Sophie Victoria Manley

The Archive

TRAVEL

A snapshot moment

I’ll set the scene: Me (purple, floaty trousers, black and green Hawaiian shirt, slightly tanned, curly hair tied back), lying in my hammock in the “porch” of our “mansion”. It is HOT today, so hot in fact that I got in the “shower” earlier fully clothed just to cool down a bit. The sun is…

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22-02-2018 Menstruation Magic

This morning, a guide, Javier and myself set out into the forest to set up my project. I need 12 transects (straight lines that I use to mark where I will collect my data) in both primary and secondary forest. We found suitable areas with plenty of space and started to set these up, however,…

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20-02-2018 Monotony

I want to preface this post with a reality check: We live in the rainforest, in Ecuador, near an Indigenous Community, at a research station, on a river bank, in wooden huts, without a car, without a boat (more importantly), with just each other, in the jungle. Like if you saw our location on a…

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OPINION PIECES

Introverts vs. Extroverts in quarantine

Let me set the scene for you. We’re a couple of months into the quarantine. I, an introvert, wake up lazily to the sound of my neighbours shouting at each other. I feel a spike of anxiety as my brain thinks of work and leaving my bed. Then I remember it is quarantine. I don´t…

Is Non-Binary a gender?

I´ve been mulling over what it means to be non-binary for a long time now. It all started while I binged Sofie Hagens´ and Jodie Michels´ Secret Dinosaur Cult podcast last year during Spanish quarantine which is a kind of weird but amazing podcast hosted by two non-binary queers. They talked a lot about what…

Should You Move Abroad?

I think you can count a ¨move¨ as something you do with the intention of staying for a while, setting up a base, working, making connections and building a home there. You can move with the intention of coming back to the place you left, or perhaps moving on to something else. You can move…

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SCIENCE

A poetic foray into digestion

Her stomach gurgles, her belly quivers, Her eyes dart round, her body shivers, Her blood is pumping, pupils dilating, Her brain firing signals, neurons pulsating.   “I’m hungry” she says, stomping her feet, Her hands curled in fists, her cheeks pink with heat, Her blood sugars low, her brain senses the threat, Hypoglycaemic, she’s getting…

Why We Are Here – The Research

For those of you who have got the impression that so far my time in Ecuador has mostly been exploring, lying in a hammock and swimming, you’re wrong. Well, half wrong. Okay, just a little bit wrong, we have been doing a lot of that. But there’s a much more serious side to our life…

C-section babies 40% more likely to develop Asthma

According to a Danish study, babies born via C-section are more likely to be hospitalised more frequently and develop immune disorders such as asthma, allergies and diabetes. The exact cause of this isn’t clear, and the operation itself is not likely to be the direct cause of these effects, so what could it be? Recent…

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POETRY

I am not broken

When I was young I felt broken I felt like a jigsaw with pieces Missing I felt like anxiety and desire Kissing In a tortured embrace I felt like there were parts of me that would Never Not be broken Parts of me that would never be Spoken out loud Secrets locked in boxes with…

Coach Predator

You sit next to me with other seats spare, On the back of my head I feel your stare. I grit my teeth and peer out the window, The coach starts moving, grumbling, slow.   You spread out your knees, I pull away mine, You’re in my space, I pretend it’s fine, Then your elbow…

Imprint

A romance blossoms In early stages where A gust of wind Could change the direction of A wondering mind.   The only certainty in love That is beginning Is the imprint Of your current footprint Upon the ground.   For you don’t know If the next step will be solid, Or if you will leap…

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