Unexpected Conversations

Yesterday, I had a conversation with someone. We were supposed to work on a book chapter together, but at the time, we didn’t know each other. When we met via Google Meet, she was shocked. She thought I was a girl, and the boss behind the project might have misinterpreted my gender because he used the pronoun "he," which confused her. It was all because of my name, haha! She even suggested I change it.

Last night was so funny—I’ve never had a conversation with a stranger like that. Even when I joked (which wasn’t that funny), it was still funny to see her confused reactions.

I noticed we have different senses of humor, but we both have the same water jug, lol. She’s cool—I like her piercings, and she doesn’t look like a native of her place. She’s Muslim but not religious, and I like her vibe. She’s studying psychology but doesn’t know how to cook, and she’s planning to get her Master's. She’s friendly, but at the same time, she enjoys?studying and writing poems. She’s interesting. She called me dumb, though.

I learned from her that in her place, homosexuality is not accepted, girls should be married before leaving their family home, and they need to live with their husband after marriage. She doesn’t go out much because she has an upcoming exam.

If she had known from the start that I was a guy, she probably wouldn't have talked to me because, culturally, girls aren’t supposed to speak to guys with their hair exposed. I found that kind of crazy, but then we ended up talking face-to-face, which really shouldn’t have happened. She even told her mom I was a girl with my hair tied up, lol. She thought I was from Ladakh because I look similar to one of her friends and about 17 or 18 years old. She also assumed I was Malaysian. She doesn’t know much about the Philippines.

I don’t know how to explain it, but I like her energy. I hope I can get to know her better—I feel like she has a lot of experiences I could learn from! Religion and the educational system there seem more hardcore than I imagined. And now...

I’m getting a lot of confusion about my name. It’s a minor problem, but sometimes it’s cool because it surprises people.