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.
Saturday, May 10, 2003
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!
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