TGIF and an otherwise sweet weekend!

What a great weekend! And it’s about time…after a week of (literally) cloistering myself in the interest of studying, umm I mean memorizing, genetics and more genetics. Whew! I took my semester test on Thursday night so Friday was all mine! It was a great day after so much studying.

First, and most importantly…GREAT news! I just heard on Friday that an organization called the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (in the USA) won a hard fought fight against McDonald’s!! Congrats to the CIW!!!! Basically the group is comprised mostly of farm workers that organize to secure rights for the people that pick our vegetables and fruits in the USA. Most of the people in the organization are tomato pickers in Florida, but they are a coalition that includes just about any farmworkers. The farmworkers are paid really crappy wages, have to pick tomatoes that are covered in pesticides (which makes them sick and causes birth defects in the kids in the community), and are often taken advantage of by the people that employ them. I mean these folks are out in the fields for like 12 hours a day bent over picking tomatoes and basically live in absolute poverty! Give ‘em a break! The CIW was asking McDonald’s to pay 1 more penny per pound of tomatoes that McDonald’s buys. It doesn’t sound like much, but actually translates to quite a bit of money on the farmworker’s end. The extra penny will be paid directly to the workers and McDonald's has agreed to some other terms that will hopefully ensure better working conditions for the pickers. The CIW has also been successful in getting Yum brands (Taco Bell’s parent corporation) to pay the workers an extra penny/pound…now they have their sights set on Burger King. And they’re going to win too! Give ‘em time…and your support!

So why do I care about this organization? Why am I telling you all this stuff about them? Well, the CIW came thru Champaign-Urbana in April of 2006 and I actually did my very first proper radio interview with some of the Coalition members. It was a funny first interview cos the guys I interviewed only spoke Spanish and I don’t speak Spanish good enough to interview people, so my friend Danny translated. It was incredible to interview these guys and learn about their struggle and organization. I was actually very energized by their visit to CU. The people in the Coalition are really amazing people and I think their organization is a testament to the strength of the little guys working together to create a force bigger than themselves. Right on!

For more information on their historic victory, the organization in general, and ways you can help out: http://www.ciw-online.org/

If you look hard on the website maybe you can even find my radio interview :)

Also you can check out pictures of the CIW at: http://www.jjtiziou.net/

This is the website of a photographer in Philadelphia, JJ Tiziou, who does REALLY amazing work. He takes field trips w/groups and photographs their activities for free. JJ took photos of the barnraising event we had when Radio Free Urbana (WRFU) first went on air in Nov 2005. Somewhere on the site you can find the CIW photos…cos he toured with them too.

Other great Friday news…I got a letter from my high school history teacher, Mr. Nelson. I write letters. I think it’s such a great medium (the postcard is one of the most ingenious inventions of all time!) and so rare these days. I mean people really appreciate receiving a letter in the mail…and I love to write letters. I actually make a lot of my own stationery and envelopes (ok I’ve been slacking on this tip lately). I just love writing letters. I actually do it to relax sometimes. Just so you know how much of a letter nerd I am…I still write letters to my 4th grade teacher. Yeah, I’m a dork. Now that I think about it, Mr. Nelson is the first person that ever exposed me to South Africa. We learned about the Anglo-Boer war (did you know that it was actually the British that invented the concentration camp? 1st concentration camp was by the British in South Africa against the Boers), read Cry the Beloved Country, and probably other stuff that I can’t remember anymore. Although I do remember a particularly good story about Jomo Kenyatta…but that’s Kenya. Also I went on a trip to Europe when I was in high school that was organized and chaperoned by Mr. Nelson. We actually didn’t get along so well on that trip cos I dawdle. It’s my only problem in groups! Punishment for being late was carrying the luggage of the adults…and I definitely carried my fair share of luggage! But it was worth it cos Europe has some cool stuff to look at so it’s a hot bed of slow moving feet and dawdling! Mr. Nelson is very very old school. He does NOT do computers…not even for word processing. He’s a typewriter man all the way! So the only way I can talk to him is thru letters. The letter was nothing super fantastical...just the this and that of life, pics of grandkids, etc. The weirdest part of the whole receiving a letter thing is that the letter was slid under my door in my dorm. Basically it just confuses me even more about how this whole postal situation works in my dorm. It’s a very mysterious process shrouded in mist I guess…

ps: if you email me your postal address I promise to send you a letter/card!

On a sort of down note…I went to go speak to a wildlife guy (the head of the Wildlife Management program here at Univ of Pretoria) and it just sort of left me feeling a bit discouraged about my current course of action. Yo, that is just a feeling I don’t need! When I’m falling asleep at night, these doubts about what I’m doing pass thru my head to steal my sleep from me…and I just don’t need that vibe coming from anyone else. I won’t get into the nitty gritty, but the guy is really nice and I think that if I can articulate what I’m looking for a bit more coherently…he will be super helpful to me. Random thought…when I told my dad that I wanted to go to school in South Africa his version of freaking out about it was to say “but Lynsee…what about all the connections you have made at the University of Illinois? What about your network of contacts in the USA? You’ll have to start all over, etc. They won’t be able to help you in South Africa.” Dad, listen up, this guy I went to speak with is a colleague of my favorite professor from U of IL, Dr. Kesler. I just mentioned Dr. Kesler’s name and the guy was like “yeah sure, come on in and chat.” Everyday it amazes me what a small world this is.

Let’s go back on the up and up…I went to my first house party on Friday night. As a little background on myself…I came up at the tail end of a golden era of house parties in Champaign-Urbana, IL. For a year I lived in a huge house w/7 other folks and we used to throw legendary parties…and we weren’t even the best house party spot on the block (404 Elm, represent!). Parties with TONS of bands/DJs. Parties where hundreds (yes, hundreds) of cups for beer are sold. Parties that made our house bulge at the seams. Thankfully we only got one ticket from the cops out of I don’t even know how many parties we threw! Yes! 608 Elm, represent!! I love a good house party because it’s such a great way to get a bunch of folks together to enjoy local music and have a good time. Get your dance or other groove on after a hard week of studying. They are such a great way of giving musicians that maybe aren’t big enough to get a gig at a bar or something a cool venue to showcase their music. Or they are a great way to give people a sort of special access to some of their favorite bands. Man I remember seeing some of my favorite bands in CU in someone’s house…Kilborn Alley, Spinnerty/Bozak/D-Lo, Limbs, Doomsday, Melodic Scribes, Secret Agent Bill, Sector 7, The Invisible, and the list continues. I just think it’s such a great feeling to provide a venue where other people get some music in them and have a good time. I love to throw a nice party. I just remember coming downstairs after a good party thinking “man there was a DOPE cipher (circle where rappers freestyle rhyme) in the room where I eat my breakfast and do my homework…nice!” Hey, it’s just a great feeling.

So I went to some house party in Pretoria on Friday. There was a band called Havoc Vultures that played…they weren’t bad, but you could tell they listen to a lot of Led Zeppelin. The venue was really sweet! The houses (even student houses) here are pretty awesome overall…well unless you live in a shack. They just tend to be a lot more open air style with nice green areas (a lawn or garden). This one had a building behind the house that had a pool in it and a stage area at one side. Yeah a pool and a rock band…that was rad. The party was predominantly Afrikaners so there was a lot of Afrikaans in the air. Most people were pretty cool, but you get jerks everywhere. Some dude was trying to hustle my clothes right off me, but I got my top in a thrift store in Honduras w/my friend Graeme…so unless he was trading me a car or something…the top’s staying w/me. He wanted to trade me some lame sweater…it was getting annoying. This one chick only spoke to me in Afrikaans, but it was really cool. She was doing it in the spirit of “hey you can do this. You can understand me…just try!” It was really neat and I could mostly understand what she was saying. Many people are just really excited to teach me swear words (I get lessons from about 2 different random people a week). So I guess it was nice to have some other nicer words thrown at me! Also I met a bunch of kids (like 5) that are in my classes. Finally! I asked a question in class on Friday, so they were all like “yeah you’re that American girl that asks questions a lot.” Okay, I guess that’s me. But I’ve only asked like 2 questions the whole semester. One of the girls was actually happy I ask questions because she said she was too scared to do it. I think I have study partners now, which is cool! Also I was invited to church…interesting to be offered salvation in a den of sin. And of course, my favorite phrase when I meet a bunch of new folks..."Oh my gosh, I just LOVE your accent." Ha ha. What accent?

Meeting a bunch of new people at one time gets sort of tiring for me. Not in a boring way, but in an emotionally tiring way. Obviously these people haven’t read my blog, so people pretty much tend to ask the same questions (what are you doing here?, how long have you been here?, where are you from in America?, I have a friend in whatever city in whatever state, etc) such that I just wish I had a tape recorder w/playback functions. Johnny Danja, Graeme, Maria I can imagine what you might have gone thru in CU! But it’s pleasant because people seem to be genuinely interested in me and my story…which is always a positive thing. It’s a good thing I like to talk!! Also I get tired a lot because I have to talk about American politics and hegemony a lot too. People haven’t been aggressive w/me, per se, but it really sucks to have to explain (but not really defend) policies/ideals/jerks in the White House you don’t agree with. One thing I always find so funny is that people are so quick to sort of rake me over the coals about the USA when South Africans have an extremely recent sordid past under their belts. Such that I could so easily turn the tables and be like “yeah but what about this messed thing that was/is happening in SA.” Okay now you know what it’s like to be confronted with situations that you, as an individual, sort of have nothing to do with except that you live in that country, etc. But I’m mostly polite…so I don’t do that. And I guess I also haven’t properly formulated that line of thought.

Anyways…overall a good party. Far better than chilling in my dorm room alone!!!

Saturday I rested. And recovered. Also I met the guys that live on the floor underneath my floor and had some beers with them. It was interesting. They are all from S Africa and one dude from Zim. Maybe I'll hang w/them a bit more one of these days.

Sunday I went to have an excellent lunch with one of the Rotarians in my host club, Bebe. You might also remember her from earlier posts, as I stayed at her house when I first arrived here. Remember when I said I went to Bible study...yeah, that lady! I went to have Sunday lunch with some of her family...her brother, sister, nephew, and their spouses. It was really fun. They are really great people and we had a nice laugh and a delicious lasagne. It was a nice way to spend a Sunday. Then had a good nap, a good dinner, and a good late-night laugh w/my friend and neighbor, Luso.

So I guess that’s it. On the radio tip, I missed another chance to have something I created go out over the airwaves…d’oh! I had that pesky genetics test, so I couldn’t produce this commercial that I helped write. But in due time. Keep your fingers crossed for me…otherwise I might never have anything aired on this radio station!! I think this Wednesday I’m going to produce a 5 min segment called “The Lunchbox.” It’s an entertainment segment that airs during the lunchtime show. If you’re in Pretoria…tune into Tuks FM 107.2FM at 13:30. You can listen to my first production piece to be aired on Tuks FM. Yeah, history in the making!

Finally I got my photos together now. April’s Day in the Life and my holiday photos are all there. You can see them at:http://picasaweb.google.com/lynseemelchi

If you want to see something creepy about a private company that deals in implanted microchips for humans and their hopes to put them in immigrants:
http://www.spychips.com/press-releases/verichip-immigration.html
Just remember that if we start to put microchips in immigrants...US citizens can't be far behind!!! Hope you dig that freedom we are all so crazy about in the USA!!!

Take care wherever you may be!!!

Much Love,
Lynsee