Background: Ivana is a 19-year old student at USC, studying Public Policy and Diplomacy. She is from Ohio and moved to Los Angeles when she started USC as a freshman.

Main piece:

So what do you usually do when you’re sick?

Ivana: “My mom always makes me this herbal tea mixture drink… I don’t really know how to describe it. It’s made of ginger and then she adds like oranges and honey and honestly I don’t know how she does it but it tastes pretty good surprisingly and soothes my throat a lot. She also makes me handmade pho which is THE BEST I’m tellin’ ya, my mom makes a hearty bowl of pho and my sickness just goes away.”

Where did your mother learn this from?

Ivana: “I don’t really know, I’m assuming she learned it from her mother or something.”

Does it work?

Stella: “Always.”

Performance Context: I interviewed the informant here at USC because she is my roommate. We were talking about Pho and how every culture has some sort of “soul food” so she started talking about her mom’s homemade Pho.

My Thoughts: this definitely made me think of my own childhood and how my mom treats my sicknesses. There’s nothing quite like a mom’s homemade, piping hot bowl of soup or cup of tea.