HIMASA struggles with the SoCal glitter and “no worries” culture. She begins our season weighed down by her family’s struggles as Ghanian asylum refugees recovering from trauma and fighting to obtain citizenship status. With the intense pressure on her to support her little brother and her depressed father, falling in love and romance are not part of her existence. She photographs Quinceañeras, barrio birthdays, funerals in Chinatown, and weddings in Little Ethiopia for a living while also working at the museum as a docent. Through therapy and the tender help of Nikhil, she begins to cope with her own trauma from female genital manipulation, and comes to have more empathy for her depressed father, a once brilliant doctor in their homeland. She’s confused when she starts to have feelings beyond friendship for Nikhil, but will accept those feelings and allow herself some personal joy by the end of the season.