ME!

Look what I found! Photos! Mainly of me. A whole stack, that somehow didn't get shipped back to the States. And since we don't have a scanner (or a printer, for that matter), I had to photograph the photos, which means the quality is really, really bad, but...

Okay, so this one isn't of me, exactly. It's of the clinic in which I was born. I took this picture on my fifth birthday, when for a birthday treat I wanted to see the place where I was born. So. Clinica Santa Catalina, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Islas Canarias, Espana. And sorry, you don't get accent marks or tildes. I'm lazy.

We somehow skip the first few years of my existence. Here's me at age four. I think this was my second passport picture. My first one was the first picture ever taken of me, and I was a week old.

Me on my fifth birthday, in the Canary Islands, with Yasmin, the daughter of my parents' friends.

Me in the middle, at almost-six. The picture was taken at our going-to-China party. The girl on the left is Raina, whom I last saw when I was almost thirteen, and Andrea on the right, whom I last saw when I was eleven.

Me, at age seven. This picture was taken at a Baha'i conference in Hong Kong.

Me at eight, and already a tree-hugger. In my defense, trees are nice. And I think this was also in the middle of my tomboy stage, during which I climbed and fell out of trees regularly.

Me at nine, reading a book of poetry. I think this picture pretty much epitomizes my early years.

Me at almost-eleven, at the beginning of my girly phase. Eeek.

Almost twelve, the beginning of my awkward, dorky phase. Also the beginning of my love for rats, a love which remains to this day.

Almost thirteen, with two (more) of my childhood friends, Layli on the left and Jasmine on the right. This is why I spent most of my childhood being called 'Layli Rose'. The other Layli was 'Layli' first.