sri lanka

My summer of transition is going well. I returned from Sri Lanka a week ago, dazed and baffled. The whole two weeks spent there were an absolute dream.

At some point last year my friend and I thought that we were capable of flying half way across the world for two weeks at the ripe old age of sixteen. It was only until we stepped off the plane into the almost insufferable heat that we realised quite how momentous it actually was.

The first few days were a blur of jetlag and foreign noises/food/everything, but beyond that we seemed to forget our past lives and fully engrain ourselves in the thick of it.

The mornings were spent looking after Kumara (meaning Prince), a magical elephant who had sustained injuries from his former life in the tourism trade, but who appeared to be happy being pampered by westerners. The afternoons were either spent sleeping, exploring by tuk tuk or tagging along to the orphanage. The orphanage was an emotionally-draining experience but i'm glad I went; actually seeing the lives and societal position of these children in the flesh really did have an impact on us.

 We were mainly transported by tuk tuk, which is the most fun mode of transport I have ever experienced. Not only can you encounter the sights and sounds of Sri Lanka, the drivers also enjoy playing banging tunes at top volume. Some of my favourites included Mysterious Girl by Peter Andre and One Love by Blue. Pure nostalgia.

Here are the developed photographs from one of the disposable cameras I didn't mislay in a tuk tuk.

 

 

This is Bob, one of the tuk tuk drivers. Everyone in Sri Lanka has a mild obsession with Bob Marley, so (i guess) his nickname is due to that.

 

 

 

The pattern on a temple ceiling

 

 

The long descent from said temple



A lone woman, spotted on a boat ride

 

sunbathing on hell roof (named so, by myself, because of the temperature - I spent 10 minutes up there and my eyelids started sweating)

 

 

 

View of coconuts from the top of hell roof



The sweaty but aesthetically-pleasing bus ride to Mirissa, where we spent the weekend

 

 

Glorious Mirissa

 

 

attempting to take a photograph of a thoughtful quote in The Handmaid's Tale. I think it was "But maybe boredom is erotic, when women do it, for men", which I find interesting. The novel is full of intriguing notions from the narrator and protagonist, Offred. It was on my summer reading list for sixth form but it has become enjoyable to read rather than a task.

 

 

Glorious Kumara, the only man in my life

 

The wicked view we looked out upon whilst washing Kumara

 

Caught in a torrential downpour

The town
 



I hope all your summers are as peachy as you hoped.

 

suzie

melon daze

these are from a recent trip to the lido where we sun bathed and attempted to swim in the bustling pool. the day revolved around two melons we managed to salvage in Tesco metro for 70p, which we gorged on at regular intervals. a welcome break from the insufferable heat of the sun.  we left with a full bag of melon skin and walked through town, parting ways. i was partially-harassed by a Mormon on my way back, who asked me what made me happiest. I simply replied 'friends'. now I wish I'd said something more philosophical but in a state of panic and after a good day with a  friend it was my only option. he said his belief in god made him happiest, and then I rushed off, not to escape but because my increasingly agitated mother was waiting for me. it was the first (and only) day of the year, where I have felt like summer is truly present, due to all these wonderful (and strange) events. today I am wrapped up inside, protecting myself from wind and spitty weather. i'm listening to mac DeMarco in want of warm days instead of tea-drinking days.

the other night I watched fight club. I had seen snippets but never the whole film. maybe it was because I had enjoyed the book so much and had low expectations of the film, but I ended up loving it. Inevitably, I had a restless night dreaming of soap and schizophrenia but it was worth every minute. rarely am I gripped so thoroughly by a film, from start to finish even through scenes of violence and pain. 

recent photos:

these last two are my Granny's house. she never goes in this room anymore and it felt slightly miss havisham/lisbon sisters/creepy 70s vibe. it was like stepping into a time warp, nothing was present, apart from the list of emergency phone numbers taped to the mirror.

I re-listened to Pure Heroine the other day and really focused on the lyrics this time. 'A World Alone' especially resonated with me, particularly the second verse. It was exactly how I felt at that point, sitting on the bus, re-living the past day and how I felt. that night I furiously transcribed the lyrics into my journal, both relieved and alone.

~ other tunes encompassing summer vibes and loneliness ~

seamless mood change ~ i didn't think rihanna could get any badder/radder but she is queen of bad/rad. watch and learn from her majesty.



i won't be able to post until august now as tomorrow i will be on a plane to sri lanka, where i will be volunteering with elephants for two weeks!
be back soon,

suzie xox

he was a young boy who was enlightened

last sunday I went to wireless festival after purchasing some very last minute tickets. it was the craziest and raddest day.

i wore an h & m crop top, culottes from loving youth, denim jacket from ebay and nike air max. can i just take a moment to apologise for my humiliating 'posing', at the time i was trying to be edgy but i just look a bit shifty.  i really love these culottes though, the pattern is ace and i legit feel like i'm walking around in pajamas when i wear them.

so after wandering around the park for a bit, we caught charli xcx on the main stage. I've always liked her style and cool-90s-girl vibe, and always respected her ballsy attitude, but never really listened to her music. after seeing her live though, my sister and I were raving. she absolutely aced it; her vocals were insane and she owned the stage, repeatedly shouting 'PUSSY POWER' into the audience, much to our delight. the stage was pretty badass as well; there were these awesome glittery, rookie-esque tassles in front of which was this mammoth heart with 'SUCKER' scrawled across it.

 after charli we chilled for a bit and ate gross n greasy over-priced festival food. this didn't matter though, because the next set was JADEN AND WILLOW SMITH (one of the main reasons we came). we arrived early, already a buzzing crowd forming. over the next half an hour, more and more people arrived, until we found ourselves in the heart of the audience. there was random screaming which i thought was due to excitement, but no, drake and brooklyn beckham had just appeared at the side of the stage. someone shouted 'Tupac'.  then this happened  ~(sorry for crap quality)~

it was one of the scariest but incredible moments of my life. blah that's cringey, but true. 

i know these photos are technically quite bad but i really like the way they turned out. i think they really capture the way a concert feels.

it was magical and their set whizzed by. i cannot believe how talented they are for their age. the post title is from 'Flowers' by Willow, which is a really beautiful yet intelligent song.

to round off an insane day we saw elliphant. my sister is a massive fan so was on the point of wetting herself but, thank god, she managed to retain some dignity throughout the set. since discovering elliphant via this, we have ogled at her coolness and my sister has even started to learn swedish. this was a banging end to the day even though the bass semi-deafened me.

not forgetting the grumpy (but probably terrified) security guy who looked notably pissed off throughout the whole performance. this last photo is priceless.

hope y'all having a rad summer!!

suzie x

transition

Hello!

I have just emerged from the fiery pit of exams, which have quite literally frazzled my brain; I now regularly miss out letters of words and the other day I spelt November, 9ovember?? but now that I have forgotten every last morsel of information I memorised for gcses I can now focus on things that are actually important to me rather than circle theorems and the empirical formula!!

the prospect of summer excites me but i don't want to waste it. It seems like an eternity until sixth form but really it's not that far. this summer is like the middle 8/link section of a song (heyy still retained some gcse music), it seems insignificant but still plays an important part in transitioning from one chapter to the next. another way of seeing it, is as if someone has pressed pause and the next 2 months do not matter at all; they are entirely irrelevant to my life and transition and whatever i do now will not ever affect me or anyone.

dungaree dress - topshop via depop (only 10 quid, oh the joys of second hand clothing)

turtle/polo neck - h & m

shirt - depop

nike air max - office (apologies for their filthiness; I wore them to an outdoors party)

this necklace is/was my mother's which has made a successful and stealthy transition into my wardrobe. she bought it in hong kong about 30 years ago and it means good luck/fortune (I promise, it is not a Chinese swear).

this week has been fun but slightly surreal without revision. last weekend I went to a party which was both extremely unpredictable and fun. i then went to ikea and bought a motherload of flat pack furniture and knick knacks. despite the canteen-vibe in the ikea restaurant i enjoyed a v large portion of veggie balls and then a legit Swedish cinnamon bun (my passion for cinnamon buns now grows on a daily basis). the rest of the week consisted of having my nose pierced (much to my mother's dismay), ballet practices, baking and returning to school to see Bilal Lukhele give a talk about growing up in South Africa during apartheid and revealing the harsh reality he faced. he was truly inspirational; he suffered astounding hardship and yet was able to use forgiveness as a state of mind, applying it to every part of his life. i have heard a multitude of speeches from a multitude of speakers during school but never one like this; he was able to stand in a room of 90% white people and speak his heart and mind.

I recently contributed a written piece about human rights to the latest issue of Heartbreak Nation. It was my first time contributing anything and I was the only one who read it before submitting so naturally I was a bit apprehensive, but I'm so glad I did.

you can read the full issue here ~ http://issuu.com/inesc3/docs/hbn2_beliefs_cf57d9dedf4fa7 ~ it's incredibly beautiful and there are so many great pieces (interview with hinds!!)

this is a really fragmented post so i'll be back with something more coherent very soon

suzie (and the banshees) xox



we are not youth any longer. we don't want to take the world by storm.

hey, hi, hello, yo, what's up. (azealia banks reference, i'm not just unnecessarily greeting you 5 times)

i was scrolling through old photos on my phone the other day and came across this. the interior/exterior of this shop has always looked the same and yet it occurred to me that one day it won't be there, it has to change. I am not someone who really deals well with change, despite having moved schools three times I have always clung to nostalgia and sentimentalities. this shop is dated and dull, and although I have never stepped inside, it has been something constant and unmoving, which is why i took the picture. One day it will be something merely generic, a hairdressers, a cafe, and not its unique self.

i also took a cool pic of the bathrooms at school which are painted entirely pink (the most ridiculous example of gender stereotyping I have ever come across). So there was this tally on the wall of one of the loos like ye olde prisoner/solitary confinement tally which I thought I was a pretty accurate representation of school, and also a tad wes-andersonian (thanks to the pink walls/door/everything) so i took a picture. a few weeks a later I dropped my phone down the loo and it broke, so the photo is  now lost in its liquefied realms. how ironic. I have tried to find the tally again but it must've been painted over or something so I have not yet rediscovered it.

 

~(fairly) recent tumblr inspo ~

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not going to pretend there is any coherence to these photos. I simply like them.

So i think i've raved about Oscar previously, but my raving is not over yet. I first discovered him in the pages of BEAT magazine, and soon after began listening to his EP, 146b, which was the perfect hybrid of diy/britpop/baritone/hazy optimism. Daffodil Days is more refined but still retains that Brit grittiness. The video is quintessentially British, but not in the way you immediately imagine. I'm talking council estate, concrete, overcast weather, fading pastels, wind, barren/urban landscape, peeling wallpaper. The kind of Britain you don't want to imagine, but is somehow aesthetically-pleasing.

The post title is taken from All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, which I finished reading yesterday.  Remarque not only gives a chilling vision of WWI but also questions the true meaning and value of war. I began reading it thinking of it as a war novel, a historical account, but what I discovered was an insight into a ruined generation, and how war not only brings us together but tears us apart too.

suzie

xox

 

aliya

~EXCITING NEWS ~

In July, I will be travelling to Sri Lanka to volunteer with elephants! Back in December, depressed by the fact we could not go on the geography trip to Iceland because taking geography was a necessity, my friend and I decided to sort our lives out and venture abroad. We scoured various websites in search of fun/safe volunteering projects and eventually stumbled across Plan My Gap Year, who held an 'Elephant Experience' volunteering project in Sri Lanka for under 18s. Daily tasks included washing, feeding and walking the elephants along with learning about their behaviour and conservation from legit mahouts. We knew we could not miss this opportunity and after much parent-convincing, we booked a two week project.

 

The volunteering is only three hours a day, so in our free time we will help at one of PMGY's other volunteering programmes or at their Tsunami Village Education project, which is an after school education project for children affected by the 2004 Tsunami.

To fundraise money, I have set up an Etsy shop where I will be decorating and selling elephant-themed items. At the moment it's just bags but i'm hoping to broaden the range of goods in the near future. I would be really grateful if you could take a look/spread the word/even buy a bag, and also take a look at the PMGY website as they have so many great volunteering projects all over the world. All funds raised will go towards the project fees, which will go towards the care of the elephants.

I am beyond excited about this experience and cannot wait to share it with you all!!

 

suzie xox

 

p.s Aliya means elephant in Sinhalese

petty

I have wanted to post for the past month but, as always, life gets in the way (by life I mean school). Honestly, things have been pretty petty lately; petty homework, petty friends, petty sixth form applications. I realise that none of these things are petty in the long run but at the moment I cannot be dealing with this radical amount of teen angst. Teen angst brought on by getting my cartilage pierced, coming home and reading horror stories about the many pitfalls of Claire's and religiously cleaning it for three weeks solid. Teen angst also resulting in me sobbing to Einauldi because "nobody understands teens" ?? January has been mixed.

APOLOGIES FOR ATROCIOUS/INDESCRIBABLY VILE HAIR AND PASTY/PUFFY FACE.

Here is an outfit I have been incessantly wearing lately. I recently discovered that parents' wardrobes are almost as magical as Narnia and recent uncoverings mean that I now only wear my Dad's jumpers.

The coat is an absolute gem made by Aquascutum unearthed in my mother's wardrobe and is v reminiscent of Judd Nelson circa The Breakfast Club. I do not care if people stared at me on the bus because I looked slightly like a wizard cross with teen rebel (I like to think that's why they were staring), I feel bad ass in this coat and that's all that matters.

The jumper is my Dad's, shirt is vintage, jeans are gap and shoes are rip off docs from Deichmann (an excellent bargain).

I have recently watched some banging films as well. The Boat That Rocked, Ginger and Rosa (a while back actually but I forgot to mention it), The Royal Tenenbaums and FINALLY finished series 2 of Skins. Film has the incredible ability to ruin/make the rest of your day. I'm starting to blame moods on films rather than hormones (it is far more logical).

I'm currently on the hunt for new music so suggest away, I can never be bothered to search myself so the past few months has been nothing but fka twigs, Oscar, lorde, swim deep and MØ.

 

When Austin Williams dubbed Swim Deep's new record as "psychedelic sex music", being the pessimist that i am, I immediately envisioned an experimental descent into the wrong genre. After a few listens I was envisioning an 80s-themed technicolour vid. Sure, it kinda belongs in Electronic 80s Anthems but its super fresh and a completely new turn for Swim Deep ~~~

I can't really see myself being able to blog in the next few weeks/months as everything is really piling up now so i don't know when i'll be around. i have an immense amount of respect for those of you who manage to balance school/work/hobbies and blogging. you are truly admirable.

suzie x