Before the Flash

This little red clip, cute and simple, adorned Toy Toy’s bun for the majority of the photo shoot. Somehow, before every picture, that little red flower clip managed to slide down just enough that Cing, Toy Toy’s older sister, would reach over and fix it each time it fell. Even after fixing Toy Toy’s hair, Cing would linger for a second – as though to make sure the clip wouldn’t slide again- then pose for the picture saying “Smile! Smile!”

I first met the sisters on a blustery Saturday morning in the Union. Cing is a junior in high school and Toy Toy is an eighth grader. The sisters moved from Burma in October of 2013, marking this the anniversary of their second year stateside. Cing and I talked a lot about her family in Burma, reminiscing about all of the trouble she, Toy Toy, and her cousins would get into. Cing has a way of talking about her family that makes you reminisce along with her. As we talked, I began recalling all of the dusty memories of my childhood that I had forgotten over the years. As one of the older cousins, Cing helped raise many of her cousins, and you could see how much she cared through all of her memories and the shared smiles between the sisters. It was those moments just before the lens snapped closed and the picture was taken that I learned the most about Cing and Toy Toy, especially the close relationship between the two sisters. Whenever they came near each other, they automatically linked arms without thinking: they just fell into that comfortable pose. Sometimes Cing would reach over and fix Toy Toy’s hair while Toy Toy waited patiently, then when Cing reverted her attention, Toy Toy would readjust her hair the way she liked it. In some pictures, they would tilt their heads the same way before they smiled or would say something to make the other smile even harder and often laugh.

 

There were a lot of shenanigans during this photoshoot, from leaf throwing – which Toy Toy and I did with a little too much enthusiasm and too little skill – to splashing water in the fountain and picking pansies from the flowerbeds (sorry Grounds Maintenance). After a week of beautiful weather, the sun decided to take a break, leaving the six of us with goose bumps on the blustery day. But the cold never bothered us. We had fun finding places for Cing and Toy Toy to pose. Toy Toy would smile the hardest when she really loved her pose. One of my favorites was her pose in front of the Old Well holding the small branch of autumn leaves. I handed her the branch with the intention of cleaning the leaves off the Old Well, but instead, she seamlessly incorporated their beauty into the photo.

I loved spending time with these two young women and seeing the affectionate relationship between two sisters. I wish them all the luck and happy travels when they return to visit their family at the end of Cing’s senior year.

Sunshine on Our Minds

It’s hard to believe in the middle of February that there would be days that the temperature rose above the chilling thirties and sat at the warm sixties, but today was one of those rare days and the UNC community took full advantage of the warm afternoon. Walking around, the passerby could see sunbathers, tightrope walkers, collections of Frisbee players and runners all enjoying the sunshine. Pockets of laughter erupted every couple seconds as the community enjoyed a day of comradery and warmth.

It was in this warm atmosphere that I met Ayya and Maha, two sisters eleven and nine respectively, and Noor, nineteen, a close friend of the girls. Ayya, Maha, and Noor are from Iraq and are adjusting to life in America, befriending Jaehee through the Ethnic Ministry at Jaehee’s church, and allowing them to eventually meet me. I was excited to meet Maha, Ayya, and Noor, and although they were timid, they were enthusiastic for this new experience. We met outside the Pit Stop as Maha and Ayya watched the spirited college students walk by, and Noor chatted with Jaehee, Linda and myself—Shengmei, another photographer, was catching up to us after a change in our meeting location. The prevalent happy atmosphere rubbed off on us as we sat down to enjoy ice cream and get to know each other. After challenging Maha and Ayya to an ice cream eating contest, of which I was the victor with Ayya at a close second, we walked around campus laughing and reveling in the warmth of the day. We even got some pictures in before Ayya and I finished our ice cream cones while Jaehee finished Maha’s.

Noor, a current student at Durham’s Technical College and a soon-to-be Tar Heel in the Dental Hygiene program, was thrilled to be on campus. Once the camera came out and the posing began, Noor began to model for Jaehee and Shengmei. Exuberant and confident, her personality showed in her poses and through the pictures captured by the photographers. Her sisterly affection toward Maha and Ayya was revealed as she navigated the occasional language barriers and herded the girls and myself, trying to keep us out of trouble. Together, they posed in front of a number of UNC landmarks, becoming fast-studies at modeling for the cameras.

Uncertain at first, Maha and Ayya soon lost their camera-shy expressions and quickly began pouting for the camera, running over afterwards to see the results of their modeling. Laughter spread as we organized picture after picture around Wilson library and the quad in front with all of the college students lounging about and taking advantage of the glorious afternoon. Talking with Maha and Ayya was bittersweet for the Lens team because as much as they like America, it was obvious they missed their home. When Linda asked whether Maha liked America, Maha replied no, saying it wasn’t as beautiful as Iraq. As the afternoon progressed, Maha gave us descriptions of her homes, both old and new, expressing equal parts happiness at the novelty of America and sadness at the beauty left behind in Iraq.

 

As Ayya, Maha and I quickly became friends, an impromptu chemistry lesson began around the Old Well where the water collected in the basin of the fountain. After playing with the water collected in the bowl as Ayya and Maha looked on with confused expressions, I taught them about surface tension and how the water pushed at your hand, resisting as you tried to submerge your hand in the water. Ayya was skeptical at first and I had already lost Maha to the more interesting camera, but I showed her just how much pressure to apply to the surface of the pool and she was amazed, either that I was right or that the water actually resisted her hand. She and I played with the fountain a while longer before Linda asked what we were doing and Ayya rushed to explain what she had learned. After girls were finished with their pictures, a game of tag erupted as Jaehee posed with Noor around the Old Well. We ran across the grounds of the quad screaming and giggling, Linda calling after us like a mother hen, “Don’t go too far!” Of course, I was still ‘it’ when it was time for them to leave, not being able to catch my much faster and younger friends. Giggling erupted in the group as we wove through the adults trying not to interrupt, but also trying not to be the notorious ‘it.’ After giving hugs and successfully transferring my ‘it’ status to Maha and Ayya, we parted, hoping to see each other soon.