The Other Way; S2 EP8

Ariela & BBB:

After their awkward slumber party at the hotel, Ariela, Mother Ariela & BBB (baby boy Biniyam) set off on the bumpy road to check out the hospital. Mama Ariela seemed to be skeptical as a nurse that the Ethiopian hospitals wouldn’t be up to her standards (maybe because it was in a neighborhood with dogs eating garbage on the streets, or maybe because she watched other 90 Day labor episodes before). She was pleasantly shocked at the supplies on hand and cleanliness of the facility. The midwife (named Sister, or she was a sister wife, not sure…), and the nurse were both extremely nice and forthcoming with their hospital tour. They actually had a private room for recovery, which was bigger than my first bedroom in NYC and mostly likely a fraction of the cost.

Next we see the couple + third wheel mom head over to a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony (which is very different from the American traditional coffee ceremony…. Of inserting a k-cup into the Keurig. ) They sat down for a little coffee and popcorn snacktime to discuss some heavy topics, like BBB’s past. Mother Ariela wanted to know if BBB had any ulterior motives to come to the U.S., as Ari was to be his second American baby mama and there really wasn’t any explanation as to what happened with his first wife and son. He only gave a vague answer that his ex found a text in his phone from a woman and left.  Seems like there is a whole lot more to this story that we’re not hearing, but hoping to learn more next week as the previews look pretty good! Also I must note, as a member of the tribe, I appreciated Ari’s stylish dress with the Jewish Star pattern, but wasn’t as into BBB’s Fake fendi track suit.

Cheesestick & Melysa:
Cheesestick and his cat Peppito made their final descent into Columbia, rolling through customs and ready to meet up with Melysa. She arrived to retrieve them, parking her tiny car and heading in with her 2 dogs (who they get along with Pepito for the car ride home, since they’re going to have to pile on top of each other). 

Melysa seemed really happy to see Tim, though I’m guessing it’s kind of complicated, as they grabbed his luggage and headed outside. After being squished on an airplane for 6 hours or so with a cat (probably getting kicked in the back the entire way by Drascilla), poor 6’4” Tim then had to fold himself like origami to get into Melyza’s car. 

Once they got home and settled, they took a walk around the town so Tim could acclimate to his new city. They stopped at a cafe, and Melyza took the opportunity to question Tim about his infidelity. Something tells me she does this often, and will continue doing this for the duration of their doomed relationship. Slim Cheesey seems to be over the constant apologizing and retellings of what exactly happened with his infidelity over a year ago. I asked Tom what he thought about this relationship, and he said to file it as “categorically done and dusted”. 

Brittany & Yazan:

Brittany and Yazan walked hand in hand to some sort of cafe to meet with the worldly Uncle Yazan, Ibrahim. Yazan explained the Brittany dilema to his uncle (ya know, that he wants to take his time convincing Brittany to convert to his religion and cover up her weave, as well as forget about social media and only rap when she’s wrapped up in a burka). Uncle Ibe agreed to speak with Yazan’s conservative father about easing up on his speedy timeline and cutting the couple some slack. Obviously Brittany is not going to go for any of this, so they should just stop wasting all of our time.

Deavan & Jihoon:

Deavan and her mother set out with the kids alone in the market to do some exploring. Deavan could barely communicate, but she sort of made her way, though every bite of food was a mystery, with one main dish possibly made out of bugs. Drascilla was on such good behavior that she got a prize; a dead fish head in a bag, aka every little girl’s dream come true. After a fun afternoon of bug snacks and decapitated fish, it was time to get serious. Deavan met up with Jihoon and his parents at a restaurant to discuss their future. Deavan brought along her trusty translator device with her to help with the language barrier, though I’m pretty positive someone at Sharp Entertainment had given to her and it was rigged. It seemed as though every sentence anyone spoke into it came out as something completely different. She tried asking Jihoon why he was putting money into his mother’s bank account instead of helping her pay for the kids’ necessities, and he tried explaining that he had put money away to save it so he could provide for them once they were back in Korea. The translator app, of course interpreted that as “Make sure to watch the new hit show Darcey and Stacey premiering August 16th at 10p.m., only on TLC” (told you that translator was rigged!). 

Needless to say, the conversation did not go well, and ended with Jihoon cursing, telling Deavan just to fly back home, and storming out of the restaurant. Hopefully they can work things out in Korea for Drascilla’s sake. I think her fish head at “Show and Tell” will go over much better with the kids in Korea than the kids in Utah.

Karmando:

Team Karmando is still strutting their stuff around Mexico, though Armando is not yet comfortable with showing any PDA. He feels nervous about being judged and even about the couples’ safety if they are too open with their sexuality. Kenny does feel a little rejected, as he’s been out for so many years, basically telling Armando the old fatherly adage “I have pairs of underwear that have been out of the closet longer than you!”. (Candyman gives one fly swatter of shame for that dad joke). 

Other than that, nothing really happened with Team Karmando… just a little sightseeing and cultural adapting.