Hi there! I’m Issa Adalia, a writer and artist living in Yerevan, Armenia. I’m a Filipino third culture kid who’s grown up in Manila, Kathmandu, and Yerevan. I’ve loved blogging for over a decade, and I hope you enjoy my posts!
I graduated from the American University of Armenia with a degree in English and Communications in 2023. I’m currently taking up my master’s on Creative Management in New Media at the University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland. I have worked as a writing consultant, tutor, and tour guide, and also perform music.
Besides these very grown-up descriptions, I am a Star Trek, LOTR, and Narnia fan (among other fandoms), comics artist, and first-time gardener. I am also a proud Christ-follower.
You might be wondering why my blog is called “Wonderfilled Issa”. I’ve had that as my Instagram username for years, and the concept comes from the adjective “wonder-filled” – someone who is filled with a sense of wonder at the world around them. As an artist, I find myself feeling this many times. I think it has become a part of who I am, that sense of wonder, just like with North from “Rise of the Guardians.”
I think wonder is important because we were made for it. How many times have you stood under the sunlight, taken by surprise by something beautiful – a breathtaking view of a lake or a wide field, the jewels within the red petals of a velvet-soft flower, or the wings of a ladybird? Sometimes life gets too serious and we get too grown-up like Mr. Prince in “The Little Prince”…
Then, we need to become like a little child again to view things in perspective, to see things with a little more hope….. and I think being wonder-filled helps us to be like that.
I hope the love of wonder will come through to you from my writings and other works of art. I won’t necessarily write about it all the time, but I hope you do get it somehow. 🙂
Life-story!
So, I like reading ‘About’ pages to find out about people’s lives and where they come from, what kind of person they are, and to get to know them more. If you’re the same, well – STORY TIME!!!!!
I was born in the Philippines and lived there till I was almost 11. I moved to Nepal with my family, where I found my second home. We moved to Armenia in 2017 and it has also become my second home, even if the language barrier is difficult sometimes. From Everest to Ararat.
I wrote and illustrated a comic about being a third-culture kid (TCK) and also referenced the TCK experience in my TEDx talk in 2021. This also inspired my capstone (thesis) at the American University of Armenia in 2023, where I interviewed seven Armenian diasporans from eight/nine countries and created a graphic novel called “You’re Not Armenian Enough”. It’s currently in our university library but I’m planning to publish it in the future, so stay tuned!
I was homeschooled from kindergarten to high school – sixteen years! I’m an advocate of homeschooling and have spoken at many homeschool events and given workshops as well. I’ve represented homeschool at university and different places abroad. I credit homeschool for my love for writing and knowledge, and giving me a great network of people from different cultures, ages and walks of life, all of whom I’ve learned from. I also got to travel to 37 cities and 11 countries while homeschooled. It’s pretty cool! Also, I became the valedictorian speaker of my graduating batch at university, so I’m always so proud to say that homeschooling works!
Well, I’ll write more as soon as I can, but for now I hope this serves as an intro to me 🙂
