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Posts Tagged ‘Vietnam’

From Asia to Africa

Posted in From Asia to Africa, tagged , on July 5, 2010| 12 Comments »

I had a dreamy three week vacation after my volunteer work. Three days at the beach in Mui Ne, Vietnam stretched into a lavish nine days. I’m travelling on a $50/day budget and my maximum hotel budget is $30 which buys me the top-of-the-line budget accommodation (air conditioning, private bathroom, TV). I’m not 20-years old anymore and can’t handle a shared bathroom or rooms that make me want to cry when I open the door and the wave of mildew wafts over me. My remaining $20 is spent on transportation, food and of course, massages! Mui Ne was an absolute dream because our budget hotel was on the beach and I’d fall asleep and wake up to the sounds of the surf. Then we’d walk a few steps to the most glamorous restaurant and pool and felt like I was in a 4-star life. Cabanas surround a pool and the interior design feels like I’m a movie star in the South of France. Even though it’s super-fancy, there is a down-home family feeling with children and dogs running around.

We get to know the Vietnamese staff and ex-pats and even get invited to the local poker tournament and receive complimentary meals and drinks. We play endless games of cards, swim in the beach and pool, read and do absolutely nothing for hours at a time. We take a break from this life of luxury for the big tourist attraction in Mui Ne and visit the sand dunes. An 11-year old girl guide walks us to the top of the white sand dunes. We each have a long piece of plastic and the girl shows us how to use it to slide down the hill. When I get stuck a few feet down, she jumps onto my back and we zoom down the hill in a fit of laughter. At the bottom, we cool off in a lake filled with lotus flowers. This respite in Mui Ne is exactly what I need, and I feel a bit sad to leave.

Next up is Dalat, a cool retreat nestled in the hills. I have to pile on every item of clothing to stay warm (one long sleeved shirt, long pants, scarf) in the seemingly freezing 60 degree evenings. In my younger travelling days, I shunned fellow backpackers. These days I’m much more open, and Tiffany and I pick up travelling companions along the way. Neil accompanies us from Mui Ne to Dalat, and the two of us go on a three-day 300 mile tour of the Central Highlands on the back of motorcycles. Neil is half-Japanese from Canada and everywhere we go people ask where we are from. I begin to tell people in Vietnamese we are hai lai (two mixed people) because everyone thinks this is absolutely hysterical and it evokes an easy laugh. It’s Neil’s first trip to Vietnam and it’s fun to expose him to new things, like the amazing fruit of Southeast Asia. First time eating mangosteen and custard apple – YUM! I get to eat passion fruit for the first time and it’s tart and delicious. After a hot morning, our driver cuts open several passion fruit, scoops out the innards into a glass, adds sugar and ice and it’s the most refreshing thing I’ve eaten in years!

Our first night, we have a homestay in an ethnic minority village. The communal village toilet is across the road and I start to wonder if this is what Africa will be like. I fall asleep to the sound of gongs from a funeral, and wake up to the squeals of pigs. We visit many ethnic minority villages, most of them have access to water through wells, and have only recently gained access to electricity. Everywhere we go, the women are working so hard. It’s the same all over Vietnam, and it’s common to see men during the day in cafes and in the restaurants at night. Women are never around because they are working. Working all day and taking care of their families at night. We visit a brick factory, and again it’s women everywhere in what seems like the most masculine job. One of the women tells me her husband also works there and I ask where? She points to the one lone man, sitting smoking and watching all the women on the line. We walk through the factory and I find all the missing men – they are sleeping in hammocks in the shade.

In Nha Trang, our threesome becomes a foursome with the addition of Michel, a Swedish-Serbian traveler we met in Dalat. The next few days feels golden. We lounge on the beach, swim, get massages, play cards, eat street food and visit the pagoda orphanage for the last time. We go on a four-island boat tour which perfectly sums up my experience in Vietnam. The scenery is gorgeous with mountains and crystal blue water. We are all packed into a small boat and when we get to each island it’s pure chaos debarking amidst the throngs of other boats. After lunch, they convert the benches into a makeshift dance floor. The band is comprised of a drummer and guitarist, who are also the driver and deckhand. The emcee starts it off with a heartfelt song with his eyes closed. A 9-year old boy sings to his father. The father sings about Hanoi. When the emcee reaches his hand down to me to dance (I’m still wearing my bikini from the afternoon swim), I am feeling it and go with the moment. He spins me around this tiny dance floor and my head grazes the ceiling. We are laughing and the audience is clapping and smiling. He goes to dip me and I’m so relaxed that when he drops me onto the guitarist, we fall into a heap laughing and I emerge without a scratch. I coax my friend on stage and he plays the guitar and sings a rousing rendition of “Johnny Be Good.” I get a bit teary-eyed because I LOVE VIETNAM.

It takes me over 48 hours to get to Ghana, with four flights, 24 hours of layovers and a near panic attack when I discover there are two airports in Kuala Lumpur and I need to travel 20 kilometers to make my connecting flight. I have a 13-hour layover in Cairo, and unexpectedly go on a day tour of the pyramids. I am absolutely awestruck by the pyramids and the sphinx and happily pose for many cheesy photos.

By the time I get to Ghana, I am feeling pretty wrecked. I collapse in a guesthouse, and when it starts to pour rain I start to wonder if I’ve made the right decision. Many of my friends and family have told me how brave I am to go to Africa and I didn’t think anything of it. My volunteer assignment is fundraising and my homestay is in a local village. I obviously didn’t read the fine print because I’m surprised to learn that the home doesn’t have running water or electricity. The house is a beautiful bright blue, with a courtyard of sunflowers and okra. They have brought a generator to watch the World Cup game of Ghana vs. Uruguay. It seems the entire village is here, with about 75 people crammed around a 19 inch TV. When Ghana makes the first score, everyone is screaming and dancing and jumping up and down with joy. Everyone shuffles out silently when they lose.

On my first morning here, I wake up feeling very homesick. But I’m homesick for Vietnam, not Seattle.

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The Heroes of Vietnam: Volunteers, Dentists and Buddhist Nuns

Posted in Dentists and Buddhist Nuns, tagged , , , on June 18, 2010| 5 Comments »

So much time has passed since my last blog entry because I’ve been jam-packed busy. I finished five weeks of volunteering in Central Vietnam, and finally have a moment to write. Well, the truth is after my volunteer work I’ve been mostly lounging by the beach since I really needed the down time. A friend recently said, “Live first, write later” so I’ve been living it up!

I divided my volunteer time between three cities in Vietnam: Tam Ky, Danang and Tuy Hoa. Tam Ky was just good old-fashioned, heart-warming fun. My days were mostly spent at two orphanages changing diapers and loving babies, teaching English to 5- and 6-year olds and playing games with older children. There was an outbreak of chicken pox at one of the orphanages and it’s impossible to quarantine children with such limited staffing resources. The kids are constantly leaving the restricted area and I’m just happy I’ve already had the chicken pox when they are jumping all over me. We also started to paint classrooms in a rural fishing village and murals at an orphanage. There was always one quiet, dedicated kid that helped with the thankless task of cleaning, scraping and priming, and many other kids that just wanted to jockey for the camera. Vietnamese children are the biggest HAMS for photos!

In Danang, I helped with fundraising and it felt like old times. I wrote 60-second elevator speeches, developed an annual fundraising plan, wrote fundraising solicitation email templates, assessed staff/volunteer fundraising capacity/roles and reviewed budgets.  There are power outages constantly in Central Vietnam so it gave me a convenient excuse to slip away from the computer and have fun. The highlight of my volunteer work was during one of these goof-off sessions (life lesson: have fun, don’t work too hard, or life passes you by!).  

One of the Danang volunteer sites is a large compound of 200 people, including seniors, babies, disabled children and adults. The residents almost never leave the grounds, except to go to the doctor or when volunteers organize field trips.  One morning, I accompanied three other volunteers to take one of the residents, Tam, to the beach. Tam is a 28-year old man with cerebal palsy. He’s a funny, sweet guy who happens to have no control of his body and is bound to a wheelchair. My friend, Tony, organized the expedition and I’d just assumed he’d taken Tam to the beach on prior occasions. The two big male volunteers lifted Tam into the van and we all chatted during the 10 minute drive to the beach. Tam said he didn’t want to go in the water and we all instantly shot that down and he finally conceded. It was another hot day in Vietnam, and the men took turns carrying Tam the 200 meters from the van to the beach chairs. Tony was prepared and had goggles for Tam, and they carried him to the ocean. When we got into the water and the waves crashed over us, Tam was visibly agitated. However, within minutes he relaxed and we were all laughing, joking and splashing water, taking turns holding Tam. It was such a simple thing and brought us all so much joy. In fact, I think the volunteers may have enjoyed the field trip more than Tam. On the ride home, it was revealed that this was the first excursion to the beach with Tam. And then I realized he had never been to the beach in his life. He didn’t want to go in the water at first, because he had never been swimming. I instantly got all choked up with the realization that Tam has lived minutes away from the beach his entire life, and yet this was the first time he had been in the ocean. He spends his days confined to a sweaty wheelchair, and must have experienced such a sense of freedom floating in the cool, salty water. Even as I write this I get teary all over again. 

In Tuy Hoa, I was honored to participate in a one-week dental mission co-sponsored by the East Meets West Foundation (www.eastmeetswest.org) and the Global Volunteer Network (www.globalvolunteernetwork.org). East Meets West (EMW) is a US-based NGO working with disadvantaged communities in Southeast Asia. EMW operates a dental program in Central Vietnam since over 70 percent of the population lives in rural areas where access to direct dental services is extremely limited. Children who suffer from poor oral health often have difficulty eating, talking, sleeping and growing properly. EMW operates a dental clinic in Danang and also conducts outreach missions in rural areas. An amazing ten-member Vietnamese dental team works side-by-side with volunteer dentists, hygienists, assistants and dental students from around the world to provide free dental services to thousands of poor children annually.

As soon as the EMW team arrived in Tuy Hoa and started to unload the truck to set up the equipment and supplies, I was immediately impressed with their operation. We were conducting the mission at an elementary school, and within hours they had transformed two classrooms into a full-scale clinic with eight dental stations and an infection control room for sterilizing instruments. The conditions aren’t optimal: it’s 95 degrees, no air conditioning, cramped spaces, and loud generators and air compressors are used to power equipment due to constant power outages.  The air compressor breaks down daily and I’m stunned to see one of the dentists in his scrubs taking a break from extractions to fix the machine.  In Vietnam, dentists learn how to repair equipment in dental school since this is the reality of their working conditions.

We see 100 children daily through two four-hour shifts, and collapse with exhaustion during the lunch hour. In the mornings, the children happily arrive, sometimes dressed up for the occasion. They’ve never seen a dentist before (and probably never will again) and have no idea what’s in store for them. Each child gets an oral exam by the chief dentist. She fills out a chart to notate their treatment plan, including fillings, extractions, sealants, scraping/polishing, x-rays and fluoride. My role is basically crowd control – seating children in the appropriate line to wait for their treatment, and then moving them along to their next waiting area.  

On the first day, all the patients are from a deaf residential school. The kids are incredibly brave, patient, learn how to decode their charts (X = extraction), and provide constant care and support to each other. It isn’t until the second day with hearing children that I realize why the deaf children were such troopers. As soon as the first scream erupts from the room, the ripple effect of terror spreads throughout all the waiting lines and many children start crying. Of course, the deaf kids couldn’t hear any screams! I start to term the treatment room the “Palace of Pain.”

I love and hate every single day of the dental mission. It is physically and emotionally draining. I have to maintain order in the treatment room and am constantly keeping terrified children in their seats and preventing them from running out of the room. We have limited time and space, so there are waiting areas outside and inside the room to expedite the process and the dental stations are never empty for more than  ten seconds for a quick sanitized wipe-down between patients. The kids on the inside have to actually watch patients  screaming, being restrained, get injections and extractions – I almost vomited on the first day after watching an extraction. I can’t imagine being five-years old, waiting for hours, witnessing the torture and being frightened of their fate. There are language barriers as well and the children are constantly asking me questions. I try to comfort kids with my limited Vietnamese, and usually just hug them, hold their hand and say “khong dao” or “it doesn’t hurt”(although I feel like I’m lying when kids are screaming everywhere). One little girl keeps trying to ask me something in Vietnamese but I can’t understand her. She runs out of the room before I can catch her and returns a few minutes later and shows me the words written on her hand: “Can you do tenderly.” 

On my second day, I peer into one of the children’s mouths during the initial exam and see fillings. I’m surprised since I thought these kids had never seen a dentist. But then I look again and someone tells me they are rotten holes in their teeth, not fillings. I can also see abscesses from poor dental hygiene which is why they are crying so hard from seemingly non-painful procedures (besides the sheer terror of the experience).  I love every day because the team is incredibly dedicated, efficient, professional and kind. I’m exhausted after the first day and have the easiest role compared to the dentists. And these dentists do this non-stop year-round!  Even though these kids are crying, when it’s all over they are so thankful and happily give us hugs and wave goodbye. I know they will probably never see a dentist again and these services are invaluable. It only costs $10,000 to conduct each rural outreach mission and serve 500 children with emergency and preventative dental care.

Once my volunteer work is completed, I head south to visit my friend, Tiffany, in Nha Trang, Vietnam. She has been volunteering independently for three months at a Buddhist pagoda, orphanage and school, Chua Loc Tho. Fifty people live at the pagoda, including 20 Buddhist nuns and 30 children from babies to teenagers. Another 80 children from the surrounding villages attend school six days a week at the pagoda because they can’t afford to pay for school fees and supplies in their own village.

The head nun is 80 years old and is always working, she never sits still. The pagoda doesn’t have any affiliations with NGOs or the government and runs entirely on donations. Local markets, businesses and individuals donate fresh produce, soy sauce and rice. Occasionally, tour groups stop by and donate money. I had thought the orphanages in Tam Ky were under-resourced, and am astounded to learn about the meager budget of the pagoda. They are too poor to cook with gas and use firewood to cook 230 meals daily. But they are so poor that they use scavenged wood from the grounds including broken branches, bamboo, and discarded wooden boards from buildings. Tiffany has raised thousands of dollars from her family and friends, including $180 for quality long-lasting firewood for seven months. I am continually amazed that such a small amount of money can have such an impact in Vietnam (you can still donate to me on Paypal!).  I’m in awe of Tiffany since she has constructed a new classroom and bathroom; dispensed medicines; and provided food, sporting and school supplies – all without the support of an NGO.

Poverty is relative, and as I’m visiting one day a friend tells me how lucky these children are compared to kids in the rural villages who don’t have access to the pagoda. I spend the morning in the orphanage, and wonder about the fate of these children that will never get adopted. Hours later, I see children playing on the street and know they are the same as the orphans, but have the good fortune to be living with their parents and have a roof over their head. It seems ironic that these lucky children probably still don’t have access to regular electricity and toilets, and are living on a few dollars a day. Every day in Vietnam, I think about how lucky I am to have been raised in the United States.

Today, I’m in Mui Ne, Vietnam enjoying a fabulous beach holiday. I need this time to decompress and relax, and am getting ready to head to Ghana, Africa to volunteer in July.

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My heart cracks open

Posted in My heart cracks open, tagged , on May 10, 2010| Leave a Comment »

 
Whew, finished my first week of volunteering at Tam Ky in Central Vietnam, one hour from Danang. My mother is from a small village near Tam Ky and it feels like coming home. Everyone greets me like a long lost sister, daughter, granddaughter, cousin, or friend. I meet people everywhere and they are hungry to learn more about me, practice their English and laugh at my Vietnamese accent.

The program is organized through the Global Volunteer Network (www.globalvolunteernetwork.org) and they’ve been operating in Vietnam since 2004. Currently, six volunteers live in a five bedroom and three bathroom house. We have an amazing cook (I’m definitely going to gain weight), housekeeper, driver and manager. The other volunteers are from Australia, Canada and the United States and it‘s a great group of people ranging from 20 to 56 years old.

We arrive at the beginning of a long weekend, and on our first night go dancing. There are three levels of music and we bypass the deafening disco in favor of the open-air rooftop. Everyone is dressed up and dancing to the cha cha cha, tango and meringue. All couples, mostly women dancing together. Two sisters ask me and my friend to dance. Within moments, I’m dirty dancing with Vietnamese women and laughing hysterically. It’s my first night in my mother’s home province and it’s already come to this!

Many times a day I meet people and they ask me the obligatory questions: “What is your name? Where are you from? How old are you? How many brothers and sisters do you have? Are you married?” It’s impossible to come out to people dozens of times a day, so my standard response to the married question is a truthful “no.” The correct answer in Vietnam is “not yet,” since it assumes marriage in the future. They reply with a question, “Not yet?” and I keep saying no and we laugh for awhile. After I’ve met someone more than once and they ask me a second time why I’m not married, then I usually tell them I’m a lesbian (or rather I don’t have a girlfriend, girl-girl, I like girls), there is a lot of laughter, they think I’m kidding, more laughter until they realize I’m being serious. Then one of two things happens: they want to set me up or ask me many questions. One friend wanted to set me up with the sister I danced with who is obviously straight. She came to visit the house and later, my friend told me the sister is a lesbian. I was really surprised and when pressed my friend said that the sister had given up men and ready to try women – NOT THE SAME THING! The questions are amusing and sweet, although sometimes strange. Last weekend, I had some interesting discussions that ranged from hermaphrodites, going to Thailand for sex change operations, and the increase of gay teenagers in Vietnam.

Our first weekend we spend at Tam Tanh, a rural fishing village near Tam Ky. There are no other foreigners in Tam Tanh, and the beach is filled with locals due to a long holiday weekend. We sit under tents in lounge chairs steps from the surf. It takes us a few hours to realize the chairs are designed for two people, while we are occupying one each (big foreigners!). Beach vendors approach us every few minutes, and we buy peanuts, quail eggs, shrimp chips, water, and clams. Coincidentally, we also teach an English class in Tam Tanh twice a week and the volunteers recognize some of the beach vendors as their students. One of the girls tells us she is 10 years old and we are amazed since she is so tall. We keep exclaiming our surprise, and she finally acquiesces and tells us she is really 14. It’s better for business if people think she is young and cute. I fall in love with three of the girls and we spend many hours taking photos, listening to my ipod, playing with my sunglasses and laughing. They call me Co Xuan (Aunt Xuan) and I am amazed by their humor, tenacity, maturity and youth. A few days later we return to Tam Thanh to teach English and I’m excited to see the girls again. However, they aren’t in class – probably still working on the beach to make money for their families and school fees.

There are three volunteer shifts on most weekdays, and the other placements include two orphanages and a disabled hospital for children. One of the orphanages is for 45 younger children from newborn to 11 years old. The other orphanage is for 35 older children ages three to 18 years old, and mostly street children. As soon as volunteers arrive at the orphanages, the children run up and hug and jump on us. We all form immediate attachments, the volunteers are attached to the kids and vice versa. My days are spent with the babies, providing basic love and attention, changing diapers, and helping with physical therapy. I also teach a basic English class to 5 and 6 year olds, and play games/activities with the older children. There is never a dull moment and my heart instantly opens up to these children.

Shameless fundraising pitch: I’m still accepting donations for Vietnam and will get an email notification after you’ve made a donation. Go to www.paypal.com. Go to personal / send money / send money online. To: annexuan@gmail.com / personal gift.

To give you some perspective, below are the ongoing monthly expenses that volunteers are asked to help support:
  • Breakfast for 37 children at the orphanage = $157
  • Nurse’s salary at the orphanage for 45 children = $105
  • School fees for education for 5 children at orphanage = $79
  • Monthly feast (big dinner once a month at orphanage) = $42
  • Fruit for 45 children/babies at the orphanage = $32
  • Fruit for 40 children for English class in fishing village = $25
  • Teaching supplies, toothpaste, soap, baby wipes for 45 children/babies at the orphanage = $26
  • Medicine and vitamins for 45 children/babies at the orphanage = $29

My thanks to everyone who has already donated. A small amount of money can go a really long way in Vietnam!

Annie and Kim with the girls of Tam Thanh
Annie and a 71-year old proud fisherman at Tam Thanh, Vietnam

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Did she say Dog?!?

Posted in Did she say dog?!?, tagged on March 30, 2010| 9 Comments »

 
Vietnam is full of contradictions. The old and the new are present in every inch of the city. Elderly in pajamas biking next to Gucci-clad Vespa-driving girls. Women selling fruit on the street outside of art galleries full of $1,000+ paintings. And I am full of contradictions too. The cyclo drivers are always whistling at me for a ride, a constant reminder of my foreign status. I’m so Vietnamese in many ways, but keenly aware of my American-ness too. The truth is I get treated better and worse as a foreigner. I can always get a cab ride, but have to pay more for most goods/services. The travel agent charges me exorbitant prices and gives me the wrong times for my flights, but my Vietnamese friends treat me like a queen. I figure a 30 percent markup on very inexpensive things is a small price to pay for staying in this wondrous country.

I’ve been traveling with a Vietnamese American foodie friend who visits Vietnam annually. He knows all the great street food and we are having a culinary tour of Hanoi. Our first day here we ate four meals between 2pm and 9pm: two kinds of soup, banh cuon and seafood (bloody clams, monster prawns and crab). I was bemoaning the deprived tourists who only eat in restaurants and never experience the joys of street food. My cockiness was noted the next morning when I suffered a quick two minute bout of projectile vomiting. As liquid was streaming from my mouth into the toilet, I was just worried that if I had food poisoning it would put a major cramp in my street food escapades for days! Fortunately, it wasn’t food poisoning and I was back on the street in hours. Last night, we ate at a fancy Vietnamese restaurant. Honestly, the street food has been heaps better and costs a fraction of the price. Plus, I get to witness the amazing street scenes.

This morning, I ate bun oc (snail soup) for one dollar. Lunch was fried tofu, fishcakes, mint, rice noodle and shrimp paste. The shrimp paste dipping sauce was a masterpiece exploding in my mouth comprised of shrimp paste, fresh chili, garlic/chili soaked vinegar, kumquat juice, MSG, sugar and oil. And all for sixty-five cents! Tonight, on my last night in Hanoi, I decided to dine like the locals and eat dog, the Northern specialty. The hotel staff couldn’t believe it and asked for photos as evidence since foreigners don’t eat dog. We ate dog four-ways: roasted, sausage (included peanuts in the sausage), stewed in wine, and my favorite, grilled with lemongrass.

The massages continue and I’ve gotten four massages in two weeks. They are as varied as Vietnam ranging from $4/hour with locals to $18/75 minute aromatherapy massage in a spa. The spa massage was pretty heavenly. The masseuse was kind, gentle, firm and caring. She took me to very edge of pain and then gently rubbed away the hurt. I got a little crush on her from her tenderness J

We are leaving Vietnam tomorrow, and I’m already starting to feel a bit sad and homesick even though I‘ll be back in May. I can’t believe it only took two weeks to feel like home. Vietnam is different this time around, my third trip but now I know I’m here to stay. My days are filled with visiting old and new friends and exploring old and new haunts. I had fears about moving to one of the big cities in Vietnam. Saigon has 10 million people, Hanoi has 4 million, and the traffic, pollution and noise felt oppressive. Somehow, I have quickly acclimated and enjoy the vibrant buzz. I could still do without the nonstop honking though…

Next up is Vientiane, Laos. My friend and I will part ways and I’ll head up to Luang Prubang and then on to Thailand. The adventures continue!

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Smiles and Stories Abound

Posted in Smiles and stories abound, tagged , on March 24, 2010| 13 Comments »

Last week, I met 40 volunteers at 5am on a dark street in Saigon. We were going to the Mekong Delta to interview scholarship students/parents and award their annual scholarships. The volunteers were young Vietnamese students and professionals, most of them had never been to the Mekong Delta. The group split into two and headed off to different provinces. Our group of 20 boarded the bus to Bac Lieu. There were two other Viet Kieu (Vietnamese Americans), but I was the only non-Vietnamese speaking person.I am constantly relying on my best asset to span language barriers. Not my 200 words of Vietnamese – my big, cheesy grin. People will quickly look at me to ensure they are the intended target, the smiles are shyly returned at first, and then our smiles grow in mutual delight. It works well with children, elderly and women.

I was assigned to video tape the interviews with students and parents. You might think this is a challenging task since I can‘t actually understand the interviews. But I’m pretty good at reading situations and can see emotion and spirit, I can tell when someone is going to open up and tell a great story. And the stories just pour out. Single mothers that have struggled to raise children, older sisters raising younger siblings. They are giving the next generation everything to create a better future. It’s an age-old story and I never get tired of seeing the proud smile of mothers as they gaze at their daughters with love and hope.

After two days in Bac Lieu and Ca Mau, my friend and I left the group for beach time in Ha Tien and Phu Quoc Island. It was the beginning of circuitous travels that wind up heavenly. We got to the bus station, but since there were no other passengers to our destination of Ha Tien, we had to take another bus, a shuttle, another bus and a taxi. On the first bus a 90-year old woman boarded and sat next to us. She was hunched over and used a PVC pipe as a cane. Her son was sick and she was in Ca Mau to visit him. He had dissuaded her from visiting, since he didn’t have the money ($2.50 USD) for her bus fare home. A mother’s concern is fierce and she came to see her sick son without knowing how she would get home. My friend paid her return fare. When we finally got to our destination after 8 hours at 10pm, we ate steamed, sweet crabs with lime and salt on the beach in the dark.

We returned to the same beach resort as my prior trip to Phu Quoc Island. My last trip included flirting with one of the hotel staff. He was surprised to see me with a male traveling companion and asked if he was my boyfriend. I told him we were just friends, but I think “friend” in Vietnamese is code for something entirely different. It’s amusing for others to look at us and make assumptions. I feel like I’m acting in a straight play, but then my gay friend and I laugh hysterically and call each other honey.

We took a taxi into town for the night market. I liked the taxi driver, Dong, as soon as I saw his face. When I learned his story, I was immediately crushed out on him. His father and grandfather were communist party officials. He met a woman and wanted to get married. Her family had escaped from Vietnam, and the party told him if he married her, he couldn’t get a job with the party. He chose LOVE and is a proud taxi driver now.

Phu Quoc Island has deserted beaches and unending seafood. We took a boat trip to go fishing and snorkeling. I practiced humility when I didn’t catch a single fish. We grilled the fish for lunch on the beach of a deserted island. My friend wanted sea urchin, so the boat driver swam into the water with a bucket and tongs and emerged 10 minutes later with sea urchin. He gave the spines a quick haircut, cut them open, rinsed them out in the salt water and grilled them. So fresh and delicious!

After three nights falling asleep to the sounds of the surf, it was time to leave paradise. I’m back in Saigon and we leave for Hanoi tomorrow.

　

　

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From Seattle to Saigon

Posted in From Seattle to Saigon, tagged on March 17, 2010| 13 Comments »

It’s a long haul from Seattle to Saigon. The trip took 21 hours, including a layover in Taipei – but the mental shift is the biggest journey.

At first, it looked like I’d be travelling solo since my travelling companion had forgotten to pick up his Visa. But things magically work out for my life and he was able to work it out through the wonders of e-mail and Vietnamese customer service – it’s a total conundrum how it can be both so good and so bad.  We arrived in Saigon at 1pm, and I stayed awake in an attempt to kick jetlag on day one. My first stops were eating banh cuon for one dollar and getting a massage for four dollars. We dined at the Architect’s House, an amazing restaurant that is designed by an architect. I ate vegetables I’d never eaten or heard of before and was starting to feel like this was the life for me.

The next morning, we were up and out by 7am to volunteer at an orphanage with my friend’s mother. As we were walking through the morning market and the floor began to undulate (it’s 90 degrees already!), I realized I needed to be kinder to my body and not underestimate the power of jetlag. We arrived at the orphanage and were immediately put to work feeding babies. My baby was lying down on my lap with his head back, looking around and distracted, and my vain attempts to spoon mush into his mouth were thwarted. I looked up, saw the staff easily feeding babies, their portions quickly dwindling while mine was landing all over me and the baby.

How could a simple task of feeding a baby be so hard? This is what my first few days in Saigon feel like sometimes. The most mundane tasks seem so difficult.  Vietnamese is swirling around me and it astounds me that I still can’t understand anything after being around the language for 40 years. My friend constantly tells me I’m so American, and it’s starting to get a bit old.

Alternately, it is so exciting to be here. Saigon has 10 million people and the city never sleeps. It is teeming with people, activities and of course, food, in every available space. I try to maintain perspective, and not run away screaming, wondering if I’ve made a huge mistake with my one-way plane ticket to Vietnam.

Tomorrow, we head to the Mekong Delta with volunteers from the Vietnamese Scholarship Foundation. I know it will be an amazing experience and stay open to everything around me. As I speed down the streets of Saigon on a moped, I feel the thrill of living here. This is what I am focused on now. This journey took a lot of courage to leave everything behind me. It is exhilirating, and I don’t regret it for a minute.

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Lucky, lucky me

Posted in lucky me, tagged on January 20, 2010| 2 Comments »

It’s been an amazing week in the Mekong Delta and Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam. My $30 three-day tour (includes meals, transportation, tour guide and accommodations) captured the highlights of the Mekong Delta including the floating market, traditional music, rice paper compounds, temples and even a crocodile farm. The highlights were of course, the people. Everywhere I went, people shared their stories with me with very little prompting. I learned about the “New Economic Zone.” After the war ended in 1975, the men that were involved in the South Vietnamese Army/government/United States were placed in re-education camps/prisons for months to years. The people that were involved in the Northern Army/communists were moved into Saigon’s “New Economic Zone” and the Southern Sympathizers were displaced from their homes, many to the Mekong Delta. I have met so many people this past week – the men that were placed in the prisons, the women left behind to raise children, and the now-grown children.

I continue to be frustrated with the tourists that are so cynical of Vietnamese people, while also incredibly touched by the generosity of the locals. I took the public bus from Chau Doc to Rach Gia. We foreigners had been properly warned by the travel agent about the public shuttle: no air conditioning, many stops to pick up/drop off additional passengers, slower than the VIP/Express Bus. I boarded the van with two German tourists and we got the best seats. The German man sat on the end for the additional room for his long legs. Inevitably, more passengers boarded bringing a lot of boxes and luggage, and the staff started moving the German man’s legs to accommodate the extra luggage. More people boarded with more luggage and lots of squeezing into tight spaces. The German man started yelling, “Less touching and more talking!” and “NO! NO!” There was clearly a language and cultural barrier, and the Vietnamese man tried to shift the boxes around to make it more comfortable for the German man (although less comfortable for all the Vietnamese passengers). Every time the Vietnamese man tried to make more room, it just seemed to anger the German man even more. I was just happy we weren’t sharing a seat with chickens and pigs! And then I remembered a scene from the prior day. We had walked through a watermelon field and my sandals were caked in mud. I stopped by the river to clean off my shoes but couldn’t quite reach the river from my vantage point. A woman washing her dishes beside me saw my hesitation, and immediately started WASHING MY FEET! I was just floored by this simple demonstration of the generous Vietnamese spirit. And I see it everywhere, so it is so hard to understand the wrath of tourists.

After the Mekong Delta, I went to Phu Quoc Island and spent four glorious days on deserted beaches. I got a massage on the beach (my seventeenth massage over eight weeks!) and the massage therapist asked me all the standard Vietnamese questions: “Where are you from? How old are you? Are you married? Where is your mother from in Vietnam? How many brothers and sisters do you have?” And then she asked me an unusual one, “Are you happy?” I burst out laughing with a loud, “Yes!” I discovered we were the same age and was totally surprised. She looked so much older than me, and I realized (again) that I am very lucky. If things had been slightly different in my life, I could be massaging tourists in Vietnam for a few dollars a day.

I have had such a wonderful life in Seattle, and an amazing 21 years in the Northwest. And the exciting part is I know I have an even better future ahead of me. I usually feel a bit sad at the end of a vacation. But this time, I am excited to return to Seattle in two days and see friends and family. I know I will be returning to Vietnam in March, and have found a new home. This is probably the last e-mail during my travels. My thanks to all of you for being such wonderful vicarious travel companions. Hope to see you in Seattle, or in Southeast Asia later this year!

Attached are my final photos from Vietnam. I keep saying the people are amazing, and they are. But FOOD is definitely the second highlight of my trip. I had two wonderful beach BBQs in Phu Quoc. You can see the delight in my face from the shrimp and sea urchin. Also included a serene trip down the Mekong Delta.

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It’s the people

Posted in It's the people, tagged on January 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »

This week, I spent the day in Tam Ky, Vietnam volunteering at orphanages with Global Volunteer Network. Currently, six volunteers from Australia, Scotland, Malaysia and the United States live in a four-bedroom house. The program is very well organized and they have a cook, driver, site coordinator and regional coordinator. The day I was there a visiting Physical Therapist was spending his one week/month in Tam Ky. They also had two local interns from a neighboring University. I’m sure the reason why it’s so well resourced is if you just visit this place your heart cracks wide open and you just want to help.

As soon as our van pulled up to the orphanage, the children streamed out of the building and ran up to hug us. We brought them their morning bananas and they were screaming with joy. There are 45 children at this orphanage ranging from infants to 11 year old children. I spent most of the morning in the infant room, and as soon as I walked into the room they all turned their gaze on me. Imagine ten pairs of adorable eyes just staring at you, waiting for you to pick them up and love them?!? I was totally hooked. Since I was the new untrained volunteer, I just held them, fed them and changed diapers, while other volunteers were helping to massage babies, exercise, potty train, and organize the supply run. I don’t think I’ve ever been around this many babies before, and it was just astounding to me that they could immediately trust me, especially given their circumstances. Children are there for many reasons – teenage mothers that aren’t ready to parent, very poor parents that can’t afford a child, or their parents died (many children became orphans from the typhoons). Later, we went to another orphanage for older children, and I (tried) to help teach English to older students. They were a bit rowdy and the other volunteer was great at managing their behavior issues. By the end of the day, I was totally exhausted. And although I felt like I helped contribute, it was really just temporary. Of course, the children need love and attention and that is important. But I will be thinking about how to do something more sustainable and impactful when I return (open to ideas!).

It started raining in Hoi An, so I headed south and am in Saigon tonight. Tomorrow, I go on a three day tour of the Mekong Delta, including homestays with local families which I’ve been wanting to do for the entire trip. Then I’ll get some beach time at Phu Quoc Island before returning to Saigon. I’m flying back to Seattle on January 22 and will be in Seattle for about six weeks before returning to Vietnam. Should I have ANOTHER going away party? Just kidding, but I will have a potluck (I’m on a budget people) with all my travel photos and we can all swap travel stories.

Attached are a few photos of the wonderful people I’ve encountered over the past week. The people are the absolute highlight of this trip, from the locals to hotel staff to expats to travellers. The first photo is the old woman on the beach in Hoi An that kept coming back to me to sell me snacks. I kept thinking she could be my grandmother, working so hard to make just a few dollars a day. So many tourists are cynical in Vietnam and wary of anyone selling anything, but I was delighted this woman was willing to cut me a fresh mango on the beach. The other photos are from the orphanage. You’re not supposed to have favorites, but I was immediately taken with Quynh and wanted to take her home with me!

I kept buying things from this elderly woman at the beach (Cua Dai) in Hoi An, Vietnam. She could be my grandmother and cut me fresh mango, plied me with oreos and sweet treats.
My heart immediately opened up to these babies at an orphanage in Tam Ky, Vietnam.

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Better late then never

Posted in Better late then never, tagged on January 10, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Central Vietnam is really glorious. I really enjoyed my last days in Hanoi, but it has been good to slow down the pace in Hue and Hoi An. As I rounded the corner on the bus from Hue to Hoi An, and we entered Da Nang I got a really weird feeling. I suddenly had a realization that this was the city of my conception and the birthplace of my brother. There was a visceral feeling of deja vu, coming home, I’ve been here before, all of it rolled into one – even though it was my first time to Da Nang.

Hoi An is just lovely, similar to the slow, sweet pace of Luang Prubang, Laos. It’s a small, lowscale city that hugs a river with narrow streets. And the food is amazing! I had a wonderful cooking class today that began with a 2-hour tour of the market. We sampled sweet drinks, fruit I’d never seen before, cookies with minced pork. I learned about different types of rice, how to pick a ripe pomelo (it should be heavy), select fresh fish (besides clear eyes, also peer into the gills to see fresh blood), and the folk tale behind the betel nut. I have walked through this market many times already, but now it has new meaning to me. And this is what this trip has been for me. I have always been living my life, but now I feel SO ALIVE! (more on that in a bit)

I frequently run into travellers that I have met in other cities, since many of us are on the same Southeast Asia loop, and everyone starts to look a bit familiar. So I’m walking down the street yesterday and see a familiar face in a store – but then I realize it really IS a familiar face, a friend from Seattle! How bizarre is that? The world is so very small, and I’m about to make it a lot smaller. So here is the big news…

This trip has been truly life changing. I’ve always known that the biggest barrier in life is myself. So I’ve decided to conquer my fears, take the big leap, and stay in Southeast Asia for awhile. I have absolutely loved my work at the foundation. But for some time, I’ve felt removed from the clients and have been wanting to get back into the field to get refreshed/recharged. In Halong Bay, I met an Australian-Vietnamese woman who was taking a one year sabbatical to travel and volunteer. She was headed to Tam Ky, the region of my mother’s birthplace, to volunteer at orphanages through the Global Volunteer Network. It seemed like total kismet to meet her and learn about this opportunity. Tomorrow, I’ll visit her and the orphanages. For the first time in my adult life, I am totally free to do anything – unemployed, single, no children. I know that as soon as I return to the US, I’ll find a job, fall in love, and have children shortly. I may never have this moment again.

In Hanoi, my friends showed me the holiday postcard I’d sent them in 2000, declaring that I was going to move to Vietnam in 2001. During my first trip to Vietnam in 1998, I had every intention of saving money in the US, and then moving to Vietnam for a few years. But then life catches up with you and I never did move to Vietnam. So here I am again, and this time I’m going to seize this moment. I’ll volunteer in Vietnam for three months, travel in Asia, and then return to Vietnam to work for an NGO. This is an evolving plan, so please let me know if you have any connections in Southeast Asia, ideas, etc.

Internet is really slow again so no photos, sorry. My thanks to all of you for being with me on this journey, and the many journeys ahead!

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The new Vietnam

Posted in The new Vietnam, tagged on January 3, 2010| 2 Comments »

Leaving Laos was really difficult. My last days in Luang Prubang continued to be delightful. I went on a bike ride with the guesthouse owner, his brother-in-law, and fellow guests. We took a ferry across the Mekong, and rode along a bumpy road to a temple. Children plied us with lotus flowers to provide offerings at the temple situated on top of a hill with a spectacular view of the area. After we’d each purchased lotus flowers, the five children could relax, play and just be kids with us (business first of course!). They spontaneously burst into a coordinated traditional song/dance and again I felt so fortunate to be part of this unfolding life of mine. Later, we biked along dusty roads to our destination – a sugarcane plantation. This family runs an amazing operation from start to finish. They grow and harvest the sugarcane. They have custom built a huge gear shift and a water buffalo is attached, walking in a neverending circle to crank the gears while someone feeds sugar canes into the gears to produce the juice. They boil the juice for five hours, stir it, and then pour it into a mold, drying it in the sun to make bricks of brown sugar. We sampled all the imaginable uses – raw sugarcane, sugarcane juice, sugarcane taffy and sugar. YUM!

In 1998, I visited Vietnam for the first time and it was the most unexpected homecoming. Over the years, I’ve built up Hanoi as this mythical place and it’s occupied a very dear place in my heart. So it was completely disconcerting when I left Laos, arrived in Hanoi and was immediately accosted by hotel staff yelling at me on the street and physically trying to grab my luggage into their hotel. I ran away from there quickly, and since it was so late, just stayed in a 6-story walk up (of course I was on the top floor) that was very sparse and left me a bit sad. The next morning, I went in search of a new hotel, found Hanoi Amazing Hotel and it absolutely lived up to it’s name. The hotel staff were just delightful and I felt a bit sad to leave them to go on a cruise to Halong Bay. Halong Bay consists of 1,969 islands and is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I splurged and stayed on a luxury junk (a big upgrade from my last trip to Halong Bay of 2 nights/3 days for $30). We went kayaking through caves, I jumped off the top of the boat, hiked to the top of hills with amazing vantages and met lots of wonderful people. It was the perfect way to spend New Years Eve/Day.

Now that I’ve been in Hanoi for a bit, I’m starting to get the hook-up! I reconnected with my friends who ran the budget hotel I stayed in for two weeks in 1998. Last night, they prepared a huge feast for me and it was so wonderful to eat a home-cooked meal with friends. Tonight, I’ll eat dinner with someone who works for an NGO in Hanoi (PATH, major grantee of the Gates Foundation). Today, I took a tour with the local NGO, Hanoi City Kids, that uses university students as tour guides to improve their English skills. After visiting the major sights (it is really weird to view Ho Chi Minh’s embalmed body), we ate lunch at Koto, an NGO that provides culinary training to street kids, similar to Seattle’s Fare Start. This new Vietnam is a bit of a conundrum to me. So hungry for economic growth, but also aware of the growing pains. The university student said to me today, “I hope the next time you come to Vietnam there will be more cars then mopeds on the street.” I asked her why and she said it would be a symbol of economic growth, although she acknowledged with regret the harsh realities (pollution, traffic, widening gap between rich and poor).

I’m taking the overnight train to Hue tomorrow, and am ready to get to warmer weather and Central Vietnam, my mother’s birthplace. Hanoi is a bit relentless, and the Old Quarter is total chaos. There are now 2 million mopeds in Hanoi and I have to remain calm and steady to cross the street. It’s common to see tourists just standing in fear for minutes, waiting for a break in traffic that never comes. Of course, when I am with Vietnamese friends, the women link their arms in mine and they don’t even glance sideways when crossing the street!

I’ll have to post photos next time since the connection is pretty slow. Wishing you all a wonderful new year!

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