Person of the Day: Eunji

well, i'm here in Fiji, which means I have so many more things to talk about and project into the world besides my random life advice/lesson and love advice. lucky for you all, because i'm sure that gets old fast...

i've decided that everywhere i go, my favorite thing about going there usually ends up being the people i meet! the people in the market, the people i work with, live with, and even those who cross my path for only an hour or two via a random happenstance. i've already let too many of those people pass by without sharing their wisdom or hilarity, so i'm going to start posting the 'person of the day.' it's not going to be every day, but just when i feel like it. 

so, for the first one, i have a real gem. she is about the wisest 10 year old you've ever met and is full of wisdom on north korea and africa, her relationship with God, her worries about not crying and homesickness, and most importantly--love. (see, you still get love advice, but this time it's not from me!)

this is Eunji from Seoul, South Korea. she tried to fit into the refrigerator yesterday because a) it was really hot and b) there was a sudden flood of flying larvae that came out of nowhere and she was genuinely terrified. she loves kimchi, soda, and Beyonce, and she might be my favorite person on the planet right now. last night, Hilary (my co-director) and I were talking to her about boys, and here's the invaluable knowledge i acquired. you're welcome.

how to tell if a boy likes you (verbatim):

1. they kiss you here (the lips) and not here (the cheeks).

2. if he hugs you and spends time with you, he 100% likes you.

3. but if he takes you on dates, and he kisses you (or he lets you kiss him!), he one million no, ALL the percents likes you. 

...but don't have a boyfriend because then you have to make them good food, and look too pretty all the time with all the make ups and hairs and high heels, and that's not fun.

more nuggets of advice:

• if a boy is good and he goes to church and he likes you (see above), then you should just marry him. but if you don't know if you should marry him, wait 5 years and you will know.
• it doesn't matter if you're 45 and he is 50, or if you are 50 and he is 30, or if you are 60 and he is 20, love is love!

other advice on global politics and homesickness:

• why does everyone want to fight? i'm so sad because the mean Korea (north Korea) wants to fight and take all the good people who are poor and trick them with promises. they want to get big and get plenty money and not help people who need help. i don't want to do that to poor people. i don't want to fight anybody.
• why do people take all the nice people in Africa and tell them what to do? they just want to live!
• why doesn't Heavenly Father talk back to me? i just want to sit by him and play with him and eat with him and ask him all the questions!
• when i leave Korea, i wanted to cry so bad, but my mom told me not to cry because my papa's heart is too thin. so now i just work hard at my english to make my oma and papa proud.

departures and insights

one of the smiles i will miss the most...

here i sit, half a world away from my dear india. to be honest, i never thought this day would happen and now that it's here, i wish it weren't.

on the flight home, i watched a film, the best exotic marigold hotel. it was beautiful, hilarious, and one of the more accurate descriptions of india i've found. my favorite quote from there was when one of the characters says:

"can there be anywhere else in the world that is such an assault on the senses? those who know the country well just go about their business. but nothing prepares the uninitiated for this riot of noise and color--for the heat, the motion. the perpetual teeming crowds...initially you're overwhelmed. but gradually you realize it's like a wave. resist and you'll be knocked over. dive into it, and you'll swim out on the other side."

now, i am utterly alone sitting in an insipid airport with one or two stragglers walking past me about every 20 minutes--if i'm lucky. the singular, banal noise is the elevator music softly buzzing, with no symbiosis of life, traffic, animals, gabbar singh streaming from three separate cell phones, and someone yelling "madame" to get my attention. all the passersby wear neutrals and minimal adornments, and i find myself absolutely bored and heartbroken. i keep thinking of all the people who made me promise i wouldn't forget them. and the people who said they'd sell everything they had to help us come back. the only thing that seems to assuage my unexplainable vulnerability and anxiety is the thought of going back to india soon, but even that is uncertain. in life i've learn to expect the unexpected.

...but i digress. i've already written a sappy love note to india. so instead, i'm going to make a running list of what the last week has taught me through my ridiculous bout with the indian government and trying to leave the country. maybe someday i'll have the courage to write a little about how india overall has changed me....but at this point, it's not likely.

so here, it is, ladies and gentlemen--what this last week (read: trying to escape india!) has taught me:

1. first and foremost, i've learned that i relate more easily to a couple in their sixties than most people my age. i could have stayed up all night talking to the sweet welfare missionaries about: GPS systems and geocaching, astrology and telescopes, genealogy, geeking out about tandem bikes, talking about camping and wilderness survival, and so many other way more interesting things. i have so much to learn from those with more experience and wisdom, including my wonderful parents. which leads me to....
2. my parents are beautiful, wonderful, wise, loving people who would do anything for me. what a blessing i have in my life, when i've seen and met those whose parents don't even want them. mine stayed up all night praying for me, no matter what time it was, and updating individuals at 4 in the morning who i'm sure really didn't care as much as they did. these guys can tell from my "hello" if i'm happy or on the verge of hysterics. which leads me to....(man i'm good at these transitions!)
3. i've learned that as much as i think i'm in control of my emotions, and i make the "sour face" until my face turns blue, i burst out crying at wildly inappropriate times, and i burst out laughing at equally inappropriate times. basically i'm 5 years old and 65 years old at the same time.
4. i've learned that there is power in voices. voices that are raised up to heaven in my (and others') behalf, voices that call and comfort me, voices who have a meaningful conversation with me, voices who obstreperously contacted the FRRO and west marredpally police incessantly, and voices who softly, kindly, and consistently told me it'd all be okay, that they love me, to please come back to india, and that, despite their beliefs, asked that "God be with me."
5. i've learned that we are always watched over, and that there is a plan for us. in the height of my troubles, there was a lot of sitting and waiting. i decided to start preparing for my talk i'll be giving at home about india, and read one thing that lead to another and another and another which eventually lead me to a page in the scriptures about courage. i couldn't help but feel all at once that i was not alone as i read a compilation of every scripture relating to courage:

be not afraid...God is with thee

be strong and of a good courage

be thou strong and very courageous

she was steadfastly minded to go

let no man's heart fail...thy servant will go and fight

be ye valiant

deal courageously and the Lord shall be with the good

he thanked God, and took courage

God hath not given us the spirit of fear

his heart began to take courage

never had i seen so great courage

courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory

i'm grateful beyond understanding for india, and hope to return there as soon as possible. here's hoping to jumping right back into "real life" here in the states, so i can quickly be cured of my broken-heartedness and perceivable boredom of the senses. 

one of the more popular sayings in india is:

"everything will be alright in the end.

and if it's not alright, it's not the end."

xo,

brookie

so here i am....

and so it is. my time is quickly wrapping up here in india, and i am nothing but a weepy mess. i hardly make it though almost getting run over by a rickshaw, getting freaked out by a cow, or get smothered in line at the grocery store, without getting all teary knowing those things that drive me nuts are the things i'll be missing the most.

truth is, i was really sad to leave the states. i knew this would be a life-changing experience and many things would be different when i got back--whether it was the people/environment back at home that was different, or the new lenses with which i saw the world that was different. this has happened many times before, where i experience changes or growth in ways unique to my situations and things are never quite the same when i "return" (read this post about my thoughts on home). i thought that i'd miss the: camping, bonfires, food, outdoor concerts, hiking, slurpees, staying out late, breaking into swimming pools, and late night chats listening to the crickets and watching the stars. i thought that my heart would yearn for those things, but the truth is, i hardly missed those at all (minus some food).

this place, as i've said many times before, is indescribable. it permeates everything about you, and you can't help but fall in love with its idiosyncrasies and abrasiveness. the character everything has here and the love that you feel penetrating is undeniable as you walk down the street and everyone smiles.

in the last week, i've had the opportunity to see and many different people whether it be the rickshaw drivers or individuals in the slums. all of them have touched my heart deeply as they've expressed their gratitude for our group of interns coming "all the way from america to serve our people." they've told us "thank you for thinking of us poor people who the government doesn't even recognize as individuals" and i can't help but get emotional every time i hear that. i have tried to express to them that their love and hospitality has meant the world to me, but what i really want to share with them is that they are not invisible. they mean something to me and have left me remembering them nightly in my prayers. they have each meant something to the interns on my team. they have meant something to the individuals who, as lame as this sounds, witness pieces of their life on facebook. and they will never be forgotten to our heavenly father, who created and loves us all.

i have mixed feelings about returning, but am starting to realize that i'll leave a little bit of my heart here in india, and have it replaced in my own heart with a patchwork of bedazzled bangles, brightly colored silks, in-your-face curries, shouts of "MADAME!" and the endearing sing-songing of "welcomeeee" (instead of saying "you're welcome").

until the next time, india.

xo, brookie

by the numbers

katrina on my team took this one for our "missing children" campaign

1...the number of children in my family
2...the number of functioning hands (and feet) i have
3...total members in my family
4...months i'm in india
5...days a week i'm supposed to work out
9...number of sites help international has this year
13...individuals living in my house right now
14...oreo packets we demolished the other night
20(th)...the day batman comes out!!!

and 30......

every 30 seconds a child goes missing in india. by the time you're finished reading this, depending on how quickly you read this, there will be anywhere from 8-20 children that have gone missing here.

i tried googling the word "disappeared" and the first thing that came up is an article from wikipedia listing all of the individuals who have mysteriously disappeared. the sad thing is that in that list, there are hundreds of children who go unnoticed daily. many of these children don't know how to write or say their own names (often one can identify at least which region in india someone is from by their last name) so they can't find their way home.

you may be asking yourself, where do these children go? what happens to them?

-they run away
-their parents are killed or committed suicide
-they are sold to the circus, but usually kidnapped
-they are taken for sexual purposes
-they get lost
-they get put to work as child laborers in factories

...and many many more things. the sad thing is that there isn't a system in place to find these children. in fact, 80% of the police think looking for children is a waste of their time, and don't even bother.

something interesting to ponder: which people do we allow to go unnoticed? whom do we allow to disappear entirely? which individuals do we discredit completely as human or noteworthy?

monsoon season

with a renewed hope of freshness and life, the monsoon season hit southern india with abruptness and confidence. people looked forward to the monsoons that would temporarily save them from their drought. the monsoons were supposed to bring water to those who wait days for water. they were supposed to bring softer soil, and promise of a kitchen garden for those without income and subsequently without food.

yet, the monsoons hit with a week of vengeance, and since it has been smoldering hot again. it came like a thief in the night--here one day, and gone the next. the thing is, the days that the monsoon hits, the streets are deserted. trash, human and animal waste, and dirt float to the surface. not a single item remains even halfway dry. and i've learned one very important lesson:

try as you might, you can't clear your view or see a path clearly with a wet hand.


it is hard to wipe something completely clean with something dirty.

i feel as if here in india, we are constantly struggling to fight for a new path, but mostly just smudging things around. my previous post illustrates some of the daily juxtapositions that i encounter. today, i had to sit quietly as i heard about undesired daughters named "unwanted" (Nakusa) or "girl who was not wanted." i had to sit and listen about girls who are named "girl to be used as a social prostitute" (Mataram). girls whose families believe that these young girls (aged 7-13) can be married to hindu gods, and in turn be used by any man in their village at any time they desire. these girls are sacrificed and dedicated to the entire village for the men's pleasure.

today i witnessed as three laboring women with infants slung on their sides clamored to get onto a moving train with water buckets tied to a bamboo pole. subsequently, two of the women lost a few of their water buckets, something they have to purchase here with their own savings for laboring. i watched as i saw the forlorn look cross their faces when these women started calculating the real cost of what just happened: weeks of savings to purchase the buckets, the set back that means on their daily income of a few rupees a day (a few cents a day) without the buckets, and how much they will have to save to purchase some new ones. this whole time i watched them literally fighting for their own lives, a man was in the seat next to me pointing out microsoft's biggest headquarters outside of the US, and facebook's asia headquarters here in hyderabad.

the thing is, there are days where i can't make much sense of what is actually going on around me. there are other days where things are blatantly clear. like the hot sun here is being magnified and singed into my forearm for me to never forget. i can't help how clearly i understood today that the bottom line is this: we are all humans and should be treated as such. today, more than ever, i re-learned that suffering is universal, as can be compassion, empathy, and a smile. although sometimes it may seem impossible to see the path through the monsoons, and maybe sometimes you can't find that dry hand to wipe away the murk, that eventually the monsoons stop, and in the end they bring life back into a desolate place.

..that one time it was july 1st

before i knew it, it became july.
i'm laying in bed listening to the sounds outside--a man doing a low-pitched call for old newspapers, and crazy drumming and bells to get offerings for the monsoon gods.

i've been asked to update people on my life, but this place is too mystifying and magical to describe. everything hits you in the face so hard all at once. nothing is half-way.

the colors are overwhelming, even the white seems brighter and the blacks seem to have more depth. there are no pastels, or "muted" earth-tones.

the smells are either heavenly--from fresh jasmine flowers adorning people's hair and door-ways, to deadly--fresh fermenting human and cow waste.

the people here are either extremely loving and friendly, or extremely abrasive.

every article of clothing is adorned with some sort of sparkle, sequins, bedazzle, or accessory. the women daily put on toe rings, bindi, bangles to take you to the moon and back, and braid their long, thick hair.

the food is extremely sweet or extremely spicy.

the weather is either unbearably hot, with heat coming up from the ground, or monsooning so that one has to swim through the deserted streets and sleep with earplugs.

the women are constantly overlooked. the children are constantly reprimanded.

the thing is, here in india we experience the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows. i'm pretty sure i laugh from the depths of my stomach at least once a day. i probably cry at least once a day too. i hear stories of individuals who have become my latest hero. people who have overcome impossible odds and stigmas. people who have used their whole life savings to create some sort of latrine for themselves and their families so they don't have to walk 3 km just to defecate. women who have moved beyond prejudices of HIV and their husbands leaving them in a society where that means everything.

someday, i'll have the chance to sit and write it all down. until then, i'll continue to share little "snaps" as they call them here--pictures or snippets of my life here in india. maybe a little will cause you to think as it has with me.

much love from india,
brookie

gratitude

i started this blog post ages ago, because of this quote i found:

‎"Absence of gratitude is the mark of the narrow, uneducated mind. It bespeaks a lack of knowledge and the ignorance of self sufficiency."

- Gordon B. Hinckley

beautiful woman from the leprosy colony, picture by one of our interns, katrina

the thing is, as i now reflect on myself, i believe i knew nothing of gratitude back when i started on this post. i'm by no means saying that i know every dimension, angle, and all depth when it comes to gratitude. however, what i am saying is that my gratitude has lately covered uncharted territory in my synapses. the other day i wrote out a list of what i was grateful for based on what i had seen, and instead of complicating my list with superfluous explanations, i'll just share it with you all. enjoy.

i am grateful for:

• the knowledge that i have to know how to write my own name
• dexterity, mobility, and use of all of my limbs, joints, phalanges, feet, ankles, mouth, and face
• the fact that i also still have all of those parts
• parents who didn't have to choose between feeding themselves or other children, and keeping me
• parents, period. and ones that love and nurture me to boot
• the gospel in my life
• family--grandparents and cousins who love and support me
• forgiveness
• sight
• knowledge of the rules of health, and access to health care
• money and the ability to travel
• my experiences in life
• all of the people who love, support, and pray for me in my behalf
• technology and photography
• time
• smiles, with or without teeth
• giggles and laughs
• personality
• agency
• prayer
• food
• access to water (more on this later)

this may seem simple or even elementary, but that's totally fine with me. my heart swelled as i realized all of the things i've been given in this life, and all of the love that we are all constantly subjected to. the children and people that i interact with daily also see all of the things they've been given in life, and are constantly expressing their gratitude for things like shoes made just for their feet, learning how to make toys/picture frames/flower pots out of trash, etc.

trash toys, pots, and picture frames--picture by one of our interns, allie rae

hands of one of the women from the leprosy colony, picture by one of our interns, katrina

much love from india,

brookie

indelible footprints

a few months back, i heard someone say,

"you'll find as you're changing the world, you're changing yourself."

i did not come to india to change the world, nor do i pretend to think that i have any impact on the entire world. i realize that i am small and a mere simple girl with little to no reach. as a matter of fact, the more i travel, the smaller i feel. the more i realize how much there is that exists on this earth, and how many individual lives with individual heartbeats and breaths surround us.

the first few days the volunteers are here (they finally got here on thursday!!), my co-director and i have some great "exposure visits" planned with each organization we've worked with in the past. this includes seeing HIV/AIDS clinics, slums, leprosy colonies, "bridge schools," gardening projects, and meeting indigenous people of india who may be displaced due to a dam(n) dam being built. needless to say, i have had and will have some incredible experiences in the next/last 10 days.

the first of these which took place on thursday. it was the day our volunteers got into town (at 3am nonetheless), so we wanted to start off with something simple. turns out, i can't stop thinking about it, and probably never will. one of the organizations we work with, MV Foundation, runs what is called a "bridge camp." there are millions of child laborers here in india--both those born into it, sold into it, and taken into it. the child laborers cover everything from the stuff you buy at walmart, to sex slavery, to precious pearls and gold. sometimes, if a child has the opportunity, they can escape the life in which they are enslaved because of different reasons. however positive this is, it is also a bad thing because once they leave, they are often left with no family, no means for food or housing, and certainly no opportunity to marry with no dowry or family to present them. without these things, the public schools wont accept them (even though the government "regulates" that everyone is to be accepted), and these children not only fall behind the people their age, but have no chance of catching up and eventually go back to their old livelihoods and lifestyles.

what a bridge school does, then, is bridge the gap between what they missed through not being in school, and create opportunities for education for boys and girls. on top of that, they give them somewhere to live, family, job skills, social skills, and an address so they can apply for school.

we had the opportunity to visit one such school here in the outskirts of Hyderabad, and i will never forget it. we only got to go into one classroom, but these girls gave me so much strength and have left indelible footprints on my heart. i will never forget their faces, the hope, and the enthusiasm in which they spoke, listened, learned, and sang. these girls were so proud of the body parts they learned in english. they were so proud of the pronouns, the math, their little chalk boards in which they wrote all of their assignments, and they had every right to be proud. they had every right to be beaming, because they had an opportunity, actually a human right, all of a sudden granted: education, and freedom.

before we left, they wanted to sing a song for us. i will leave you with that. to see pictures from the experience, you can see my fb pictures here. the song they sang is in telugu, the national language in AP (the state). they talk about how no one will ever take their freedom from them. they proclaim and shout that they have the right to learn and to become whatever they desire to become (most want to be educators, doctors, and engineers). they talk about how they are the future generation. i was very emotional as i heard them sing with vigor, with nothing but pure determination on their smiling faces.

enjoy.
ps. read our team country blog here

what is home anyway

i am sitting here in the front desk of a hostel in india. there is sweat dripping down my popliteal and bugs sticking to it. rawr.


last semester, we had a guest lecturer in one of our classes (these happen a lot when some professors get lazy), and the first question he asked us is: what do you call home? i believe i've blogged about this idea before, but i'm going to expound my thoughts again as i've had this swirling around my head and it's about hurricane size, ready to explode.


the question really bothered me. and then it bothered me that the question bothered me. why would i tell a stranger what i considered home? and why did it matter? what if i don't really have a place i call home?


at the time he asked me, i had living in arizona about a month and was already struggling with this during introductions. here's how a normal converastion would go at the beginning:

attractive stranger boy: oh you just moved here? what's your name?
me: brook.
where are you from? california.
what part? bay area.
oh cool! do you know, so and so? nope, i haven't lived there since HS.
oh, so where did you live before? draper, ut.
....ASB introduces me to his friend: this is brook from ut!

NO!!


so then my answer started being, from CA, but lived in UT seven years. then that was too much and people would start glazing over, because let's face it--no one really cares. so then i would say UT, but i hated claiming it, no matter how much i loved my time there. ultimately, it bothered me because if they only took the time to really find out, they'd know i was born in hawaii, lived in japan, am half chilean (and therefore half of my heart remains there), lived in LA, northern california, extended stays in central/south america, provo (uff!), draper, and scottsdale. and now here i sit calling hyderabad, india, my home for the next few months of my life.


so i know you're all dying to know what i told the guest lecturer: i told him, home is where my family and friends are. the more i think about it, the more i wonder, what is it with us humans and wanting to define somewhere we "belong?" it is more than home that we are seeking, i've concluded. when we are answering this question, we are identifying in one way or another. i would not claim UT, because i refuesed to identify with the stereotypes. we are choosing to categorize ourselves by where we say we were raised, brought up, etc.and it envokes in us a sense of pride, embarrassment, work ethic, and stamps unto us a whole set of values, core beliefs, accent, dialect, skin color, sometimes religion, and way of thinking. home is more than just a physical, tangible border. home is an essense, a person, a being.


anyway, i'm glad i have that off my chest now. i will continue to give the answer that home is where my friends and family are, because i have become such a cocktail of all the parts and pieces of where i've lived it would be impossible to name one place as home anyway. i love each and every place i've lived for the things it's taught me and for the pieces i've taken from it, and more importantly for the relationships i've formed there.


anyway, i'm excited to see where i will be calling home here in the next 36 hours. daunting, and thrilling all at the same time. 


love and miss you all.

what is lost...

for one of my courses, i had to read from "pathologies of power" by paul farmer. he is a brilliant man with excellent ideas on human rights, global health, poverty, etc.


here is an excerpt from his afterword:

...is it really useless to complain? ...writing about human suffering runs many risks, and most of these risks have been the subject of too much commentary. but there is also the artifice of packaging something so it offends the senses, but not too much. surely this too is a marker of lost innocence.

...i contemplate my own loss of innocence with resentful, sometimes even tearful, silence. from whom can i demand it back? as garcía lorca said, "things that go away never return--everybody knows that."

everybody knows that things that go away never return.

-paul farmer

i have had many conversations with survivors of sexual violence, and the one thing i hear more than any other is, "it will never come back." collectively, they say their: virginity, innocence, dignity, and a whole number of other things that were taken from them during the act will never return. i've often thought about this, and wondered the same thing that paul farmer did: from whom can they demand it back? is it really useless to complain?

one of the cutest little munchkins from
the orphanage in ecuador

these are all answers, or rather questions, i am currently grappling with in striving for justice in such a place we live in. yet, after countless hours discussing what we can do to change this world, to make it a little more beautiful, i find solace i knowing that there are so many people out there striving to do just that. people who give strangers smiles, compliments, and even hugs. people leaving concerts that let that one car that's been waiting forever sneak in in front of them. that person at the grocery store that goes above and beyond telling you their favorite way to cook the chicken when all you asked was if it was on sale.

and then i smile to myself, knowing one thing for certain: even if we can not regain our innocence, or those things we have lost that do not come back, we can always replace the space with something beautiful.

scars

to be alive at all is to have scars.

-john steinbeck

as I am studying in my program and contemplating the suffering of many types of people around the world, i am realizing more and more the reality of this quote. we are often asked to contemplate the question: what is universal? what has no bounds? what is absolutely inalienable?

is love universal?

is suffering universal?

the more critically i think about these things that are intrinsically ours, the more i realize my heart is being opened to understand and love those around me. they say the more we work in this field, the less full our proverbial glass is....

and yet, that has led me to ask: who is drinking out of that glass? where is that second straw coming from? (as my professor so eloquently put it) maybe if our glass is less full, maybe if we have a different view on things that aren't all glitter and rainbows, we are more easily able to appreciate life, and fill our glass with those things that mean the most?

just a little stream of consciousness....

vietnam: perfume pagoda

the second day we were there, we decided to go see this place called the perfume pagoda. apparently, it's quite the big deal, and hundreds of thousands of people in vietnam and other countries make a pilgrimage there yearly.

this place is breath-taking. the only way to get in or out is through the river, and these sweet vietnamese people row you there and back. it is the most peaceful thing to experience, as it's pretty dead silent and all you can hear is the water going. it was definitely a great way to spend our first day there because we learned so much!

we had the CUTEST little vietnamese guy as our tour guide named tuan. he was so happy, and explained so much to us about the vietnamese culture, and more specifically about vietnamese buddhism (mahayana, or renovated buddhism).

i LOVED the ideology behind mahayana and there were two things that totally stuck out to me about it:

1. it allows women to practice the faith, and in the end allows them to become Gods.

2. the literal meaning behind the indian word is "bigger boat" or bigger vehicle. in the end, it just means that more people can be saved, and there's room for more. how amazing is that?

some other gems i learned about buddhism:

• you have to do 10,000 good things before becoming a buddah, which is why everyone is so kind, and always trying to serve
• each living thing has a soul and a cycle, all the way from a stone to a buddah. that's why they don't kill anything (including fierce looking bugs)
• in order to get reincarnated as the next best thing, you have to help someone. they believe that in helping others, you lift yourself
• everything is in odd numbers (when they pray they shake their hands, or the number of statues, etc.) to represent balance in their lives

tuan taught us that the mantra of a vietnamese person is: 

"the thing you can't forget, forgive, and the things you can't forgive, forget it"

i found many similarities between what i believe, the way in which i believe we should treat others, and buddhists/overall vietnamese ideologies.


ps. check out kate's most recent post about vietnam...and mostly how we met. how i love that girl.

vietnam: china hates us

we had a 14 hour lay-over both ways in china on the way to vietnam (after a 14 hour flight), and we wanted nothing more than to get out and explore china! well, after trying relentlessly to get a visa here in the US, we figured we could just try to get one while we were in vietnam. i mean, wouldn't china want us to spend our hard-earned cash there? wouldn't they just want to boost tourism/their economy?? you would think so!
wrong.
in the end, china hates us and wouldn't let us into their country without: a written invitation from someone in china, a perfect itinerary of where we'd go, what we'd do, who we'd see and smell and look at and smile at, how many steps we'd take total, and about how many inches apart each of those steps would be, what our outfit would look like every waking minute, and how many people we'd say "i love china" to on the street. instead, we were forced to go in circles in the smallest, dumbest airport on the planet. we may or may not have instead: spent hours doing our makeup in the duty free shops, gone to see buddahs to buy in the two shops total a FEW times, gotten a "milkshake" (read: milk with nesquick, oh and the disclaimer at the bottom: food may not taste like the picture, and yes, the chinese lady laughed at us when we complained) that cost something close to $15.00, and figured out which bathrooms had holes in the ground, and which ones you could sit on.
honestly, we were pretty bugged at china, and you know what? that's one of those countries that has been taken off my "to see" list for life!! (yes, us latinas know how to hold a good grudge!)

at the vietnamese/chinese border in northern vietnam. we were giving china attitude! take that!

we love vietnam!!

the road that takes you to china. in vietnamese: beware, china isn't very nice!! in chinese: enter at your own risk!

vietnam: good mooooorning vietnam!

well, i figured it's about time i blogged about vietnam.

here's the truth. are you ready? I.LOVED.IT. i've traveled to quite a few places in my 25 years, but let me tell you vietnam was definitely top three. however, i tend to fall in love with any new place i travel.


this was an entirely different experience for me, because i'd never been to a country where i didn't speak the language, or where someone couldn't translate for me. i went with two of my greatest friends brittany, and kate, and we had an absolute blast. i couldn't write quickly enough, and take quick enough notes on the things that i was learning!!


so this will be an introduction to the trip, of sorts, and i'll answer the most FAQs.


1. why vietnam?
well, brittany and i had been talking about doing an amazing trip for quite some time. we threw names out there like belize, south africa, india, istanbul, new zealand, and for some reason we just kept coming back to vietnam. we'd look at other flights, but secretly we'd both be google imaging vietnam for hours on end at work, and one day we both admitted it to each other and it was like it all CLICKED. the stars aligned, and it all came together before we knew it. it met all the requirements: a beach, new culture, indigenous people, somewhere we'd never been.

2. why brittany and kate?
because they're amazing!! britt and i had talked about going somewhere for a while (i was turning 25, she turned 30, celebrating 1 year of her divorce, lots of stuff). kate, on the other hand, i knew would be up for anything any time (background: we met in ECUADOR on trips we had planned to go on by ourselves two years prior, we're both adventurous only children, who have the no-one-can-stop-me attitude), so i told her we were going, and she didn't even think twice about it. we bought our tickets the next day!


3. where in vietnam did you go?
unfortunately we only had the pleasure of exploring the northern part. someday i'll go back and do the middle and southern parts of vietnam! and go see thailand, and ankor wat, and the philippines, and everywhere else in south east asia that blows my mind! so the cities we spent the most time in were: hanoi, ha long bay, cat ba island, and sa'pa. absolutely incredible, and i'd recommend it to anyone!!

4. what did you do?
we showed up with no plan. the only thing we knew we had was two nights at the hilton the first two days there, and one night the last night there. all we had were some travel books we bought right before leaving, our passports, some ca$h, and a duffle bag/backpack each....as for what we did and what we learned, stay tuned for more sporadic posts in the next few weeks :)

world changers

a few people have wondered what exactly my program is. they've all asked what do you study in your courses? what will you be when you grow up? what can you even do with a degree like that?

this is the reason i am in the program.
the kids in the dominican republic changed me forever.
puerto plata, DR, 2006

well, i had a great post talking about how i felt about everyone in my class, how awesome they all are, and how i felt entirely inadequate. however, one of the girls in my cohort took the words right out of my mouth, so i'll just link to her post. seriously, these people are incredible, and i feel like i've hit the ground running. if i can only lift where i stand, i feel like i might make a small difference in the world. click here to see her thoughts.


...and to leave you with a little snippet of our passion, enthusiasm, and desire to change the world, we watched this in class on monday. let me tell ya, i was fighting holding back tears, and i know all of us in my program would do this, given the chance. i can't wait until some video of me SCHOOLING the UN is posted on youtube! 

love you all,

brookie

missing...

i have so many things to say lately...

i still have all of my thoughts on love that i never shared

and i learned so much on my travels to vietnam.

take this as an introduction to my future thoughts that are about to derail and unload.

i realized this last trip, that there were so many people in my life that i wished had seen something there with me. maybe someone i thought needed to see a deserted beach (that they thought i'd get kidnapped from), or someone needed to come see all the glorious silk scarves and gorgeous colors, or someone i KNEW would love the musical/dance production.

then, i came home and saw this quote, and knew it was meant to be. i juxtaposed my new favorite quote, with a picture that i took in vietnam looking out in to cat ba in a heart-shaped coral rock. funny how every place i fall in love with, there is something that is heart-shaped. maybe it should be a new project?? 

psychological anatomy

"never grow a wishbone

where your backbone ought to be"

-cynthia paddleford

This has recently become what I live by. I find myself often wishing I had said something to someone to express the way I really felt. I find myself wishing that I had had the guts to go somewhere, to do something, and more importantly to give someone a chance. I have now decided to grow a backbone (although there's really no such thing--it's lots of bones that make up a back, but that's just a formality).

(picture taken of dearest hannah in ecuador)

love these souls...

"You don't have a Soul. You are a Soul. You have a body."

-C. S. Lewis

some pictures are from my travels...some pictures are of family members.

either way, they're all beautiful and i love them to death.

xoxo

dear hope,

(image via michael totten...apparently these two words are incongruously seen all over the tel aviv)

dear hope,

i have frequently thought about you. i can often feel you at fleeting moments of my life, and can't help but think that you are so misunderstood. yet, you are always there for me when no other emotion can comfort me. you are the last thing i want to lose, nonetheless through your reputation of being someone who "has the deep eyes of someone well aquatinted sorrow, [and] the luminosity of recently being wet with tears," are the last i want to get to know. this beautiful story to me, describes you more than adequately. thank you for all you do.

lovingly,

brookie*

Ecuador!!

and now the moment i know you've all been waiting for:

a quick ecuador recapitulation.

it was, to say the least, amazing, and i am highly considering going with southern cross humanitarian to peru! everyone on the trip was so individual and beautiful in their own way. ecuador was so different than any other country i've been to. i absolutely fell in love with the natives, the weather, the little kids that we tortured with fluoride (they were absolutely ADORABLE!), the old women and men that spoke mostly quichua (wow! church was interesting to attend, and speaking with the moms telling them their kids couldn't eat or drink for 30 minutes was more difficult than i would have thought!), and the traditional clothing. everything was beautiful.

here is the summary written by our fearless leader, cameron:

Ecuador Expedition! by Cameron Smyres - Expedition Leader Arriving in Otavalo, we worked alongside Charity Anywhere and helped serve 1200 people providing medical and dental services. Many people from surrounding communities came to have teeth pulled, have their teeth treated with fluoride and have surgical removal of various skin disorders. Our group distributed donated items during dental clinics on teeth care, emphasizing the proper use of multivitamins and the basic hygiene kits we brought. We also had many donations of clothing and other basic items we were able to provide. Another facet of the initial service was to help build a home for an elderly woman in a nearby community and work in an orphanage in Quito run by the Davis Foundation which takes care of over 130 children. We scraped and painted two buildings that truly need it! While in Quito, we visited the Equator and tried our hands at balancing raw eggs on a nail. Interesting the things you can do on the center line at the middle of the world. Also, we watched the water drain different directions in buckets set on each side of the center line. When we headed out to the Galapagos we were set for a treat. On the island of Santa Cruz the group spent time enjoying the great climate and atmosphere of the Galapagos Islands. The first day was spent at Tortuga Bay hiking around to see the volcano and swim at the beach. The next day was the Tour to the Floreana where the group hiked and viewed caves and turtles. That afternoon was snorkeling with the sharks in the area where the sharks rest. The next day, on the Bay Tour the group visited the Sea Lion area and swam within feet of the playful groups of sea lions and swam into the center of large schools of fish. Our whole expedition fell in love with the beauty of Ecuador - the land and especially the people.

Video with pictures soon to come....be excited