hi y'all, i'm bluepuffin!
i got a kufiya scarf, and i love it! this week, it really was a source of joy, worry, and surprise. i will write about it after the song recommendations ^-^
Saia da Carolina by Carolina Deslandes
for those of you who don't understand Portuguese, I added English subtitles to Carolina's music video. i love its meaning! the ending is cryptic, and somehow reminiscent of when Portugal was a dictatorship. i wish society didn't have gender inequality. also, this song is a play on a children's song of the same name, and i read on Genius that the singer, Carolina, adapted that song to her own taste, since the only children's song she could find with her name was Saia da Carolina (Carolina's Skirt). a skirt is an obvious sign of femininity, and she burned it apart in her song. same spng name, different meaning.
(correction to subtitles: it wasn't "you wanted to judge with laughter all my wisdom", it was "you wanted to judge with laughter all my foolishness")
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Palestinian kufiya
some time ago, i bought a kufiya made in Palestine, and I will talk about the kufiya, how people reacted to me wearing it, and what i mean to express while wearing it. whenever i say "kufiya", assume it's the iconic Palestinian black and white one, not any other.
firstly, when not folded, the kufiya is a cloth, as big as a picnic blanket, shaped like a square. when folded, it can be worn on the head, as a scarf, or as whatever the wearer wants to wear it as. it's a traditional Palestinian garment which has been worn by many activists in solidarity with Palestine, such as Greta Thunberg. while i don't know exactly how it became the symbol it has become, i like it. i bought one for me, for 40€ (48€ including shipping), and i think it was worth it! i feel good knowing i bought a kufiya from the only kufiya factory left in Palestine and that i can emanate visibility to Palestine without people even knowing.
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| Greta Thunberg and other activists protesting for a free Palestine at the Hague. Notice she wears a kufiya. |
however, while i tried it on at home, i was afraid to wear it at school, for these reasons: being perceived as too feminine, wearing a scarf when it isn't socially acceptable to do so, having pro-Israeli students get mad, etc... a reason that added up to the equation was me, during Spanish class, when we were learning nationalities, the teacher taught us how to say "Iranian, Iraqi, Israeli", but I didn't hear "Palestinian", so my heart sank and my thoughts erred. i was immediately sad, because, for me, it was ignoring that the Palestinians exist too, in plain sight. erasure. but overthinking too.
anyways, on Monday, when choosing what clothes to wear for school, I chose an Amnesty Portugal shirt and a kufiya amidst the rest of clothes i am required to wear. Tuesday, when i got up, i hesitated to wear both, but i wore them both anyway, the shirt under a hoodie. "we resist together" was stamped on the shirt, in Portuguese, in gender neutral language. throughout the school day, it eventually got too hot, so i had to take off the hoodie.
the scarf was well received!!! :-D during break, a girlie told me she liked it and i thanked her. when walking quickly in the corridors, a random teacher/man said he liked it and i only understood what he said 10 seconds later, too late to thank, as we were distanced by our steps. and, most unexpectedly, upon entering Spanish class, the teacher said she liked my scarf, which went against everything i made up inside my head, YAY!!! though i said a "gracias", i felt like, suddenly, YAYYYY! and a random guy in my class praised it in a untranslatable masculine way too. the only person objecting was my mom, not to the kufiya itself, but for the price i paid for it knowing i could buy a similar and much cheaper scarf elsewhere. she doesn't get the real meaning and emotional value of it for me, but it's okay.
Thursday, during Spanish class, when the teacher was showing us resources for learning Spanish, one was a video of a comical critic regarding how we, as humanity, are allowing for genocide to happen in Gaza. the teacher mentioned that there are many people in Gaza dying of starvation, and, for that, i can confidently say she's a great person, and not whoever my head was trying to paint her as 
if you know me in real life and see me wearing it, please know i don't wear it for mere fashion or to support Palestinians making war. no. what i mean to say with that scarf is that i am in solidarity with the thousands of Palestinians living in inhumane conditions, starving, suffering from injustice and oppression we can't accurately measure with words, and that i want peace. a fair peace, not a silent "peace" made by getting rid of all Palestinians and filling their land with sadistic joy.
i'll end it here. the kufiya means a lot to me and to many activists, and i'm glad to have one. this experience also allowed me to, once again, understand that overthinking will only make me feel bad while it may not even be giving me the truth. i'm grateful for Hirbawi's work, and for having food on the table, something most Gazans hardly can have. thank u for reading <3
may love overflow,
bluepuffin
P.S.: today I saw an older once-friend-of-mine from 3rd grade wearing a kufiya, and her friend wore one too. yippie! such a realso, today is World Smile Day :D
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