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The Island of Sea Women

Book by Lisa See · 13 quotes · Haenyeo, Friendship, Age

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The Island of Sea Women Quotes

“Other kids get white rice, but the food you give us makes it look like we're living a subsistence life.” “I buy white rice for the New Year's Festival,” I said, stung. Then, defensively, “I often put barley in your lunch –” “Which is even more embarrassing, because that means we're really poor.” “What a lucky child you are to say that. You don't know what poor means –”

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“La amistad es completamente diferente. Nadie nos impone a los amigos; los elegimos nosotros. No nos une una ceremonia, ni la responsabilidad de engendrar un hijo; nos unen las experiencias y los momentos vividos. Nos une una chispa que saltó cuando nos conocimos; las risas y las lágrimas que hemos compartido; los secretos que guardamos y protegemos como un tesoro. La fascinación ante la certeza de saber que el otro, aún siendo tan diferente a ti, entiende las razones de tu corazón como nadie lo hará jamás.”

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“Every woman who enters the sea carries a coffin on her back,” she warned the gathering. “In this world, in the undersea world, we tow the burdens of a hard life. We are crossing between life and death every day.” These traditional words were often repeated on Jeju, but we all nodded somberly as though hearing them for the first time. “When we go to the sea, we share the work and the danger,” Mother added. “We harvest together, sort together, and sell together, because the sea itself is communal.”

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