Each Wednesday we will be featuring a member of our writing team. We hope to further grow our community by sharing a bit more about the women that make up Rochester MN Moms Blog!
This week…meet Mamisoa!
Mamisoa is a native of the island of Madagascar. Born into a missionary family, she spent her developmental years growing up in Australia, Papua New Guinea, the UK, the US, and Kenya. She and her husband Matt moved to Rochester in 2014. They share the privilege and joy of parenting two daughters Gracelyn (born in 2016) and Maeva (born in 2017). She works as a communications professional in higher education.
Photo credit: Marit Williams Photography
1) If you could go anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would you choose?
My first choice would be to take my husband and our daughters to visit my home country of Madagascar. I haven’t been back since I last went to visit it in 2007 and I know a lot about the country has changed. Then, I would take them to Kenya, to see where I grew up. One of my greatest desires is to show them the profound beauty of these places and the people there.
2) What has been most surprising to you as a mother?
Seeing my daughters do something — make a certain facial expression, talk a certain way — and have this weird realization like, “Woah, I do that too! They got that from me.” Also, it’s been a fascinating concept to me that these tiny humans can simultaneously give me the greatest joy and cause me the greatest frustrations.
3) What song do you know all the words to?
I am notoriously bad at knowing song lyrics, but the one I have down pat is Beyonce’s “Run the World (Girls).” I listen and sing along very loudly when I’m in the car by myself, or before I have an important meeting, or when I need a reminder of how resilient I am. My favorite line: “…you know you love it how we’re smart enough to make these millions, strong enough to bear the children — then get back to business.
4) What is your guilty TV pleasure?
Grey’s Anatomy. It’s ridiculous because the series should have ended a looooong time ago. I mean, how much more trauma and loss can Meredith Grey endure? But it just sucks you in. I wanted to be a doctor when I was younger, so I vicariously live out my medical knowledge through them. Want to talk about Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva? I’m your girl.
5) How do you take your coffee?
At home: Fill 3/4 of the cup with coffee of choice, fill the remaining 1/4 with unsweetened vanilla almond milk. If summertime or warm out, add ice. It’s perfection. From a coffee place: latte with almond milk, add hazelnut and Irish cream.
6) If you close your eyes and think about it, where is your favorite place to be?
Seated at the dining room table with my family, eating a meal, talking about life and all that it entails.
7) What is something you believe everyone should experience at least once in their life?
Immersing yourself in a culture that is not your own, wherever that may be for you – a different part of the city, a different state, a different country. Preferably, a different country. Going there with no intent of “improving” the situation, culture, or people, but with the intent to respect it, to sit and learn from its people. It’s heart-opening. One of my favorite quotes is from Mark Twain, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
8) What book had a profound impact on you and how old were you when you read it?
“Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe. I first read it while in high school in Nairobi, Kenya. I read it again for one of my classes while I was studying for my masters here in the States. It has taught me about culture, colonialism, morality, and so much more. I highly, highly recommend it. Once you’ve read it, let’s grab a cup of coffee and chat about it.
