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.
Wednesday, June 04, 2003
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.
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