I'm here in South Africa!

Hello, everybody!
Just wanted you all to see a bit of what I am doing while I am out here, and share this fairytale I am living with you.

I've got pictures! Click here for 44 pictures.

I've got audio! Please click the link below to hear a recorded phone call to my parents the other day. It's only 8 minutes long--and my Mom added pictures, but there is so much more to tell. Click the link to view the video. It's my first podcast. http://ia310141.us.archive.org/2/items/Jaaye/JaayePodcast1.mp4

For those of you without high speed Internet, here is a brief summary: Where I live is very luxurious. The bathroom floors are marble and they are heated! It's crazy. Outside my window is the Atlantic Ocean off the southernmost tip of Africa. There are yachts and there is a balcony. The area is inhabited by rich people, mostly white, who enjoy the mild climate and drive Bentley coupes, Ferraris and the like.

I have already visited Guguletu, the shantytown near Capetown--and while there is a lot of poverty there, I have seen Mercedes and BMW's. Some people have regular homes with running water and electricity and bad TV which plays reruns of Dallas. Something about it reminded me of Crenshaw Blvd in Los Angeles.

We had the best food at a place called Mzoli's which has grilled meat. Mzoli's BBQ sauce is some of the best in the world, right up there with Dad's. The people there may be poor but they are proud and they are not walking around like zombies. They know how to have a good time.

I almost got hit by a car, because they drive on the other side of the road. When there is traffic it is easy to remember but I forget when the road is clear. You better believe I am looking both ways now.

Soon I am going to go to a Kanye West Concert in Capetown then we go on Safari. We also will go to Durban during our week off.

My classes at the University of Western Cape are taught by interesting professors. One is a man who is blind and hard of hearing, a former justice on their Supreme Court. The students are from all over the world, but many are South African coloreds and Blacks.

When they party, the colored like the same hip hop we do but the blacks party to their own music and I have fun at both kinds of clubs.

I feel like I am at home, because I am enjoying Africa. The African students joke with us saying, "So you are African American? Which part of Africa are you from?" you've got to stop and think.

There is so much more to tell, but I just want to thank all of you for helping me to get here and experience this. It is at the right time in my life. Capetown is a great place--and I definitely plan to come back...on my own dime, of course.

Because of our challenges with the Internet here, I have not yet sent photos, but my Mom found some on the 'net. Some of the pictures in the video are are from www.PrintsByAngela.com This photographer has recently relocated to Africa and her native photography is great. Please visit her website to see what I mean.

Thanks for your gifts and prayers. The list has grown! Please scroll below to my previous post for the beginning of the list. In the meantime, I would like to thank the following who came to my send off and contributed to my travel fund: Mama Mina, I can honestly say, you invested wisely. I know I thanked you below but your generous donation really kicked it all off, so THANK YOU! Thank you so very much James Silcott, who is a large part of my great Howard U. experience. Whenever he comes to Howard for his trustee duties, he always includes me in the festivities or his lectures. I appreciate that.

Also, thank you Aunt Joanne for allowing us your place to gather. I hope you know how much that means to me. Grandmother, Adrienee and Merritt, thanks for your support. Paul Jr. (Pablo) and Tyler, thank you for coming and your gifts. Kofi, the Rand you brought me that day sustained me in my early days in Capetown when my ATM card would not work. Thank you. Attorney Willoughby and his beautiful wife, thank you too. We got through the campaign and I think it was an excellent experience. Thanks to Kathy and Karlyn, and my crew Jason, Juan and everybody. It was great to see Stephana and all her girls Regan, Kristin, Brooklyn and Jade (thanks for the gift!). Thanks to Claudine Mitchell Lee and congratulations on your wedding! Thanks to Tianna and Ariana and the boys for coming and helping. Please keep Tianna in your prayers as she recently lost her fiancee, Walter Carr, when he collapsed due to an enlarged heart in July 4. I love you T. They got to meet cousins Patrice and Lavonne from the Lynn side so in the photo gallery you will see the one picture I have of me and my Persons and Lynns together.

Thanks Aunt Paulette! Got your card and bookmark. Love you! If I missed you, please forgive me, then remind me and I will upload becuase I want the world to know.

In fact if you would like to see everybody's picture, click http://theprperson.smugmug.com/gallery/1651364 or paste it to your browser.

I get back July 23 then head back to my final year of Law School after that. I hope to see you all before then!

Love and Appreciation,
Jaaye

24 Days to Go! And THANK YOU so much!

Sent on Malcolm X's Birthday Weekend...Remember!

NOTE: Save the Date for June 10. Details below.

Hello and THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH! Whether you have contributed donations, advice or blessings--or all of the above--I want to thank you!

With slightly less then a month to go, the excitement and nerves are building, and we are extremely close to reaching our goal! Due to your donations, I was able to get the plane ticket, tuition, room and board all paid up.

Special thanks to my Maternal Grandmother, Wilhelmina Person,VA, my cousins Johnnie and Laurie Lynn, MD, my brother Ayo, DC, who is just back from Turkmenistan and is on his way to Belgium at the end of the month; Uncle Paul Lynn, my Grandfather's Brother; his daughter Kathy Jones, US Navy; My paternal grandmother Adele Mathias, My Aunt Joanne Hollis, and Aunt Adrienne Lynn; my cousin Rhonda Harrison, VA, (congratulations to her son Jose for graduating from North Carolina A & T); my Mom's Dear Friends Claudine Mitchell, Jacquie Stephens, KJLH (and her daughter Steja), and Theresa Price, Black College Expo (I attended the first expo and met the Hampton recruiter there.) Also, Mom and Dad have contributed in a big way. Thank you all. If I forgot anyone, PLEASE charge it to my head and not my heart. I will fix it as soon as you let me know!

Each time I received your donations, I was blown away by your generosity and my spirits were lifted. I know when I go, I take you all with me, and I take comfort in that fact. Much thanks to the village.

Now, I am working to get the funds for food and extra activities such as trips, a safari, shark cage diving, etc... I plan on making the most out of the six weeks I will spend in South Africa and you all are making that plan a real possibility.

Please forgive the delay in my thank yous. I was swamped, working and in the middle of finals at the law school and hit the ground running when I got back to L.A. and have been working on this blog, but I was thinking about you.

To give you a quick update on me, I am interning at Willoughby & Associates where I am a Certified Law Student, which gives me limited capability to appear before judges under direct supervision of an attorney. I am also working on Atty. Anthony Willoughby's campaign (He's pictured at left) to be elected as the Assemblyman for the 48th Assembly District. Because we do a lot of criminal work, there is always excitement in the office. Also, it is great getting out in the community talking with folks. I am receiving great experience!

Remember to vote June 6!

Yesterday, I spent the day in Federal Criminal court and I must say that this profession I am getting into is not a joke at all. We had to go through two security check points before we entered the court room. Our office is involved in some serious work.

As for my trip, I have been given a special honor: My grandfather, Eddie Lynn, Sr. passed away the morning of my undergrad graduation from Hampton. For the last two years, his urn has been on my parents' mantel in the living room. Well, my father and his sisters, Aunt Adrienne and Joanne, and brother Mark, have asked me to take my Grandfather with me to spread his ashes in Africa. As a noted musician (percussion) he loved to travel and has movie credits as an African drummer and dancer for movies including: The Thrill of Brazil - (1946) - Specialty Dancer, Take My Life - (1942) - Tuff Kid StinkyReform School - (1939) - Joe. Amazing what you can find on the Internet. I will be happy to free him from that mantel.

While I will miss the Lynn Family Reunion while I am away, I an honored to know that this personal act will be a reunion of the ages. Other than work, I just plan on seeing as much of family and friends as possible while here.

You're invited! June 10, 2 days before I leave, we are getting together at Aunt Joanne's house in Los Angeles at 3 PM for my send-off. Please email me for directions at holla@jaaye.com if you are in Los Angeles and can come. I would love to see you!

Once again, thank you all who have helped in any way, shape or form and you all will surely hear from me again before I leave.

With Love and MANY Thanks,

Jaaye Person-Lynn

My first blog: I'm South Africa Bound!

Hello--

This is my first blog, which I thought I would create so you can be updated on my next venture:

Next Stop: South Africa!

Here's a question for you: if you knew a hard working law student whose dream it was to go to Africa, would you help him?

Well, that young man is me, and I am writing you because in June, I will be attending Howard University School of Law's Summer Study in South Africa Program, a six-week study abroad program in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. I am very excited because I have never traveled outside of the United States, (except once when I went to the UN in New York.) This will be a great opportunity for me --much more than a study abroad program, since I have always dreamed of going to Africa and meeting the people and experiencing the culture. This program will afford me that opportunity.

I plan to get the most out of this experience and that is why I need your support.

The total cost of the trip will be $8,000. I know it is very expensive, but law school credits are nearly $1000 a credit and I will be receiving six. In addition, about $1,800 of that will be the plane ticket alone. The $8000 will cover my travel, lodging, food, classes, school supplies and extra curricular activities.

This will be my last opportunity to attend a program like this. I am 23 years old and have been in school for over 20 straight years. This is my last summer as a student. Next summer I will be studying for the Bar, and for many summers after that I will be practicing law. I have worked hard for the last 20 years as a student and this would be the perfect way to end my student summers. Of course, $8000 is quite a bit of money, but I have been saving as much as possible, I am applying for scholarships and loans, and I will be working as much as I can before I go. I am working hard to raise as much money on my own as I can.

Of course, I am not very big on asking for money, and you have always been supportive of me, but this trip is one that I have to take and I am asking for your help. Any support you can mail me will be greatly appreciated and no amount is too small. Certainly, no amount is too large either. If you can help me get to South Africa please do. I will acknowledge you on my website. If not, I will still love you the same. Thank You!

For details about the program, visit: http://www.law.howard.edu/527

With hope,

Jaaye Person-Lynn

My mailing address (I will be in L.A. from May 1-June 12 when I leave for Africa):
Jaaye Person-Lynn
PO Box 2946Inglewood, CA 90305

(323) 497-0086holla@jaaye.com or mrwstchstr@aol.com

My website: http://www.jaaye.com

Please make checks payable to: Jaaye Person-Lynn or you can
donate now with your credit card or Bank ATM card. It will go to my Mom's PayPal account since hers is already set up: Isidra Person-Lynn
Email: isidra@prperson.com
Please, click to donate:

Please help a traveler out: What you can do:
* Pray for me.
TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! FEE DEADLINES:
1. A registration fee of $300 is due two weeks following your acceptance into the program. The fee will reserve your place and accommodation in the program and a dormitory room. (Paid)
2. A second amount of $600 is due by April 1, 2006. (Paid)
3. The balance of $3,050.00 is due by May 1, 2006.

ADDITIONAL ESTIMATED EXPENSES: Air Fare: $1700 (paid), Meals: $ 850, Miscellaneous Expenses: $ 650, Total: $3100

Thank you for reading thus far. I will keep you updated of my travels with this blog. Again, whatever you can do, I will appreciate it!