so it was yesterday. What happened? Juicy.

It was kinda awkward at first, ngl. When he said he was there and I had to open the door to go get hime, I got this huge wave of stress washing over me and I remember saying out loud “Wtf am I even doing”, but then it was too late and it was happening so good fucking luck me.

He brought beers and a pizza (for him, since I hate it, he knew it). We just started to drink and talk casually, but there were these awkward silences at times. But props to him in some ways cause he always found a way to make a comeback somehow, and make it less awkward, and be physical - not always sex-driven but just make these kinda approaches that are like closing the gap between strangers? -.

We then decided to watch horror movies. And I think that was my favourite part. It was really just chilling you know. It was cute. We just cuddled on the couch and he tried a move but I said "not today". Cause that was my mindset for real this time. And as first date didn’t go as planned my battle plan for this one would have to hold. If no sex on second date, and he still stays in my radar it kinda seals the deal in a way? Not like it’s all perfect and chill, for all I know we’re not exclusive or anything so doesn’t prove much, but that he wants to stick around a bit? And I like that idea. So he was like "ok ok, I’ll slow down", with a cute voice. And yeah, that was a super nice moment that I really enjoyed actually. I remember thinking into his arms like "Okay, I could live with that, it’s kinda nice, could fall asleep here". He actually fell asleep for a while.

It wasn’t all perfect ok? There’s already some stuff bothering me, probably some bothers him too, but nothing is perfect. Kinda have to focus on the good stuff.

It’s kind of all new to me. Never went this far into any relationship really. So, I’m trying to handle things differently too? Like, I didn’t say to my friends - best friends - that I saw him again, all that happened yesterday. Cause, I guess I kinda wanna keep it to myself till I know where it’s going? If it ever goes somewhere anyway. Like I’ve always been to prone to talk about my dates - that are so few -, and nothing good ever came of it so I just don’t wanna discuss duds - not dudes, duds, like the empty fake shit - anymore?

I really wish I could talk to them about it now, cause it’s so fresh and new and he doesn’t answer me cause something happened in the army - cause he’s in the army - and he had to give his phone away at a certain point and he said he didn’t knew when he would get it back?

SO. Either, this could be a lie and he’s ghosting me. Which would be weird, considering how things went - he said “Today was a good day” in a vocal note yesterday while he was being punished -, but, you never know. Or, it’s the truth and it sucks cause I kinda wish we would have talked today. I mean, happened in the past where he was punished and stuff so it’s believable.

But it’s really one of the two. And it bothers me, and I wish I knew. Cause I’m all alone with my thoughts rn, and that’s why I picked this again cause I can’t talk to him, can’t - don’t wan’t - to talk to my friends about it, really can’t talk to my parents about it so I feel alone.

But on another note, reverse psychology really works on me lol. Kept checking my phone all day when usually he sends messages and I kinda glide over it cause I don’t wanna make it my priority, but clearly today there’s been a shift. Not to say it’ll remain if he ever answers - cause yeah, I cracked and sent a message -. So yeah guys, I’m one of those annoying chicks.

Yeaaaah, I definitely listened to my sad playlist today. Don’t judge. But also, I’m having my periods - which is great, cause I was concerned - but also make this day sucks even more cause it hurts. But at least the pain kinda distracts me. Idk, it’s weird to explain.

#thoughts #diary #dating #relationship #confused

[eminperu]

I Came All the Way to Peru to Battle Midwestern Racists: The characters you meet as an American girl working at an English Pub in Peru

A lot has happened since my last post, so I’ll briefly give you the life updates and then get into my pub profiling.

1) My computer is fixed, and it was fixed FO FREE. Apparently some dust or something had gotten in it.  

2) I have a new apartment! On Thursday, I moved into a cute little apartment in Barranco, the hipster district where I work. I’m living with a 28-year-old Peruvian girl and a nice, quiet, engineer dude that looks to be about the same age. My flat is on the third floor of a tall white building—actually, it IS the third floor. We have a little patio, an open kitchen/living room, and a little cat! Milagros, my roommate, is short and cute, with a couple flower and feather tattoos and long, straight black hair. She speaks some English and wants to practice even more, and she is by far one of the easiest people for me to communicate with in Peru. I got to drink with her friends last night and we had so much fun! Most of her friends are from university, seem to be some sort of engineers, and travel a lot for their jobs (so does she).

3) I finally started teaching online English! It’s actually so fun. The kids are adorable, the parents revere teachers, and it takes 0 planning time. To be fair, I did have to invest in a Mr. Potato Head and a creepy stuffed squirrel I found in a little tienda on the street. I actually really did miss teaching and am happy to get to interact with kids again, even at obscenely early hours of the morning and only via webcam. Fortunately, I am making American money while living in Peru, which is pretty much the best loophole I’ve come across.

4) I also worked every night at the pub last week. “Working” at Wick’s (honestly, I mostly just drink) has been a highlight of my time here, and has also introduced me to different Lima visitors every night. Though a much more… relaxed… service culture means less tips (boo), it also means much more time to chat with patrons. Hearing everyone’s stories not only helps me to practice my Spanish (sometimes—about 50% of the patrons speak English, and that number climbs to about 80% when you’re looking at those who choose to sit at the bar and shoot the shit with me). Here are some of the all-stars: - Retired British Air Force Pilot: RBAFP is definitely my favorite customer, and probably one of my favorite people. Unclear how I keep collecting elderly retired pilot friends (just kidding, it’s because my brother is in the Air Force and they all want to know him/be him). RBAFP comes in several times a week and can talk to just about anybody. He’s been divorced a couple times, is currently married to a hot Peruvian lady, and used to fly for Delta airlines. He loves to take the piss out of the other regulars—note my impeccable use of British slang—and I like to listen. Often times he’s accompanied by other pilots or air controllers, or a couple of times he’s come in with some young Columbian and Peruvian businessmen (that he may or may not have been trying to set me up with).

- Revolving Door of Finance Guys: I don’t know what it is, but a lot of investment bankers, finance, and IT guys show up at this pub. They sit at the bar, order a whiskey, and talk about what they do. RDFGs usually don suits and short-cropped hair. Quick to drop you their card, I like that I sometimes get to feel like a mover-and-shaker talking to these guys, like I could be making a connection I’ll need down the line. I talked with a guy who worked at some IT firm in DC who wanted to help me out with my grant proposal I’ve started writing, which was encouraging and exciting.

- Racist Midwesterner: Ugh. RM came in one of my first nights of work and I thought he was CUTE. He ended up leaving because we didn’t have the beer he wanted (cask ales kind of suck anyway) or a food special for the night. He came back a few nights later and proceeded to get pretty drunk at the bar. I was actually super excited: we had witty repertoire, he was planning on staying in Peru for the foreseeable future, he had really good teeth—let’s not judge my standards here. At some point in any conversation one has here, someone will ask your “coming to Peru” story. He came for Ayahuasca. Incidentally, he also is staying (eight months past his visa expiration) for Ayahuasca. Okay, probably another red flag. As I’m asking him about his experience, he tells me it’s not a drug, it’s not like any other drugs. I ask him what drugs he’s done to compare it to. At this point, I guess I’m showing my basic level of critical thinking and he does not like the challenge. You can see him pulling out his LIBERAL card and about to throw it down.

Somehow, he transitions to to gun control—maybe a conservative litmus test? He tells me if some “sketchy looking dudes” are coming at your jewelry store, you definitely have a right to shoot and kill them. Again, my bleeding heart can’t help but ask a thought-provoking question: What makes someone sketchy? [God, I’m so clearly pushing my beliefs so hard right now]. He replies, “When they are running around your store.. and they’re black.” [I don’t know what to type here, so please just imagine a picture of my face that I’m not tech-savvy enough to include on here]. Not just a red flag, a giant red matador flag in front of a bright red sunset sky. At this point, I begin to wonder if Socrates/Ben Franklin style of gentle prodding is not the answer. After gauging the stunned look on my face, he says, “Oh, I can tell you’re a humanitarian [read: not a racist]. Well I’m just being honest. Look at the statistics.” I can go on and on about how ridiculous he got and how much I really tried to keep my composure and listen before responding, but eventually he was just shouting at me. High(low)lights include, but are not limited to: “I’m not going to apologize for the white man,” “I already know what I believe, I’m set in it, I’m not going to change my mind,” “I would probably be in the same position if I was born in a black, poor, community but that’s not my problem.” My manager stepped in and told him he was a total twat and eventually he got uncomfortable and left, reportedly asking my manager afterwards if he had “been okay in there.” Jimmy replied, “Abso-fucking-lutely not. You were not okay. You were a racist and you were shouting at her for not being a racist.”

- Remotely Working Tech Guys: Graphic designers, software engineers, anyone who can do their job on the computer. In fact, RM was one of these remote software type guys. Generally speaking, thought, I like the other ones better. They come in almost nightly, ordering cask ales and being cheeky with the staff. RWTG can be schmoozers or a bit shy, but usually have an affinity for uppers and talking about whatever they’re currently working on. Getting paid American money here is really the way to go, so it makes sense that people who can work from their laptop choose to do so in Lima.

- Bill: Bill does a lot of cocaine and shouts and gets physically weird with dudes at the bar. A LOT of cocaine. And yells VERY loud. He might be American? He is definitely loud. I’ve heard he’s actually an okay guy, but I’ve also been generally successful at darting my eyes, slinking around, and generally avoiding engaging with him at all. Bill does not get an acronym. I think he also works in mining? Yeah, Peru has mines. Also cocaine. Do less cocaine, Bill.

- Fun Groups of Peruvian Youths: I like Peruvians. They drink, but they drink slowly and they love playing games (I’ve almost had to break up fights over Jenga). Generally, they are super friendly and low-key, and are patient with me if I have some Spanish translation issues. These groups are especially fun on football nights.

- Cool Barranco Lesbian Hipsters: Barranco is a v. hip neighborhood. While retaining some of the essential elements of Lima culture, Barranco’s streets have evolved into a collection cool art museums, quaint cafes, a microtheater, and who knows what else—like most good things, the treasures of Barranco are escondidos. We have several ladies who come into the bar pretty regularly and often play live music or talk about playing live music. They also tend to have trendy jobs as graphic designers/PR folks, as well as bit of their own drama that I’m definitely a little bit here for.

- Kitchen Staff: Okay, so they aren’t bar patrons but I love the boys who work in the kitchen. There are three of them from ages 20-25, they are Peruvian, adorable, and (2/3) speak impeccable English. Neither of them have had any formal schooling in English, which makes me feel like shit that they have been able to pick it up so quickly and I still spend 10-20% of my time with a dumbfounded look on my face when someone comes at me with Spanish. They teach me cool Spanish words to make me sound Peruvian (which I always confirm with Milagros to make sure I’m not saying dirty stuff), I get buzzed and flirt mercilessly with them in exchange.

Happies: Pretty much everything right now! I love my new room, it’s super close to the gorgeous beach and the swank downtown area (Miraflores). I’m finally getting used to waking up early to teach (prime hours are from 6am-9am) and have been trying to make what remains of my morning productive, instead of opting for a drooling, facedown Netflix nap. I’m exercising quite a bit (I’m too cheap to use Uber regularly and too lazy to figure out most busses, which means most places I go… I’m running! [if you didn’t get the Forrest Gump reference, gtfo]. I feel like my Spanish has improved a lot, especially when talking to someone I am familiar with. Feras is coming to visit me at the end of November and we’ve almost got our whole Cuzco/Machu Picchu trip booked! The Lima portion of our trip includes reservations at the NUMBER 8 RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD, which happens to be in Lima and Japanese-Peruvian fusion. Also, in all honesty, I need to explore the historical center/sites of Lima.

Scrappies: Meygan got robbed in a taxi yesterday! But, she also jumped out of the cab, chased the dude in flip-flops, punched him so he lost his balance, and recovered most of her stuff. Sploosh. Also, I am not getting VIP Kid bookings quite as consistently as I would like, which is causing me to continually recalibrate just how broke I am willing to be when/if I come home. Finally, traveling around South America is pretty expensive :(. Flights are not like in Europe or Asia.

Goals: I just applied to a freelance writing job, so I’m hoping that could pan out for some extra cash. It looks like it would mainly be blogging and videos, so right up my alley. I also responded to a family who reached out to me to be their kids’ personal tutor/nanny? They own communal living spaces in Madrid (and sometimes Thailand and France) and want to move to Stinson beach to put their three young kids in a small public school system that is demographically diverse, near an urban center, and open to parent involvement. Essentially, they want me to coparent with them, focusing specifically on their kids’ educational development. It could be really cool, it could be a cult. They’re looking for someone to start in January, though, so I’m not sure I’ll be ready to be stateside again by then.

Cry Count: 2 (I booked an Uber then ran out of phone credit on my way to work. I cried in the street and the taxi drivers took pity on me and gave me a good rate and a ride to work).