Yanibar Tales/Cassi interview

''This interview is for my Current Events class with Teacher Sowsren and I'm interviewing my aunt, Cassi Trealus Kraen.


 * Rhiannon: Are you ready, Aunt Cassi?
 * Cassi: Ready when you are, Rhiannon.
 * Rhiannon: I'm ready. Where you originally from?
 * Cassi: I was born on Bakura.
 * Rhiannon: Where's that?
 * Cassi: It's another planet many light years from here, nearly halfway across the galaxy.
 * Rhiannon: What is it like there?
 * Cassi: Bakura is a temperate world. It's a very nice place filled with trees and water. The people there are Humans and they're peaceful folks, if a bit isolationist and simple.
 * Rhiannon: How long did you live on Bakura?
 * Cassi: For eighteen years. I grew up on a farm near the outskirts of the capital city with my family.
 * Rhiannon: Did you have any siblings? If so, how many?
 * Cassi: I have one brother, Storis, and three sisters, Hylia, Charis, and Alessa. Hylia and Charis are the oldest, then me.
 * Rhiannon: What about your parents? What was it like to grow up on Bakura?
 * Cassi: My parents were very loving and supportive of all of us. We weren't always prosperous, depending on the growing seasons, but they did their best to provide and spend time with all of us. It meant a lot to know that our parents would devote part of their week to their children.
 * Rhiannon: That sounds very nice. So, then why did you leave Bakura?
 * Cassi: I was always looking to the stars as a child. I guess you could say I was restless and idealistic. I wanted to help people on other planets and I also wanted to explore and get an education. My parents and I worked together so we could get the credits to send me to Coruscant to attend a university.
 * Rhiannon: What did you study?
 * Cassi: I studied linguistics and also worked at a spaceport to help practice different languages and pay for my education.
 * Rhiannon: Why study languages when there's translator droids?
 * Cassi: Well, there aren't any droids on Bakura, so I didn't know that those existed. And also, you can't always rely on droids to do everything for you. Even Sarth will admit that, while they're useful, they can't always replace a living person at a given task.
 * Rhiannon: Did you have to do lots of homework?
 * Cassi: Yes. I did more homework in those years at university than I'd ever done before. Research and writing holodocs and preparing reports and taking comprehension exams--it was a lot of work.
 * Rhiannon: That doesn't sound like fun.
 * Cassi: Not always and I spent a lot of late nights sipping caf to stay awake, but it paid off. I got my degree in linguistics and was planning to become a teacher.
 * Rhiannon: What happened?
 * Cassi: The Clone Wars happened. The Separatists attacked Coruscant near the end of the war and a falling Republic ship damaged the university. The school was shut down for months and a number of people died in the attack.
 * Rhiannon: I'm sorry to hear that. Did you know any of them?
 * Cassi: I knew a few people, not very well, but yes, there were people who died that I knew.
 * Rhiannon: I'm so sorry, Aunt Cassi. Would like some caf, or maybe some tea?
 * Cassi: I'm fine, thank you. It was a long time ago&hellip;what was the caf or tea question about?
 * Rhiannon: Jasika said to ask that if I ever needed to change subjects during the interview.
 * Cassi: Oh. I see. Well, what else would you like to talk about?
 * Rhiannon: I guess what did you do next? Did you become a teacher?
 * Cassi: No, I couldn't. It would have brought back too many memories of the war and the people that had been lost. Anyway, as fate would have it, I was working at the spaceport when I saw a Bothan and a Corellian running from some Trandoshan thugs. I knew of the Bothan, Captain R'hask Sei'lar, by reputation and I helped him escape. Out of thankfulness and to protect me from the thugs, he offered me a job on his ship, the Hawk-bat.
 * Rhiannon: So that's how you ended up on the ship with my dad and Uncle Sarth.
 * Cassi: That's how I ended up on the ship. I worked as cargomaster on the Hawk-bat for a couple years, I think.
 * Rhiannon: Was it hard to transition from being a teacher to being a spacer?
 * Cassi: It was at first. I was lonely and insecure, unsure of what I was doing, but the crewmembers were very friendly. And, the ship's engineer was absolutely charming even despite his clumsiness around me.
 * Rhiannon: (giggling) Was that Uncle Sarth?
 * Cassi: It was. We had a series of adventures on the Hawk-bat, which you know about already, but eventually, he asked me to marry him.
 * Rhiannon: Was that before or after you learned how to use the Force?
 * Cassi: It was about the same time, I think. Sarth and I had been seeing each other for quite some time beforehand, but we decided to get married around the time we obtained our Force-sensitivity. By that time, we were living on Yanibar.
 * Rhiannon: What is it like to be able to use the Force?
 * Cassi: It's different at first. I felt like I had "gut feelings" about a lot of things that turned out to be right; I just knew when things were about to happen. Gradually, as I learned how to use it, I could experience the Force in different ways. It can be another tool, like when you use it to levitate something or heal a disease. It can be a guide, giving you hints about a conversation or the past or the future. It can be a refuge, something that nobody can take from you and which strengthens you. It can be an adhesive, allowing you to connect with those around you on a deeper level--you can almost see into someone's mind.
 * Rhiannon: It sounds wonderful.
 * Cassi: It is, most of the time.
 * Rhiannon: If the Force is all those things, then how come you don't train as a Jedi more often, Aunt Cassi?
 * Cassi: It's complicated, to an extent. Part of it is that I'm not incredibly Force-sensitive, just enough to be able to dabble in its use. Despite hours of attempts from your parents, I'm still hopeless with a lightsaber and I can maybe lift a rock with my mind on most days. And part of it are just the priorities in my life don't require or encourage me to practice or use the Force all that much.
 * Rhiannon: Why not?
 * Cassi: The Force can be useful in parenting, but it's not a substitute for just spending time with your child. The Force can't give you compassion. The Force can't love somebody for you. The Force can't teach others for you. The Force won't perform acts of charity on its own; somebody has to do all of those things. The Force also can't make a good-tasting meal. You don't, or even can't use the Force to do any of those things. Believe me, if Force power could make a meal, your parents would be gourmet chefs.
 * Rhiannon: Didn't you teach them how to cook?
 * Cassi: More or less. Selu knew a little bit, but his Jedi recipes were kind of bland, while your mother somehow managed to burn water the first few years of their marriage. Don't tell her I said that.
 * Rhiannon: (giggling) She might agree. Speaking of food, what's your favorite thing to cook, Aunt Cassi?
 * Cassi: Hmm. Well, that's hard to say. I guess I'll go with one of my favorite things to eat, not necessarily to cook. Callosian spring vegetable soup as a starter, followed by Berbersian crab as the main course, Ghoba rice on the side, and sweesonberry rolls for dessert. Add in a side dish or two, maybe a fresh salad if the greens and tubers are in season, and you have a versatile meal that can be dressed up for a formal occasion or lightened up for a casual dinner.
 * Rhiannon: Wow, sounds delicious. Where did you learn to cook like that?
 * Cassi: My mother taught me. Not having droids and living out on a farm meant that you needed to know how to cook or dinnertime was not going to be enjoyable.
 * Rhiannon: Weren't all the foods different when you got to Yanibar?
 * Cassi: Definitely. The first few months, I never wanted to look at another cebola salad or tuber pie again. It was just one of many things to get used to about living here.
 * Rhiannon: Like what?
 * Cassi: The weather for one. Bakura is hot and humid for much of the year, but its weather isn't as fierce, nor so unpredictable. This part of Yanibar is also fairly dry unless we have a severe storm, with more of a plains and desert climate. I grew up in a forested region with lots of trees. Also, living isolated from the rest of the galaxy was quite different after roaming about from planet to planet.
 * Rhiannon: How did you adjust?
 * Cassi: I suppose it was by remembering all the things I had. I had our family, the Kraens, here, I had a house. We had food and we were surrounded by friends. We were safe. We had the Force that could aid us in the difficult times. In a lot of ways, we were blessed with many things that not many people around the galaxy have.
 * Rhiannon: That's really neat how you were positive even when settling down on a new world with a new family.
 * Cassi: It wasn't easy, but it's always helpful to put things in perspective, even in adversity.
 * Rhiannon: I think I know what you mean, you know. ..
 * Cassi: Being blind, I know. I'm sure it's difficult for you, but you're a gifted young lady with a lot ahead of you and a lot going for you. You are so special that your blindness doesn't even matter in the grand scheme of who you are.
 * Rhiannon: Thanks, Aunt Cassi. I meant to ask you, what is your current job?
 * Cassi: I teach part-time at Yanibar's university, one or two linguistics classes a semester. I also volunteer at the local medcenter as a nurse and a healer.
 * Rhiannon: But you're not a Jedi.
 * Cassi: In a sense, I am. I did train to be a Jedi years ago and I still do use the Force somewhat. Just because you don't wave a lightsaber or lift rocks doesn't make you any less of a Jedi. Being a Jedi is something you are, not what you do.
 * Rhiannon: Okay, I just have one more question. What's it like to be in love? To be married and have a family?
 * Cassi: Hey, isn't that actually three questions?
 * "'Rhiannon:''' Oops, sorry.
 * Cassi: Don't worry about it. Wow . . . where to start on those, though? Being in love is like . . . you just want to burst because you're so happy, because that special somebody means so much to you that you can't contain it. You feel weird around the person you're in love with, because you just want to show them how much you care about them. Your life seems oriented around that person and just being in their presence makes you kind of giddy. To get to the point where you're married and have a family, though, you have to share more than some tingly feelings and tugging heartstrings with that person. You have to be willing to go anywhere, do anything, overcome whatever fights and obstacles arise with that person. It takes a lot of maturity to be married, because you're committing to give your life to that other person and all their quirks and imperfections. Having a child and being a parent is something wondrous, but it's also a lot of responsibility. When Sarth and I had Akleyn, we knew that he was ours to raise and to love and to cherish, no matter what.
 * Rhiannon: So they mean a lot to you?
 * Cassi: Very much. I wouldn't trade my family for the whole galaxy.
 * Rhiannon: Okay, well, thanks for letting me interview you.
 * Cassi: Glad I could help.

Interview ends.