So, they were not kidding about the rainy season – just about everyday there are semi-insane thunderstorms, some might even call them monsoon-ish. To be sure, I will have to wikipedia "monsoon" to see if these meet the definition, but I'm pretty sure they qualify. It was kind of amazing to be outdoors in the middle of them all the time - I like it (especially b/c my tent stayed pretty dry so I knew I was safe inside). The one problem with the thunderstorms, though, is the amount of monster snails that come out after the rain. I smashed my first one this week in the dark (accidentally, of course, I don't hold snail grudges).....I think it's a right of passage here or something, b/c everyone seems to have done it at some point. I'm not proud of it, in fact, there was some screaming (but luckily for me the children don't understand English so they interpreted the swearing and jumping around as some funny American game). I've been assured that it was indeed the snail's time and that he has been reincarnated to a better life of understanding. Maybe as a foot.
I am proud to say that we introduced Vietnam to kickball this week. We played a game with just the college staff and it was by far one of the funniest things I've experienced so far in my time here. I think we got the general jist across – though occasionally there were 3 people on a base at the same time or, to avoid being tagged out, some of them just skipped a base or took off running into the outfield whenever they felt like it…..but I think we can go ahead and call it a successful lesson in cross-cultural immersion.
This week went very fast – and amazingly my time in Vietnam is just about coming to an end – I leave for Cambodia next Sunday and am on “vacation” this week! My friend Ryan and I will be traveling through the Mekong Delta this week to visit some floating markets and rice paddies, and I am actually typing this from my own private beach bungalow right on the ocean on an island called Phu Quoc off the coast between Vietnam and Cambodia. I decided to splurge and upgrade to the full bungalow rather than just a regular garden view room…$26 a night. I know, I know- quit blowing all your dong in one place, Ann.A few more Vietnamese situations to shed some light on:
It gets dark here every night at 6pm – I forgot that we’re so close to the equator so the sunlight situation is pretty much the same all year round. I think being so close to the equator has also thrown off my gravitational pull – I’ve never fallen down and injured myself so much within such a short span of time! I’ve gained a reputation for being the super-clumsy American and have required more medical attention than the children the last few weeks. Luckily I’ve tended to find jobs where there are plenty of doctors around to fix me. And laugh at me.
Speaking of laughing at me, I forget that maybe it is not that common in the areas I’ve been in to see Westerners – so sometimes being the only white person walking around makes me a spectacle. I was stopped this week by a group of teenagers who were giggling and pointing and yelling out “hello!” over and over along with other random English words they knew. I waved and made the peace sign (they love that) and then they giggled and pointed more – and then they all came running over to take group pictures with me. It was funny, and bizarre, I sort of felt like a circus act. I’m imagining the caption under their facebook posts of my picture now – “white person! get her!”
The tooth fairy doesn’t exist in Vietnam. Some of the kids lost a couple of teeth this week, and rather than putting their teeth under their pillow, they throw them over the roof. I’ve been told that by throwing their teeth up to the sky, it will help their new adult teeth grow in from below. I think throwing anything over the roof is a tradition that I can get on board with.
There are many different kinds of lizards here. Little squirmy geckos and biggish velociraptor-looking ones that show no fear. I came out of my tent one morning and there was one waiting for me on the platform and we had a face-off. They are crazy looking- they run through the grass on their back two feet and you can see their heads and tails up above the grass! I’m reminded of the Jurassic Park scene where that English raptor-hunter guy sees the one velociraptor and yells “SHOOT…HER!” I yell the same thing every time I see one, but no one seems to do anything about them.At camp the children have tried to teach me vietnamese every day. When I say something correctly the whole place starts cheering- I feel so proud. Sometimes the kids speak to me in Vietnamese and I respond to them in English and we stare at each other and laugh because - what did you say? I guess we’ll never know. And it doesn’t really matter anyway, because friendship transcends language barriers. Also I just usually start counting to 10 in Vietnamese and it distracts them and makes them think I’m interesting. So I think it’s a safe bet from here on out that when people speak to me in Vietnamese, I will just respond by counting to 10 and walk away leaving them feeling very impressed by the mysterious white girl.
Hammocks – everyone loves their hammocks! You can string these babies up anywhere you want and just hang out all day long, everyday. I mean, anywhere – on busy street corners between sign posts, between your motorbike and a random food cart on the sidewalk, even under the back of your semi-truck parked on the side of the highway. Don’t get me wrong, I like the theory of just whipping out your hammock and taking a break to relax for a bit anytime you like, but also- don’t you have somewhere to be?
A couple new words:
“Thank you” – cam on
“You’re welcome” – come qua chi
“Good” (as in “delicious”) – nong
“Good” (as in “good job”) – zoi qua
“I don’t understand” – give confused look and say “ehhhhh……” then count to 10 in Vietnamese and walk away
This weekend we had some time to explore Ho Chi Minh City a little more – it was nice to get a little time to tour the city. Our friend Tuyet took us to the markets to bargain for everything….those Vietnamese sure drive a hard bargain! I love the bargaining and the storming off when they don’t give me the price I want, then them yelling after me with a lower price, and then my immediate walking back and “giving in” to their prices acting like it’s still too much to pay. (i.e. buying a purse for $3 instead of $2 – sometimes you just have to take a stand) We got some really nice suits and silk dresses made too, and then Tuyet took us to the local bar/restaurant scene so we got to experience the non-touristy places of the city. We hit up an awesome jazz bar and flamenco music club – so great!
While we’re here I definitely want to take in as much history as I can – so we went to the War Remnants Museum which is a museum created/run by the Vietnamese government and has lots of old war memorabilia and pictures/articles/artifacts from the war. I went in knowing that the museum itself would be a bit propagandist in terms of the perspective on the war, but I think I wasn’t prepared for how upsetting it would be. Everything was geared to the “war against America” and how America destroyed Vietnam and its people and how the rest of the whole world supported Vietnam. Obviously, being run by the Vietnamese government I know they have their story to tell…..but I found myself very conflicted being in there, seeing as how my dad flew helicopters (Huey helicopters- the pic below) in the war, and I am very proud of that. I am glad I went, but I don’t want to go back.
(and on a side note- the Vietnamese people I know have assured me that they don’t hate Americans! I hope I’m being a good representative of America in case I ever encounter someone who doesn’t share that opinion.)
Okay, well I have a long day of relaxing on the beach and hiking to a waterfall and riding a motorbike and eating seafood and drinking wine to attend to now. Oh happy day!
No comments:
Post a Comment