Hi! In case anyone comes across this and is curious how it was, here's a little update about how the whole thing went. Even though I was in UAE and Oman as a competitor in a scientific olympiad so my experience was probably very different from one of a tourist but some things might still be applicab...

Thank you!

You're right, reading those and other articles it really sounds highly unlikely for me to get into any trouble just for looking queer.
That's a huge relief, at least one less thing I have to worry about regarding this trip...

It's nice hearing from you too! And thank you for the reply. There's is an amazing delegation both planning and going there out of which at least one person is a little familiar with one of these countries but I don't have the guts to ask him about it... Come to think about it, he knows how I look s...

Hi, I hope everyone is doing okay! My life has been quite chaotic lately because on top of everything I was chosen to represent my country in an international science olympiad. I didn't want to go at first because of a lot of reasons, but other people persuade me (mostly because I'm the first girl t...

Hi, I just wanted to let you all know that despite some unexpected difficulties I've now successfully finished high school,  have been accepted to all university I applied to, I have filled in a application for a affordable university dormitories and I've even started searching for therapy options i...

Oh, sorry, I thanked you for reminding me not to put myself down and then I continued doing just that. And I've remembered that I promised not to do this at all here a while ago, so double sorry for forgetting about that) But it felt good to write that down. Anyway, I also forget to ask you what I w...

Thank you for the reminder <3 sometimes, it's like I just don't have the energy to not let negative thoughts win... and especially when I know that writing some of them here might mean getting supportive answer... so sorry if it seems like I'm just using this place for that, I'm not doing it conscio...

Thank you for reassurance! Unfortunately, I don't deserve any treats because, unsurprisingly, I didn't make the call... I had a fight with my mum about the medication and then I was too stressed out to do anything But that's probably just an excuse... But taking into account my parent's opinion (tha...

Thank you I reallywanted to try today but once again I wasn't able to overcome my fear... I even asked my parents to call the doctor for me but that didn't go well either... I hate so much this unreasonable fear of making phone calls and communication in general, I know it's just a matter of trying ...

Well, I'm afraid she wouldn't (understandably) react well if I suddenly asked so many questions just a few days after a phone call where I nodded to everything she said and didn't ask anything. Besides it's almost impossible to reach her office by phone because she is very busy all the time. It's my...

Thank you so much for the kind and wise words! Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I've had some weird mental block when talking or thinking about my health lately, especially after my parents saw me when I was having a bit of a breakdown because of all this... Anyway, in the end it went a bit differently ...

Hello and thank you, especially for the reassurance that  those concerns are normal. When I'm stuck with my thoughts and have noone I could talk about them with it gets so hard not to doubt everything. So thanks for the chance to vent here! And thank you for sharing your experience, I'm sorry you we...

Thank you so much! I'd like to talk about something that could get in my way of becoming independent. Sorry if it's long but putting my thoughts into words and venting here always helps. And if anyone has any thoughts I'll be of course happy to hear them. So, the the thing is that the past few years...

Hi! It's been a while and to be honest I've missed talking to you all so much. I don't have time to put together any questions today so I hope it's okay if I just share a little. Unfortunately, I can't say that I haven't been active here because everything is perfect and I have nothing to talk about...

Ok, thanks!

Hi and thanks for the reassurance! I'm not allowed to do my own laundry so hand washing seems like the best alternative for now. You're right that washing those pads would probably turn out to be even more work in the end, but it seems at least like a nice diy project anyway :) I found some unclear ...

Thanks so much <3 I have a more 'traditinal' sex-ed question today related to vaginal discharge. Most of the time I have it quite thick and it leaves stains. I've never thought it a problem because it's always been like this and from what I've learned here it's absolutely normal. The thing is my mum...

I don't know if you'd prefer just a few words or a detailed review so I'll keep it short but if you want to, I'll be happy to talk about it more :) So, in short, I really liked the book. I loved that it told many real stories, I really appreciated the way these stories were connected with a lot of r...

Of course :) There was the one by Atul Gawande, one by Caitlin Doughty and out of those recommended in the link you shared I've so far found two by Kathryn Mannix and one by Megan Devine (but I have to wait some time before I can borrow those). So I'll start with Being mortal and see where it'll lea...

Thanks a lot! I surprisingly found several of those books (unfortunately not the first one) in our local library so I'm excited to start reading

And I wish you all the best in your course!

Thank you for the recommendation, I'm sure he will love it! And thanks for the helpful insights as well! I'm used to him being very open with me and sharing a lot of feelings and struggles so I probably tend to forget to actively ask him how he is feeling or what can I do for him so thank you for th...

Thank you so much, especially for the offer to talk about it more <3 I'll refrain from talking about my grandmother for now because it's a bit complicated and it doesn't seem right to discuss it in such public space. But I have a few more general thoughts/questions if that's okay :) What you say abo...

Thank you! As for the general relationship stuff: I love metaphors like this one! I would add that those pitchers and glasses aren't made of glass but from some opaque material so it's often hard to determine how much water has everyone, including ourselves, got left... The thing is, I don't want to...

Thanks! You are right, Im sure he would hold it againts me if he knew why I wasn't able to support him, but he doesnt know it so he might think I just didn't want to, but on the other hand there wasn't allegedly any trouble and he had other friends there so he might not even realise I wasn't around....

He didn't want to talk about it beforehand but in the end I'm glad we didn't have any plan because it at least means I didn't break any promises when I wasn't able to provide almost any support to him... I was in a lot of pain most of the evening due to some health problems so instead of spending ti...