Dear Mummy,
Buenos Aires is so different from Gravatai. Yesterday we moved to an apartment in a huge, concrete bloc and I saw a lady wearing a long, black scarf that covered her from head to toe. I knew she was a lady because of her voice when she called out to her children. I had never seen this kind of dress before and Nona explained to me that this was a Niqab, which some Muslim ladies wear. I said I wished I'd been told about this before because I was shocked. I asked her why some ladies wear this, and Nona said this was part of a religious but also kind of a personal choice, to keep themselves modest. That way, they don't attract too much attention from others.
I've had a think about it and I don't believe that I would choose to wear the same long, black dress because it reminds me of funerals, which make me very sad. But also, I don't think that the lady I saw wearing it is scary for wearing it. Especially not since Nona explained the reason why. I think that this lady is just like me and Nona underneath her Niqab.
Nona then walked me to the shops on the other side of the avenue from our apartment. She bought me some pens and paints and other things for when I start school next month. I used my new colours to paint you a picture of my new home, which I will send to granny's address, for you to visit when you can.
You'll see in my painting what I imagine my school will be like. Daddy said it was a wooden house in the middle of a beautiful garden full of exotic flowers. There's two more weeks of summer break but I'm booooored and I can't wait for school to start!
Phew! Zelia is finally a healthy, active kid, broadening her horizons.
Share your comments about her experiences here and vote:-)
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Mostly Unlady
Teen FictionZelia is a proud Brazilian kid, on the cusp of adolescence, trying to be good by regularly writing to her mother. But nothing makes sense to her lately... not the doctors who tell her she's faking being sick, certainly not the neighbours in her apar...
