Asia,
Watching you walk back into the room just now after you were finally supposed to get your glasses broke my heart.
You’ve been so strong. You broke your glasses and have been preserving though all of the work and experiences lately without your proper vision (for more backstory read Asia’s post “Visually Impaired Approaches to Global Health.” You’ve squinted at screens for hours on end, endured painful headaches and exhausted all solutions to get another pair of glasses.
I remember you coming back to the room after visiting Rivonia Optometrists looking so defeated. They couldn’t get you glasses in time and the prices were outrageous. After that trip you spent many minutes on the phone with your mom and even entertained the idea of trying to have a pair of backup glasses shipped to you. When that plan was discouraged by our professors you thought you were going to have to experience the rest of the trip through blurs.
That was until you were put on to Spec Savers. You came back with a glimmer of hope in your eyes. While you may not have been able to see it, I could. It was real and it was there. Everyone in the group was so happy at this momentous moment.
Since that day, it’s been a waiting game. But today at 4:39 pm a Whatsapp message from Jonathan Smith popped up on all of our phones in our VAGH group chat. The message read “ASIA GO GET YOUR GLASSES THEY’RE READY 🏃🏃🏃.” After this text, the group chat wasn’t the same. My phone lit up like fireworks with all of the congratulatory messages for Asia. Some read “WOOOOHOOO,” “OOOMMMGGGGGG” and another read “GOD IS GOOD.” This news cut through all of the stress surrounding our final exam and group project and really sent good vibes into the air of Rivonia Premier Lodge.
Just this morning you even asked if you could use your headphones on the final exam so that Microsoft Word could read the questions to you to try to save you from extra eye strain. While this was a band-aid solution, what we were all hoping for was the news that your glasses would come and like I said above, those hopes were answered.
You were in an Uber by 4:40 pm getting right on over to spec savers so that they could save your life. I waited patiently in the room for your arrival. But in the meantime, I was kept in the loop through your live updates. The chat was once again active with people ready to snap your pic with your new lenses on. The jokes were flying and morale was high.
10 minutes later in the student-only group chat, you sent a text. “I’m literally going to throw up and cry.” At first glance I shared Sofia’s thought that this surely had to be a joke. But then after some thought, I a) realized that you wouldn’t have texted in the student only chat if this was a joke because you would have wanted to prank our professors too and b) your follow up text wasn’t “gotcha, bitch” (shoutout Yusuf).
I started to get really worried for you. What had been an amazing day of amazing surprises had quickly been turned around by the inaptitude of Ismail.
Ismail, how in the world could you have given Asia’s glasses to someone else? Shes 4’ 10’’, you can hear her from a mile away and has a unique discrepancy in the strength of her vision. Like who else has -5 in their right eye and -1.5 in their left eye? How many people do you know that fit that criteria Ismail? Was that 100 rand too forgettable?
Anyways, back to you Asia. When you walked back into the room I just felt the need to give you the biggest hug. While that won’t do anything to help you see or make you feel better, I just want you to know that although I might look like a blob to you, you are clearly the strongest person I see.
Being your roommate for the past 5 weeks has been the most amazing experience. We started out as strangers, and although our beds aren’t pushed together…yet, our bond is something that will last forever.
While everyone here at Rivonia sees the bubbly, laughing, low-vision, no-glasses Asia, I am lucky to get to see you as the smiling trickster with her new sexy pair of purple specs. So to end with the wise words of Yusuf, “Gotcha bitch(es).”
May your future be clear and full of rich, colorful amazing views. We all love our chef, roommate, jokester, youngling so much and now you can do it all a little clearer.
XOXO
Emma
