Bruna

10AMish: My alarm rang. I had a Zoom call scheduled to talk about potentially canvassing for Copmala, cause I’m unemployed and a bitch needs money. I texted the person asking if we were still meeting and he got back to me 15 min later saying his grandma had passed away :(  that some of his relatives were arriving at his house, and asking if we could reschedule for another day. I said of course, sent him my condolences and went back to sleep. 

12PMish: I woke up again and did some computer tasks in bed - signed up for a workshop, sent my resume out for some seasonal work at the Christmas Village and answered some texts. As soon as my kitties saw I was awake they both came to cuddle and I layed with them for a while. 

1PMish: I finally got out of bed and went downstairs to make myself some food. I ate some Homemade Ceviche from last night with corn tortillas and salsa (made by Carmen, fierce and loving indigenous-Mexican comrade who was selling them at the Indigenous people’s day celebration at Bartram’s Garden yesterday. If you’ve ever been to any actions/protests in Philly you know who she is) + some baby carrots with olive oil and nutritional yeast (I’m a slut for olive oil) + a cactus pear + some watermelon my roomie brought home from a watermelon smashing contest hosted at the bar he works at lol. I hope a baddie with thick thighs broke this one. I’m an IPad kid so I watched Desperate Housewives while I ate. 

Since cooking is one of my favorite things in the world, I want to share the recipe I made.

CEVICHE RECIPE - no story time included :)

Ingredients 

• Ahi Tuna

• Avocado

• Corn (that I got from the indigenous day event)

• Tomatoes

• Onions (I prefer red onions for this but I didn’t have any)

• Cilantro

• Jalapeño 

• Limes

• Salt

• Black Pepper

• Chipotle chilli powder

*** Measure with you heart 

1. Cut the raw fish in cubes and put enough lime on it that the acid cooks the meat (it’ll start to change colors, get greyish), Cut the cilantro and jalapeño real small and add to the fish so the flavors really infuse, leave it in the fridge while you prepare the rest 

2. Cut the corn off the cob and cook it with melted butter, salt and chipotle chilli powder

3. Slice the onions real thin, the tomatoes and avocado in cubes

4. Mix everything, add lime, salt, pepper and chipotle chili powder to taste

That’s it <3 Since the fish is technically raw you want to make a portion you can eat within the day to be safe.

2PMish: I showered and started getting ready to leave the house. I love smelling good and feeling soft so I quickly put some oils and butters on my body before getting dressed. I put on a thin black turtleneck, my dark blue jeans with lots of pockets, my Palestine scarf and my black platform crocs with no socks. I couldn’t find my Keffiyeh. I didn’t grab a jacket since I thought I’d be hot from biking. Bad outfit choice, I was freezing cold.

4PMish: I made my way, late as usual, to the UPenn campus to the Palestine solidarity vigil organized by faculty members. My friend Samiha and I had planned to cook a Palestinian inspired dinner later that night and decided to meet at the vigil. Their phone had 4% battery so we were hoping to find each other amongst the crowd and we did thankfully. My body still hurts from a fall I took last week so my legs and knees got tired fast today. West Philly is so hill-ey especially going up Walnut St. To me it feels like winter already, it was super windy. It always feels especially windy at university campuses because of all the tall buildings/ wind tunnels.

I knew I arrived when I saw 5 pig cars lined up on the street. I locked up my bike. I met my friend Clover there and saw some other friends too - Vicki, Niambi, Maijoi, Ahmed (He just came back from studying abroad, it was so nice to see him!! We talked after the vigil and he rolled me a cigarette). When I got there some people were giving speeches but I couldn’t hear them very well, though I knew what they were saying. *srael bombed yet another hospital yesterday, Al-Aqsa, burning alive those who were there getting treatment and seeking refuge. Each day more horrifying than the one that’s passed. 

We marched and chanted down the street, where we stopped and a huge banner was rolled out on the ground. On it were some of the names of those martyred and their ages, only a fraction of the over 40.000 who have been murdered. People took turns reading their names and ages, mostly babies and elders, and the crowd repeated them back. Too many babies didn’t live long enough to be named so they were referred to as “son or daughter of …”. People started sitting down in the crowd because the names just kept on coming. Our collective grief was palpable, I was sick to my stomach, unsuccessfully fighting back my tears. 

Pics by Joe Piette (He’s incredible check him out on Instagram @jpiette66)

After they stopped reading their names, musicians went up to the front and different singers led us in songs. An African American chant, an Urdu song (her voice was so beautiful) and a couple others. The songs we sang were so beautiful and powerful. The singing made me feel a little better but not really. I hadn’t been to any actions in awhile, but I am always grateful for the community that shares my grief and anger. Nothing we are doing is enough, we fail them every day. I won’t write here all I wish I could do and what I wish would happen, but I told Samiha as we walked to the store. I’ll just say the day *srael and the United States burn to the ground cannot come fast enough, crumbling as they are, and that oppressed peoples all around the world will flourish in peace and community. 

6PMish: We talked to some friends and started making our way down Walnut St, hugging our bodies, fighting back the wind. We hadn’t seen each other in a bit so we caught up about our lives. We went to Makkah Market, Supremo and Alrayyan Food Market for ingredients. The stores were so warm we didn’t want to leave. When we were done shopping, I rode my bike to 49th and Walnut and Samiha caught the bus carrying the groceries. We met up again and walked 10 minutes to my house.

7PMish: We got to my house and sat down for a bit, then we started cooking. Ella popped by for a little bit after a restorative yoga class, she was so serene. Her and Samiha layed on the couch while we listened to music and I made some dough. Ella had somewhere to be, so she came into the kitchen, massaged my shoulder for a little (my heart :’)) and took off.

We decided to make cheese and beef Arayes (based on mariyum’s recipe @mxriyum), Mthawamet Batata (based on Chef jj‘s recipe @chefjjskitchen), a salad and a frozen Knafeh. Everything (but our dessert) was drenched in olive oil, as it should be hehe. 

This is what we used for our salad: 

• Tomatoes

• Cucumbers

• Pomegranate (from my neighbor’s tree!! love)

• Mint

• Lemon

• Olive oil

• Salt 

• Pepper

My new roommate Yama came down and talked with us for a little, then went back upstairs. We cooked, and talked, and danced, and listened to music. I love cooking with Samiha

10PM ish: The food was finally ready so we set a beautiful candlelit table and sat down to eat. We were exhausted by then. After we were done eating, bellies full and warm, we cleaned up some, and sat on the couch for some hookah.

12AM ish: Samiha left. I made some mint tea, lit some of the incense I made last year, finished smoking that hookah and cuddled with my kitties, before going upstairs for a night of deep sleep. 

Bruna, who is originally from Brasil, has found a home in Philly for the past 5 years. They love cooking, floating in the ocean, good smells, physical touch, moving and resting their body. You can find them riding their bike around West Philly or on Instagram at @bcmrtk