Testicles, Ghosts, and the Viet Cong

Of the three readings we did this week, I thought When Heaven and Earth Changed Places was the most interesting. I had no idea that locals, including young girls, helped the Viet Cong during the Vietnam war. Her reasoning made sense though. If the Viet Cong treated me better than the invading army (who had arrested me) I would probably help them too. I'd be interested to read the rest of the memoir to find out how she ended up marrying an American when she spent the war helping the Viet Cong. I'm also slightly annoyed with the editor for ending the passage on such a cliffhanger.

Unlike the other 2 readings, Hayslip did not have any issues with her mother or with her identity. Nationalism, which was touched upon in Gifts of Passage, does appear. There are issues with gender roles, like Hayslip not obeying her father, but she is honored as a hero by the Viet Cong, which surprised me because I do not consider mid 20th century Vietnam to be a place where women have particularly high standing. I did not think her heroism would be recognized. The whole situation is almost inconceivable. I cannot imagine living in a place where girls are thrown in jail for hiding in a trench and then tortured brutally. This was not that long ago either. I have not learned that much about the Vietnam War in my history classes because we usually only make it to WWII or so. We briefly talked about it in 11th grade and I did my research paper on war protesters, but I do not know much about the actual war, which is a shame because there are so many parallels with it and Iraq. But I digress.

I enjoyed Gifts of Passage too. It was sad to read about the Indian kids having their names changed, being forced to sit in the back, and then told that they are cheaters. I have never experienced any sort of discrimination, as a white girl who grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia. The desire to be like everyone else that Rau's sister has is much more universal. No one wants to stand out for having the wrong backpack or sneakers or lunch food. I liked Rau's storytelling style, and (I'm conscious of my fanboys now) her descriptions were really nice. I had a tougher time with Meatless Days. I just did not get as 'into it' as the other two readings. I can understand the horror at discovering that your mother lied to you and the question of what else one has been lied to about. Perhaps I cannot connect to the passage as well because the only food my mom would cook relating to our ethnicity would be lasagna or corn beef. And while I have eaten a few things that are slightly out of the ordinary- shark or roe/shad roe (which I like a lot), I have not been deceived about these things. It was harder for me to find a central theme in Meatless Days, and, while nitpicky as this may be, I don't like that the story behind the title was so brief. I thought there would be a bigger story regarding meatless days. Perhaps I will understand her issues with her motherland if I end up living abroad later in life.

Overall, the passages were interesting to read, even if I could not identify with some of the issues going on. Real quick about my week before I post this: This has been a pretty good week,, despite midterms and all that not so fun stuff. Grey's Anatomy wasn't on which was sad. The weather is beautiful today. I love spring. It's totally my favorite season. My birthday is in exactly 2 1/2 months. It's super weird that I'm turning 19. That seems so old. I'm excited to go home for Spring Break and see everyone and not have to wake up at 7:30. I'm getting my hair cut too, and that is long over due. Okay, that covers it well enough. Until next week....

Lindsay!