Monday, July 07, 2003
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
June 6 or 7 (not sure - International Dateline)
Over the Pacific past Japan
We just took off from the airport in Taipei. This was the first time that I've worn a SARS mask. They handed out surgeon's masks and antibacterial cleaner to everyone on the plane. I've also had to fill out several SARS surveys ("Do you have a fever? Are you coughing") for Vietnam and Taiwan. Only a few people were wearing SARS masks in the Saigon airport, but tons of people were wearing them in Taiwan.
To recap the last couple days, I spent some time with Thu and her Bulgarian friend from last semester, Eugenia. Eugenia's staying at Thu's house, and in Vietnam if you have foreigners staying at your house who are not registered with the police, you must pay a $200 fine. Or you can pay $20 to the guy who comes around and checks so that he will go away. Molly's boyfriend pays a similar individual 50,000 dong a month to overlook the fact that he doesn't have a permit to be in the city. Eugenia's here on a tourist visa, and technically tourists have to live in hotels. At first the police were putting up a huge fight about it. They spent an afternoon in bureaucratic hassles until they found someone who could fix the situation. Being a policeman in Vietnam is quite lucrative.
That evening, I hung out with Phuong and Phuong in Molly's room, just talking and hanging out. It was fun; it would have been sadder but I am in major denial. I am so happy in Ho Chi Minh City, hanging out with Molly and Sarah and Thu and Phuong.
I've spent all morning dealing with ISP printing and binding issues. Computers love to revolt when you have more important things to do. My paper is called "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers: my experiences studying theater in Ho Chi Minh City" It's an overview of the major types of theater, as well as descriptions of my experiences. It's fun. I'll post it online sometime.
June 5 we had our ISP presentations. This is supposed to be when SIT students come in from all over the country and tell their experiences to each other. My audience consisted of Molly, the SIT program staff, Thu, and Eugenia. Sarah had to leave to catch a plane right after her presentation, and I didn't get to say a proper good-bye to her. Just a hand-squeeze. I'm mentioned in her paper as the following: "The nuns [Buddhist nuns who practice traditional medicine] told me that domestic abuse is a major problem. They told me they advise the women to speak softly and kindly to their husbands and try to work things out, that divorce will cause more pain and won't solve anything. When I mentioned this to an American friend, she was furious. "How do they know? They've never been married...." Yeah that was me. I'm really not going to miss that aspect of Vietnamese culture. Although I think American women as treated as sort of a third gender - we're not men, obviously, but we're people who have different expectations of how we will be treated.
So I gave my presentation, and then we had a re-adjustment talk with Stu. He gave us the letters we wrote to ourselves at the beginning of the semester. I sounded just like the backpackers I detest. "So many things are strange to me - the cyclos and smog masks and motorbikes." Now I have regular xe om drivers who know me, and I know the city.
I went out with my digital camera on my last afternoon. I took pictures of Dai Ket and my neighborhood and wandered downtown. I ended up on the roof of the Caravelle, which is a great place to see the city.
We had a dinner with all the regular SIT program staff, and the Vietnamese students who hang out with us. A random assortment of other people - the Vietnamese teacher I had for 2 days, Dr Lich from the university. Beforehand, I went out for coffee with Phuong and Molly. Phuong asked what kind of coffee I was drinking and then said something quickly to the waitress. She returned with a bag of coffee for me - a present from Phuong. Phuong also gave me 3 bracelets and a star-shaped CD for luck. Ug! I'm going to miss her. Then Molly and I tried to go to Sheridan's for drinks, but it closed just as we got there and we went to the Caravelle instead. Only one drink, they are stupidly high priced, and we sat looking down at the city.
Then we went home and I pretty much stayed awake for most of the night, until Crytal arrived from her mom's hometown in the south-central part of the country. So we talked and I ended up getting 2 hours of sleep. I got up the next morning and got a Dai Ket bill that I didn't have the cash to pay, so I had to make an emergency run with Thu and her motorbike to th eATM. Then I had to say a tearful good-bye to Phuong, and Crystal, Molly, Thu, Tang, and Stu took me to the airport. Thu brought me some of the candy she always gave me on field trips. It was horrible saying good-bye to everyone.
We got to Singapore (no one wanted a photo with me this time) and I heard a boarding call for HCMC. I was so tempted to run over the the counter and spent the rest of my money on going back there. I have been such amazing people and made such great friends. I keep joking with people that I will go work in Kich noi and play the parts they sometimes have for a French or Russian girl. Why use someone with painted-on European features when you can have the real thing. It's a pipe dream, I know. I love theater in VN; there's so much comradery and people take themselves less seriously. It's the way to should be. Hanging out with and talking to artists is making me realize how much I miss that myself. It's forcing me to re-examine my priorities...again. I guess that's study abroad for you.
Over the Pacific past Japan
We just took off from the airport in Taipei. This was the first time that I've worn a SARS mask. They handed out surgeon's masks and antibacterial cleaner to everyone on the plane. I've also had to fill out several SARS surveys ("Do you have a fever? Are you coughing") for Vietnam and Taiwan. Only a few people were wearing SARS masks in the Saigon airport, but tons of people were wearing them in Taiwan.
To recap the last couple days, I spent some time with Thu and her Bulgarian friend from last semester, Eugenia. Eugenia's staying at Thu's house, and in Vietnam if you have foreigners staying at your house who are not registered with the police, you must pay a $200 fine. Or you can pay $20 to the guy who comes around and checks so that he will go away. Molly's boyfriend pays a similar individual 50,000 dong a month to overlook the fact that he doesn't have a permit to be in the city. Eugenia's here on a tourist visa, and technically tourists have to live in hotels. At first the police were putting up a huge fight about it. They spent an afternoon in bureaucratic hassles until they found someone who could fix the situation. Being a policeman in Vietnam is quite lucrative.
That evening, I hung out with Phuong and Phuong in Molly's room, just talking and hanging out. It was fun; it would have been sadder but I am in major denial. I am so happy in Ho Chi Minh City, hanging out with Molly and Sarah and Thu and Phuong.
I've spent all morning dealing with ISP printing and binding issues. Computers love to revolt when you have more important things to do. My paper is called "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers: my experiences studying theater in Ho Chi Minh City" It's an overview of the major types of theater, as well as descriptions of my experiences. It's fun. I'll post it online sometime.
June 5 we had our ISP presentations. This is supposed to be when SIT students come in from all over the country and tell their experiences to each other. My audience consisted of Molly, the SIT program staff, Thu, and Eugenia. Sarah had to leave to catch a plane right after her presentation, and I didn't get to say a proper good-bye to her. Just a hand-squeeze. I'm mentioned in her paper as the following: "The nuns [Buddhist nuns who practice traditional medicine] told me that domestic abuse is a major problem. They told me they advise the women to speak softly and kindly to their husbands and try to work things out, that divorce will cause more pain and won't solve anything. When I mentioned this to an American friend, she was furious. "How do they know? They've never been married...." Yeah that was me. I'm really not going to miss that aspect of Vietnamese culture. Although I think American women as treated as sort of a third gender - we're not men, obviously, but we're people who have different expectations of how we will be treated.
So I gave my presentation, and then we had a re-adjustment talk with Stu. He gave us the letters we wrote to ourselves at the beginning of the semester. I sounded just like the backpackers I detest. "So many things are strange to me - the cyclos and smog masks and motorbikes." Now I have regular xe om drivers who know me, and I know the city.
I went out with my digital camera on my last afternoon. I took pictures of Dai Ket and my neighborhood and wandered downtown. I ended up on the roof of the Caravelle, which is a great place to see the city.
We had a dinner with all the regular SIT program staff, and the Vietnamese students who hang out with us. A random assortment of other people - the Vietnamese teacher I had for 2 days, Dr Lich from the university. Beforehand, I went out for coffee with Phuong and Molly. Phuong asked what kind of coffee I was drinking and then said something quickly to the waitress. She returned with a bag of coffee for me - a present from Phuong. Phuong also gave me 3 bracelets and a star-shaped CD for luck. Ug! I'm going to miss her. Then Molly and I tried to go to Sheridan's for drinks, but it closed just as we got there and we went to the Caravelle instead. Only one drink, they are stupidly high priced, and we sat looking down at the city.
Then we went home and I pretty much stayed awake for most of the night, until Crytal arrived from her mom's hometown in the south-central part of the country. So we talked and I ended up getting 2 hours of sleep. I got up the next morning and got a Dai Ket bill that I didn't have the cash to pay, so I had to make an emergency run with Thu and her motorbike to th eATM. Then I had to say a tearful good-bye to Phuong, and Crystal, Molly, Thu, Tang, and Stu took me to the airport. Thu brought me some of the candy she always gave me on field trips. It was horrible saying good-bye to everyone.
We got to Singapore (no one wanted a photo with me this time) and I heard a boarding call for HCMC. I was so tempted to run over the the counter and spent the rest of my money on going back there. I have been such amazing people and made such great friends. I keep joking with people that I will go work in Kich noi and play the parts they sometimes have for a French or Russian girl. Why use someone with painted-on European features when you can have the real thing. It's a pipe dream, I know. I love theater in VN; there's so much comradery and people take themselves less seriously. It's the way to should be. Hanging out with and talking to artists is making me realize how much I miss that myself. It's forcing me to re-examine my priorities...again. I guess that's study abroad for you.
June 6 Tay Son Nhat Airport
Saigon
Here I am, the end of the road at last, waiting for the plane to take me away. I've been counting down the hours since last night, when Molly and I sat on top of the Caravelle looking down at the city. It seemed the thing to do, but really there is no fitting way to leave. I don't want to go. Crystal got back in town last night at 5 am, and she asked me to change my ticket to stay another few days. But really another few days are useless. I really need another year or more. And now we're boarding. Here I go...
Saigon
Here I am, the end of the road at last, waiting for the plane to take me away. I've been counting down the hours since last night, when Molly and I sat on top of the Caravelle looking down at the city. It seemed the thing to do, but really there is no fitting way to leave. I don't want to go. Crystal got back in town last night at 5 am, and she asked me to change my ticket to stay another few days. But really another few days are useless. I really need another year or more. And now we're boarding. Here I go...
Wednesday, June 04, 2003
June 4
Randomness factor: 7 out of 10. So a file on which I saved about 1/4 of my paper refused to open. I had to get up early this morning to retype the whole thing. Then I've been having ISP copying/binding/not printing issues up the wall. Baaaaaaaaaaaaah.
Then I went to have sinh to with Thu and her friend, an SIT student from last semester who's here for the summer. She's from Bulgaria, and for some reason we got to talking about the cold war and I realized that I actually don't know all that much about it.
What are the chances I would be racking my brain for facts about the cold war on a day I thought I'd be worrying about files on Vietnamese theater? Here in my life, excellent.
Randomness factor: 7 out of 10. So a file on which I saved about 1/4 of my paper refused to open. I had to get up early this morning to retype the whole thing. Then I've been having ISP copying/binding/not printing issues up the wall. Baaaaaaaaaaaaah.
Then I went to have sinh to with Thu and her friend, an SIT student from last semester who's here for the summer. She's from Bulgaria, and for some reason we got to talking about the cold war and I realized that I actually don't know all that much about it.
What are the chances I would be racking my brain for facts about the cold war on a day I thought I'd be worrying about files on Vietnamese theater? Here in my life, excellent.
June 3
It's ISP writing season! Ah! Recently my life has been a mass of issues with files and such. Alas, not the best way to spend one's last days in Saigon. It still hasn't hit me that I am going home. Why would I? I already live here.
Last night I went out for coffee with male Thu, Trang, and Mrs. Canh. It was so great to see them again. Hopefully Trang will teach me to sing Cai Loung when I get back.
Last night I was up until 3, cursing, as I typed things out on Molly's computer. I ended up sleeping until 11 the next morning. When I woke up, I headed to VNN for some more typing. At this point, the paper is pretty decently written, it's just a matter of putting it together.
And what am I going to do without Thu as my righthand person? I realize in the states everyone can speak English, but it's so much more fun to have someone to hang out with!
On sunday Sarah and I hung out with Phoung, who is back from the north. She gave us bracelets. Ieeeeeee I will miss her too.
Today I realized my ISP presentation will be for an audience of Molly and Stu. How funny is that?
It's ISP writing season! Ah! Recently my life has been a mass of issues with files and such. Alas, not the best way to spend one's last days in Saigon. It still hasn't hit me that I am going home. Why would I? I already live here.
Last night I went out for coffee with male Thu, Trang, and Mrs. Canh. It was so great to see them again. Hopefully Trang will teach me to sing Cai Loung when I get back.
Last night I was up until 3, cursing, as I typed things out on Molly's computer. I ended up sleeping until 11 the next morning. When I woke up, I headed to VNN for some more typing. At this point, the paper is pretty decently written, it's just a matter of putting it together.
And what am I going to do without Thu as my righthand person? I realize in the states everyone can speak English, but it's so much more fun to have someone to hang out with!
On sunday Sarah and I hung out with Phoung, who is back from the north. She gave us bracelets. Ieeeeeee I will miss her too.
Today I realized my ISP presentation will be for an audience of Molly and Stu. How funny is that?
May 31
Last night, Thu and I went to see what I think is the last IDECAF play of my Vietnam career. It was really moving. In this play, Thanh Loc plays a man who was burned by fire. He's in love with a blind woman who's been abandoned by her birthmother as a baby. They plan to get married. However, one day her mother comes looking for her. He does what he can to keep them apart, believing she won't love him if she can see. The mother does come back and sort of tricks her into going to Japan to get her eyes fixed. He is devastated. The mother doesn't want her daughter to be with such an ugly man and tries to buy off Thanh Loc. We find out that the reason he is burned is he ran into a burning building to save the girl when they were children.
She spends a year in Japan, and the comes back and lives in the city with her mom. Thanh Loc watches her, and even goes to her house, but he won't speak so that she can't recognize him. When she goes to their hometown to find him, he pretends to be dead (makes a fake grave - it's theater) 15 years later, he's written a story about their lives and published it. She realizes he's not really dead and they reunite and it is GREAT!
Today I wrote a lot of my ISP, finishing the cai loung section and starting and finishing the Hat Boi section.
I have some clothes drying on the roof. It's the rainy season. It rained all day long. I'm beginning to question the wisdom in this. What happens is, it downpours, usually in the afternoon, but there are interludes when it is sunny. So I hang my clothes up at night, because it doesn't often rain then and I can take them down at 11 am before the rain starts. However, this system is useless if it just rains all day and all night. I got caught in a downpour on my way to dinner at the Bodhi Tree. The woman who owns it came and gave me a towel. She is so nice to me. They know me pretty well now; Hai, the 15 year old waiter, calls me "older sister". I hate that I have to say goodbye to the Bodhi Tree.
I bought one of the kids' painting for my room next year. Lovely!
I got an email from my mom saying that Elaina, one of my friends from high school, invited both of us to her wedding shower. I went down to Ben Thanh and bought her a Vietnamese tea service.
Also I am personally responsible for the extreme corruption of Nguyen Huynh Ngoc Thu. She was hanging out in my room the other day, and she found a Cosmo. One of the other Dai Ket guests had left it on the bookshelf, and I picked it up. She was very interested. This is not a country in which ideas about sex are exchanged frequently. This is a country in which girls my age ask if they can get pregnant from kissing. Thu's not that naive, Cosmo's still quite a bombshell. At least she didn't get the Australian edition was knocking around Dai Ket for awhile. ("Finding the right lesbian brothel for you: a user's guide")
Yesterday I asked what she's done with it. She said she'd finished it in one night and given it to her friend. I am such a bad influence!
Last night, Thu and I went to see what I think is the last IDECAF play of my Vietnam career. It was really moving. In this play, Thanh Loc plays a man who was burned by fire. He's in love with a blind woman who's been abandoned by her birthmother as a baby. They plan to get married. However, one day her mother comes looking for her. He does what he can to keep them apart, believing she won't love him if she can see. The mother does come back and sort of tricks her into going to Japan to get her eyes fixed. He is devastated. The mother doesn't want her daughter to be with such an ugly man and tries to buy off Thanh Loc. We find out that the reason he is burned is he ran into a burning building to save the girl when they were children.
She spends a year in Japan, and the comes back and lives in the city with her mom. Thanh Loc watches her, and even goes to her house, but he won't speak so that she can't recognize him. When she goes to their hometown to find him, he pretends to be dead (makes a fake grave - it's theater) 15 years later, he's written a story about their lives and published it. She realizes he's not really dead and they reunite and it is GREAT!
Today I wrote a lot of my ISP, finishing the cai loung section and starting and finishing the Hat Boi section.
I have some clothes drying on the roof. It's the rainy season. It rained all day long. I'm beginning to question the wisdom in this. What happens is, it downpours, usually in the afternoon, but there are interludes when it is sunny. So I hang my clothes up at night, because it doesn't often rain then and I can take them down at 11 am before the rain starts. However, this system is useless if it just rains all day and all night. I got caught in a downpour on my way to dinner at the Bodhi Tree. The woman who owns it came and gave me a towel. She is so nice to me. They know me pretty well now; Hai, the 15 year old waiter, calls me "older sister". I hate that I have to say goodbye to the Bodhi Tree.
I bought one of the kids' painting for my room next year. Lovely!
I got an email from my mom saying that Elaina, one of my friends from high school, invited both of us to her wedding shower. I went down to Ben Thanh and bought her a Vietnamese tea service.
Also I am personally responsible for the extreme corruption of Nguyen Huynh Ngoc Thu. She was hanging out in my room the other day, and she found a Cosmo. One of the other Dai Ket guests had left it on the bookshelf, and I picked it up. She was very interested. This is not a country in which ideas about sex are exchanged frequently. This is a country in which girls my age ask if they can get pregnant from kissing. Thu's not that naive, Cosmo's still quite a bombshell. At least she didn't get the Australian edition was knocking around Dai Ket for awhile. ("Finding the right lesbian brothel for you: a user's guide")
Yesterday I asked what she's done with it. She said she'd finished it in one night and given it to her friend. I am such a bad influence!
May 29 Saigon
The play last night was called "Beauty and the Mafia". It was a semi-comedy about a woman who is kept under house arrest by her husband. One day, he takes her on a boat. She jumps off during a storm and swims to shore. He thinks she's drowned. Her friends try to protect her, pretty hilariously, and she escapes. However, her husband begins to suspect she's alive, and he finds a letter from her in her friends' apartment. He then goes to her hometown and harasses her blind mother (played by Minh Hanh) She at first tries to evade him by dressing like a man, but then she decides to confront him. Her friends also arrive with guns, but theirs are fake. Hers isn't, and she shoots him. Then she calls the police and collapses. One nod to law and order.
Minh Hanh was really good, although she wasn't onstage much.
Today I got 5 pages done of my ISP - the introduction, methods, and limitations sections. Tomorrow is the cai loung part, which shouldn't be too bad.
The play last night was called "Beauty and the Mafia". It was a semi-comedy about a woman who is kept under house arrest by her husband. One day, he takes her on a boat. She jumps off during a storm and swims to shore. He thinks she's drowned. Her friends try to protect her, pretty hilariously, and she escapes. However, her husband begins to suspect she's alive, and he finds a letter from her in her friends' apartment. He then goes to her hometown and harasses her blind mother (played by Minh Hanh) She at first tries to evade him by dressing like a man, but then she decides to confront him. Her friends also arrive with guns, but theirs are fake. Hers isn't, and she shoots him. Then she calls the police and collapses. One nod to law and order.
Minh Hanh was really good, although she wasn't onstage much.
Today I got 5 pages done of my ISP - the introduction, methods, and limitations sections. Tomorrow is the cai loung part, which shouldn't be too bad.
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
May 27
Last night I ate seafood. Clams and mussels and a billion other things. Bleh. It turns out there is an excellent reason why I've had a life-long aversion to seafood: it really doesn't agree with me. I won't be doing that again any time soon.
But I digress. The reason I was at the seafood establishment in the first place was Co Minh Hanh called Thu and asked us to meet her at a particular seafood restaurant that a friend of hers runs. So we went, and stayed for about 2 hours. She brought her son, who's a year older than I am. She kept trying to get him to speak English to me. His English is actually decent, but he was being shy. She was son funny about it. At first, she was sitting next to me, and he was diagonally across from me. Then she made him switch seats with her "so he could hear me better". Poor guy. That's almost as bad as my mother trying to set me up on a 'networking luncheon' with her co-worker's son. "He's a journalism major too!" I felt real sympathy for the guy. He seems nice enough. He's an IT major, so I talked to him about computers and Solitaire and things like that. However, as much as I'd like to have Minh Hanh as a mother-in-law, I don't think it's going to work out. I did talk to her a little, and I taught her some English theater words. Some evil person has taught her to say "I go crazy for ______" and now she says it all the time. Oh well.
She invited me to her office today, and then to a rehearsal. In her office I really just plays Spider Solitaire and looked at some pictures. Unknown to me, she's also arranged for Anh Tri, the English speaking fire actor, to stop by, but he cancelled and she was stuck with me.
Then she took me to a rehearsal of a play of hers. She introduced me to this guy who's apparently a huge movie star. Thu knew him, and he gave a decent interview. She also introduced me to the director of her show, and it turns out I kept him too long and the other actors were mad. Iee.
Last night I ate seafood. Clams and mussels and a billion other things. Bleh. It turns out there is an excellent reason why I've had a life-long aversion to seafood: it really doesn't agree with me. I won't be doing that again any time soon.
But I digress. The reason I was at the seafood establishment in the first place was Co Minh Hanh called Thu and asked us to meet her at a particular seafood restaurant that a friend of hers runs. So we went, and stayed for about 2 hours. She brought her son, who's a year older than I am. She kept trying to get him to speak English to me. His English is actually decent, but he was being shy. She was son funny about it. At first, she was sitting next to me, and he was diagonally across from me. Then she made him switch seats with her "so he could hear me better". Poor guy. That's almost as bad as my mother trying to set me up on a 'networking luncheon' with her co-worker's son. "He's a journalism major too!" I felt real sympathy for the guy. He seems nice enough. He's an IT major, so I talked to him about computers and Solitaire and things like that. However, as much as I'd like to have Minh Hanh as a mother-in-law, I don't think it's going to work out. I did talk to her a little, and I taught her some English theater words. Some evil person has taught her to say "I go crazy for ______" and now she says it all the time. Oh well.
She invited me to her office today, and then to a rehearsal. In her office I really just plays Spider Solitaire and looked at some pictures. Unknown to me, she's also arranged for Anh Tri, the English speaking fire actor, to stop by, but he cancelled and she was stuck with me.
Then she took me to a rehearsal of a play of hers. She introduced me to this guy who's apparently a huge movie star. Thu knew him, and he gave a decent interview. She also introduced me to the director of her show, and it turns out I kept him too long and the other actors were mad. Iee.
May 26
Last week, I gave Sarah some art supplies for the children's shelter. I'd brought them for my host siblings, but I didn't stay in their house long enough to give them to them. So I gave them to Sarah. A few days later, she told me she'd noticed that the artwork at the Bodhi Tree had changed. The Bodhi Tree is a vegetarian restaurant where we often eat. They sell art done by children at the shelter where shw works. She said their pictures had suddenly gotten more detailed, and some of them were now drawn with marker instead of in crayon. They used my art supplies. :) I went to the supermarket and bought them more.
Last week, I gave Sarah some art supplies for the children's shelter. I'd brought them for my host siblings, but I didn't stay in their house long enough to give them to them. So I gave them to Sarah. A few days later, she told me she'd noticed that the artwork at the Bodhi Tree had changed. The Bodhi Tree is a vegetarian restaurant where we often eat. They sell art done by children at the shelter where shw works. She said their pictures had suddenly gotten more detailed, and some of them were now drawn with marker instead of in crayon. They used my art supplies. :) I went to the supermarket and bought them more.
May 25
Today I was quite productive and I got my ISP journal in order. Last night Thu and I went to a play that had a bunch of hilariously sleazy people, including one of the actors I'd interviewed dressed in drag. He looks better in a dress than I do. Anyway, the servant of one of the sleazy people swindles them all and winds up with all of their money. It's delightful in a Chicago-esque way, until he announces at the end that he is actually a good guy and will give all the dirty money to charity. Bah.
Today I was quite productive and I got my ISP journal in order. Last night Thu and I went to a play that had a bunch of hilariously sleazy people, including one of the actors I'd interviewed dressed in drag. He looks better in a dress than I do. Anyway, the servant of one of the sleazy people swindles them all and winds up with all of their money. It's delightful in a Chicago-esque way, until he announces at the end that he is actually a good guy and will give all the dirty money to charity. Bah.
May 23
Later that night, I went with Thu to a play that was just hilarious. The main character was a boy who worked his way up into an aristocratic Hanoi family, basically by flattering the women. The play took play during the French domination and was mostly devoted to making fun of the generation that adopted really stylized Western clothes and manners. It was most excellent. The family has a grandfather who's sick. They're waiting for him to die so they can have an elaborate funeral and inherit things. They send the boy in to pretend to be a doctor, and somehow the old man thinks the boy's cured him and give him half his estate. He also winds up with the beautiful daughter. Go figure.
Later that night, I went with Thu to a play that was just hilarious. The main character was a boy who worked his way up into an aristocratic Hanoi family, basically by flattering the women. The play took play during the French domination and was mostly devoted to making fun of the generation that adopted really stylized Western clothes and manners. It was most excellent. The family has a grandfather who's sick. They're waiting for him to die so they can have an elaborate funeral and inherit things. They send the boy in to pretend to be a doctor, and somehow the old man thinks the boy's cured him and give him half his estate. He also winds up with the beautiful daughter. Go figure.
May 22 10:30 am
Saigon
My life just continues to get more and more surreal. Earlier this week I was struck with an attack of severe laziness, from which I am just starting to recover. It's terrible. It's forced me to drink coffee and go shopping instead of doing work. Life is tough.
On Tuesday, I went to the cafe where some of the Cai Loung students I've met work as singers. It was this place where you could drink overpriced drinks and listen to singers. They didn't sing Cai Loung songs, they sang regular pop songs. Vietnamese pop is every bit as full of complex ideas and searing insights as American pop, so it really didn't matter that I didn't understand the words. The singers were talented, although they didn't know what to make of the table of Americans.
There was a large Vietnamese-American guy in a Hawaiian shirt who told us we could go up and sing if we wanted, although I decided to spare the clientel that. The strange thing was, although this was a fairly nice club, in terms of decor and singers and prices, it wasn't in a nice neighborhood. It was on the Saigon River, kind of near Pham Ngo Lao. Across the street was a vegetarian restaurant where you could get dinner for only 2500 dong.
On Wednesday, I was supposed to go to a Cai Loung show. It was originally supposed to be on Monday, but Trang, one of the actresses, called and told me that it had been moved to Wednesday. When I showed up at the theater Wednesday, there was no one outside the building. (I later found out that they'd been waiting for me at the store nearby, I just went to the wrong place. Which makes me feel like life is slightly less random.)
Actually the only person I knew in the building was Co Minh Hanh, who was delighted that I'd come to visit her. She was rehearsing some actors for...the fire play. This is just following me everywhere. One of them spoke pretty good English and translated a lot. I asked about the Cai Loung shows, and she told me they're all currently touring in the provinces and that there wouldn't be any shows in Ho Chi Minh City for the next 2 weeks. Of course! But since Minh Hanh is my god, when I asked her about seeing Cai Loung, she wrote me a letter of introduction to a nearby theater on the back of her business card. She also invited me to a play she's in next week.
Also she's trying to set me up with Anh Tri, the guy she was directing who speaks English. He's 24 and very nice. She was saying to me in English. "He's very nice, and he can take you around and translate for you."Then to him in Vietnamese she said to him "This is Katie, she's 21 and NOT YET MARRIED." She also said something about boyfriends and girlfriends but my Vietnamese was too bad to understand. She also said she's going to have her 22 year old son call me. I tried to tell her I already have a boyfriend, but I don't think she understood. I have a feeling that if I were to spend a significant amount of time with her I would be married in no time. She is completely fabulous and gave a ride home.
Then because I unexpectedly had free time, I went to Sarah's English class at Thao Dao, the street boy's shelter. She wanted them to interview me in English (Hello. What is your name?") and we did a bit of that. Then we taught them some English animal names and played charades with them. We gave them some English animal names, and they went in front of the class and acted out that animal. It was by far the most fun language class that I've ever been to.
This morning, I got up early and went to the fire prevention thing that Minh Hanh invited me to. It was actually a huge exposition of fire equipment. I had NO idea what to do; I just wandered abour aimlessly for about an hour, looking at all the nifty silver fire suits. Finally, I ran into a policeman I'd met at Co Minh Hanh's office. He showed me a row of seats in front of a makeshift stage. I sat down and soon a presentation began. First, they gave awards to people who had worked for fire safety ( I think that's what they said) and then they had performances. It began with an interpretive dance about the origins of fire that was half ballet and half Hat Boi. In the beginning, the actors play primitive people who disvoer fire; then they switched over and portrayed modern people who were caught in a fire, which was represented by some ribbons that were stretched across the stage. Fortunately the interpretive dance fire department arrived and put out the fire with a hose, also represented by a ribbon.
Then my fire people came on. Their scene is about people who carelessly start a million fires. And then I went home.
Saigon
My life just continues to get more and more surreal. Earlier this week I was struck with an attack of severe laziness, from which I am just starting to recover. It's terrible. It's forced me to drink coffee and go shopping instead of doing work. Life is tough.
On Tuesday, I went to the cafe where some of the Cai Loung students I've met work as singers. It was this place where you could drink overpriced drinks and listen to singers. They didn't sing Cai Loung songs, they sang regular pop songs. Vietnamese pop is every bit as full of complex ideas and searing insights as American pop, so it really didn't matter that I didn't understand the words. The singers were talented, although they didn't know what to make of the table of Americans.
There was a large Vietnamese-American guy in a Hawaiian shirt who told us we could go up and sing if we wanted, although I decided to spare the clientel that. The strange thing was, although this was a fairly nice club, in terms of decor and singers and prices, it wasn't in a nice neighborhood. It was on the Saigon River, kind of near Pham Ngo Lao. Across the street was a vegetarian restaurant where you could get dinner for only 2500 dong.
On Wednesday, I was supposed to go to a Cai Loung show. It was originally supposed to be on Monday, but Trang, one of the actresses, called and told me that it had been moved to Wednesday. When I showed up at the theater Wednesday, there was no one outside the building. (I later found out that they'd been waiting for me at the store nearby, I just went to the wrong place. Which makes me feel like life is slightly less random.)
Actually the only person I knew in the building was Co Minh Hanh, who was delighted that I'd come to visit her. She was rehearsing some actors for...the fire play. This is just following me everywhere. One of them spoke pretty good English and translated a lot. I asked about the Cai Loung shows, and she told me they're all currently touring in the provinces and that there wouldn't be any shows in Ho Chi Minh City for the next 2 weeks. Of course! But since Minh Hanh is my god, when I asked her about seeing Cai Loung, she wrote me a letter of introduction to a nearby theater on the back of her business card. She also invited me to a play she's in next week.
Also she's trying to set me up with Anh Tri, the guy she was directing who speaks English. He's 24 and very nice. She was saying to me in English. "He's very nice, and he can take you around and translate for you."Then to him in Vietnamese she said to him "This is Katie, she's 21 and NOT YET MARRIED." She also said something about boyfriends and girlfriends but my Vietnamese was too bad to understand. She also said she's going to have her 22 year old son call me. I tried to tell her I already have a boyfriend, but I don't think she understood. I have a feeling that if I were to spend a significant amount of time with her I would be married in no time. She is completely fabulous and gave a ride home.
Then because I unexpectedly had free time, I went to Sarah's English class at Thao Dao, the street boy's shelter. She wanted them to interview me in English (Hello. What is your name?") and we did a bit of that. Then we taught them some English animal names and played charades with them. We gave them some English animal names, and they went in front of the class and acted out that animal. It was by far the most fun language class that I've ever been to.
This morning, I got up early and went to the fire prevention thing that Minh Hanh invited me to. It was actually a huge exposition of fire equipment. I had NO idea what to do; I just wandered abour aimlessly for about an hour, looking at all the nifty silver fire suits. Finally, I ran into a policeman I'd met at Co Minh Hanh's office. He showed me a row of seats in front of a makeshift stage. I sat down and soon a presentation began. First, they gave awards to people who had worked for fire safety ( I think that's what they said) and then they had performances. It began with an interpretive dance about the origins of fire that was half ballet and half Hat Boi. In the beginning, the actors play primitive people who disvoer fire; then they switched over and portrayed modern people who were caught in a fire, which was represented by some ribbons that were stretched across the stage. Fortunately the interpretive dance fire department arrived and put out the fire with a hose, also represented by a ribbon.
Then my fire people came on. Their scene is about people who carelessly start a million fires. And then I went home.
Friday, May 23, 2003
May 18 11 pm
I picked the wrong show to go to without a translator. So I went to this play whose name translates as something like 'Saving Face' It's based on a Moliere play but I can't imagine which one. It involves men dressed as giant butterflies and a sea captain. There were men in pig suits and an explosion of some kind. I think it involved water somehow. There were a few actors I knew. Oh and it started with the US airforce theme, although I really doubt anyone knew that.
Today I did not get out of bed until 3 pm. This is because I was suffering severely from the effects of my activities last night. It seems that there's an Irish pub in Saigon, and it is like something straight out of Dublin. I went there with Molly, her boyfriend, Nhat, and her brother, who was visiting from America. There were maps of Ireland and pictures of Irish heroes on the wall, and the crowd was decently Irish. One guy, I think he owned the place, would frequently orchestrate the chorus of drunks. "Let's have a famine song!" he'd say. "Let's have a rebel song!" Nothing like singing songs about throwing the Brits out of Ireland while sitting in the middle of Vietnam. Although at the time it didn't seem all that out of context.
The Danish man at the bar next to me said "I think you Irish only leave Ireland so you can sing sad songs about how you miss it."
At a certain point in the evening I was singing right along; later, I busted out a brogue for some reason. I stayed late talking to the bartender and his girlfriend, and I was actually the last person out of the bar. They got me a xe om home. It was good times.
Plus earlier that day I had a very enlightening interview with an actor. I will tell you about it when I get home.
I picked the wrong show to go to without a translator. So I went to this play whose name translates as something like 'Saving Face' It's based on a Moliere play but I can't imagine which one. It involves men dressed as giant butterflies and a sea captain. There were men in pig suits and an explosion of some kind. I think it involved water somehow. There were a few actors I knew. Oh and it started with the US airforce theme, although I really doubt anyone knew that.
Today I did not get out of bed until 3 pm. This is because I was suffering severely from the effects of my activities last night. It seems that there's an Irish pub in Saigon, and it is like something straight out of Dublin. I went there with Molly, her boyfriend, Nhat, and her brother, who was visiting from America. There were maps of Ireland and pictures of Irish heroes on the wall, and the crowd was decently Irish. One guy, I think he owned the place, would frequently orchestrate the chorus of drunks. "Let's have a famine song!" he'd say. "Let's have a rebel song!" Nothing like singing songs about throwing the Brits out of Ireland while sitting in the middle of Vietnam. Although at the time it didn't seem all that out of context.
The Danish man at the bar next to me said "I think you Irish only leave Ireland so you can sing sad songs about how you miss it."
At a certain point in the evening I was singing right along; later, I busted out a brogue for some reason. I stayed late talking to the bartender and his girlfriend, and I was actually the last person out of the bar. They got me a xe om home. It was good times.
Plus earlier that day I had a very enlightening interview with an actor. I will tell you about it when I get home.
May 16 10 pm
Saigon
So when I got to the theater at 9 am today, I discovered that a) No one was there and b) the rehearsal actually started at 2 pm the next day. Also the show that my advisor told me I should see tonight won't be showing anywhere in Ho Chi Minh City for the next few months. I think all that stepping on ants in my room is ruining my karma.
I actually did go to a spoken play tonight, although it was one we found at the lsat minute. The original one we planned to go to was cancelled; it was supposed to be held outside and it rained. So this play was mostly spoken, although there were songs that the actors lip synched. Really really melodramatic for no reason I can see.
Also I was on Vietnamese TV last night. There was a TV show on Co Minh Ngoc, my advisor, and a camera crew came to her class and shot footage on a day that I happened to be there. So I am famous.
Saigon
So when I got to the theater at 9 am today, I discovered that a) No one was there and b) the rehearsal actually started at 2 pm the next day. Also the show that my advisor told me I should see tonight won't be showing anywhere in Ho Chi Minh City for the next few months. I think all that stepping on ants in my room is ruining my karma.
I actually did go to a spoken play tonight, although it was one we found at the lsat minute. The original one we planned to go to was cancelled; it was supposed to be held outside and it rained. So this play was mostly spoken, although there were songs that the actors lip synched. Really really melodramatic for no reason I can see.
Also I was on Vietnamese TV last night. There was a TV show on Co Minh Ngoc, my advisor, and a camera crew came to her class and shot footage on a day that I happened to be there. So I am famous.
May 15 9 pm
Saigon
So yesterday I had the horrifying experience of calling a famous actor who I'd been told speaks English. Yup. Can we talk about how he doesn't speak a word of it and had no idea what I was saying. Mortifying. I nearly died.
Then that afternoon we three remaining SIT students had lunch with the SIT staff. It was the first time I'd seen them in 2 weeks. It was actually really cool to see them again, and we sort of just sat around talking and laughing for 2 hours.
Then this eveningI went out for coffee with Trang and Thu, two of the people from the cai loung company. They are completely awesome. I finally found out what Thu does - he's a critic. They took me to this place down the street that has a live band (piano/violin/viola) that you can make requests from. It was good.
This morning I actually had breakfast at the Continental. The food was ok, although nothing to write home about. The restaurant was entirely deserted except for us. The Contintental/Caravelle/Rex hotel district is pretty empty. It must be SARS. There were 6 staff members standing around, and as a result we were heavily waited upon. Which is a same, because I wished to steal the toothpick holder that had "Hotel Continental" written on it. Instead I had to settle for a toothpick.
Then at 2 I went to see my advisor with Thu (Translator Thu). She told me to go and see a rehearsal tomorrow and meet the actors, including the guy who most certainly doesn't speak English. I wonder what it will be like. No doubt it will not bear the slightest resemblance to my expectations.
Tonight also I went to see this Hat Boi play. Or rather part of a Hat Boi play, because before the performance they had an announcement saying they would perform excerpts, because some of the actors had been held up in traffic and could not be there.
Basically the story was about a king whose first concubine's father has betrayed the country. She wasn't in on it, but she helped destroy evidence. Like Richard Nixon. The old king's first concumbine, who still has a lot of power, wants the girl executed for the crime. The king is devastated by this, but there really isn't much he can do because a. she's guilty and b. he's a putz. So he does a little dance and signs her death warrant. This means her options are: being torn limb from limb by 5 galloping horses, dispatching herself with a knife, and hanging herself with a scarf. The couple is very sad and still very much in love. They do a sad dance where she entertains all of the neater possibilities (no horses) and eventually it ends when she hangs herself.
The thing about Har Boi is people are dramatic to the nth degree They don't just hang themselves, they do a 10 minute song and dance with scarves, knives, and poison first. They don't just sign their girlfriend's death warrant, they do a 5 minute dance with thei pen, lamenting that the pen must be used for such a purpose.
Also today I wen to Anh Hung's house and saw his son. SO CUTE!!
Saigon
So yesterday I had the horrifying experience of calling a famous actor who I'd been told speaks English. Yup. Can we talk about how he doesn't speak a word of it and had no idea what I was saying. Mortifying. I nearly died.
Then that afternoon we three remaining SIT students had lunch with the SIT staff. It was the first time I'd seen them in 2 weeks. It was actually really cool to see them again, and we sort of just sat around talking and laughing for 2 hours.
Then this eveningI went out for coffee with Trang and Thu, two of the people from the cai loung company. They are completely awesome. I finally found out what Thu does - he's a critic. They took me to this place down the street that has a live band (piano/violin/viola) that you can make requests from. It was good.
This morning I actually had breakfast at the Continental. The food was ok, although nothing to write home about. The restaurant was entirely deserted except for us. The Contintental/Caravelle/Rex hotel district is pretty empty. It must be SARS. There were 6 staff members standing around, and as a result we were heavily waited upon. Which is a same, because I wished to steal the toothpick holder that had "Hotel Continental" written on it. Instead I had to settle for a toothpick.
Then at 2 I went to see my advisor with Thu (Translator Thu). She told me to go and see a rehearsal tomorrow and meet the actors, including the guy who most certainly doesn't speak English. I wonder what it will be like. No doubt it will not bear the slightest resemblance to my expectations.
Tonight also I went to see this Hat Boi play. Or rather part of a Hat Boi play, because before the performance they had an announcement saying they would perform excerpts, because some of the actors had been held up in traffic and could not be there.
Basically the story was about a king whose first concubine's father has betrayed the country. She wasn't in on it, but she helped destroy evidence. Like Richard Nixon. The old king's first concumbine, who still has a lot of power, wants the girl executed for the crime. The king is devastated by this, but there really isn't much he can do because a. she's guilty and b. he's a putz. So he does a little dance and signs her death warrant. This means her options are: being torn limb from limb by 5 galloping horses, dispatching herself with a knife, and hanging herself with a scarf. The couple is very sad and still very much in love. They do a sad dance where she entertains all of the neater possibilities (no horses) and eventually it ends when she hangs herself.
The thing about Har Boi is people are dramatic to the nth degree They don't just hang themselves, they do a 10 minute song and dance with scarves, knives, and poison first. They don't just sign their girlfriend's death warrant, they do a 5 minute dance with thei pen, lamenting that the pen must be used for such a purpose.
Also today I wen to Anh Hung's house and saw his son. SO CUTE!!
May 13 10pm
Saigon
So yesterday, my afternoon interview was cancelled. I puttered around all day, going to visit Thu, going to the backpacker district with Sarah. I got souvenirs for Bozz which I will not list here. Well, all right, it was snake wine.
Yesterday, I called Co Minh Hanh, the person at the Cai Loung offices that I'd interviewed. She was very happy to hear from me and invited me to go somewhere with her that afternoon, but our collective Vietglish wasn't good enough for her to tell me where. No matter. So Thu, (not my translator, he's a guy from Cu Chi who works for the cai loung company in some capacity I haven't been able to determine), picked me up.
So we went to this building, which I later determined was the Communist Youth League building. There was a big auditorium with some policemen sitting in it. They took me backstage, where we saw Co Minh Hanh for a few seconds while she was busily powdering someone's face. I think the performers were theater students. She said to me, "The police, they have a little drama to stop fires" And then she sent us into the auditorium to watch.
And indeed they were little dramas to pervent fires. The actors acted out some unfortunate scenarios that might cause fires. Fire was usually represented by flashing red lights and panicked "Psycho" (the movie) music, although once they got a real flame onstage. In my favorite scene, fire was represented by a guy in a neon red suit who danced around and waved his arms like a fire. For some reason, he had on blue shoes. He signified the fire's destructive power by waving his hands up into the house where the fire started; destroying the roof by knocking off the roof's tiles. It was most excellent. Later, he got what was coming to him when the people who lived in the house appeared with a fire extinguisher, a fire blanket, and some water.
May 11 11 pm
Saigon
Wow I haven't been writing lately. To recap the past few days: yesterday I interviewed this Cai loung producer/director who is Thu's mom's friend. I actually did part of the interview in French, but then we switched to having Thu do Vietnamese-English translations because Thu's English could beat up my friend any day of the week.
I guess she's a good source of info - she's worked in the theater for many years and is a good source of info on various forms of theater, but ug. She just went on and on for 10 minutes when I hadn't even asked her a question, and...bah. I know it's ungrateful but blah.
Then at night Thu and I went to a Hat Boi performance called "The Human Fox" Well, it was kind of Hat Boi. Traditional Hat Boi comes from the old days; it contains a lot of Chinese and the actors sometimes communicate by gestures you're supposed to just understand (because, I suppose, if you were a classical Vietnamese person you would have learned them as a child). This particular play was done in modern language with modern costumes, but it was in the traditional style. It was about a Hat Boi actress who ran away and got involved in heroin and a bad man and that short of thing. Her Hat Boi friends try to bring her back, and they eventually succeed. Sorry that recap was utterly dreadful; it was actually a really well done play. Interestingly enough they used long stretches of ribbon to symbolize all sorts of thing - a lake, a doorway, etc. It was really innovative, and if I ever design a set I want to include it.
Today Phoung came to see me, early. I spent the whole day with her, going around her district. We went shopping at this place that was actually like an American shopping mall. It was so weird to be in a place like that again. I wonder what driving a car will be like.
Tonight I went to the Co-op mart (supermarket). I bought a big bag of groceries, so big I was having trouble carrying it. It was unimportant things - glue and scissors I needed for my project, fruit, some crackers. On the walk home, I passed this woman who was sleeping on the street. Not that that's an uncommon occurance. Lots of people do that in Saigon. They come in from the countryside, and they sell lottery tickets or beg or whatever they do, and they sleep outside because they are in the city illegally. Saigon is a significantly safer place to do that than, say New York. AsI was passing her and our eyes met. She looked longingly, she didn't actually ask me for anything. It was one of those moments when you randomly connect with someone. I had more in that bag than she had in the world. She had a sheet of some kind and a conical hat and her closes, as well as a small pack.
I wish I could say I stopped and gave her the whole bag, but I didn't know what to do and kept walking. When I got back to my room, I put all the food I had bought in my backpack to give to her. I also put $50 in an envelope. I don't know what I was thinking with that; it's about 2 months salary in the countryside. I only wanted to give her the money if I could do it in a way that she couldn't identify me, because I really can't do that for everyone. So I headed down the street to look for her. I ran into Molly on the way, and she came to. I walked all the way to the Co-op mart, but she was gone.
Saigon
Wow I haven't been writing lately. To recap the past few days: yesterday I interviewed this Cai loung producer/director who is Thu's mom's friend. I actually did part of the interview in French, but then we switched to having Thu do Vietnamese-English translations because Thu's English could beat up my friend any day of the week.
I guess she's a good source of info - she's worked in the theater for many years and is a good source of info on various forms of theater, but ug. She just went on and on for 10 minutes when I hadn't even asked her a question, and...bah. I know it's ungrateful but blah.
Then at night Thu and I went to a Hat Boi performance called "The Human Fox" Well, it was kind of Hat Boi. Traditional Hat Boi comes from the old days; it contains a lot of Chinese and the actors sometimes communicate by gestures you're supposed to just understand (because, I suppose, if you were a classical Vietnamese person you would have learned them as a child). This particular play was done in modern language with modern costumes, but it was in the traditional style. It was about a Hat Boi actress who ran away and got involved in heroin and a bad man and that short of thing. Her Hat Boi friends try to bring her back, and they eventually succeed. Sorry that recap was utterly dreadful; it was actually a really well done play. Interestingly enough they used long stretches of ribbon to symbolize all sorts of thing - a lake, a doorway, etc. It was really innovative, and if I ever design a set I want to include it.
Today Phoung came to see me, early. I spent the whole day with her, going around her district. We went shopping at this place that was actually like an American shopping mall. It was so weird to be in a place like that again. I wonder what driving a car will be like.
Tonight I went to the Co-op mart (supermarket). I bought a big bag of groceries, so big I was having trouble carrying it. It was unimportant things - glue and scissors I needed for my project, fruit, some crackers. On the walk home, I passed this woman who was sleeping on the street. Not that that's an uncommon occurance. Lots of people do that in Saigon. They come in from the countryside, and they sell lottery tickets or beg or whatever they do, and they sleep outside because they are in the city illegally. Saigon is a significantly safer place to do that than, say New York. AsI was passing her and our eyes met. She looked longingly, she didn't actually ask me for anything. It was one of those moments when you randomly connect with someone. I had more in that bag than she had in the world. She had a sheet of some kind and a conical hat and her closes, as well as a small pack.
I wish I could say I stopped and gave her the whole bag, but I didn't know what to do and kept walking. When I got back to my room, I put all the food I had bought in my backpack to give to her. I also put $50 in an envelope. I don't know what I was thinking with that; it's about 2 months salary in the countryside. I only wanted to give her the money if I could do it in a way that she couldn't identify me, because I really can't do that for everyone. So I headed down the street to look for her. I ran into Molly on the way, and she came to. I walked all the way to the Co-op mart, but she was gone.
Saturday, May 10, 2003
May 9 10 pm
Saigon
So today I behaved myself. I spent the morning reading about water puppets and cai luong, and that sort of thing. Thu picked me up at 2 and took me to see water puppets at the cultural museum. The was show actually really small, sort of more of a display than a show. They just brought out different kinds of puppets, and a tape recorded voice explained in English what they were.
My favorite aspect of the experience what the sign that listed the ticket prices. In Vietnamese, it said "Ve - sau nghin" tickets - six thousand dong, with the word "six thousand" written out. The only part of the sign in English said "Foreigner - 1 USD" That's more than twice as much as 6,000 dong. I thought that was cute. So when I bought the tickets, I handed the lady a dollar and 6,000 dong and said in Vietnamese, "Here's my dollar, but my friend is Vietnamese" They were ok with that.
I did get some nice pictures, and I got to talk to the puppeteers. They said water puppetry is mostly in the north; here it just in that on eplace. The only other people at the show were American tourists. I don't know if they knew what to make of me and Thu.
Saigon
So today I behaved myself. I spent the morning reading about water puppets and cai luong, and that sort of thing. Thu picked me up at 2 and took me to see water puppets at the cultural museum. The was show actually really small, sort of more of a display than a show. They just brought out different kinds of puppets, and a tape recorded voice explained in English what they were.
My favorite aspect of the experience what the sign that listed the ticket prices. In Vietnamese, it said "Ve - sau nghin" tickets - six thousand dong, with the word "six thousand" written out. The only part of the sign in English said "Foreigner - 1 USD" That's more than twice as much as 6,000 dong. I thought that was cute. So when I bought the tickets, I handed the lady a dollar and 6,000 dong and said in Vietnamese, "Here's my dollar, but my friend is Vietnamese" They were ok with that.
I did get some nice pictures, and I got to talk to the puppeteers. They said water puppetry is mostly in the north; here it just in that on eplace. The only other people at the show were American tourists. I don't know if they knew what to make of me and Thu.
May 8 11 pm
Saigon
Yesterday, I interviewed the old man Thu and I met on Monday. He's working to promote Hat Boi, which is this really traditional form of Vietnamese theater. We went to the Hat Boi theater expecting to see a big crew, and it turned out the crew at that time consisted of one elderly man named Dinh Bang Phi, who as it turns out could give us a meeting today. So we went. When we got there, Thu mentioned she'd seen him in TV the night before. Apparently he's one of the most decorated actors in southern Vietnam. Who knew. And he gave me an hour of his time, telling me the details of Hat Boi. It's a very traditional form of Vietnamese theater, full of ornate costumes and masks. It's sort of dependent upon gestures that aren't immeadiately understandable, so if you haven't been taught what they mean it can be confusing. He gave us free tickets to his next show and told us to come back and see him again. He was SO NICE.
Today was supposed to be my day to read up on theater, instead I procrastinated really badly. I hung around with Thu and bought a denim skirt on Ha Ba Trung; just because I'd really like something that goes down to my knees. Clothes shopping in Vietnam was really disheartening, as everything in the stores is too small for me. I'm lucky I found this skirt.
Saigon
Yesterday, I interviewed the old man Thu and I met on Monday. He's working to promote Hat Boi, which is this really traditional form of Vietnamese theater. We went to the Hat Boi theater expecting to see a big crew, and it turned out the crew at that time consisted of one elderly man named Dinh Bang Phi, who as it turns out could give us a meeting today. So we went. When we got there, Thu mentioned she'd seen him in TV the night before. Apparently he's one of the most decorated actors in southern Vietnam. Who knew. And he gave me an hour of his time, telling me the details of Hat Boi. It's a very traditional form of Vietnamese theater, full of ornate costumes and masks. It's sort of dependent upon gestures that aren't immeadiately understandable, so if you haven't been taught what they mean it can be confusing. He gave us free tickets to his next show and told us to come back and see him again. He was SO NICE.
Today was supposed to be my day to read up on theater, instead I procrastinated really badly. I hung around with Thu and bought a denim skirt on Ha Ba Trung; just because I'd really like something that goes down to my knees. Clothes shopping in Vietnam was really disheartening, as everything in the stores is too small for me. I'm lucky I found this skirt.
May 5
saigon
I lov emy life so much it hurts. I went to interview someone this morning; he was so sweet and bought me a Coke. Then I went to this bulding where the Cai Luong students told me they'd be performing at 2. It turns out that they meant 2 o'clock on May 18, but buy the time Thu and I figured that out we had already been in the building so long we figured we might as well talk to someone. So we randomly walked into an office and interviewed the women who was sitting there. She turned out to be Co Minh Hanh, who is an artistic director at the theater. She reminds me of my mom, if my mom were a Vietnamese theater director. She gave us an interesting interview and then asked if I wanted to come to a Cai Luong show that night. I did, and it was wonderful.
The show was in district 7, and I rode there on the back of Co Minh Hanh's motorbike. The roads aren't really paved and they're all dusty. I was wearing a long skirt and had to ride side-saddle, which actually is safer than it appears. I promise. We also got lost, and thus spent about an hour zooming around D.7
So after about an hour of searching, we arrived at the location. The play had already started. It turns out it was an outdoor stage set up in a park, which is why it was hard to find people who knew where it was. I found out that basically the production was put on by a group of actors from Saigon who go out into poor areas and perform plays for people who wouldn't ordinarily have access to them. The audience was enthralled with the show, although I drew a lot of attention simply by walking in back of the crowd. They don't get a lot of white people in the more affluent section of town where I live, and they REALLY don't get a lot of white people out in District 7.
I watched the beginning of the play, it was a comedy.
It was completely low-key and wonderful. Co Minh Hanh asked if I wanted to go backstage and meet the actors, and I said yes, and off we went. Basically backstage was a small area behind the stage where the actors were putting on their makeup. There was also a rack of costumes, and a table where people sat around eating and talking. I took a few pictures of people getting their makeup on, and then they invited me to sit down at their table with them. It was basically where the actors and people involved with the show hung out when they weren't onstage. They were talking and laughing and having a fine time, and they were totally happy when I joined them. We talked - I spoke some Vietnamese and they spoke some English and it worked. They were eating fruit and taking shots of rice wine; this grandmotherly woman who I later found out was the director of the company gave me a shot; I think she was impressed when I took it unhesitatingly. grrrrr drinking like a man. Anyway, they cai loung people from that company are just the nicest people in the world, and they invited me to go see another performance of theirs in about 10 days, in another far-flung district.
Also they invited me to come see a cai loung class that was supposedly the next morning. I went and wasn't the least bit surprised to learn that the class doesn't start until September. So I went for coffee with the people who happened to be there. And had a fine time. Today I'm interviewing this old man with glaucoma who's involved in another form of theater. He actually speaks French really well, but I'm taking Thu along to interview him in Vietnamese because I don't trust my French well enough to do the whole thing in French. It was funny - we thought we were going to this big theater where they do something called hat boi, and it ended up being just this old man in an office. No matter. It should be interesting. Basically nothing is what it's supposed to be, but it's often better.
(just a note - I completely lifted most of that text from an email I sent, because I think it describes the situation pretty well)
saigon
I lov emy life so much it hurts. I went to interview someone this morning; he was so sweet and bought me a Coke. Then I went to this bulding where the Cai Luong students told me they'd be performing at 2. It turns out that they meant 2 o'clock on May 18, but buy the time Thu and I figured that out we had already been in the building so long we figured we might as well talk to someone. So we randomly walked into an office and interviewed the women who was sitting there. She turned out to be Co Minh Hanh, who is an artistic director at the theater. She reminds me of my mom, if my mom were a Vietnamese theater director. She gave us an interesting interview and then asked if I wanted to come to a Cai Luong show that night. I did, and it was wonderful.
The show was in district 7, and I rode there on the back of Co Minh Hanh's motorbike. The roads aren't really paved and they're all dusty. I was wearing a long skirt and had to ride side-saddle, which actually is safer than it appears. I promise. We also got lost, and thus spent about an hour zooming around D.7
So after about an hour of searching, we arrived at the location. The play had already started. It turns out it was an outdoor stage set up in a park, which is why it was hard to find people who knew where it was. I found out that basically the production was put on by a group of actors from Saigon who go out into poor areas and perform plays for people who wouldn't ordinarily have access to them. The audience was enthralled with the show, although I drew a lot of attention simply by walking in back of the crowd. They don't get a lot of white people in the more affluent section of town where I live, and they REALLY don't get a lot of white people out in District 7.
I watched the beginning of the play, it was a comedy.
It was completely low-key and wonderful. Co Minh Hanh asked if I wanted to go backstage and meet the actors, and I said yes, and off we went. Basically backstage was a small area behind the stage where the actors were putting on their makeup. There was also a rack of costumes, and a table where people sat around eating and talking. I took a few pictures of people getting their makeup on, and then they invited me to sit down at their table with them. It was basically where the actors and people involved with the show hung out when they weren't onstage. They were talking and laughing and having a fine time, and they were totally happy when I joined them. We talked - I spoke some Vietnamese and they spoke some English and it worked. They were eating fruit and taking shots of rice wine; this grandmotherly woman who I later found out was the director of the company gave me a shot; I think she was impressed when I took it unhesitatingly. grrrrr drinking like a man. Anyway, they cai loung people from that company are just the nicest people in the world, and they invited me to go see another performance of theirs in about 10 days, in another far-flung district.
Also they invited me to come see a cai loung class that was supposedly the next morning. I went and wasn't the least bit surprised to learn that the class doesn't start until September. So I went for coffee with the people who happened to be there. And had a fine time. Today I'm interviewing this old man with glaucoma who's involved in another form of theater. He actually speaks French really well, but I'm taking Thu along to interview him in Vietnamese because I don't trust my French well enough to do the whole thing in French. It was funny - we thought we were going to this big theater where they do something called hat boi, and it ended up being just this old man in an office. No matter. It should be interesting. Basically nothing is what it's supposed to be, but it's often better.
(just a note - I completely lifted most of that text from an email I sent, because I think it describes the situation pretty well)
May 4
Saigon - day 2 of the rainy season
So yesterday Sarah, Thu and I went to see a Cai Luong (renovated opera - like a Vietnamese musical) performace with a group of Cai Loung students we met at the class. They are allowed to go for free because they are students, and they hooked the 3 of us up with free tickets as well. They even argued with the usher that we should be allowed to sit with them, instead of in the seat numbers that were printed on our tickets. It didn't work, but they definitely went to bat for us.
The show itself was something like an American musical, in that some of it was spoken, some of it was sung. There was no dancing. The songs were traditional style, as were the instruments. The set and the costumes were decently complex - it wasn't like some forms of Vietnamese theater which have no set.
The story was about a girl and boy who are in love but whose families won't allow them to marry. The girl is pregnant, but she hasn't told anyone. The boy's parents make him get married to someone else, and the girl gives them the baby to raise. They tell the man's wife that the baby is just a regular orphan. Later on, the son grows up and wants to get married. He's noticed his father seems to be doting on this strange woman (who is actually his real mother) and he asks her to leave their family alone, for fear she'll split his parents up. Fortunately, the father comes clean about the situation to his wife and son, and...and that's really all I know about the story, because at that exact moment the electricity went out. The actors stopped singing right away, and everyone sat in the dark for a few minutes. Then the cast members decided it would be a good time to bow and everyone applauded and we called it a night.
A word about the audience - it did not look like a typical American theater audience, particularly one going to see famous actors. It looked like a cross section of the people you might see walking down the street. No one was particularly dressed up, and some people in the balcony section where we were sitting were seated on the floor with babies on their laps.
The house was never totally dark, and it's considered acceptable to talk to people during the show. You can also eat watermelon seeds. They're quite good.
Generally the audience didn't take itself too seriously at all. It was what I think the audience at the Globe must have been like. No one was really interested in criticizing the performance or showing their sophistication. They were just there to have a good time.
Today I went out with Sarah into Cholon, just to walk around. we found this market on a map and decided to go there -- it ended up being the one Phuong took us to at the beginning of the program. Good to know where it is now.
Saigon - day 2 of the rainy season
So yesterday Sarah, Thu and I went to see a Cai Luong (renovated opera - like a Vietnamese musical) performace with a group of Cai Loung students we met at the class. They are allowed to go for free because they are students, and they hooked the 3 of us up with free tickets as well. They even argued with the usher that we should be allowed to sit with them, instead of in the seat numbers that were printed on our tickets. It didn't work, but they definitely went to bat for us.
The show itself was something like an American musical, in that some of it was spoken, some of it was sung. There was no dancing. The songs were traditional style, as were the instruments. The set and the costumes were decently complex - it wasn't like some forms of Vietnamese theater which have no set.
The story was about a girl and boy who are in love but whose families won't allow them to marry. The girl is pregnant, but she hasn't told anyone. The boy's parents make him get married to someone else, and the girl gives them the baby to raise. They tell the man's wife that the baby is just a regular orphan. Later on, the son grows up and wants to get married. He's noticed his father seems to be doting on this strange woman (who is actually his real mother) and he asks her to leave their family alone, for fear she'll split his parents up. Fortunately, the father comes clean about the situation to his wife and son, and...and that's really all I know about the story, because at that exact moment the electricity went out. The actors stopped singing right away, and everyone sat in the dark for a few minutes. Then the cast members decided it would be a good time to bow and everyone applauded and we called it a night.
A word about the audience - it did not look like a typical American theater audience, particularly one going to see famous actors. It looked like a cross section of the people you might see walking down the street. No one was particularly dressed up, and some people in the balcony section where we were sitting were seated on the floor with babies on their laps.
The house was never totally dark, and it's considered acceptable to talk to people during the show. You can also eat watermelon seeds. They're quite good.
Generally the audience didn't take itself too seriously at all. It was what I think the audience at the Globe must have been like. No one was really interested in criticizing the performance or showing their sophistication. They were just there to have a good time.
Today I went out with Sarah into Cholon, just to walk around. we found this market on a map and decided to go there -- it ended up being the one Phuong took us to at the beginning of the program. Good to know where it is now.
May 2 11 pm
Saigon
OK basically I hung around and did nothing yesterday. This morning, though, I woke up and got a list of questions to ask the actors and Thu translated them for me. I also called my advisor; she said she's read over my email and my idea (to do my project on theater people and why they do what they do, as well as what kind of thing is being done here) was fine. So I went to the theater at 2 today with Thu and her cousin. Co Minh Ngoc was really busy as always and was pretty much directing a group of theater students. She old me I could interview them, and sent various people over for me to talk to. None of them really spoke English, but they were so nice and friendly, and Thu is a really good translator.
I interviewed a few people. Mostly, they go to school during the day and perform at night for money. Some of the I think are going to be well known, but VN is such an unstuck-up society that they were perfectly willing to talk to me.
Then Sarah and I took xe oms threw a pen at a map and took xe oms to the place where the pen landed. We're trying to explore different neighborhoods. We ended up eating at this place that sold, among other things, camel's hump, bull testes, fox meat, and a lot of other generally uneaten animails. There were also jars filled with snake wine, piglet wine, what appeared to be crow wine, and some hard-to-identify sea creature wine.
I had vegetables and garlic. Call me old fashioned.
Saigon
OK basically I hung around and did nothing yesterday. This morning, though, I woke up and got a list of questions to ask the actors and Thu translated them for me. I also called my advisor; she said she's read over my email and my idea (to do my project on theater people and why they do what they do, as well as what kind of thing is being done here) was fine. So I went to the theater at 2 today with Thu and her cousin. Co Minh Ngoc was really busy as always and was pretty much directing a group of theater students. She old me I could interview them, and sent various people over for me to talk to. None of them really spoke English, but they were so nice and friendly, and Thu is a really good translator.
I interviewed a few people. Mostly, they go to school during the day and perform at night for money. Some of the I think are going to be well known, but VN is such an unstuck-up society that they were perfectly willing to talk to me.
Then Sarah and I took xe oms threw a pen at a map and took xe oms to the place where the pen landed. We're trying to explore different neighborhoods. We ended up eating at this place that sold, among other things, camel's hump, bull testes, fox meat, and a lot of other generally uneaten animails. There were also jars filled with snake wine, piglet wine, what appeared to be crow wine, and some hard-to-identify sea creature wine.
I had vegetables and garlic. Call me old fashioned.
April 30 10 pm
Saigon
There are days when you have intense intercultural experiences that lead to staggering cultural insights, and there are days when you have your picture taken in front of the a giant ice sculpture of the Taj Mahal. Today I had my picture taken in front of a giant ice sculpture of the Taj Mahal.
What happened was, I went to the park that Thu invited me to. It turns out she meant a theme park - she took me to this Disneyland-type place, which was packed. Everyone had the day off, and they wanted to hang out in the theme park. There were a couple of rides in the front of the place - a swinging pirateship ride and a version of the swing ride. There were also a small zoo, and several sections of something like a botanical garden, with one part devoted entirely to cactus plants.
There was also a place where you could buy a ticket to go inside a giant (baseball field-sized) room that held 20 foot high ice sculptures of many of the world's famous buildings, including Angkor Wat, the Taj Mahal, Big Ben, and the Roman Colisseum. The Taj Mahal was the prettiest, so Thu and I had our picture taken there.
The one thing I can say about my life is it's not predictable.
Also, since I was definitely the only foreigner in the park, 2 groups of people stopped and wanted their pictures taken with me. The first group was very nice; they asked politely and said thank you. The second group seemed to regard me as just another object to stand in front of. Thu says I should start charging people to have their pictures taken with me.
I'm starting to think Liberation Day, at least in Saigon is sort of like Memorial Day in the States. You know someone, somewhere, is doing something to commemorate the day, but you personally go out and have fun. There are tons of flags on the streets; in that respect it looks like the Fourth of July with a different color scheme.
I went for a walk through District 1 tonight. There was nothing going on at the palace, but there was a huge crowd gathered in front of the opera house between the Continental and the Caravelle. Whatever they were watching seemed to be taking a break; there was a stage but no one was on it, and there was music playing. I didn't stick around for long.
Saigon
There are days when you have intense intercultural experiences that lead to staggering cultural insights, and there are days when you have your picture taken in front of the a giant ice sculpture of the Taj Mahal. Today I had my picture taken in front of a giant ice sculpture of the Taj Mahal.
What happened was, I went to the park that Thu invited me to. It turns out she meant a theme park - she took me to this Disneyland-type place, which was packed. Everyone had the day off, and they wanted to hang out in the theme park. There were a couple of rides in the front of the place - a swinging pirateship ride and a version of the swing ride. There were also a small zoo, and several sections of something like a botanical garden, with one part devoted entirely to cactus plants.
There was also a place where you could buy a ticket to go inside a giant (baseball field-sized) room that held 20 foot high ice sculptures of many of the world's famous buildings, including Angkor Wat, the Taj Mahal, Big Ben, and the Roman Colisseum. The Taj Mahal was the prettiest, so Thu and I had our picture taken there.
The one thing I can say about my life is it's not predictable.
Also, since I was definitely the only foreigner in the park, 2 groups of people stopped and wanted their pictures taken with me. The first group was very nice; they asked politely and said thank you. The second group seemed to regard me as just another object to stand in front of. Thu says I should start charging people to have their pictures taken with me.
I'm starting to think Liberation Day, at least in Saigon is sort of like Memorial Day in the States. You know someone, somewhere, is doing something to commemorate the day, but you personally go out and have fun. There are tons of flags on the streets; in that respect it looks like the Fourth of July with a different color scheme.
I went for a walk through District 1 tonight. There was nothing going on at the palace, but there was a huge crowd gathered in front of the opera house between the Continental and the Caravelle. Whatever they were watching seemed to be taking a break; there was a stage but no one was on it, and there was music playing. I didn't stick around for long.
Friday, May 09, 2003
April 29 10 pm
Saigon
Busy day today. I got up early and went to VNN. There's an article about SARS and study abroad in the Free Press, and it has 2 paragraphs about an SMC student studying abroad in Ho Chi Minh City. hahaha. Anyway, I had to rush back to meet Thu, who took me to her home district for lunch. We had yummy chicken in the market there, and then we walked around the market. I bought all the things I've been wanting to get, since I knew no one would rip me off with Thu. I got fruit, mosquito netting, driving gloves - all sorts of things.
This afternoon, I went to Reunification Palace, which was called Independence Palace under the Saigon government. It was was the place where the South Vietnamese president lived; President Diem commissioned it as a place for himself and his family to live, and then his successors continued to build it as a place for themselves to live after they assassinated Diem. That was good of them. The palace is sort of nice, although it suffers from an overdose of 60s architecture. It's pretty much preserved the way it was in 1975 when South Vietnam surrendered. There are 4 stories; the upper ones have rooms for the president's receptions and personal use. It's like the White House. The basement was covered with maps. It was Saigon's war room; there were rooms for teletype, a machine with a direct line to Washington, and the president's war room. There was also a map of pre-1975 Saigon. I checked out the street names. Tu Xuong, where I live, has the same name; so do Pasteur Street and Le Quy Don, but Nam Ky was something else.
At the end of the tour, we watched a documentary about the palace and the war. It was a little harsh to America, although that's pretty much to be expected. Tomorrow I'm going to the park with Thu to see the festivals!
Saigon
Busy day today. I got up early and went to VNN. There's an article about SARS and study abroad in the Free Press, and it has 2 paragraphs about an SMC student studying abroad in Ho Chi Minh City. hahaha. Anyway, I had to rush back to meet Thu, who took me to her home district for lunch. We had yummy chicken in the market there, and then we walked around the market. I bought all the things I've been wanting to get, since I knew no one would rip me off with Thu. I got fruit, mosquito netting, driving gloves - all sorts of things.
This afternoon, I went to Reunification Palace, which was called Independence Palace under the Saigon government. It was was the place where the South Vietnamese president lived; President Diem commissioned it as a place for himself and his family to live, and then his successors continued to build it as a place for themselves to live after they assassinated Diem. That was good of them. The palace is sort of nice, although it suffers from an overdose of 60s architecture. It's pretty much preserved the way it was in 1975 when South Vietnam surrendered. There are 4 stories; the upper ones have rooms for the president's receptions and personal use. It's like the White House. The basement was covered with maps. It was Saigon's war room; there were rooms for teletype, a machine with a direct line to Washington, and the president's war room. There was also a map of pre-1975 Saigon. I checked out the street names. Tu Xuong, where I live, has the same name; so do Pasteur Street and Le Quy Don, but Nam Ky was something else.
At the end of the tour, we watched a documentary about the palace and the war. It was a little harsh to America, although that's pretty much to be expected. Tomorrow I'm going to the park with Thu to see the festivals!
Tuesday, April 29, 2003
April 28, 11 pm
Saigon
Today I was semi-productive. I got up at 8, had breakfast, and went to VNN. My advisor still hasn't emailed me, but Hung said she's probably busy esp. with the holiday approaching. He gave me the address of the theater and I went today with Sarah and had a Sprite in the canteen. Just hanging out actually helped; I feel more comfortable with the place. Sarah wants to do her ISP on Buddhist social organizations, and so I went with her to a place that helps street children. We heard about it at the Bodhi Tree, the vegetarian restaurant that sells the street children's art. We walked in to the facility unannounced and met a series of nice and friendly people who gave us a tour of the place. It's several stories, with rooms for counselling, for the kids to sleep, and for the kids to play. They even have a place for the kids to learn Akido. Everything's bright and cheerful.
Amazingly enough, one of the staffers is heading to Brattleboro, Vermont to get a master's degree from SIT. What a small world. I told her a little about Vermont and we exchanged email addresses. I hope she likes it. I think Vermont in the winter is just about as far removed from Saigon as any place could get.
When I got back to Dai Ket, I found that my friend Thu had left me 2 books about Vietnamese theater - in English! - along with a note saying maybe we can go to the theater together after the holiday. Thu rocks my world. That was just what I needed.
This evening, Sarah and I went out to dinner with Co Hai, who also rocks my world. Afterwards we went to this cafe that had a live band. It wasn't like a US live band. It consisted of a piano, a violin, and a saxophone. They played about half Vietnamese songs and half American songs, including Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkle. The violin played the vocals part.
Random side note: The rainy season hasn't started yet, but the God of Annoying Weather has been compensating by making it ungodly hot. It was 97 degrees in the shade at 3 pm today. I checked.
Saigon
Today I was semi-productive. I got up at 8, had breakfast, and went to VNN. My advisor still hasn't emailed me, but Hung said she's probably busy esp. with the holiday approaching. He gave me the address of the theater and I went today with Sarah and had a Sprite in the canteen. Just hanging out actually helped; I feel more comfortable with the place. Sarah wants to do her ISP on Buddhist social organizations, and so I went with her to a place that helps street children. We heard about it at the Bodhi Tree, the vegetarian restaurant that sells the street children's art. We walked in to the facility unannounced and met a series of nice and friendly people who gave us a tour of the place. It's several stories, with rooms for counselling, for the kids to sleep, and for the kids to play. They even have a place for the kids to learn Akido. Everything's bright and cheerful.
Amazingly enough, one of the staffers is heading to Brattleboro, Vermont to get a master's degree from SIT. What a small world. I told her a little about Vermont and we exchanged email addresses. I hope she likes it. I think Vermont in the winter is just about as far removed from Saigon as any place could get.
When I got back to Dai Ket, I found that my friend Thu had left me 2 books about Vietnamese theater - in English! - along with a note saying maybe we can go to the theater together after the holiday. Thu rocks my world. That was just what I needed.
This evening, Sarah and I went out to dinner with Co Hai, who also rocks my world. Afterwards we went to this cafe that had a live band. It wasn't like a US live band. It consisted of a piano, a violin, and a saxophone. They played about half Vietnamese songs and half American songs, including Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkle. The violin played the vocals part.
Random side note: The rainy season hasn't started yet, but the God of Annoying Weather has been compensating by making it ungodly hot. It was 97 degrees in the shade at 3 pm today. I checked.
April 27 9 pm
Saigon
Sorry, I just left the journal on my bed and now I've completely forgotten where I was going with that. Last night we all went out to celebrate Molly's birthday/ most people's last day on the program. First we went to the Thai restaurant, where I had some really spicey food and also people brought in a big birthday cake for Rustem, whose birthday is Wednesday. I presented Molly with her Guiness. I'm really excited about going to the Irish pub this weekend. I need something to look forward to, because the stress of everyone leaving and my starting ISP is kind of overwhelming. Stu did not give us a whole lot of direction, which I've heard is just kind of the way SIT handles ISPs. I emailed my advisor yesterday to try to get things started. I don't know how often she checks her email, but I'm going to give her a few days to respond because she reads English a lot better than she speaks it. I want to study how people get in/stay in the theater industry here. I've heard that she's been very helpful in the past, but I just get nervous having only one contact. Stu says maybe I should go hang out in front of some theaters and try to get a feel for things until she responds. I will, and I am so counting those hours.
I'm sure things will settle down. It's just stressful right now.
This morning, I got up early to say good-bye to people. I have a single now that Crystal's left for Cambodia. I spent the day fairly normally. I went to Ben Thanh Market looking for mosquito netting. People tell me it's there, but I can't find it. So I am still netting-less, which is bad because there have started to be mosquitos in the room. Tomorrow the plan is to get some coffee in front of the theater and just hang out.
I realize I've been doing a lousy job of keeping up the journal as of late; basically in the last few days we've been finishing up the academic part of the program. The Culture and Development final was a few days ago, and it wasn't bad at all - we just had to discuss women in Vietnam and how tourism has affected the country. Not so bad. We also each had to give a presentation on different aspects of Vietnamese culture and history. Mine was on US and Russian influences. Cliff notes version: US: A lot of American pop culture now, the south is more capitalist, during the war there was a lot of deforrestation everywhere, in recent years it's become very common to learn English. Russia: once supplied tons of aid in the early 80s, glastnost lead to doi moi, Marxist-Leninism is still taught in schools, many school subjects are still politicized.
That's about it. It's pretty quiet with everyone gone. I'm going to finish Robert McNamara's book, In Retrospect, tonight. It's an interesting thing to read in Vietnam. He's very contrite, suitably so. He really didn't know a lot about Vietnam, and things spun out of control.
It's amazing to me that he didn't consider how people here would react to a foreign army, even what he would have considered to be a well-intentioned one. It's very deep in the culture here to dislike foreign soldiers. The Vietnamese have been kicking people out of their country since before Columbus discovered America. Most of the national heroes are people who fought against foreign invasions, and there have been a lot of them - the Chinese, the Mongols, the French, to some extent the US. You can't go more than a few blocks without seeing a statue dedicated to, say, the guy who drove out the Mongols in the 12th century. I've never been to a Vietnamese city that didn't have a street named after the Trung sisters. They lead an army that drove Chinese invaders out of Vietnam in 40 CE. The Chinese came back 3 years later, and the sisters drowned themselves to avoid capture. You don't have need to be a long-term success to be revered for your foreigner-quashing abilities.
This April 30 is Liberation Day in Vietnam. It commemorates the day in 1975 when Saigon either fell or was liberated, depending on your perspective. It's a big holiday. Everyone has off from work on that day and May 1. We're advised to keep a low profile as Americans, but it's not really considered a big deal. I just won't go out and wave the stars and stripes or anything.
The TV's been showing a lot of documentaries on Lenin and Stalin. I imagine they'd be quite interesting if I spoke Vietnamese better. Even so, it's interesting to see them portrayed in a positive light, particularly as someone who grew up on the opposite side of the cold war. I was only 8 when the Soviet Union collapsed so I it's perhaps less intense for me than it would be for other Americans. I never viewed the Russians as my enemies, but I also never associated their leaders and symbols with postive qualities. So much depends on one's perspective.
Also, if you're interested, I know where you can buy a giant plastic hammer and sickle on Ha Ba Trung.
Saigon
Sorry, I just left the journal on my bed and now I've completely forgotten where I was going with that. Last night we all went out to celebrate Molly's birthday/ most people's last day on the program. First we went to the Thai restaurant, where I had some really spicey food and also people brought in a big birthday cake for Rustem, whose birthday is Wednesday. I presented Molly with her Guiness. I'm really excited about going to the Irish pub this weekend. I need something to look forward to, because the stress of everyone leaving and my starting ISP is kind of overwhelming. Stu did not give us a whole lot of direction, which I've heard is just kind of the way SIT handles ISPs. I emailed my advisor yesterday to try to get things started. I don't know how often she checks her email, but I'm going to give her a few days to respond because she reads English a lot better than she speaks it. I want to study how people get in/stay in the theater industry here. I've heard that she's been very helpful in the past, but I just get nervous having only one contact. Stu says maybe I should go hang out in front of some theaters and try to get a feel for things until she responds. I will, and I am so counting those hours.
I'm sure things will settle down. It's just stressful right now.
This morning, I got up early to say good-bye to people. I have a single now that Crystal's left for Cambodia. I spent the day fairly normally. I went to Ben Thanh Market looking for mosquito netting. People tell me it's there, but I can't find it. So I am still netting-less, which is bad because there have started to be mosquitos in the room. Tomorrow the plan is to get some coffee in front of the theater and just hang out.
I realize I've been doing a lousy job of keeping up the journal as of late; basically in the last few days we've been finishing up the academic part of the program. The Culture and Development final was a few days ago, and it wasn't bad at all - we just had to discuss women in Vietnam and how tourism has affected the country. Not so bad. We also each had to give a presentation on different aspects of Vietnamese culture and history. Mine was on US and Russian influences. Cliff notes version: US: A lot of American pop culture now, the south is more capitalist, during the war there was a lot of deforrestation everywhere, in recent years it's become very common to learn English. Russia: once supplied tons of aid in the early 80s, glastnost lead to doi moi, Marxist-Leninism is still taught in schools, many school subjects are still politicized.
That's about it. It's pretty quiet with everyone gone. I'm going to finish Robert McNamara's book, In Retrospect, tonight. It's an interesting thing to read in Vietnam. He's very contrite, suitably so. He really didn't know a lot about Vietnam, and things spun out of control.
It's amazing to me that he didn't consider how people here would react to a foreign army, even what he would have considered to be a well-intentioned one. It's very deep in the culture here to dislike foreign soldiers. The Vietnamese have been kicking people out of their country since before Columbus discovered America. Most of the national heroes are people who fought against foreign invasions, and there have been a lot of them - the Chinese, the Mongols, the French, to some extent the US. You can't go more than a few blocks without seeing a statue dedicated to, say, the guy who drove out the Mongols in the 12th century. I've never been to a Vietnamese city that didn't have a street named after the Trung sisters. They lead an army that drove Chinese invaders out of Vietnam in 40 CE. The Chinese came back 3 years later, and the sisters drowned themselves to avoid capture. You don't have need to be a long-term success to be revered for your foreigner-quashing abilities.
This April 30 is Liberation Day in Vietnam. It commemorates the day in 1975 when Saigon either fell or was liberated, depending on your perspective. It's a big holiday. Everyone has off from work on that day and May 1. We're advised to keep a low profile as Americans, but it's not really considered a big deal. I just won't go out and wave the stars and stripes or anything.
The TV's been showing a lot of documentaries on Lenin and Stalin. I imagine they'd be quite interesting if I spoke Vietnamese better. Even so, it's interesting to see them portrayed in a positive light, particularly as someone who grew up on the opposite side of the cold war. I was only 8 when the Soviet Union collapsed so I it's perhaps less intense for me than it would be for other Americans. I never viewed the Russians as my enemies, but I also never associated their leaders and symbols with postive qualities. So much depends on one's perspective.
Also, if you're interested, I know where you can buy a giant plastic hammer and sickle on Ha Ba Trung.
April 26 4 pm
Saigon
Stressful couple days and now today! Sorry I haven't been keeping up to date. I just went to District 1 with Sarah to check snail mail at the univerisity (the mailroom was locked) and to get Molly some Guiness for her 21st birthday (accomplished). There is one Irish pub in Saigon. It's called Sheridan's and being there was a great experience. The bartender had 2 different kinds of Guiness, and I asked for the kind with that ping pong ball in it. I HAVE HAD THAT KIND OF BEER BEFORE AND SO I KNEW WHAT WAS IN IT. THAT'S RIGHT IT WAS FAMILIAR. Sorry about that. It's just that l relish the rare moments when I'm completely familiar with what's going on. Anyway, the place also had a genial Irish bartender/owner, who told me that they play traditional Irish music every Saturday. They have a band called Whiskey in the Jar. So....
Saigon
Stressful couple days and now today! Sorry I haven't been keeping up to date. I just went to District 1 with Sarah to check snail mail at the univerisity (the mailroom was locked) and to get Molly some Guiness for her 21st birthday (accomplished). There is one Irish pub in Saigon. It's called Sheridan's and being there was a great experience. The bartender had 2 different kinds of Guiness, and I asked for the kind with that ping pong ball in it. I HAVE HAD THAT KIND OF BEER BEFORE AND SO I KNEW WHAT WAS IN IT. THAT'S RIGHT IT WAS FAMILIAR. Sorry about that. It's just that l relish the rare moments when I'm completely familiar with what's going on. Anyway, the place also had a genial Irish bartender/owner, who told me that they play traditional Irish music every Saturday. They have a band called Whiskey in the Jar. So....
April 23
Back in Saigon
So yesterday we came back from Mui Ne. I ate a banana pancake that morning because the pancakes there are incredible. They're more like crepes with banana in the middle. Wonderful. We stopped at a nouc mam ( Vietnamese fish sauce) factory and I bought a bottle for my parents. Won't they be thrilled.
Ho Chi Minh City is the same as ever. I spent the day running random errands, going to the bank, and doing homework. I also went to the backpacker district and bought a Ben Folds Five CD because I've recently been gripped by the strange desire to listen to their music.
The restaurant where I are dinner today sells street children's art to help raise money for them. I think that might be a good gift for some people.
So twas a good but uneventful day.
Back in Saigon
So yesterday we came back from Mui Ne. I ate a banana pancake that morning because the pancakes there are incredible. They're more like crepes with banana in the middle. Wonderful. We stopped at a nouc mam ( Vietnamese fish sauce) factory and I bought a bottle for my parents. Won't they be thrilled.
Ho Chi Minh City is the same as ever. I spent the day running random errands, going to the bank, and doing homework. I also went to the backpacker district and bought a Ben Folds Five CD because I've recently been gripped by the strange desire to listen to their music.
The restaurant where I are dinner today sells street children's art to help raise money for them. I think that might be a good gift for some people.
So twas a good but uneventful day.
April 21 10 am
On the beach in Mui Ne
We arrive in Mui Ne a few hours after I finished my last entry. It's beautiful - really unspoiled at not too touristy. It's basically a fishing village on the coast with some beach resorts. All the resorts have been built in the past few years, when the government opened the area up to tourism. I've heard that there are plans to open up more resorts. I think eventually this area will be as touristy as Nha Trang. But not yet.
On our first night here, a bunch of us xe om-ed (a xe om is a motorcyle taxi) to the huge red sand dunes that are just out of town. This area is dryer than other places we've been to, and there are places in the landscape where there is no greenery, just patches of red sand. The dunes are entirely red sand, and if you stand and face them they just seem to continue on forever. They might as well be the Sahara.
Also on the dunes are a group of small children who have makeshift sleds that you can rent to slide down the dunes, very much like sledding in the snow. The sleds are basically pieces of flexible plastic. The kids crowded around us as soon as we got there, grabbing our hands and pulling us up the hill. We talked to them for awhile in our limited Vietnamese, which is actually decent for basic introductions. They were very persistant about our buying sled rides, so eventually I bought 2.
Sliding down sand dunes is one of the coolest activities one can engage in. You start out at the top of the hill, and then the kids give you a push and you're off. You zoom down the hill until you fall of your sled. I got about halfway and then rolled down the remainder of the hill, which of course did not hurt because I was in a giant sandbox.
I ended up with sand in every corner of my clothing. Also I think red sand dune has a tendency to stain. But no matter.
Later, Barrett and I were assigned to go into a hotel and interview some there about the hotel industry. We met a guy who spoke pretty good English; he told us that there are plans for more hotels in the future. He said that people often learn English and go into tourism if they fail their university enterance exams. There's a lot of money in it. After that, I was forced to take a nap and be a beach bum for the rest of the day. But hey, you do what you have to do.
Sunrise is Mui Ne is supposed to be beautiful. I'm sure it is, but I was so bleary-eyed at 6 am this morning that I just staggered out of my room, took a few pictures, and staggered back in. So we'll have to wait and see how the pictures come out.
I also had lunch with Stu, Hung, and Tang, and they told me I should try to get a job at the Saigon Times if I come back here. It's in English, so maybe I could check over the articles to make sure everything makes sense. How fabulous would that be?
On the beach in Mui Ne
We arrive in Mui Ne a few hours after I finished my last entry. It's beautiful - really unspoiled at not too touristy. It's basically a fishing village on the coast with some beach resorts. All the resorts have been built in the past few years, when the government opened the area up to tourism. I've heard that there are plans to open up more resorts. I think eventually this area will be as touristy as Nha Trang. But not yet.
On our first night here, a bunch of us xe om-ed (a xe om is a motorcyle taxi) to the huge red sand dunes that are just out of town. This area is dryer than other places we've been to, and there are places in the landscape where there is no greenery, just patches of red sand. The dunes are entirely red sand, and if you stand and face them they just seem to continue on forever. They might as well be the Sahara.
Also on the dunes are a group of small children who have makeshift sleds that you can rent to slide down the dunes, very much like sledding in the snow. The sleds are basically pieces of flexible plastic. The kids crowded around us as soon as we got there, grabbing our hands and pulling us up the hill. We talked to them for awhile in our limited Vietnamese, which is actually decent for basic introductions. They were very persistant about our buying sled rides, so eventually I bought 2.
Sliding down sand dunes is one of the coolest activities one can engage in. You start out at the top of the hill, and then the kids give you a push and you're off. You zoom down the hill until you fall of your sled. I got about halfway and then rolled down the remainder of the hill, which of course did not hurt because I was in a giant sandbox.
I ended up with sand in every corner of my clothing. Also I think red sand dune has a tendency to stain. But no matter.
Later, Barrett and I were assigned to go into a hotel and interview some there about the hotel industry. We met a guy who spoke pretty good English; he told us that there are plans for more hotels in the future. He said that people often learn English and go into tourism if they fail their university enterance exams. There's a lot of money in it. After that, I was forced to take a nap and be a beach bum for the rest of the day. But hey, you do what you have to do.
Sunrise is Mui Ne is supposed to be beautiful. I'm sure it is, but I was so bleary-eyed at 6 am this morning that I just staggered out of my room, took a few pictures, and staggered back in. So we'll have to wait and see how the pictures come out.
I also had lunch with Stu, Hung, and Tang, and they told me I should try to get a job at the Saigon Times if I come back here. It's in English, so maybe I could check over the articles to make sure everything makes sense. How fabulous would that be?
Monday, April 28, 2003
April 19, 2 pm
In a bus outside a Cham village somewhere
I'm not sure where we are exactly, it's about 3 hours away from Nha Trang. We've stopped in a village that makes clay pots and clay mini-oven things. They said the women make the pottery while the men go into the jungle and get firewood to fire the pots. They share the work. Cham society is matriarachal, like Co Ho, and girls get married at 17 or 18 or at the latest 20. So I am already an old maid at 21. One of the girls who was showing us some pottery was exactly my age. She'd been married for 5 years already and had 2 kids, and that was pretty typical. My life could have been so different if I'd grown up in a different society.
Barrett was filming some kids with a digital video camera, the kind with a viewing screen, and he turned the screen around so the kids could see themselves on TV. They went wild, jumping up and down and screaming. Clearly they've never seen their image captured and shown on a TV display at Sears.
We left Nha Trang early this morning. Molly and I went shopping for snacks before the bus left and we had to take 1 person cyclo back to the hotel. I was sitting half on her lap and half on a metal bar. It was good times.
Yesterday, we had most of the day off, and Sarah and I got to spend the better part of the afternoon swimming in the ocean and sitting on the beach looking out at the ocean. As I've mentioned, Nha Trang is heaven. As I was sitting there, I realized it was one of the high points of my life. I didn't want anything, everything around me was beautiful, and I was just really happy.
Yesterday also Sarah decided to make a full deck of cards by picking up the cards in the street. For some reason, the cities in Vietnam, especially Nha Trang, have a lot of random playing cards lying around. You just walk down the street and there is a 9 of hearts. So anyway, we were picking up some cards need a restaurant, and this random guy came running out and said "Here! Here! Have a deck of cards!" Crazy foreigners. So now I have a new deck of cards.
In a bus outside a Cham village somewhere
I'm not sure where we are exactly, it's about 3 hours away from Nha Trang. We've stopped in a village that makes clay pots and clay mini-oven things. They said the women make the pottery while the men go into the jungle and get firewood to fire the pots. They share the work. Cham society is matriarachal, like Co Ho, and girls get married at 17 or 18 or at the latest 20. So I am already an old maid at 21. One of the girls who was showing us some pottery was exactly my age. She'd been married for 5 years already and had 2 kids, and that was pretty typical. My life could have been so different if I'd grown up in a different society.
Barrett was filming some kids with a digital video camera, the kind with a viewing screen, and he turned the screen around so the kids could see themselves on TV. They went wild, jumping up and down and screaming. Clearly they've never seen their image captured and shown on a TV display at Sears.
We left Nha Trang early this morning. Molly and I went shopping for snacks before the bus left and we had to take 1 person cyclo back to the hotel. I was sitting half on her lap and half on a metal bar. It was good times.
Yesterday, we had most of the day off, and Sarah and I got to spend the better part of the afternoon swimming in the ocean and sitting on the beach looking out at the ocean. As I've mentioned, Nha Trang is heaven. As I was sitting there, I realized it was one of the high points of my life. I didn't want anything, everything around me was beautiful, and I was just really happy.
Yesterday also Sarah decided to make a full deck of cards by picking up the cards in the street. For some reason, the cities in Vietnam, especially Nha Trang, have a lot of random playing cards lying around. You just walk down the street and there is a 9 of hearts. So anyway, we were picking up some cards need a restaurant, and this random guy came running out and said "Here! Here! Have a deck of cards!" Crazy foreigners. So now I have a new deck of cards.
Thursday, April 17, 2003
April 17 10:30 am
Nha Trang
So yesterday I got college credit for snorkeling in the ocean. More on that later.
Yesterday morning we woke up early and headed out by boat to one of the islands around Nha Trang. The boat that took us most of the way looked sort of like the shrimping boats from Forrest Gump. When we got close to shore, a group of people in basket boats arrived to take us to shore. A basket boat is exactly what it sounds like, it looks like the bottom half of a wicker basket. It's a perfect circle, and it's rowed by 2 people whosit across from each other. The 2 passengers also sit across from each other, perpendicular to the rowers. It's the only way to balance the boat. I want to buy one and row it home across the Pacific. Those things are excellent.
Anyway, we got off at the island and went to visit the elementary school there. We had a short intro by the principal, he told us a bit about the school there. Most of the children come from fishing families and they sometimes have to take off from school to help with the fishing. We went into the schoolyard to see the kids for a few minutes, but for the most part they were either shy or not that interested in us. It was surprising, because kids in HCMC often crowd around me and/ or follow me. The island kids did like Adam quite a bit because he could lift them into the air with one hand.
After that, we went snorkeling. Actually I went with only the goggles because I have a tendancy to inhale water if I snorkel. We jumped off the boat and swam over to the coral reef. Did you know coral comes in colors other than pink and white? Because I didn't, but this reef was white/gray/purplish. Also I saw schools of tropical fish zipping along below me. They didn't seem too interested in me, but I was near the surface far away from them.
Nha Trang is literally one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to in my life. The water is bright blue-green and so clean you can see straight to the bottom. The water is sometimes interrupted by green mountainous islands with trees that cascade down towards the sea. The water has the occasional brightly colored tourist and fishing boats that seem completely natural in the landscape. It's heaven. Go google some pictures of it or something.
Also, there is an establishment where you can get 2 drinks for $1.30.
This morning, we got up early again and made a few stops. The first was to a pagoda that had a huge shrine (or whatever the equilvalent) to the monks who had self-immolated to protest the actions of the American-backed South Vietnamese government, which had persecuted Buddhists. It was a huge white statue of Buddha, and its pedestal had portraits of the monks who died.
There were more than the usual number of children selling postcards hanging out outside, and Anh Tang stopped and played cards with them. They looked really excited to have the adult attention.
Later we stopped and looked at some more Cham towers. Really once you've seen one Cham tower you've seen them all.
Nha Trang
So yesterday I got college credit for snorkeling in the ocean. More on that later.
Yesterday morning we woke up early and headed out by boat to one of the islands around Nha Trang. The boat that took us most of the way looked sort of like the shrimping boats from Forrest Gump. When we got close to shore, a group of people in basket boats arrived to take us to shore. A basket boat is exactly what it sounds like, it looks like the bottom half of a wicker basket. It's a perfect circle, and it's rowed by 2 people whosit across from each other. The 2 passengers also sit across from each other, perpendicular to the rowers. It's the only way to balance the boat. I want to buy one and row it home across the Pacific. Those things are excellent.
Anyway, we got off at the island and went to visit the elementary school there. We had a short intro by the principal, he told us a bit about the school there. Most of the children come from fishing families and they sometimes have to take off from school to help with the fishing. We went into the schoolyard to see the kids for a few minutes, but for the most part they were either shy or not that interested in us. It was surprising, because kids in HCMC often crowd around me and/ or follow me. The island kids did like Adam quite a bit because he could lift them into the air with one hand.
After that, we went snorkeling. Actually I went with only the goggles because I have a tendancy to inhale water if I snorkel. We jumped off the boat and swam over to the coral reef. Did you know coral comes in colors other than pink and white? Because I didn't, but this reef was white/gray/purplish. Also I saw schools of tropical fish zipping along below me. They didn't seem too interested in me, but I was near the surface far away from them.
Nha Trang is literally one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to in my life. The water is bright blue-green and so clean you can see straight to the bottom. The water is sometimes interrupted by green mountainous islands with trees that cascade down towards the sea. The water has the occasional brightly colored tourist and fishing boats that seem completely natural in the landscape. It's heaven. Go google some pictures of it or something.
Also, there is an establishment where you can get 2 drinks for $1.30.
This morning, we got up early again and made a few stops. The first was to a pagoda that had a huge shrine (or whatever the equilvalent) to the monks who had self-immolated to protest the actions of the American-backed South Vietnamese government, which had persecuted Buddhists. It was a huge white statue of Buddha, and its pedestal had portraits of the monks who died.
There were more than the usual number of children selling postcards hanging out outside, and Anh Tang stopped and played cards with them. They looked really excited to have the adult attention.
Later we stopped and looked at some more Cham towers. Really once you've seen one Cham tower you've seen them all.
April 15 11 am
Binh Thuan Province
So we arrived in Dalat and I took the occasion to walk around the city and eat things. There were cannolis. There was chocolate cake. Earlier in the day there were Girl Scout cookies. So it was a good day. Then I stayed up late talking to Thu. When I woke up the next morning, she told me Anh Hung had forgotten to turn off the faucet next door and the floor had flooded. The floor was completely dry, so I didn't believe her until I reached into my backpack to get some clothes. Yup. Everything at the bottom was soaking wet. The ink in my journal was all runny (although still readable) and it got on some of my clothes too. But anyway.
That morning we went to a Zen Buddhist monastery in the mountains. It was absolutely gorgeous, sitting halfway up a mountain overlooking a lake. Dalat is very cool compared to the rest of VN and there were pine trees all around. We spent the first part of the time listening to a monk's lecture on the basics of meditation. He also showed us the stick they used to whack those who fall asleep while meditating. They hang it on the wall. Afterwards, we were allowed to walk around the grounds. I walked down to the lake and then trudged back up again.
Then I went to Dalat market, which is large. It's about 3 or 4 stories of vendors who sell all sorts of things. I bought a few more presents, including a carved turtle for my grandmother. (That's the only gift I'll list because I'm reasonably sure she doesn't check the internet)
The other thing I did in Dalat was go to a chapel/ seminary and talk to a priest. Considering how frequently I engage in this activity at home, I was a little surprised that I did so here. Co Hai had the name of a priest in Dalat she wanted to talk to, and I went along. I'm glad I did, it was a really good experience. The priest we spoke to had lived in Berkley, California for 8 years and spoke amazing English; we also met a younger priest-in-training who also spoke good English. They told us that at that particular place they do some education, not only for new priests but also for street children who couldn't go to regular school because their parents didn't have the proper paperwork to be in Dalat. The Catholic Church is also opening a technical/trade school in the area. They used to be heavily involved in education before 1975. After that they weren't allowed to run schools, but they're gradually being allowed to do some things, as long as they're not political. Also after 1975 the government strongly limited the number of priests they were allowed to train, they could only train 5 new priests a year out of a huge pool of applicants. A lot of men who were training to be priests had to leave the seminary.
In a lot of ways, it was just like talking to a priest at home. He was very happy that I was Catholic and that I went to a Catholic college. He told me that they follow the American church pretty carefully and I think he probably knows more about it than I do. When I asked him if he thought the Vietnamese Church was more conservative than the American one, he laughed and told me that they were "more Vatican than the Vatican" They follow traditions pretty seriously here. I think it's partially because VN is culturally a lot more conservative than the US, but people also seem more likely to hang on to old church traditions. When I was in Notre Dame in Ho Chi Minh City lighting my Girl Scout cookie candle this guy came up to me and handed me a prayer card. He told me if I said the prayer on good Friday Jesus would release 33 souls from pergatory. If I said it twice Jesus would spring twice as many people. I've never even heard puragatory mentioned in a church in the US. People are also more scrupulous about going to church and such. They're not cynical about the religion the way a lot of people are in America. Priests are treated with more obvious respect, and there's no shortage of young men wanting to be priests. When I told him I was Irish he lamented that Ireland doesn't export priests like it used ot. It's a lot like the way I've been told the church was in the 50s.
After the church, I hung out with Co Hai all afternoon. It was cool. She used to work in Dalat and knows where things are. We went all over, to Dalat University and the golf course and generally all over the city. Dalat's very pretty and hilly and it's definitely at a slower pace than HCMC.
I forgot to mention that that morning we went to Bao Dai's summer palace. Bao Dai is considered the last of the Vietnamese emporers, although his father was probably gay and Bao Dai didn't look a thing like him. No matter. The country was pretty much run by the French anyway, and they sent Bao Dai to be educated in France. He was very influenced by them, and the palace looks like something that might have been built in the US in the 50s or 60s. It was pale yellow on the outside and everything was all geometric and generally unattractive. I don't remember if I took pictures.
This morning we got on a bus to Nha Trang. On the way, we stopped at a Co Ho ethnic minority village and talked to a nun who works there. She said she came to the village 10 years ago to help the people with medicine and things like that, and she told us about their society. It's set up almost the opposite of Vietnamese and Western society - very strongly matriarchal. If a girl falls in love with a boy, her mother brings his family about 1 million Vietnam dong ($75) as sort of a deposit. If the couple gets married, the bride's family pays the groom's family between 10 and 30 VND. Weddings are a huge deal in their society, and they rent a really nice wedding dress and a car and go drive around the area. It sometimes takes the bride's family 5 years to pay off the wedding. Once the couple is married, the man goes to live with the woman's family and takes her last name. The woman has the supreme authority in the family and goes to work while the men stay home with the kids. If a man wants to leave a marriage, he has to pay back all the money/ animals that were part of the bride's dowery and then he is considered free. So it's sort of an economic thing.
Later - Nha Trang
On the bus ride here we stopped at some Cham towers. The Chams are a group of people who had a kingdom in the south before the Vietnamese conquered them. The towers are made of brick that is the reddish color of the soil in the area. The hill where the towers sit is dusty and actually has cacti. The Chams were very influenced by India and the towers look pretty Indian. I took pictures.
Also on the bus they gave us some Vietnamese elementary school textbooks. I had 2 art books, a social studies book, and a book with stories. The art books were really step-by-step ("a. take 2 pieces of paper. b. glue them together.") There was another book that was focused on manners and ethics, with a whole section on when to say "please" and when to say "excuse me".
Here in Nha Trang, our hotel is a block away from the beach. I went for a quick swim in the ocean and the water is so nice and warm!
Binh Thuan Province
So we arrived in Dalat and I took the occasion to walk around the city and eat things. There were cannolis. There was chocolate cake. Earlier in the day there were Girl Scout cookies. So it was a good day. Then I stayed up late talking to Thu. When I woke up the next morning, she told me Anh Hung had forgotten to turn off the faucet next door and the floor had flooded. The floor was completely dry, so I didn't believe her until I reached into my backpack to get some clothes. Yup. Everything at the bottom was soaking wet. The ink in my journal was all runny (although still readable) and it got on some of my clothes too. But anyway.
That morning we went to a Zen Buddhist monastery in the mountains. It was absolutely gorgeous, sitting halfway up a mountain overlooking a lake. Dalat is very cool compared to the rest of VN and there were pine trees all around. We spent the first part of the time listening to a monk's lecture on the basics of meditation. He also showed us the stick they used to whack those who fall asleep while meditating. They hang it on the wall. Afterwards, we were allowed to walk around the grounds. I walked down to the lake and then trudged back up again.
Then I went to Dalat market, which is large. It's about 3 or 4 stories of vendors who sell all sorts of things. I bought a few more presents, including a carved turtle for my grandmother. (That's the only gift I'll list because I'm reasonably sure she doesn't check the internet)
The other thing I did in Dalat was go to a chapel/ seminary and talk to a priest. Considering how frequently I engage in this activity at home, I was a little surprised that I did so here. Co Hai had the name of a priest in Dalat she wanted to talk to, and I went along. I'm glad I did, it was a really good experience. The priest we spoke to had lived in Berkley, California for 8 years and spoke amazing English; we also met a younger priest-in-training who also spoke good English. They told us that at that particular place they do some education, not only for new priests but also for street children who couldn't go to regular school because their parents didn't have the proper paperwork to be in Dalat. The Catholic Church is also opening a technical/trade school in the area. They used to be heavily involved in education before 1975. After that they weren't allowed to run schools, but they're gradually being allowed to do some things, as long as they're not political. Also after 1975 the government strongly limited the number of priests they were allowed to train, they could only train 5 new priests a year out of a huge pool of applicants. A lot of men who were training to be priests had to leave the seminary.
In a lot of ways, it was just like talking to a priest at home. He was very happy that I was Catholic and that I went to a Catholic college. He told me that they follow the American church pretty carefully and I think he probably knows more about it than I do. When I asked him if he thought the Vietnamese Church was more conservative than the American one, he laughed and told me that they were "more Vatican than the Vatican" They follow traditions pretty seriously here. I think it's partially because VN is culturally a lot more conservative than the US, but people also seem more likely to hang on to old church traditions. When I was in Notre Dame in Ho Chi Minh City lighting my Girl Scout cookie candle this guy came up to me and handed me a prayer card. He told me if I said the prayer on good Friday Jesus would release 33 souls from pergatory. If I said it twice Jesus would spring twice as many people. I've never even heard puragatory mentioned in a church in the US. People are also more scrupulous about going to church and such. They're not cynical about the religion the way a lot of people are in America. Priests are treated with more obvious respect, and there's no shortage of young men wanting to be priests. When I told him I was Irish he lamented that Ireland doesn't export priests like it used ot. It's a lot like the way I've been told the church was in the 50s.
After the church, I hung out with Co Hai all afternoon. It was cool. She used to work in Dalat and knows where things are. We went all over, to Dalat University and the golf course and generally all over the city. Dalat's very pretty and hilly and it's definitely at a slower pace than HCMC.
I forgot to mention that that morning we went to Bao Dai's summer palace. Bao Dai is considered the last of the Vietnamese emporers, although his father was probably gay and Bao Dai didn't look a thing like him. No matter. The country was pretty much run by the French anyway, and they sent Bao Dai to be educated in France. He was very influenced by them, and the palace looks like something that might have been built in the US in the 50s or 60s. It was pale yellow on the outside and everything was all geometric and generally unattractive. I don't remember if I took pictures.
This morning we got on a bus to Nha Trang. On the way, we stopped at a Co Ho ethnic minority village and talked to a nun who works there. She said she came to the village 10 years ago to help the people with medicine and things like that, and she told us about their society. It's set up almost the opposite of Vietnamese and Western society - very strongly matriarchal. If a girl falls in love with a boy, her mother brings his family about 1 million Vietnam dong ($75) as sort of a deposit. If the couple gets married, the bride's family pays the groom's family between 10 and 30 VND. Weddings are a huge deal in their society, and they rent a really nice wedding dress and a car and go drive around the area. It sometimes takes the bride's family 5 years to pay off the wedding. Once the couple is married, the man goes to live with the woman's family and takes her last name. The woman has the supreme authority in the family and goes to work while the men stay home with the kids. If a man wants to leave a marriage, he has to pay back all the money/ animals that were part of the bride's dowery and then he is considered free. So it's sort of an economic thing.
Later - Nha Trang
On the bus ride here we stopped at some Cham towers. The Chams are a group of people who had a kingdom in the south before the Vietnamese conquered them. The towers are made of brick that is the reddish color of the soil in the area. The hill where the towers sit is dusty and actually has cacti. The Chams were very influenced by India and the towers look pretty Indian. I took pictures.
Also on the bus they gave us some Vietnamese elementary school textbooks. I had 2 art books, a social studies book, and a book with stories. The art books were really step-by-step ("a. take 2 pieces of paper. b. glue them together.") There was another book that was focused on manners and ethics, with a whole section on when to say "please" and when to say "excuse me".
Here in Nha Trang, our hotel is a block away from the beach. I went for a quick swim in the ocean and the water is so nice and warm!
Later....
On a happier note, for the past 2 nights I went to the theater performances that my advisor suggested with Phuong. It was very cool. The sets were really simple - the first one consisted mostly of some blocks that were moved around to symbolize furniture and white ribbons that descended from the ceiling. The ribbons had phones attached to them and were used to symbolize telephones.
The second play was a musical about a boy who leaves the countryside to go away to college. He often imagines that his father comes to advise him. For some reason, the father comes dressed as a bird. Maybe I should have asked Phuong to explain that one to me. Anyway, when that play ended I ran into my advisor outside and talked to her for awhile. It turns out that she wrote both plays. She actually speaks fairly decent English. She took me backstage briefly to introduce me to one of the actors and would have hooked me up with an interview, except that we were about to leave. She was really nice and helpful and offered to introduce me to other people to interview. So I am excited now.
today we got up at the ungodly hour of 6 and boarded a bus for Dalat. We had to say good bye to Michelle, who is leaving for the US. I'm going to miss her. The group keeps shrinking. Also I heard that there are 2 unconfirmed cases of SARS in HCMC ( Present-time note: As far as I know they still haven't been confirmed) I really hope ISP doesn't get cancelled. I don't think it will. The WHO says the only threat is to healthcare workers.
We stopped briefly to visit a coffee/tea plantation. I bougth Cate some coffee, my first gift for anyone thus far. We got to see the place where they grow coffee and tea. Tea plants look like shrubs someone might have in front of their house, and coffee trees are about the size of a small pine tree. Coffee beans are red and about the same size as cherries. You peel away the outside covering and there are 2 beans inside. They are light green and do taste vaguely like coffee.
On a happier note, for the past 2 nights I went to the theater performances that my advisor suggested with Phuong. It was very cool. The sets were really simple - the first one consisted mostly of some blocks that were moved around to symbolize furniture and white ribbons that descended from the ceiling. The ribbons had phones attached to them and were used to symbolize telephones.
The second play was a musical about a boy who leaves the countryside to go away to college. He often imagines that his father comes to advise him. For some reason, the father comes dressed as a bird. Maybe I should have asked Phuong to explain that one to me. Anyway, when that play ended I ran into my advisor outside and talked to her for awhile. It turns out that she wrote both plays. She actually speaks fairly decent English. She took me backstage briefly to introduce me to one of the actors and would have hooked me up with an interview, except that we were about to leave. She was really nice and helpful and offered to introduce me to other people to interview. So I am excited now.
today we got up at the ungodly hour of 6 and boarded a bus for Dalat. We had to say good bye to Michelle, who is leaving for the US. I'm going to miss her. The group keeps shrinking. Also I heard that there are 2 unconfirmed cases of SARS in HCMC ( Present-time note: As far as I know they still haven't been confirmed) I really hope ISP doesn't get cancelled. I don't think it will. The WHO says the only threat is to healthcare workers.
We stopped briefly to visit a coffee/tea plantation. I bougth Cate some coffee, my first gift for anyone thus far. We got to see the place where they grow coffee and tea. Tea plants look like shrubs someone might have in front of their house, and coffee trees are about the size of a small pine tree. Coffee beans are red and about the same size as cherries. You peel away the outside covering and there are 2 beans inside. They are light green and do taste vaguely like coffee.
April 13, Noon
On a bus to Dalat
So yesterday we all went out to lunch with Co Tam, our Vietnamese teacher. She took us to this restaurant that was located in the back of a mosque that served food that I think was Indian. I was suprised it was there. The food was good and very spicey. I had never been to a mosque before. There are Muslims, a few, in HCMC. The people there actually let me up to have a look around, even though I wasn't dressed appropriately. (I didn't look slutty, but I was wearing short sleeves and my head was uncovered. I didn't know we were going to a mosque.) they probably thought I was a harmless tourist. It was very simple, just a tile floor with different sections for men and women. The restaurant was sort of behind and to the left of where people pray.
Then we went out to this ice cream place and gave her our gifts. I gave her the photo book of the United States that I brought, and I stopped to point out the Vermont-esque scenes.
Also I forgot to mention that the day before she was interviewing me as part of my Vietnamese test and was asking me all the standard questions that I have the vocabulary to answer. (ie, "What is the age of your cat?") She was asking me about my family, and she asked how old my father is. when I told her, she asked if he'd ever been to Vietnam before. I said yes, and she got kind of an "oh shit" expression on her face. She asked when, and I told her "1972" in English. She told me to say it in Vietnamese, and I did, and that was that. She was the first Vietnamese person I've told that my father was in the war. Good that she didn't really care.
On a bus to Dalat
So yesterday we all went out to lunch with Co Tam, our Vietnamese teacher. She took us to this restaurant that was located in the back of a mosque that served food that I think was Indian. I was suprised it was there. The food was good and very spicey. I had never been to a mosque before. There are Muslims, a few, in HCMC. The people there actually let me up to have a look around, even though I wasn't dressed appropriately. (I didn't look slutty, but I was wearing short sleeves and my head was uncovered. I didn't know we were going to a mosque.) they probably thought I was a harmless tourist. It was very simple, just a tile floor with different sections for men and women. The restaurant was sort of behind and to the left of where people pray.
Then we went out to this ice cream place and gave her our gifts. I gave her the photo book of the United States that I brought, and I stopped to point out the Vermont-esque scenes.
Also I forgot to mention that the day before she was interviewing me as part of my Vietnamese test and was asking me all the standard questions that I have the vocabulary to answer. (ie, "What is the age of your cat?") She was asking me about my family, and she asked how old my father is. when I told her, she asked if he'd ever been to Vietnam before. I said yes, and she got kind of an "oh shit" expression on her face. She asked when, and I told her "1972" in English. She told me to say it in Vietnamese, and I did, and that was that. She was the first Vietnamese person I've told that my father was in the war. Good that she didn't really care.
April 12
Ug, I have been doing such a bad job of keeping up with writing lately. Last night I went to see a comedy with Phoung. It was really good, you almost didn't have to be able to speak Vietnamese to follow it. It was about a strange family. The wife gets a fake, substitute husband who looks like her real husband because the real one is too difficult to deal with, the son wants to be a singer and does an Elvis number, and the daughter sells fake bottled water until she gets caught. Also it used the Austin Powers theme as scene-change music.
For the record, I am aware of how much that description sucks.
Also yesterday, we had our culture and development midterm. It was long but not too bad. We also had our Vietnamese final in the morning. It was weird, full of words that we'd never heard, but Co Tam translated a lot of them for us. I'm going to miss her.
Ug, I have been doing such a bad job of keeping up with writing lately. Last night I went to see a comedy with Phoung. It was really good, you almost didn't have to be able to speak Vietnamese to follow it. It was about a strange family. The wife gets a fake, substitute husband who looks like her real husband because the real one is too difficult to deal with, the son wants to be a singer and does an Elvis number, and the daughter sells fake bottled water until she gets caught. Also it used the Austin Powers theme as scene-change music.
For the record, I am aware of how much that description sucks.
Also yesterday, we had our culture and development midterm. It was long but not too bad. We also had our Vietnamese final in the morning. It was weird, full of words that we'd never heard, but Co Tam translated a lot of them for us. I'm going to miss her.
April 9, 11 pm
Saigon
Today Anh Hung called and told me he'd set up a meeting with my ISP advisor. She's a playwright/actress/director/drama teacher. So we went to her school to see her. It's a 3 story building that I would describe as very open, in the sense that the windows and doors are often open and air flows in and out easily. It kind of looks like the university. In front of it is a big theater covered in blue-tinted glass. I have her my proposal, which is basically "I want to study theater in HCMC." She told me I had to refine it more than that. Yeah. So she gave me the names of 2 plays to see this weekend, in the hopes that that will give me some ideas. Phoung's coming with me to translate! Rejoice!
Random notes on things going on here before I forget:
-I've spotted random tourists walking around in SARS masks. Also people (not many people, just maybe 2) are selling high tech masks on the street for $75 USD.
-I've must cease spending money like it's my job.
-Awhile ago we had a lecturer come to talk to us on doi moi, which is basically the policies with which VN's been developing a market economy. Since doi moi started in the last 80s, VN's made a lot of progress; it went from importing rice to exporting it in large quantities and the standard of living has increased. Someone asked the professor if he thought people were being exploited in the sweatshops that have been cropping up here. He said no, that they would have to work just as hard on a farm and would not make close to the $50 USD a month they make now. He viewed it as opportunity rather than exploitation. So Nike doesn't make this stuff up after all. People asked a few more questions, but he definitely maintained his belief and seems puzzled that we would view sweatshops as bad.
On one hand, from what I've seen of farming, people do work really hard for not much money. Sometimes they move to the city looking for a better life and end up part of an army of vendors selling lottery tickets or cigarettes. It honestly seems worse than grinding factory work.
On the other hand, these companies come here because it is illegal to treat people so poorly in the United States. Are the people here less important? Would people view it as exploitation if they knew how much money Nike was making on those shoes?
Saigon
Today Anh Hung called and told me he'd set up a meeting with my ISP advisor. She's a playwright/actress/director/drama teacher. So we went to her school to see her. It's a 3 story building that I would describe as very open, in the sense that the windows and doors are often open and air flows in and out easily. It kind of looks like the university. In front of it is a big theater covered in blue-tinted glass. I have her my proposal, which is basically "I want to study theater in HCMC." She told me I had to refine it more than that. Yeah. So she gave me the names of 2 plays to see this weekend, in the hopes that that will give me some ideas. Phoung's coming with me to translate! Rejoice!
Random notes on things going on here before I forget:
-I've spotted random tourists walking around in SARS masks. Also people (not many people, just maybe 2) are selling high tech masks on the street for $75 USD.
-I've must cease spending money like it's my job.
-Awhile ago we had a lecturer come to talk to us on doi moi, which is basically the policies with which VN's been developing a market economy. Since doi moi started in the last 80s, VN's made a lot of progress; it went from importing rice to exporting it in large quantities and the standard of living has increased. Someone asked the professor if he thought people were being exploited in the sweatshops that have been cropping up here. He said no, that they would have to work just as hard on a farm and would not make close to the $50 USD a month they make now. He viewed it as opportunity rather than exploitation. So Nike doesn't make this stuff up after all. People asked a few more questions, but he definitely maintained his belief and seems puzzled that we would view sweatshops as bad.
On one hand, from what I've seen of farming, people do work really hard for not much money. Sometimes they move to the city looking for a better life and end up part of an army of vendors selling lottery tickets or cigarettes. It honestly seems worse than grinding factory work.
On the other hand, these companies come here because it is illegal to treat people so poorly in the United States. Are the people here less important? Would people view it as exploitation if they knew how much money Nike was making on those shoes?
April 7, 12 pm
Saigon
Yesterday, I went back to the big buffet manicured country-club place, where I again ate way too much food and everything was again delicious.
Also yesterday the cleaning lady knocked on the door while I was sitting in my room and asked if she could have some of the vodka that was in my fridge. I said sure, and she poured herself a glass and left. That was strange. Not because she knew I had the vodka; here it really wouldn't be unusual for her to look in my fridge. However, a) I've never seen a Vietnamese woman drink before and b) it was 11 am.
Today in Vietnamese class, I learned that it's good to have a lot of circular-shaped fingerprints, as opposed to the kind that look like a swish. They're called hoa tay, flower of hand, and if you have them it means that you're good at cooking, painting, and drawing. The more you have the better. I've only got 3, which explains quite a bit.
Saigon
Yesterday, I went back to the big buffet manicured country-club place, where I again ate way too much food and everything was again delicious.
Also yesterday the cleaning lady knocked on the door while I was sitting in my room and asked if she could have some of the vodka that was in my fridge. I said sure, and she poured herself a glass and left. That was strange. Not because she knew I had the vodka; here it really wouldn't be unusual for her to look in my fridge. However, a) I've never seen a Vietnamese woman drink before and b) it was 11 am.
Today in Vietnamese class, I learned that it's good to have a lot of circular-shaped fingerprints, as opposed to the kind that look like a swish. They're called hoa tay, flower of hand, and if you have them it means that you're good at cooking, painting, and drawing. The more you have the better. I've only got 3, which explains quite a bit.
April 5 4 pm
Saigon
It was an Easter basket, with all kinds of yummy Easter candy. I have been trying to conserve and failing miserably. Mmmmm. Last night Crystal and I went cruising around the city with Phoung and Phoung. We went to a few markets and stores looking for jewelry for Crystal. I bought new headphones in a grocery store/ dept store type place. I learned that here it is ok to put something in your purse after you've paid for it and continue to walk around the store. What a trusting country. Of course the best part was riding around the city on motorbikes!
When we got back to the EGH we actually played cards, for the first time in a long time.
This morning, I had an ISP meeting with Stu and Co. I basically either want to stalk a group of people through rehearsal or do a photo essay on current productions with really detailed captions. Either one would be cool and I'm excited about it.
Oh yes, and apparently there are no books on Vietnamese theater on barnesandnoble.com or amazon.com
Saigon
It was an Easter basket, with all kinds of yummy Easter candy. I have been trying to conserve and failing miserably. Mmmmm. Last night Crystal and I went cruising around the city with Phoung and Phoung. We went to a few markets and stores looking for jewelry for Crystal. I bought new headphones in a grocery store/ dept store type place. I learned that here it is ok to put something in your purse after you've paid for it and continue to walk around the store. What a trusting country. Of course the best part was riding around the city on motorbikes!
When we got back to the EGH we actually played cards, for the first time in a long time.
This morning, I had an ISP meeting with Stu and Co. I basically either want to stalk a group of people through rehearsal or do a photo essay on current productions with really detailed captions. Either one would be cool and I'm excited about it.
Oh yes, and apparently there are no books on Vietnamese theater on barnesandnoble.com or amazon.com
April 4
Saigon
Basically not much is going on today. I ordered some capris out of some pretty blue fabric and I'm going to try them on today. I got a note in my mailbox saying I have another package; I think it's Easter baskets. So that should be good. Right now it's afternoon and no one's around. I'll probably walk to the post office to get my package. Maybe fewer vendors this time.
Saigon
Basically not much is going on today. I ordered some capris out of some pretty blue fabric and I'm going to try them on today. I got a note in my mailbox saying I have another package; I think it's Easter baskets. So that should be good. Right now it's afternoon and no one's around. I'll probably walk to the post office to get my package. Maybe fewer vendors this time.
Wednesday, April 02, 2003
April 2, 6 pm
Saigon
God help me, I went back to the backpacker district again for dinner. I wanted some nachos. I got some, in the sense that I got Doritos with cheese melted on them. Serves me right for going back there.
Today we went to something called the Vietnam Women's Union. Our lecturer made it sound like basically they have classes and resources there to educate VN women and improve their status. In the past things were really bad, women had to obey all sorts of rules and had very few rights. Traditionally a woman has to obey her parents when she's young, her husband when she gets married, and her oldest son after her husband dies. Really not a whole lot of fun.
Vietnamese class was a lot of fun today; there were only three people there and we went on for at least 45 minutes, each trying to convince our teacher that she needed to visit only the place where we lived and that she could ignore the places where the other students lived. Never mind that Pennsylvania, Vermont, and New York City are all relatively close to each other. I think I came close to selling her on Vermont by telling her that a few years ago Burlington had a party because there were finally more people than cows in the state. She likes cows.
Saigon
God help me, I went back to the backpacker district again for dinner. I wanted some nachos. I got some, in the sense that I got Doritos with cheese melted on them. Serves me right for going back there.
Today we went to something called the Vietnam Women's Union. Our lecturer made it sound like basically they have classes and resources there to educate VN women and improve their status. In the past things were really bad, women had to obey all sorts of rules and had very few rights. Traditionally a woman has to obey her parents when she's young, her husband when she gets married, and her oldest son after her husband dies. Really not a whole lot of fun.
Vietnamese class was a lot of fun today; there were only three people there and we went on for at least 45 minutes, each trying to convince our teacher that she needed to visit only the place where we lived and that she could ignore the places where the other students lived. Never mind that Pennsylvania, Vermont, and New York City are all relatively close to each other. I think I came close to selling her on Vermont by telling her that a few years ago Burlington had a party because there were finally more people than cows in the state. She likes cows.
April 1, noon
Saigon
A lot of people are planning to leave the program early because of the restrictions; right now only 2 of us are definitely staying to finish the whole thing through. There is no SARS in Ho Chi Minh City, and even the CDC believes that it is well-controlled in Hanoi. It doesn't help that we're getting mixed signals from Brattleboro - they told us we would be allowed to travel, Stu said we wouldn't. We have a meeting later today to find out.
I was able to sign up for classes at SMC today and it was not that bad.
Today I tried to go read some of the information posted at the American consulate and the guards wouldn't let me near the place. Call me crazy, but I am an American citizen living abroad and I thought the consulate might have been of some help. Maybe it was because I had a backpack. There are between six and eight large men with large guns posted outside the US consulate at all times. I actually didn't know where the consulate was for a long time because there's no American flag and no sign indicating what the building is. There's just a faded metal United States seal over the doorway that's difficult to make out from the street. Thank you president Bush.
9 pm
At the meeting we found out we're still travelling, although only to places in the south - Nha Trang and Dalat and other places. That's making a difference; more people are planning to stick around.
After the meeting I headed downtown, it's just a few blocks away. I've never been to into Catholic traditions; although I was raised in that religion, my actual beliefs are more along the lines of militant agnostic. However, I've found that good things happen when I light a candle in a cathedral, and Notre Dame Cathedral just happened to be right in my path. The French built it; it looks a lot like Notre Dame in Montreal. So I went in and lit a candle and left. Then I went to the post office, where I discovered that lo and behold my parents mailed me two boxes of Thin Mints Girl Scout cookies. I ate an entire box today. That's got to be at least 30 cookies. It was worth it.
Also the random vendors, motorcyle taxi and cylco drivers were particularly aggressive around Notre Dame today. Usually they ask me if I want their services/ beverages and I say no and for the most part they leave me alone. Today I had several people actually following me around. People often think I'm a lost tourist going to the war museum because that's the only tourist attraction in the my neighborhood. Today I had someone follow me for almost a block trying to take me there in his cyclo. I kept shaking my head no, he followed me, trying to persuade me in EngIish that I needed his services. Finally I started talking to him in German, hoping he would think I didn't speak English. He eventually backed off.
Also I think Saigon must have gotten a new shipment of French tourists today, because a lot of the vendors were talking to me in French. There are an awful lot of French tourists here. They come in tour groups with names like "Voyageurs du Monde".
I went to the backpacker district tonight. I told my Vietnamese teacher that I missed Italian food, and she sent me to an Italian place there. I HAD CHEESE RAVIOLI AND IT WAS WONDERFUL.
I also went to a music store that sold pirated CDs. Most books and music sold here are photocopies; the government doesn't enforce copyright laws. I bought 11 CDs for $10.
Saigon
A lot of people are planning to leave the program early because of the restrictions; right now only 2 of us are definitely staying to finish the whole thing through. There is no SARS in Ho Chi Minh City, and even the CDC believes that it is well-controlled in Hanoi. It doesn't help that we're getting mixed signals from Brattleboro - they told us we would be allowed to travel, Stu said we wouldn't. We have a meeting later today to find out.
I was able to sign up for classes at SMC today and it was not that bad.
Today I tried to go read some of the information posted at the American consulate and the guards wouldn't let me near the place. Call me crazy, but I am an American citizen living abroad and I thought the consulate might have been of some help. Maybe it was because I had a backpack. There are between six and eight large men with large guns posted outside the US consulate at all times. I actually didn't know where the consulate was for a long time because there's no American flag and no sign indicating what the building is. There's just a faded metal United States seal over the doorway that's difficult to make out from the street. Thank you president Bush.
9 pm
At the meeting we found out we're still travelling, although only to places in the south - Nha Trang and Dalat and other places. That's making a difference; more people are planning to stick around.
After the meeting I headed downtown, it's just a few blocks away. I've never been to into Catholic traditions; although I was raised in that religion, my actual beliefs are more along the lines of militant agnostic. However, I've found that good things happen when I light a candle in a cathedral, and Notre Dame Cathedral just happened to be right in my path. The French built it; it looks a lot like Notre Dame in Montreal. So I went in and lit a candle and left. Then I went to the post office, where I discovered that lo and behold my parents mailed me two boxes of Thin Mints Girl Scout cookies. I ate an entire box today. That's got to be at least 30 cookies. It was worth it.
Also the random vendors, motorcyle taxi and cylco drivers were particularly aggressive around Notre Dame today. Usually they ask me if I want their services/ beverages and I say no and for the most part they leave me alone. Today I had several people actually following me around. People often think I'm a lost tourist going to the war museum because that's the only tourist attraction in the my neighborhood. Today I had someone follow me for almost a block trying to take me there in his cyclo. I kept shaking my head no, he followed me, trying to persuade me in EngIish that I needed his services. Finally I started talking to him in German, hoping he would think I didn't speak English. He eventually backed off.
Also I think Saigon must have gotten a new shipment of French tourists today, because a lot of the vendors were talking to me in French. There are an awful lot of French tourists here. They come in tour groups with names like "Voyageurs du Monde".
I went to the backpacker district tonight. I told my Vietnamese teacher that I missed Italian food, and she sent me to an Italian place there. I HAD CHEESE RAVIOLI AND IT WAS WONDERFUL.
I also went to a music store that sold pirated CDs. Most books and music sold here are photocopies; the government doesn't enforce copyright laws. I bought 11 CDs for $10.
March 31, 9 pm
Saigon
Ug, today was our first day back to class after the break. But back to that in a second. After I wrote yesterday, Molly, Michelle and I went to an amazing restaurant-type place outside the city center with Michelle's uncle and his family. I have literally never eaten so much food in my life. Basically we went to an expansive manicured country club-like place that was made to look like the Vietnamese countryside, if the Vietnamese countryside were located in an expansive manicured country club. People go there to get away from the city and get back to their countryside roots, neglecting the fact that the countryside generally does not include huge buffet tables, hanging electric lights, and a live singer who stands on a small platform and sings nice songs about nature. It's like people who go camping in RVs. But I shouldn't be too critical of the place because the food was delicious. I had all kinds of vegetables, chicken, and coconut in about 17 different forms.
Saigon
Ug, today was our first day back to class after the break. But back to that in a second. After I wrote yesterday, Molly, Michelle and I went to an amazing restaurant-type place outside the city center with Michelle's uncle and his family. I have literally never eaten so much food in my life. Basically we went to an expansive manicured country club-like place that was made to look like the Vietnamese countryside, if the Vietnamese countryside were located in an expansive manicured country club. People go there to get away from the city and get back to their countryside roots, neglecting the fact that the countryside generally does not include huge buffet tables, hanging electric lights, and a live singer who stands on a small platform and sings nice songs about nature. It's like people who go camping in RVs. But I shouldn't be too critical of the place because the food was delicious. I had all kinds of vegetables, chicken, and coconut in about 17 different forms.
March 30 3 pm
Saigon
You cannot get pizza delivered at 11 pm here. Everything is already closed, as I discovered last night when Crystal and I were hungry. This is a city of seven million people, the largest in the country. Alas.
It seems the program will continue, but the field trips to the North are cancelled and we have to do our independent study projects within Ho Chi Minh City. A lot of people are looking into dropping the program altogether, about half the group. I don't know how many will actually go, but people are pretty serious about it. Loosing the field trips puts a huge dent in our program.
I've done very little in these past few days at the guesthouse. It's almost like I'm deliberately trying to keep quiet for some reason. It's not hard, since there's not a lot for me to do. I've written out all of my postcards and written Niki a letter, gone to VNN Internet too many times, and sort of just sat around and talked to people.
Also tonight Sarah and I went out for a walk with Co Hai, our translator. She took us through District 1 and gave us sort of a tour, taking us to places and into little shops where she explained what things were. District 1 is like the Manhattan of Ho Chi Minh City; it's where most of the attractions are. She's so funny, she keeps teaching even when she's not teaching. District 1 used to be the city of Saigon before Saigon and other districts were blended into Ho Chi Minh City. Although you can refer to all of Ho Chi Minh City as Saigon. If that makes sense.
Saigon
You cannot get pizza delivered at 11 pm here. Everything is already closed, as I discovered last night when Crystal and I were hungry. This is a city of seven million people, the largest in the country. Alas.
It seems the program will continue, but the field trips to the North are cancelled and we have to do our independent study projects within Ho Chi Minh City. A lot of people are looking into dropping the program altogether, about half the group. I don't know how many will actually go, but people are pretty serious about it. Loosing the field trips puts a huge dent in our program.
I've done very little in these past few days at the guesthouse. It's almost like I'm deliberately trying to keep quiet for some reason. It's not hard, since there's not a lot for me to do. I've written out all of my postcards and written Niki a letter, gone to VNN Internet too many times, and sort of just sat around and talked to people.
Also tonight Sarah and I went out for a walk with Co Hai, our translator. She took us through District 1 and gave us sort of a tour, taking us to places and into little shops where she explained what things were. District 1 is like the Manhattan of Ho Chi Minh City; it's where most of the attractions are. She's so funny, she keeps teaching even when she's not teaching. District 1 used to be the city of Saigon before Saigon and other districts were blended into Ho Chi Minh City. Although you can refer to all of Ho Chi Minh City as Saigon. If that makes sense.
Friday, March 28, 2003
March 28 5 pm
Saigon
So yesterday Grace and I got back to Saigon. When we checked our email, we found an email from Stu telling us that the program might close early because of the pneumonia in Hanoi. Some US embassy people are sending their families abroad. At the very least, we aren't going to be able to travel much beyond HCMC. Everyone's supposed to come back by today, although I doubt people are checking their email.
We were stunned, we'd heard about the pneumonia but nothing about it being here. Very distraught, we drowned our sorrows with cheap vodka and expensive Hershey's kisses with almonds. (The chocolate was imported) Today, things are looking brighter - we've still yet to hear anything official, but rumors from various sources make it sound like we'll be allowed to stay, albeit at the guesthouse and only in HCMC.
Saigon
So yesterday Grace and I got back to Saigon. When we checked our email, we found an email from Stu telling us that the program might close early because of the pneumonia in Hanoi. Some US embassy people are sending their families abroad. At the very least, we aren't going to be able to travel much beyond HCMC. Everyone's supposed to come back by today, although I doubt people are checking their email.
We were stunned, we'd heard about the pneumonia but nothing about it being here. Very distraught, we drowned our sorrows with cheap vodka and expensive Hershey's kisses with almonds. (The chocolate was imported) Today, things are looking brighter - we've still yet to hear anything official, but rumors from various sources make it sound like we'll be allowed to stay, albeit at the guesthouse and only in HCMC.
March 26, 9 pm
Dalat
So yesterday, we arrived here in Dalat at about 3 pm. The hotel is really nice. Rachel, Crystal, Grace and I are in a triple on the 4th floor. We spent the beginning of the trip walking around the city. It's beautiful - there are all sorts of hills and mountains; everything is green and there are even pine trees. Last night, I noticed how cool the weather is here. It didn't get about 75 even at midday, and at night I was chilly.
The city strangely reminds me of Saranac Lake, New York, even though it is much bigger. It's got lots of hills and winding roads - very pretty and peaceful. There's a big lake in the center of town and a lot of things are situated around it.
Last night, we went out to a place that served food in clay pots. Grace had rabbit! We also met up with a friend of a friend who took us out to a cafe that served regular cafe stuff, and well as pie and cake. I ordered chocolate cake, what came looked like dense vanilla and chocolate poundcake. I ate it anyway, and it was delicious.
Today, we took motorbike taxis to the Prenn waterfall, a little outside the city. The waterfall was beautiful and you could walk right under it. I think getting there was actually the most fun, we got to zoom up and down hills and see the countryside.
When we came back to the city, we went to this incredibly funky place called The Crazy House that identified itself as an art museum. It struck me as more of an incredibly complex stone treehouse. It was a maze of stairs going up and down, occasionally ending in a room. Usually the room consisted of a bed and some random room-y things, like a dresser.
The building was made of stone or concrete and painted to look like mushrooms, leaves and things of that nature. You really have to see it for yourself.
Dalat
So yesterday, we arrived here in Dalat at about 3 pm. The hotel is really nice. Rachel, Crystal, Grace and I are in a triple on the 4th floor. We spent the beginning of the trip walking around the city. It's beautiful - there are all sorts of hills and mountains; everything is green and there are even pine trees. Last night, I noticed how cool the weather is here. It didn't get about 75 even at midday, and at night I was chilly.
The city strangely reminds me of Saranac Lake, New York, even though it is much bigger. It's got lots of hills and winding roads - very pretty and peaceful. There's a big lake in the center of town and a lot of things are situated around it.
Last night, we went out to a place that served food in clay pots. Grace had rabbit! We also met up with a friend of a friend who took us out to a cafe that served regular cafe stuff, and well as pie and cake. I ordered chocolate cake, what came looked like dense vanilla and chocolate poundcake. I ate it anyway, and it was delicious.
Today, we took motorbike taxis to the Prenn waterfall, a little outside the city. The waterfall was beautiful and you could walk right under it. I think getting there was actually the most fun, we got to zoom up and down hills and see the countryside.
When we came back to the city, we went to this incredibly funky place called The Crazy House that identified itself as an art museum. It struck me as more of an incredibly complex stone treehouse. It was a maze of stairs going up and down, occasionally ending in a room. Usually the room consisted of a bed and some random room-y things, like a dresser.
The building was made of stone or concrete and painted to look like mushrooms, leaves and things of that nature. You really have to see it for yourself.
March 25, 1 pm
On a bus to Dalat, in the central highlands, looking at some mountains
For most of the time I've been in Vietnam, I haven't really seen too many mountains. Now I'm driving through really hilly country. It's almost like Vermont, there are even pine trees. I spent the entire first half of the ride asleep, using my backpack as a pillow.
Yesterday, we went to visit a traditional farming village on the Mekong. we were supposed to look at how people live their lives and what sort of things went on there. In this village, people farmed rice and had banana trees. The houses were made out of wood and I think husks; for 3 months out of the year the Mekong floods and the water rises so high half the house is underwater. They just board up the house and live in it anyway. They're used to it.
I spent most of the time sitting with a group of local people with some other Americans. Some nice people invited us to sit in front of their house, and their neighbors came by to look at us. We were a major curiousity. At first, we had to try to get by on our Vietnamese; later Thu came to translate. One of the old men saw that I was interested in a baby chicken, and he picked it up and put him in my hand. He was adorable. Thu said he wanted to give the chick to me. I tried to explain that I lived in a city and I didn't think the chick would be happy there. So he gave me a quail that they'd caught instead, to take back to America. It was beautiful. I couldn't refuse, but I let the quail go as soon as we were out of sight. You know, the people didn't have a lot of money, but they seemed really happy. A lot of people are really happy here.
Later that afternoon, we toured a former resistance center. At this point it just looked like jungle. A red ant bit me.
On a bus to Dalat, in the central highlands, looking at some mountains
For most of the time I've been in Vietnam, I haven't really seen too many mountains. Now I'm driving through really hilly country. It's almost like Vermont, there are even pine trees. I spent the entire first half of the ride asleep, using my backpack as a pillow.
Yesterday, we went to visit a traditional farming village on the Mekong. we were supposed to look at how people live their lives and what sort of things went on there. In this village, people farmed rice and had banana trees. The houses were made out of wood and I think husks; for 3 months out of the year the Mekong floods and the water rises so high half the house is underwater. They just board up the house and live in it anyway. They're used to it.
I spent most of the time sitting with a group of local people with some other Americans. Some nice people invited us to sit in front of their house, and their neighbors came by to look at us. We were a major curiousity. At first, we had to try to get by on our Vietnamese; later Thu came to translate. One of the old men saw that I was interested in a baby chicken, and he picked it up and put him in my hand. He was adorable. Thu said he wanted to give the chick to me. I tried to explain that I lived in a city and I didn't think the chick would be happy there. So he gave me a quail that they'd caught instead, to take back to America. It was beautiful. I couldn't refuse, but I let the quail go as soon as we were out of sight. You know, the people didn't have a lot of money, but they seemed really happy. A lot of people are really happy here.
Later that afternoon, we toured a former resistance center. At this point it just looked like jungle. A red ant bit me.
March 24 11 pm
Saigon
So this weekend was the Mekong Delta! Saturday night we went on a motorbike/cart-thing ride around Can Tho and got to see a good chunk of it. Then early that morning we set off for the Can Tho Floating Market, which is exactly what it sounds like. I brilliantly chose to wear a bright white skirt to the muddy river. It actually didn't get that dirty. Thank God for small miracles. People get on their boats and go up and down the river selling fruit and other things off of their boats. We (Barrett, Co Hai and I ) got to sit on the deck of a pineapple boat and talk to the guy who ran it. He told us it takes between 1 and 4 days to sell all his 4 tons of pineapples. It depends on business. I sat there thinking, "This is why I did SIT Vietnam. I am sitting in the middle of the Mekong River eating pineapples on someone's boat."
Then we went to see (also by boat) other places along the river - places where they make rice paper and rice wine. They distill rice wine and feed the waste to the pigs. They gave us some rice wine, it tasted exactly like straight vodka. It was exactly like drinking vodka straight out of the bottle, not that I have ever done such a thing.
After that, we went to a Khmer Buddhist pagoda, where we got to talk to one of the monks. He was cool, and he spoke some English. He's only 24, and he became a monk when he was 14 so that he could get an education. He's almost finished high school. Grace said she went to see their dorms, she said it was just like a college dorm. They were all joking around and one of them was playing a Gameboy when she walked in.
Saigon
So this weekend was the Mekong Delta! Saturday night we went on a motorbike/cart-thing ride around Can Tho and got to see a good chunk of it. Then early that morning we set off for the Can Tho Floating Market, which is exactly what it sounds like. I brilliantly chose to wear a bright white skirt to the muddy river. It actually didn't get that dirty. Thank God for small miracles. People get on their boats and go up and down the river selling fruit and other things off of their boats. We (Barrett, Co Hai and I ) got to sit on the deck of a pineapple boat and talk to the guy who ran it. He told us it takes between 1 and 4 days to sell all his 4 tons of pineapples. It depends on business. I sat there thinking, "This is why I did SIT Vietnam. I am sitting in the middle of the Mekong River eating pineapples on someone's boat."
Then we went to see (also by boat) other places along the river - places where they make rice paper and rice wine. They distill rice wine and feed the waste to the pigs. They gave us some rice wine, it tasted exactly like straight vodka. It was exactly like drinking vodka straight out of the bottle, not that I have ever done such a thing.
After that, we went to a Khmer Buddhist pagoda, where we got to talk to one of the monks. He was cool, and he spoke some English. He's only 24, and he became a monk when he was 14 so that he could get an education. He's almost finished high school. Grace said she went to see their dorms, she said it was just like a college dorm. They were all joking around and one of them was playing a Gameboy when she walked in.
March 22, 2 pm
Can Tho, the Mekong Delta
So yesterday I watched the VN news with my host mother.It was mostly about the war in Iraq, focusing on civilian casualties. Of course I didn't understand the worlds, and when I asked her what happened, she put on CNN for me. Basically the US is sweeping through the desert. CNN is supposedly neutral, but I really think it's pretty biased in favor of war. They cover things like how high-tech the US army is and minimize the negatives. I know there is footage of hurt civilians because I saw it on Vietnamese TV, but CNN didn't broadcast it. They did manage to report 1000 people got arrested in San Francisco. That's encouraging.
My host mother said to me, "Don't worry, we understand that you and Bush are different." I've never heard her put so many English words together like that. She must have thought about it. That was nice.
We also had a lecture on the American War here, but it was ok. It was really chronological, like something I would have heard in the US.
Today, I got up early and went to the guesthouse, where I met Molly, Adam, Hillary, and Thu. We got a taxi to the bus station, where we had a hard time convincing people that we wanted the ghetto bus to Can Tho (we were assigned to take the bus regular people take, rather than the tourist bus) People couldn't understand why we would want the ghetto bus and kept banging on the taxi telling us to go the other way. It was funny.
The bus actually wasn't so bad, it was almost like a Greyhound. It was kinda crowded and there was no AC, but it wasn't too hot with the windows open. After a 5 hour bus ride, we took a short ferry ride to Can Tho. Then we took a kind of motorbike taxi where we were pulled by a motorbike that dragged a passenger seat behind it. It was pretty cool.
Can Tho, the Mekong Delta
So yesterday I watched the VN news with my host mother.It was mostly about the war in Iraq, focusing on civilian casualties. Of course I didn't understand the worlds, and when I asked her what happened, she put on CNN for me. Basically the US is sweeping through the desert. CNN is supposedly neutral, but I really think it's pretty biased in favor of war. They cover things like how high-tech the US army is and minimize the negatives. I know there is footage of hurt civilians because I saw it on Vietnamese TV, but CNN didn't broadcast it. They did manage to report 1000 people got arrested in San Francisco. That's encouraging.
My host mother said to me, "Don't worry, we understand that you and Bush are different." I've never heard her put so many English words together like that. She must have thought about it. That was nice.
We also had a lecture on the American War here, but it was ok. It was really chronological, like something I would have heard in the US.
Today, I got up early and went to the guesthouse, where I met Molly, Adam, Hillary, and Thu. We got a taxi to the bus station, where we had a hard time convincing people that we wanted the ghetto bus to Can Tho (we were assigned to take the bus regular people take, rather than the tourist bus) People couldn't understand why we would want the ghetto bus and kept banging on the taxi telling us to go the other way. It was funny.
The bus actually wasn't so bad, it was almost like a Greyhound. It was kinda crowded and there was no AC, but it wasn't too hot with the windows open. After a 5 hour bus ride, we took a short ferry ride to Can Tho. Then we took a kind of motorbike taxi where we were pulled by a motorbike that dragged a passenger seat behind it. It was pretty cool.
March 20, 10 pm
Saigon
So today the US started bombing Iraq, as expected. I kept up with the news on CNN (my host family has cable) The VN people I talked to don't feel that Bush is considering the people that the bombs are hitting. I was taking the whole thing really had, stressing about everything so much Sarah had to take me aside and tell me to just breathe. This is the sort of time when you want to be home, even if you think that home is wrong.
My host father mentioned to me in conversation today that my host mother had to be born in underground in the north in 1972 because the Americans were bombing.
Saigon
So today the US started bombing Iraq, as expected. I kept up with the news on CNN (my host family has cable) The VN people I talked to don't feel that Bush is considering the people that the bombs are hitting. I was taking the whole thing really had, stressing about everything so much Sarah had to take me aside and tell me to just breathe. This is the sort of time when you want to be home, even if you think that home is wrong.
My host father mentioned to me in conversation today that my host mother had to be born in underground in the north in 1972 because the Americans were bombing.
March 19, 8 pm
Saigon
It's looking more and more like there will be a war with Iraq, maybe starting tomorrow morning. Saddam Hussein isn't stepping down and I don't see any other opportunity presenting itself. It's really sad. CNN is showing pictures of Kuwait City and I keep thinking that people I know are there.
Hung told us today there was a protest in HCMC yesterday against the war by the Communist Youth League. He said it was against the US gov't going to war and not against Americans living in VN. I didn't even know it took place.
I was talking to Cherise today and she was telling me she feels bad for people studying abroad in France right now. I think it's good that there are people abroad to explain we're not all like Bush.
Saigon
It's looking more and more like there will be a war with Iraq, maybe starting tomorrow morning. Saddam Hussein isn't stepping down and I don't see any other opportunity presenting itself. It's really sad. CNN is showing pictures of Kuwait City and I keep thinking that people I know are there.
Hung told us today there was a protest in HCMC yesterday against the war by the Communist Youth League. He said it was against the US gov't going to war and not against Americans living in VN. I didn't even know it took place.
I was talking to Cherise today and she was telling me she feels bad for people studying abroad in France right now. I think it's good that there are people abroad to explain we're not all like Bush.
March 18, 10 pm
Saigon
So I got really fat today. Today was Sarah's birthday. When we told our Vietnamese teacher, she went out and bought us delicious French pastries. Then later this afternoon we had a birthday party for her at the guesthouse, which included a cake with pineapple filling (it's actually pretty good) and cool-looking daisies on top. She was very surprised.
I also went to the main post office for the first time and it actually wasn't too bad. Ijust had to go up and give them my passport and a claim slip to get my package. Today was the hottest day I can remember hear, and it was nice to sit in the post office air conditioning.
The other thing that happened today was Bush went on TV and announced he's giving Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave Iraq before he attacks it. I try to explain to people I meet that not everyone agrees with him.
Also in the Congressional dining halls they've renamed French fries "freedom fries" People here think that's pretty funny.
Saigon
So I got really fat today. Today was Sarah's birthday. When we told our Vietnamese teacher, she went out and bought us delicious French pastries. Then later this afternoon we had a birthday party for her at the guesthouse, which included a cake with pineapple filling (it's actually pretty good) and cool-looking daisies on top. She was very surprised.
I also went to the main post office for the first time and it actually wasn't too bad. Ijust had to go up and give them my passport and a claim slip to get my package. Today was the hottest day I can remember hear, and it was nice to sit in the post office air conditioning.
The other thing that happened today was Bush went on TV and announced he's giving Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave Iraq before he attacks it. I try to explain to people I meet that not everyone agrees with him.
Also in the Congressional dining halls they've renamed French fries "freedom fries" People here think that's pretty funny.
Saint Patrick's Day
Saigon
Unfortunately I did not get to spend my first Saint Patrick's Day at a 21-year-old in a drunken stupor. But I'll get to that in a second. Yesterday I moved in with my host family. They live just a few blocks down Nam Ky from the hotel, in a 3rd floor apt with a balcony overlooking the city. They're very nice to me and I have a sweet room all to myself. I think I'll learn some Vietnamese here. They're surprised about the kinds of things I don't know, like how to peel and orange with a knife.
My 4 year old host brother is a clone of Bozz at that age. He is full of energy and always running around and getting into things. Today, we had a stuffed animal fight that began with 2 plush Pikachus and escalated into a fight with all of his animals. And then he charged at me with a laundry basket on his head.
I celebrated Saint Patrick's Day by singing Irish drinking songs to Crystal and Chi Ha while Molly did a jig. Also I had some rum ice cream.
Saigon
Unfortunately I did not get to spend my first Saint Patrick's Day at a 21-year-old in a drunken stupor. But I'll get to that in a second. Yesterday I moved in with my host family. They live just a few blocks down Nam Ky from the hotel, in a 3rd floor apt with a balcony overlooking the city. They're very nice to me and I have a sweet room all to myself. I think I'll learn some Vietnamese here. They're surprised about the kinds of things I don't know, like how to peel and orange with a knife.
My 4 year old host brother is a clone of Bozz at that age. He is full of energy and always running around and getting into things. Today, we had a stuffed animal fight that began with 2 plush Pikachus and escalated into a fight with all of his animals. And then he charged at me with a laundry basket on his head.
I celebrated Saint Patrick's Day by singing Irish drinking songs to Crystal and Chi Ha while Molly did a jig. Also I had some rum ice cream.
March 16 4 PM
Saigon
So yesterday I went to Dim Sum in Cholon with Grace, Crystal, and Phuong. I ATE CHICKEN FEET. Phuong knows I like chicken, so she put some cooked chicken feet on my plate. They're covered with a sauce that looks and tastes like the stuff on General Tsao's chicken. She said I'd like it. Crystal and Grace were no help, they just smiled and agreed. My friends have no loyalty!!!!! So I ate some. Actually it was not too bad. Tastes like chicken.
After that, we did some shopping. I kinda tried to get clothes, but of course they were too small for me. So I bought a CD instead.
I was hanging out downstairs at the guesthouse in the SIT classroom at 11 PM tonight when the power suddenly went out. The room was pitch black, I couldn't see my hand 5 inches in front of my face. After freaking out for a few minutes, I slowly edged my way out. Outside, a small crowd had gathered. Crystal lead me upstairs to our room, and we stayed up late talking and rehashing a bunch of things. It was great.
Saigon
So yesterday I went to Dim Sum in Cholon with Grace, Crystal, and Phuong. I ATE CHICKEN FEET. Phuong knows I like chicken, so she put some cooked chicken feet on my plate. They're covered with a sauce that looks and tastes like the stuff on General Tsao's chicken. She said I'd like it. Crystal and Grace were no help, they just smiled and agreed. My friends have no loyalty!!!!! So I ate some. Actually it was not too bad. Tastes like chicken.
After that, we did some shopping. I kinda tried to get clothes, but of course they were too small for me. So I bought a CD instead.
I was hanging out downstairs at the guesthouse in the SIT classroom at 11 PM tonight when the power suddenly went out. The room was pitch black, I couldn't see my hand 5 inches in front of my face. After freaking out for a few minutes, I slowly edged my way out. Outside, a small crowd had gathered. Crystal lead me upstairs to our room, and we stayed up late talking and rehashing a bunch of things. It was great.
March 14 7pm
Saigon
Yesterday, we got the names and addresses of our host families. Mine is right near our guesthouse, so I'm excited. The mother is an insurance agent and the father is a music teacher, and they have a 9 year old daughter and a 6 year old son. I tried to call them today, or actually I had my friend who speaks Vietnamese try to call them. She said the daughter picked up the phone and said her parents would be back later. So I'll call back later.
Saigon
Yesterday, we got the names and addresses of our host families. Mine is right near our guesthouse, so I'm excited. The mother is an insurance agent and the father is a music teacher, and they have a 9 year old daughter and a 6 year old son. I tried to call them today, or actually I had my friend who speaks Vietnamese try to call them. She said the daughter picked up the phone and said her parents would be back later. So I'll call back later.
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