numbly helpless

 

hello, im bluepuffin!

 before i full on write how i've been feeling, i'd like to share a song that scratches a feeling in me, for some reason: Spring Into Summer by Lizzy McAlpine. (no, before any potato i know in real life gets to this blog, this ain't related to anyone you know xx).

the Madleen, my late night chaos

 hey, im bluepuffin. 

 I was awake until like 2:30 AM, but it was for a good cause: I was seeing the hidden news unfold, right from the people on board, of the hijacking of the Madleen.

 On June 9th, the Madleen, a humanitarian aid vessel aid which sailed to Gaza, was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters. This is what unfolded in real time, from the eyes of those like me who scrolled through Instagram and Telegram and also from the activists on board.

 The Madleen is a vessel that sailed, on the first of June, from Italy with 11 activists, such as Greta Thunberg; and one journalist, with the goal of reaching Gaza. They had humanitarian aid on the boat: 100kg flour, 250kg rice, baby formula, medical kits, et cetera. This aid would definitely not be enough to end the famine in Gaza, but it would be symbolic. 

The Madleen

 However, unlike the last time the Freedom Flotilla Coalition tried to reach Gaza with aid, the Madleen wasn’t attacked when they sailed near Malta. They were attacked during the dead of night, the earliest of morning, on June 9th, Monday, by Israeli forces, and I was desperately looking for information on social media. 

The "Conscience", a Freedom Flotilla ship who had the same purpose as the Madleen but was attacked when they sailed near Malta

 Guess what? 2 Israeli quadcopters surrounding the vessel, spraying a white, paint-like substance that passengers described as an irritant. Minute by minute, I posted Stories on Instagram updating people with information. No one cared, or so it seemed. The radio on the vessel was playing disturbing messages, sabotaged. The communications? Eventually, cut completely. Shortly afterward the “paint attack”, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition reported losing contact with those on board. Sorrowfully, as the vessel was about 185 kilometers away from Gaza, Israeli forces entered it and took control of it. The ship, seized; the activists (and that one journalist), kidnapped. 

 By the way, a video Greta had recorded before being kidnapped which was to use in the situation of being kidnapped, which she was, was posted. The other passengers did the same, with their videos posted too. I shared, on my Story, on Instagram, Greta’s video. I was shocked. Unexpectedly, a friend reached out and I found a partner to share this with, but then we had to sleep, since it was later than 2AM in Portugal. Not like we have school anyways.

 Today, the 9th of June, afternoon, the vessel has stopped on the Ashdod port. If the passengers choose to stay, they will suffer detention. If they agree to leave, they will be taken to their countries of origin.

 The events are still unfolding, and I hope everything is okay by the time I post this on Friday. Though Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called their vessel a “selfie yacht”, as if the activists were there for a sort of publicity stunt, even if that came to be true, that doesn't erase the fact they came with humanitarian aid. Imagine attacking an aid vessel. How does giving aid to starving people in Gaza affect Israel in any way? What authority has Israel to seize a ship sailing in international waters carrying aid? Imagine being attacked for trying to help.

 Okay, now it's June 10th. Greta was taken to France with 3 other activists, and the remaining on board the vessel are in detention in Israel... They are being treated as if they came to Israel illegally, when they were TAKEN to Israel illegally. Keep in mind the French-Palestinian Rima Hassan, a member of the European Parliament, who was born in a refugee camp in Palestine, is now in detention in Israel. For trying to give aid to her own people. If that doesn't hurt you, I don't know what would. 

 Now it's June 11th. Wednesday. Rima and Thiago Ávila, another crew member, are now both already or to be put in solitary confinement. Rima had written "Free Palestine" on a wall of the prison she is/was in.

 Now it's June 12th. From what I've heard, 6 of the 8 activists which were still in detention are too be freed (including Rima and Thiago). Let's wish the best of luck for them, and also for the children in Gaza who struggle so much. I have to study now. 

 today's song sugestion is Construção, by Chico Buarque.

bye guys!! cya sweeties

 

hiccupy bread and Mapuche?? what :v

 Hey, I'm BluePuffin!!

 Today is Tuesday, the 3rd of June, and I’m going to share a song and an experience related to the Mapuche indigenous people. Don't forget to click any or both of the buttons below to help people for free! ☮

 

 

 I'm sharing "LO QUE PASÓ A HAWAii" by Bad Bunny. The song shares the fear of what happened to Hawaii happening to Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny's homeland. Puerto Rico suffers from over tourism and gentrification, which leads to loss of cultural identity and displacement. Hawaii is now a popular destination for its beaches while the indigenous Hawaiians suffer, and Bad Bunny doesn't want that to happen with his land. For a resume on Hawaii's history on the native Hawaiians suffering, watch this video by JuiceMedia below. It was authorized by the Department of Military Occupations Disguised as Tourist Destinations. 

 Moving on, today I had the incredible chance to watch a play called "The Mapuche Sister" by the theatre "O Bando", in Palmela. It's based on "One Thousand and One Nights", and it was a partnership with the Uruguayan collective "Tatuteatro". Thanks school! It was about 2 sisters, both being Mapuche indigenous people. One, maybe for the power she'd get, took the chance to marry The King. However, The King was once cheated on, and, from then, he killed every new wife he had gotten. His new wife saved herself by, whenever he planned to kill her, telling him a story and leaving him on cliffhangers. Hence he always wanted to know more and more and more, and, by then, the idea he had of killing her was long gone. 

 I sadly forgot most of the play, but one of the unforgettable moments was when The King seemed to be in distress, and the sister of his wife sang songs in Spanish in the background while hitting what seemed like a drum. You won't get it, but The King was literally in need of a psychologist. He was hot as fuck, so his wife is lucky, but his personality? Shit. He was throwing a tantrum... For me, the song seemed like an attempt to get the evil out of The King.

 Moreover, The King only spoke Portuguese. The wife's father had to speak it whenever he had to talk with The King. The father and the sisters spoke Spanish, and the sisters sometimes spoke Mapudungun, the Mapuche language. 

Words I learned:

mari mari - hello (lit. 10 10 because their handshake unites both hands, forming a "ten ten")

mari - ten

mapu - land

che - people

"lamian" - sister

 Another metaphorical moment was when The King was trying to remove a tree, for no reason at all, and couldn't. That says it all. 

 Here's some pictures regarding the play and script, but they're all in Mapuche, Spanish and Portuguese, unlike the recipe I will share shortly. Click them to expand.

 Now, I'll share a recipe I used to make bread with my classmates. It was transmitted by Mari Cruz, who represented the wife's sister and is Mapuche. It was tasty. I'll share both the translated and untranslated version. In the untranslated version, there's a picture of Mari Cruz and possibly Chelín, the one who gave name to the recipe, "Chelín's Bread". By the way, Mari Cruz lives in Cabo Polonio, in Uruguay, so she doesn't live in a Mapuche community. Gladly, she allowed me to share the recipe :)

Chelín's Bread🎀
our bread of Cabo Polonio

-1kg wheat flour

-2 tbsp dry yeast (dry!! mandatorily.)

-1 teacup of warm water with 2 tbsp of sugar dissolved

-1 teacup of warm water with half tbsp of salt dissolved

-olive oil

 Mix the flour with the yeast, then add the water with sugar. Always mixing with the spoon, then add the water with the salt and combine with the olive oil. Mold the bread and let it leaven (ferment?) in a warm place. Once grown, to the oven it goes.

EAT AND LAUGH.

 It was tasty, but I had hiccups because I ate my part all at once, lol. My mom wanted to try but I ate it all - sorry! Now I'm gonna probs have a croissant with an egg filling my mum bought for me at the nearby cafe, eek!! :3 🥐

 I hope you clicked the buttons at the beginning, teehee........ Thank you "O Bando" and "Tatuteatro", and, of course, my teacher and school for allowing me to have this experience! The 6€ I had to pay and the 2.8km I had to walk to reach the theatre were worth it, even if I didn't fully understand the play.

 Bye sweeties,

 BluePuffin

 

 

 

Okinawan: a beautiful group of languages which are fading with time...

hey, im bluepuffin.

 Today I’m going to share a song.

Mudar a Canção: A Song Too Needed for Today's Portugal.

hey puffins!

 Content Warning: Mentions of homophobia, Violence (not graphic) and Suicide (not graphic either, but emotionally sensitive.)

 im BluePuffin and I'm right here! here are the song recommendations!

-> 15 Minutes: another of many sassy songs by Sabrina Carpenters.

-> "Mudar a Canção" is a Portuguese song by Marisa Liz and many other singers that asserts many empathetic values. The song is against racism, xenophobia, genocide, you name it. Some examples of lyrics: 

"Homophobia? For me, it doesn't sit quite right, because love isn't dictated by the words of anyone. The genocide? For me, it doesn't sit quite right. I don't want to have in my hands the blood of anyone."

 It seems like a normal song against common-sensical bad things, right? It indirectly is against what's happening in Gaza (starvation... genocide.) and directly against many stuff, but is it just that? Nope. 

 This song is too relatable, and too needed, sadly. Though when the song was made we weren't exactly like now, right now, the song is more needed than ever: Chega, a far right political party in my country, is gaining traction. On the elections 5 days ago, they were the third most voted party, almost tying with the Socialist Party. Chega won where I live. As Chega grows, with simplistic narratives and potentially hateful discourses, so does conservatorism. With that, racism, homophobia and xenophobia, and the normalization of them, grows, grows, and grows. In my class, I have a girl who, as far as I know, is homophobic and in favour of Israel "because of her religion", and 3 classmates who publicly follow Chega's leader André Ventura on social media. (though I have some girl classmates who are disgusted at André and even believing he'd make my country a dictatorship, which doesn't sound too wrong to believe.)

 By the way, at my school, it's quite common for people outside of the norms to be judged, and there are people who are openly Nazi and no one cares. In every room, in every wall, there's a swastika to find. Maybe not on every wall, but on every chair or desk, hidden, or even in plain sight. There's a chair I recall that is full of swastikas. Anyways, once, I had a classmate who'd invite me to his birthday party and happily talk with me, now he cuts me off before I start to speak, even asking me to kill myself, just because I'm often cringe, on purpose, to defy what's normal.*(see bottom of the entry) The growth of this political party only comes to, directly or not, exacerbate the already existing discrimination, specially when many or some of the party members are publicly discriminators.

 For instance, one of the members currently in the parliament, Ricardo Lopes Reis, celebrated Odair Moniz's death. Odair Moreno Moniz was a Cape Verdean immigrant who, according to CNN Portugal, had a criminal record of drug trafficking and armed robbery, for which he had already served a prison sentence. He was shot in the early hours of morning, by the Portuguese police, after a night out partying. The police officer who shot Moniz had his gun license revoked. I see it as excessive personal defense. You can read about Moniz's killing and the outcoming riots here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Odair_Moniz. Anyways, celebrating a death of someone who died in an unjustifiable way doesn't sit quite right with me, even if Moniz was once a criminal.

 At the end of the day, for me, this song gives me hope amidst the possible ending of our times. People being killed with excessive use of force unjustifiably, may it be in Ukraine, Gaza or in the street where Moniz was killed, will never be okay. Nor will be not caring about homophobia, racism and xenophobia. May we all come to understand others are different and how we must appreciate them and embrace them for who they are.

 Slightly unrelated, but please sign this petition asking for a ceasefire in Gaza (AGAIN.): https://www.amnesty.org/en/petition/demand-a-ceasefire-by-all-parties-to-end-civilian-suffering/ and don't forget to click to help people for free on arab.org!! 💙

 And that was why that song is so important nowadays, not just for Portugal, but for every country. It serves as a reminder that we should have empathy, and it's a pity the song exists, because if society was tuned to a pitch where empathy was the norm, this song probably wouldn't need to exist. Hope is still here though.

 I love you all, and thank you for reading.

 Best wishes,

 BluePuffin

via GIPHY

* He often tells others to kill themselves in moments of rage, casually, like it's just a normal thing to say. It desensitises pain and it reminds me of how we let cruelty be normalized.

"their big dream.": a song related to Nakba!!

 Hello, I'm BluePuffin!!

 Today I’m going to share a poem/song, no song recommendations, sorry. Probably Li Beirut, but for this time, the focus is on my poem/song.

their big dream.🫒

they grew olive

by the dear river

looked for knowledge

it hurts, my liver

no food, it's sadness

sorrowful story

lies no forgetness

under their lost glory

their big dream, still remains

to let live and to just live

they won't ever budge to leave

Nakba still gives pains

i won't budge with your reasons

under these ruined seasons

my home burns metaphorically

while Gaza suffers literally

"no pains no gains"

what a lie

their food's off, and soon's july

"you lie, you lie"

don't say that!

as you chill inside your flat

or house, with no fear to die

their big dream, still remains

to let live and to just live

we won't ever budge to leave

Nakba still gives pains

through the starving days,

Nakba still gives pains,

to their lives, their wives, their everydays!

through inhumane silence,

we see the violence,

we believe that they shall live.

oh ah, oh ah

(shalom, salam, lam. shalom, salam, lam.)

ah ah...

but oh well, oh well, oh well.

oh well.

their big dream

still remains

to let live and to just live

we won't ever budge to leave

Nakba still.. stains.

 Written today, by me, BluePuffin, Friday May 16. Yesterday was Nakba Day, and this is my way of remembering it. Nakba was when about 750 thousand Palestinians were displaced in 1948, with many of their villages destroyed. Nakba made Israel become a country possible. They aren't able to return to their houses or towns, even now, hence how Nakba still stains the present of injustice. I later changed the lyric "pitiful story" to "sorrowful story". I think I can share the emotional depth more clearly that way, without sounding like I'm seeing anyone as weak. The Palestinians may be anything, but they're not weak. So much years and so much suffering, and they're still here. 

 I made this because the few Palestinian songs I know aren't calm enough for me. I normally can't handle really moved lyrics. Therefore, I made it a bit calmer, but still revealing for those willing to care.
 Below is a raw singing audio. Sadly, it still has the wrong lyric there.
 Not polished, but at least I have a melody.

View on Vocaroo >>

 As always, don't forget to help people for free by "clicking to help" on arab.org!

 May happiness be with you.
 I love you all,
 BluePuffin💙
 

 

as Olivia said, love is embarrassing !!

 Hello, I'm BluePuffin!!

 Once again, Im back, and with a poem. No promises this time. My own promise made me feel with disappointed last time. Unironically, I chose to share the song “Promise” by Laufey with u guys. I also decided to recommend Olivia Rodrigo’s song “love is embarrassing”. May u like this entry <3