Today, I am...

Today, I am... grateful, smelly, hungry, and in the United States! 
Here's a shout out to my parents for their support and care. Much love to everyone! 

I am in Bushbuckridge, South Africa

I am in Bushbuckridge. It is a rural area with a population of about 500,000 people. The majority of the population lack access to water, electricity and telephones. In 2001, 14% of adults were employed. This area is considered poorer and have a higher HIV rate than other countries in South Africa.

We are hosted by the Southern African Wildlife College. It is located in Kruger National Park. To go to the classroom, we drive through the national park with wild animals such as lions, cheetahs, leopards, elephants, girraphes, rhinos, antelopes, and much more.

So far, we have seen a leopard pounce on an antelope.

The campus is gated, with an electric fence, so if we walk out to the park we will possibly get electrocuted. But what the fences cannot take out are spiders, snakes, and scorpions… hence this sign. 

An hour away from this school is our house…. Below is a picture of my family and kids in the neighborhood. 

 

I live in a host family in Islington Village with Chelsea. It is a village in Bushbuckridge. We are one hour away from school. In my house there is one momma who has 9 children. Only two of her children live there, with their kids. And her daughter in law with her child. Total, we have 10 people living in the house. It is a house full of women and their children. Yet, I feel really safe each night and very welcomed. 

Our bathroom is an outhouse. Unless it’s at night, then it’s a bucket in our room.

We take baths everyday in this small bucket and a washcloth. It is so small you carry it in your room with about 4 inches of water and carry out of your room when you're done. Our host sister bought Chelsea and I each one bucket and washcloth. My back will be neglected to water for three weeks. 

We have four cows.

We also have a lot of chicken running around. Momma killed a chicken for dinner yesterday. We eat pop (this tasteless corn thing) with beans and vegetables usually. We eat with our hands normally. 

To get to know the area we are living in, we got to orient ourselves by visiting the Chief, a pre-school, a health clinic and a traditional healer. 

We visit a free health clinic in the village. The main problem is not having access to water. There is a blockage in the system and it has not been fixed for many years now. It is a beauracratic issue. Space is also a huge issue for them too. The doctor only comes once a month. If there is an emergency they need to go to the hospital that is 3o minutes by car - and most people here dont' have cars. 

During the visit at the traditional healer,  we saw the bones of different animals such as elephants and lions, coins, and objects used to determine your fate and see if you can be healed by the traditional healer. To become a healer, you need to be called by your ancestors and go through training. 

While we were asking questions, the traditional healer’s wife started to make noises and yelling. The ancestors were manifesting in her body. They were using her to communicate. It sent chills down my spine.  Everything she said allowed she could not remember once they left and her husband had to summarize in the end. He said that ancestors welcomed us and said we will be safe here and when we go home. They said that if it is important, they can use your body up to two hours. She was very tired and dehydrated by the end of it.

Whether or not it was real is not interesting. What they believe, may be real to them. However, the son told me that his sister is now a Christian. He said that his parents think it is very bad. The son was also translating for us throughout the visit. He would laugh and didn’t seem to take it very seriously. The family dynamics and religious beliefs is a more interesting topic. 

Gotta go, 

Lynn 

African people say “First, they had the Bible and we had the land. Now we have the Bible and they have our land.”

The quote was a small artifact I wrote down in the Apartheid museum. 

Apartheid literally means “the status of being apart.” It is a system of racial segregation and enforced from 1948 to 1994. It was a time of exclusion; conflict. Every aspect of life in South Africa was segregated: living areas, beaches, bathrooms, education.  If you were not white, you were “colored”, “Indian” or “black” and you were considered inferior to the white race. I was two years old when the colored and black people were liberated in South Africa. I am stunned that I have not learned about it until now.

This country is filled with heavy history.

Currently I am in Johannesburg, South Africa. Johannesburg became a town after gold was discovered. After, many people from all over the world came seeking for gold. The original African inhabitants were not only deprived of the wealth, but also marginalized and treated poorly. Within the last couple days, I’ve been staying at a Christian Fellowship Center – Wilgespruit – trying to understand this country full of rich paradoxes. Most properties or homes here are gated and have barbed wire protecting it. At our center, we have three security guards walking around all day and all night.

I have learned that even though schools and living spaces are integrated, the poor living conditions are still the same. Even though the World Cup (2010) in this beautiful country, there are still a lot of complexities. The disparities are so deeply rooted in the present..

SOWETO is an acronym for South West Township. Townships are often underdeveloped living areas reserved for non-whites during Apartheid. 

This is Kliptown - the lower class of Soweto. The living conditions here were painfully poor. But the people here had no self-pity and were empowered by what they had. The bathrooms given by the government in 1994 are shared portapotties between 5 - 6 families. They are the newest things in the entire neighborhood. 

We visit a youth center called SKY (Soweto Kliptown Youth.) These young folk's believe that "Self pity is the most dangerous." 

The youth at SKY performed for us - it was one of my favorite moments in the entire trip because you see passion and light in their eyes. Most of them had lost their parents and were orphans. At the end, they pulled us in to a circle and we stood together singing and holding hands. That moment, I felt a spirit come into the room and felt an overwhelming peace present. I recorded parts of their performance and I wish I could upload the video for you to see... but the internet is just way too slow. 

UPDATE: 

Much love from South Africa,

Lynn 

Special video for special people, enjoy!

(Change the quality to the highest one for the best show) 
Later,
Lynn

My experience of the American War

I remember in the first or second grade at my elementary school, a friend at my school table asked me “Lynn, you’re Vietnamese right?! Were YOU in the Vietnam war?” I didn’t know what the war was at the age. So I just said “Yes..?” Then our teacher told us the date, she found out I was lying and with my pride at the age I made something up. That’s my first memory of the American War and the history of Vietnam.

Just like the delicious food here in Vietnam, I’ve been consuming a lot of information and opinions about Vietnam - it’s history, with what they call, the American War and it’s legacy – and I have not been able to digest it. So, sorry about this late and muddled post.. I’m still trying to figure out my position here as a Vietnamese-American and the concept of belonging.

Now, here are some pictures of my first two weeks learning deeply about the history in culture while being in Vietnam.. 

My first weekend, I went sight seeing and saw:

Ho Chi Minh’s Vestige in the Presidential Palace Area.

Ho Chi Minhs Museum

Van Mieu - Center of scientific and cultural activities 

I went sight seeing with my friend’s host dad. Here is Sneha and her host dad. 

Here is me and Sneha’s host dad. 

Presidential Palace (formerly Indochina's General Governor Palace of the French)

We got to see the area where Ho Chi Minh lived and worked at. This is a picture of his desk, there are portraits of Marx and Lenin because Ho was very inspired by them. He lived in simplicity and modesty.

This is Lily, my new roommate for this homestay in Vietnam. We're in front of the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (where they display his dead body. Yikes!)

After sight seeing, we had lunch at Sneha's and Tami's house. That's fried chicken, french fries, and salmon. But later we had hot pot! Yum!

Cheers! Drinking with some host daddies! 

Tami is sitting on host grandma's lap. 

Here are some pictures from a classic week day in between and during classwork:

This is me ordering food on the street. I met a Canadian man this day. He joked around about how my American friends and I were invading his lunch space. He said “What an American thing to do… especially with your history in this country.”  I certainly am a fan of obnoxious humor, but that man was not cute at all. His comment got me thinking about my hyphenated identity – Vietnamese-American. The hyphen can be representative of a  bridge between cultures. But, who gets to decide what side of that bridge I stand on? Not that man wearing an ugly shirt. Hmph...

We went to a disability clinic for children – most of them were affected by Agent Orange that was sprayed during the war. These people lived in such happiness and held no grudge after the effects of chemicals Americans sprayed. It was a concept that was uneasy for me to follow. 

Lily and I went to the market after a heavy day, got snacks, and watched Whose Line is it Anyway.

One day, during community building, we met at a local lake..

Started by playing a game called Birdy on the Perch..

I won't explain the game, but here are the results.. 

Then we rented these Swan boats and peddled around.

I went to go see my family this weekend in Da Nang and Quang Ngai:

I hung out with my Ong Noi.

Went to the beach with my aunt and cousins. 

A woman named Lady Borton once suggested me to NOT keep a journal. Why not journal? She said that journaaling is cryptic because you’re writing to yourself. She said when you write to yourself, you don’t include enough details because you know the experience. So, she said.. write to others. 

I am writing to whoever wants to read. Right now, I'm still digesting this glorious country. I hope that if you wanted - you could experience the places, the emotions, triumphs, and challenges as I travel. I don’t want to give it all away though… that way you all will still want to talk to me when I return hehe :) 

Real quick, my five senses:

Taste: The aftertaste of peanut M&Ms and bad breathe

Feel: My tailbone against this board bed thing, cramped in a room 7ft x 7 ft with 6 other people. A silk sleep sack.

Sight: A bed above me, my computer screen

Smell: Mildewy, unidentifiable

Sound: Nearness of You – Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, bits of the conversation in the room, the rattleness of the train

If you couldn’t tell, I’m currently on a train to Sapa! A very rural and northern area of Vietnam..

Seeking,

Lynn