Monday Matter: My 11-year-old father, family estrangement and Billie
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
Say hi to Billie! 🐈⬛
I welcomed my first feline family member on Friday and she’s an absolute darling. Billie (yes, I named her for cat—or billi—in Urdu and Hindi) crawled right up to me in the shelter bonding room and, well, the rest is history. Her body language tells me she’s relaxed, but she hasn’t been eating and drinking much, and she’s also recovering from a little cat cold that’s making it hard for her to smell well. I’m eager to see her personality come out more as she starts feeling a little better, but it’s safe to say I’m in love with the nugget already.
A musical start to your Mondays 🎧
One song to groove to, cry to, drive to and share
I first heard this song from Korean band Ak Dan Gwang Chil (or ADG7) through NPR’s Tiny Desk + globalFEST and it’s unlike anything else I’ve ever listened to. According to NPR, ADG7 is a multi-award winning group “inspired by Korea's sacred, shamanic ritual music (gut) and beloved folk songs (minyo) of Hwanghae Province in the northern reaches of the peninsula.” The one-of-a-kind group features six South Korean traditional musicians and three women folk singers.
Resource(s) of the week
Something helpful and interesting and cool (*storytelling or job opportunity)
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