Maria Sanchez

[mariasanchez]

OOC Information

Name: Amber
Age: 16
RP Time Span: 2 years (6 May, 2005 - present)
Internet Devotion: It's really hard to say. I usually spend the entire day on the Internet on RPG sites unless I have something important to do. During school, I have to attend my classes and such, but I am on after school and on weekends as much as possible. In a week, I probably spend more time on the computer than anything else--no lie. Either way, I am usually on everyday unless extenuating circumstances get in my way.

***

General Character Information

Name: Maria Rosa Sanchez
Position: Charms Professor
Alliance: Neutral

Date of Birth | Age: 1 September | 50
Place of Birth: La Habana (Havana), Cuba
Ethnicity: Cuban
Lineage: Half-Blood

Appearance

Despite her age, Maria is a very attractive woman with beautiful assets. She stands at no more than 5’2” and weighs no more than 130 pounds or so. She has well-defined curves located mostly in her hips. Her body is usually kept in an upright position to show that she has pride and confidence in herself.

Maria has very pale skin due to lack of sun which deceives her ethnic heritage. She has dark chocolate-colored eyes and brown hair with like streaks of gray given to her by age. Beneath her right eye is a mark that some would call a “beauty mark”. At times, Maria feels that it defines her as her own person, but she also feels that it is a bit stand-outish when people are constantly staring her in the face. Over time, however, she has gotten used to it and learned to ignore stares. It is not like it is that big of a deal anyway.

The woman has an obvious air of authority and professionalism to her. Even though she has a gentle face, she tries to keep a serious look about it. It is complicated since she has kind and gentle eyes and wears a forgiving expression most of the time. However, there are times when she can look very serious and mean, and those are the times when she is handling a problem of some kind—usually regarding to her job.

Being a half-blood and having been raised by her Muggle father and grandmother, Maria grew up wearing Muggle clothing. She wores robes only while she was in school, but she did not really like them. Over the years, she has come to find comfort in both types of clothing and oftentimes alternates between the two. She tries to wear a fairly wide range of colors and styles, but she prefers to wear darker colors because they make her feel more comfortable.

Though she does not wear them all the time, Maria likes to wear hats. She has a few hats that she really likes and enjoys wearing while there are others she doesn't wear so much. She wears witch's hats during various festivities in the magical world; she wears baseball caps at leisure, and she wears her Cuban hats if she feels that she misses her home badly. It's not unusual to see her in a hat, but it's quite amusing since she looks odd in them.

Unlike many women, Maria does not really like wearing jewelry or make-up. The only time she will wear jewelry or make-up is when she is going to an extremely formal occasion and wants to look classy and match with the other people. Other than that, she wears none. The only piece of jewelry that she wears no matter what is her wedding ring on the ring finger of her left hand. It symbolizes her love for her husband but also shows that she is happily married.

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Personality

Coming from an older generation of people and being raised mostly by her grandmother, Maria was raised to be respectful of anyone and everyone, especially those that were older than her. She was taught that the only way to get things in life was through respect. For that, she tries to teach other people the same thing through her words and actions in hopes of possibly shaping a better world even though she knows that her single efforts will make little difference unless people show their own efforts and learn to respect one another. Aside from respect for other people, Maria feels that all should have respect for themselves. If one cannot respect him/herself, they cannot respect anyone else. Besides, if you cannot respect yourself, how are you supposed to get anywhere in life? That is just how she sees it, and she refuses to think different.

Aside from respect, Maria feels that all people should make an effort in the world. In order to obtain things you want, you have to actually try and make an attempt to get them. She refuses to help people that will not help themselves or lack interest in doing so. If a person cannot help him/herself, how can they expect to get anything that they want in life? Sure, Maria does not mind helping, but the person has to show an attempt of trying and wanting to accomplish something. Only then will she decide to help.

Maria is a woman of obvious intelligence and infinite wisdom. She expresses herself through her words and actions. She always tries to provide people with a clear understanding of the world as she knows it by giving as much factual information as she can along with her personal thoughts. She is also not scared to voice her opinions and tell people what she thinks of various things. However, she knows when enough is enough and then falls silent. She listens to what others have to say and takes it into consideration when thinking and processing responses and things along those lines.

Though she can be quite a comical person, Maria is very serious—sometimes too serious. Though she can understand jokes and sometimes make her own, she cannot always take them well; this can lead to problems. She tries not to be so uptight and serious about things, but that does not always work very well. That was who she was raised to be, and it was really the only thing that she knew since her father was nothing but seriousness and her grandmother was one that did not let her get away with anything; she was taught to be mature at a young age. Though she does not admit it, Maria over-reacts over some of the simplest things. When she does, things can jump the tracks and become completely dragged out, but she does not do it intentionally.

Despite her seriousness, Maria is a somewhat laid-back person. She tries to keep things as simple and cool as possible though there are times when things get too complicated for that. As far as her job goes, she believes in enough fun to hold interest as well as simplicity to keep people from giving up. However, since a job is a job, she has to follow certain rules and regulations. She sometimes breaks those smaller rules for the benefit of both she and other people.

As far as reprimanding people goes, Maria tries not to be but so harsh. She understands that no one is a saint by any means, and she is not going to act like they should be. People make mistakes; she is no exception. When it does come time to give punishments, she mostly gives warnings. She believes in second and third chances and sometimes even fourth chances. However, if she has to given repetitive warnings or is agitated, she will not hesitate to give an even harsher punishment such as detention for her students or taking away certain Muggle luxeries from her daughter (she used to do the same with her son, but he's full-grown now). Maria seems like the type of woman that would not be too mean or harsh, and she is, but she can also be like an attacking snake--venomous and evil (well, not really evil, but you get the picutre).

Despite the fact that the woman really is not good with starting and holding lengthened conversations all the time, she enjoys talking and being social. She is willing to talk to anyone about anything they want to talk about. She is open, especially when it comes to talking about herself or her family. She loves talking about them because it makes her feel good about herself and it shows her successes and some mistakes. In that way, she uses her real life experiences to teach others.

When she is alone, Maria allows her mind to wander and go off into La-La Land in search of memories from years gone by. She will get lost within those memories for extended periods of time. She finds herself at peace during that time. When she is with others, she will have her inner thoughts about herself and the other person(s).

Odds and Ends

Likes: Maria really enjoys doing it spending time with her family. She likes to just be able to sit down and hold various conversations with them while asking about how they are and how things are going with them. She also likes to teach and do her job. She likes be able to get to know and befriend people. And she likes singing though she does not do it much anymore.

Dislikes: Maria hates people that are amazingly rude and disrespectful to people, especially if they are younger than her. She also dislikes it when people think that they know everything and try to act as if they are the best and everyone is inferior to them. She hates people who are prejudice because of lineage or race. She also dislike it when people make fun of/mock her accent.

Fears: Maria’s biggest fear is probably that of losing her family and close friends. Maria also fears riding in cars since her accident shortly after moving to England from Cuba. Despite that, she still rides with her husband, but she always makes him become very conscious as they drive.

Hopes: Maria’s hopes lie in every aspect of her life and that of others. She hopes that, somehow, the people on the earth can learn to get along and comprehend on another. She just wants peace. She also hopes that her two children with marry and have a nice family, just as she and her husband did.

Interests: Though it would not seem like it and she shows no actual interest in it, Maria really likes to sing. Ever since she was younger, she would sing the songs that her grandmother taught her; it was more so for a form of amusement among her family rather than for her own personal use. However, as she grew, she realized that song was a way of crying and expressing herself without shedding tears. Since her daughter has grown, though, she has really not taken much of a strong interest since her daughter no longer begs her to sing. The woman understands since it was only a matter of growing.

Another one of Maria’s interests lies within the field of Charms. She is a mistress of charms, as some would put it, but she always wants to learn and study more than she already knows to understand them a little bit better than she already does.

Talents: Though she is not very extrovert about it, Maria has a beautiful singing voice and can play guitar very well. She is also very talented in the field of charms. She is good with children and has a way of understanding people even if she cannot relate very well.


Bad Habits: She had the tendency to enter conversations randomly even when people don’t ask her. She tends to talk about her family to the point of killing people with it. She also has the bad habit of going through her mind and thinking about memories at the most unnecessary times. She also tends to give too much information when it’s not needed though she can mostly catch herself if she needs to.

Goals: Most of Maria’s goals have been filled: to follow in her mother’s footsteps, make her father proud, get married, and have a decent and complete family. However, her more personal goals that she voices to no one are things such as being a better mother (and person overall). She knows that she is a good mother (and person), but she believes there is always room for improvement.

Phobias: I really don’t think that Maria has any phobias of anything, really. She’s not that scared of things; she's learned not to be. If she has to be scared of one thing at all, it would probably be… dead people? Like...dead people being her family...

Obsessions: Maria tries not to be overly obsessive about things. However, if there is one thing she can/will be obsessive about, it would be her family. She loves her family to death and would put her life on the line for them at any time in her life.

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[mariasanchez]

History

It had been a fairly rainy day in Havana, Cuba when a little girl was brought into the world. She was born to Jose and Maria Rocío, life-long residents of the area. However, due to complications in birth, Maria Rocío passed, leaving her husband, five-year-old daughter and newborn alone in the world. In honor and memory of her, Jose named his newborn daughter after his wife, hence Maria's name.

Jose never remarried on behalf of his two daughters. He did not want to change his life anymore than it had been, and he did not want anyone else replacing his deceased wife's place in his heart or that of his children. He cared for his children; they were his life. And, for that reason, he worked day in and day out to provide to them in a cigar factory located only a few blocks from there home right there in Havana making minimal wage.

Since her father worked for so many hours during the day, Maria and her sister stayed with their grandmother who lived with them. She cared for them as if she was their mother and allowed them to play in her old clothes. Since their home was located right on the beach, the old woman would carry her grandchildren down to the water and let them play in the sand and go swimming. Those were probably some of the fondest memories that Maria had of her home in Cuba.

Even though Maria’s family was not privileged to have large amounts of money or even a ‘whole’ family, they still found happiness within themselves and their friends. They were living with just enough money left over for the things they desired even though it was not much. Jose always gave to his daughters and mother first; never once did he put himself first.

By the time Becky had turned eleven years old, Maria was six. Becky had started her primary schooling in magic at an all-girls’ school not far from their home. She walked to and from school each day unless it was raining extensively then she would take a camello (really long bus). Also around that time, Maria started her schooling at a Muggle school where she studied English and the other basic subjects like math, history, science, and literature. Both of the girls excelled in school and made outstanding grades; they were easily recognized when it came time for various small awards given to her by her teachers as well as her father and grandmother.

Ever since Maria was a young girl in school, she had her mind set upon becoming a teacher. One day, when Maria realized that she had no mother like the other students; she asked her grandmother and father about it. They explained it all to her, and she wanted to be just like her mother since then.

By the time Maria had started her magical schooling, Becky was nearly graduated. Maria found some complications in various areas of magic, but she found that Charms was her strong point, much like her mother. She actually did fairly well with any wand-based classes since she had such a good hand and steady mind. She made her sister jealous since her sister was more hands-on and did better in Potions and such. Her father and grandmother were very proud of her accomplishments and had high hopes for her as she grew and matured into quite the young woman.

After graduating, Becky did not go to a university for further education. Instead, she set out and decided to become a healer at one of the local magical hospitals. She liked the job very much and often times came home bragging to Maria about how she saw several good-looking young men—even ones that looked like they would be perfect for Maria. However, Maria never found these conversations interesting. She had never been interesting in relationships since she was much more focused on her schoolwork and studies because she wanted to please the rest of her family and make something of herself. As much as her sister spoke, Maria always thought that her sister would marry someone that she spoke about. However, she never did, and to this very day, remains a bachelorette.

Maria did not give up her life-long dream of becoming an educator like her mother. However, in order to do so, she would need to have a secondary education; she went to the university located in Guatánamo where they were said to have some of the best educators. Her father had been pleased with her choice of occupation, but he did not like the fact that his daughter—newly an adult—was setting out by herself to attend some university on the other side of the country. However, he did not stop her, for he did not want to flatten her hopes and dreams that she had set so high for herself. He also did not want the memory of his beloved wife—God rest her soul—to die.

While attending the university, Maria made a few close friends. Most of them were a few years older than her, engaged or married. She felt somewhat ashamed when she told them that she had never once had a boyfriend or even any sort of intimate relationship with anyone in her life. It amazed some of them while others understood it. They knew that was she an overachiever and did her best in everything and never tried to think about anything of less importance. To others, the say her as a good-two-shoes and oftentimes would degrade her for such a choice.

Shortly after Maria turned eighteen, one of her closest friends told her of the wedding that she was going to be having in some upcoming months. She was probably one of the only people that knew of Maria’s personal talents—singing and playing guitar. She had invited Maria to sing at her wedding. And, not wanting to let her friend down, Maria accepted the invitation even though she was not much of a performer. Her friend had also told her that she had hired a small wedding group to play at the reception and that Maria would have to meet with them so that they could perform a few songs together. And, she did just that.

Upon meeting with this small, three-man group, Maria had not expected that she had met her future husband. Sure, he thought that he was quite good-looking, but she did not think that it would work. He seemed so professional and much more mature than she was. However, a year following the wedding, the two of them started dating—and it had been Emilio Sanchez that asked her instead of the other way around. She learned that he was five years older than her, Muggleborn, and had dumped his amazingly ‘rich’ girlfriend (who was five years older than him) for her.

The two of them dated for two years before Emilio proposed to her and she accepted. They married later in the year Emilio had proposed on 2 September, the day after Maria’s birthday. He always told her that it was a lifelong birthday present from him to her even though it was a day late. In return, she always teased him for the late birthday present.

Two years after being married, Emilio and Maria were expecting their first child. Sure, it had not exactly been planned or something that Maria was particularly fond of since she and Emilio had not quite been settled into a steady place, but they were happy either way. They were both very much in love, and the both adored children. Maria was just glad that she was just out of college by the time she had discovered she was pregnant. It would make things much simpler. However, she knew that she was going to have to get a simple job soon so that she could start bringing in money to start buying things for the arrival of the new baby as well as odds and ends to furnish the small place Emilio had managed to find in Havana where he, too, had been born. That way, they were both living near their families and on the beach where they both adored. They both loved the sunsets and smell of the salty water and sound of the waves rushing against the beach.

On 2 September—the day after her birthday and the day of her anniversary—Maria was laying in a hospital bed giving birth to her child. Emilio, althought he was a doctor, did not deliver the baby because he wanted to be there for his wife. Instead, they had one of their pretty good friends (who was a doctor) deliver it instead. They had baby boy, which they named Nayib. He was born a few days earlier than expected, but he was healthy and a cute baby; Maria could not be mad at him for being so cute.

Maria and Emilio raised him as they had both been raised—on the beach. They took frequent trips to the water’s side and allowed his feet to touch the water. When he was old enough, he would start to giggle and laugh and try to lift his feet out of the water as if scared, but that smile remained upon his slightly chubby baby face. He was such an energetic and happy child; it made both Maria and her husband very happy and made them wonder many times what their lives would be like if they had never met and married.

When Nayib turned five, Maria and Emilio had debated on whether or not they should send him to a Muggle educational facility. Finally, after several discussions, they thought that it would be best. In the Muggle educational facility, Nayib learned to speak English. He did not do well in it, but Maria and Emilio both assisted in teaching him how to speak and write properly so that he could obtain good grades and perhaps communicate with those that spoke English in the future—tourists perhaps.

In 1959, Fidel Castro took over as dictator of Cuba and the communist government. Shortly after he came to power, the Sanchez family along with several others fled to other places—mostly the United States. Even though the U.S. seemed promising, Emilio had said that he always wanted to go to Europe. So, they moved to England where they bought a nice home just outside of London. They settled there with their eleven-year-old son and allowed him to make several friends. What they discovered was that there were also more magical people there in England than back in Cuba. It was reassuring in some ways while it was also frightful at the same time.

A month after moving from Cuba to England, Nayib received his acceptance letter to Hogwarts. Maria and Emilio both knew that their son was of magical blood, but they had not necessarily expected him to be an attendee of Hogwarts; they were proud. So, in the month of September, Nayib was sent to school in order to obtain his education in the magical world. He was sorted into Ravenclaw for his studious ways. Though he excelled in various subjects in school and he was very intelligent, he had the tendency to be a joker and a prankster. It sometimes affected his work, and there were even letters sent home about the way he acted, which caused Emilio to send Howlers, which Maria never knew about since it had been a secret between Emilio and Nayib.

Maria had found herself a job as a professor shortly after moving to England. It was a local, public magical school that housed various students with physical incapability. There were deaf, blind, and mute students there, even—those that would not do very well in a regular school. Maria was assigned the Charms position to teach mute students. Even though she did not know sign language, she taught them all just the same. They used paper and pen, hand signals, facial expressions, and various other ways of communication. She succeeded in a seemingly hard job of educating the students.

When Maria and Emilio were going to see a play somewhere in London, Maria ended up breaking her back. She and Emilio had been driving in a car. As they were driving, a car struck their car on Maria’s side of the vehicle. She was jolted forcefully in her seat despite the seatbelt and felt this leering pair in her back and had a somewhat “electric” taste in her mouth. She was in a lot of pain and feared to move. So she remained as still as she could. She told Emilio that she thought she had broken her back, but he reassured her and said that it was probably only a muscle she had pulled. She knew otherwise, however. And, as to reassure herself, she moved her toes just to be sure that she was not paralyzed. She wasn’t--she didn't think she was anyway. Shortly after the accident occurred, an ambulance arrived and carefully got Maria out of the vehicle and put her on a stretcher. The doctors told her she would never walk again. Emilio, being the intelligent doctor that he was, suggested a somewhat dangerous surgery. Maria agreed to it because she wanted to be able to walk and do things other people did. Since he was a doctor and wanted to be sure that nothing happened to his wife while in surgery, Emilio assisted with it thought it had been fairly complicated having to perform a surgery on his wife. She was released about a week or so later. Over that following year, she underwent a lot of therapy to regain her ability to walk. For the first few months, she was dependent upon her husband and the stay-at-home nurse given to her. Within the next year, she was up and about walking in no time at all. She felt that she had accomplished the impossible.

Due to her incapability to work, she had to resign from her position as Charms professor at the school for the physically disabled until she was well enough to teach again. It had been a two year break before she reapplied and was accepted back since a full-time teacher had not been hired. She told the students—especially those who were paralyzed—that they could accomplish anything they set their mind upon. And, with that, she came up with her own personal saying that she translated for anyone: Si tu quieres, tu puedes. If you want, you can.

After the accident, Maria contributed generously to various organizations in the process of trying to find a way to cure paralysis. She understood what it was like to be “paralyzed” and she felt bad for those who were paralyzed and really had no other choice. Her husband stood beside her in her choice of contributing to the certain charities.

Four years after having broken her back, Maria found herself pregnant with their second child. She and Emilio were amazingly ecstatic. Before when they had tried to conceive, they found that they had been unable to since the parts necessary had been destroyed in the accident. However, she underwent surgery and that was all fixed. She sent an owl to Nayib at school, and he was very excited that he was not longer going to be an only child. When he came home that summer holiday, Maria was two months pregnant. Despite that fact, Nayib hugged her lightly and spun her around in a circle out of happiness. Maria had not expected it, for she thought he might be disappointed about no longer being an only child. She expected that the fourteen year difference between them made things easier to understand.

On 5 December, Emily-Marie was brought into the world and welcomed by her mother, father, and older brother. She was born in their house late at night when Maria was unable to be transported to a nearby hospital. The baby girl was born strong and healthy and right on time. However, just to ensure that everything was okay, Emilio carried his wife and newborn daughter to the hospital where they stayed for the remainder of the night as well as another day to do all of the required check-ups and such.

A few months after Emily was born, Maria went back to work at the small school for disabled persons She had been off from work for baby leave. Though her students and the other staff members had been excited for her newborn, they wanted her to come back since she had grown to be one of the well-known, motivational professors that most people liked.

Maria continued working with disabled students of all ages until she heard from her son who worked in the Ministry that Hogwarts was accepting applications for professor positions and that Charms was opened. Maria was pleased, for she had never been to or even seen Hogwarts even though Nayib and Emily had attended the school. So, she applied. Now she works there as Charms professor.