Monday Matter: Boarding passes, long nights and ADHD

Your weekly Foreign Bodies roundup

Every Monday, we send subscribers and gift recipients of immigrant mental health and storytelling newsletter Foreign Bodies stories we recently inhaled and adored. This is also a chance to do some housekeeping and give shout-outs and all that jazz. Roundups are usually written by Fiza and edited by Farah.

First things first

A little housekeeping

The long nights are getting to me 🌙

Anyone else out there having an especially tough time getting through the season? Every year, I feel a sense of dread as longer nights and shorter days approach, but something about the blur of months past and what feels like a rushed mourning era is making it harder for me to get through a workday, a workweek, the end of this strange year. I’m hoping that putting up some string lights and hosting good friends will help.

A musical start to your Mondays 🎧

One international song to groove to, cry to, drive to and share

This week’s pick, recommended by reader Elvia S., is “El Aguajal” by Peruvian group Los Shapis, best known for being one of the very first chicha groups. Formed in 1981, the group donned colorful costumes and performed chicha music—a combination of local folklore music, South American beats and modern musical instruments.

Resource(s) of the week

Something helpful and interesting and cool (*storytelling opportunity)

• How physicians can support health of Arab immigrants, refugees: At the 2021 American Medical Association meetings, experts Deena Kishawi and Aimee Hilado discussed the barriers refugees face and what physicians can do to assist these patients and provide medical and cultural support. Some tips: Invest in interpreters, meet patients where they are, and understand how behavioral manifestations of trauma present themselves in the Arab population.

• NPR Reflect America Fellowship: Applications for NPR’s Reflect America Fellowship are now open. This is a year-long position aimed at bringing a greater diversity of voices to NPR's news coverage. Applications are open until 11:59 EST p.m. on Dec. 12, 2021.