So it’s been a long few weeks, but at the same time the weeks have flown by. It’s already the fourth week of the semester, maybe fifth (I can’t remember), which is nuts. That’s already a third of my second-to-last semester, gone! Am I excited? Am I stressed? Am I regretting skipping a year? Am I glad to be out of here? You bet!

I have this crazy cool class this semester called Feminist Theories and Methods (FTM for short). Now before you write it off as a support group for burn your bra girl gangs, let me tell you it absolutely not that. It’s literally the study of feminist movements through literature. We’ve covered The Awakening by Kate Chopin, which is one of the early first wave Feminist novels. I can see how it would be life-changing in its time, but I personally don’t really like it. The most fascinating topic in recent classes is the subject of LGBTQ+ and POC Women’s movements.

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, New Orleans was aggressively liberal, apparently. This allowed for certain contracts to be made between a white man and a black woman, akin to marriage but fundamentally different. The woman could own her own shop, run her own household, and take care of her own children, and the man lived with her and supported the family. There was a stigma of these arrangements being created simply so a man could get some on the side, but that was in fact much rarer than imagined. Obviously interracial marriage was illegal at the time, so this whole arrangement was very carefully crafted as a contract, not a marriage. I thought this was truly fascinating, especially for that time period and place!

In other news, I’m currently visiting boyfriend in SLO. I visited Pismo Beach for the first time today it was truly amazing. I cold even go in the ocean without a wetsuit! Astounding! I also got my favorite donuts today. If you’re ever visiting here, you gotta go to Slo Donut Company (SLODoCo). It’ll change your life. I highly recommend the lavender donuts, but they do literally everything wonderfully. Their coffee is also really good. I’m hoping to at least afford to eat there, or hopefully work there, next year.