A Bit More Tropical, Rustic, and Rural…The Mekong Delta

Xin Chao! I apologize for not posting anything since I got to the Mekong Delta on Wednesday, but the schedule has been unbelievably (and a bit overwhelmingly) busy and I have had no internet until now. I'm now sitting in a coffee shop with my roommate for this trip taking in the internet for the next bit of time before dinner with our host family, so again, this may be an abbreviated version of the realities of my life these days, but I promise to expand on everything when I return to HCMC on the 27^th.

We arrived in Can Tho City in the Mekong Delta after a four hour van ride this past Wednesday, which made clear to us the great differences in terrain, economic disparities, and culture that exist in places within this country just hours apart from one another. To get to Can Tho City (where the other SIT Mekong Delta Sustainable Development program is based), you must also take a ten minute ferry across the Mekong River. Immediately I was struck by the different forms of houses in this part of the country. Because everything is built on the water and tropical green trees abundant with bananas and other fruits and palm trees overwhelm any view of the horizon, the houses and buildings in general are extremely low lying and seem to almost hover over the water's edge. They are generally made out of large pieces of tin with flat roof tops (which I do not understand given the insane rainfall levels here). There are also a ton of shack boats, as I call them – these are wooden boats that are low and oval-shape in which people live, work, and float simultaneously. This concept of the "all in one" boat became even more apparent this morning (at 6:30AM!) when we got the opportunity to visit the floating market in Can Tho. To arrive at this market, you must go by boat as early as possible in the morning, and basically weave in and out of boats choosing the type of produce you wish to buy, as you haggle away with the head of the boat. On each boat is the most primitive form of advertising – there are tall sticks with one piece of whatever produce is for sale stabbed at the top of the stick. So, for example, the boat literally overflowing with pineapples will have a tall stick with a pineapple attached to it so that boats from afar can see and be drawn to what is for sale. It was crazy to see how these boats get around. One shirt-less man on a boat held up a huge bundle of low hanging power lines so that his boat could get through into the main market scene. This was definitely another "only in Vietnam" moment (we have started making a list of such things and I will post it at the end of the trip…). Since being in Vietnam, I have tasted, seen, and been exposed to SO many fruits that I can guarantee (unless you have been to VN), you have never seen or heard of! It's really incredible. Boats at this market were just brimming with such fruits such as dragon fruit, nhan, tamarind, the most giant pomellos you have ever seen, durian, and a million others that I don't even know the names of. Small paddle boats seemed to swarm our boat after seeing our "western" faces trying to sell various cans of soda and water to us. These sorts of things are a pattern here in VN and they upset me each time they happen – here are people whose life revolves around selling cans of soda and bottles of water for less than a penny each. Given the fact that they only have about 15 of such bottles on board, there is no possible way that they make more than 15 cents each day. Regardless of the fact that money is relative, it still upsets me when realities like these make themselves evident to me. After the floating market, we docked the boat (keep in mind, when I say dock in any post of mine, I do not mean that there is an actual dock because these do not exist in this country…instead I mean the boat runs into the shoreline, usually into a large slab of mud, and you climb out of the boat into the mud, and then on from there). We walked along a dirt road for about ten minutes until we reached a very modest little house. In the backyard of this house is a rice paper making industry. It is a family industry, in fact, with members of all generations working in harmony with one another to a) make the rice paste b) spread it over hot canvas to cook c) lift the rice paper "pancake" with bamboo sticks onto large straw drying racks where they dry for 3-4 hours and d) into machines that cut these pancakes into rice noodles. Finally, the 500 kilos a day of rice noodles that are made here are packaged into large sacks and sold to a "middle man" who comes through the village periodically and who then sells it to various markets in the main city of Can Tho. The simplicity of this operation was absolutely astounding, even though the actual process is technically quite complex. I kept thinking to myself how this kind of life would be so boring to me – there is zero attachment to the outside world and zero interaction with others outside the immediate family for these people. At the same time, however, they were laughing and enjoying themselves (despite the UNBELIEVABLE heat in this part of Vietnam, which is so overbearing, it is as if a pile of bricks is permanently placed on your shoulders that you must deal with at all times. The heat here literally sucks the breath out of you). It was also interesting to see how in this very rural setting, families will bury their deceased family members in their backyard so that their spirits will never die. The little, adorable son at this farm was running around trying to impress us Americans and was playing hide and seek from behind his grandfather's grave. It was so bizarre.

The main focus of this excursion is to gain an understanding of the Mekong Delta life and culture, which is strikingly different than anywhere else in the country. There is a difference in food, climate of course, terrain, gender roles, cultural norms, and occupations (the majority of farming that goes on in this country, including the rice production which makes Vietnam the #2 exporter of rice in the world, transpires here in the Mekong Delta). We are paired up with another person in our program living with our second home stay of the experience here. Abby and my family here continues to be great and has taught us so much about the norms of life in VN. Living with a family definitely gives you a non-tourist and completely realistic look at this country – we have learned everything from how to stay cool in a house with no air conditioning, lots of mosquitoes, and how to eat using the best manners, which implies you eat every grain of rice from your bowl because each leftover grain is considered a pearl that is left abandoned. It is apparently a sign of courtesy and appreciation to finish every single grain of rice. The mother of our house works at a bank in Can Tho (and is a very religious Buddhist, so we have learned a lot of about this and will partake in her all vegetarian diet on Monday for a Buddhist holiday). The father is a provincial governor in a nearby province, so we have only met him once because he only comes home on the weekends. The daughter is 18 and just began university and the older son works in HCMC. There is definitely a different kind of energy and reality in this home as compared to my Dalat home stay, so it is more and more interesting everyday to see how different families act, live, eat, and behave differently.

As part of this gaining understanding of Mekong Delta culture, we have spent the last two days (and will spend another day tomorrow) in My Khanh village. This three day experience represents our village study while in Vietnam. We have had various lectures by local government officials as we have delved into the government structure within the village, the education systems, health systems (of course particularly interesting to me), economics etc. We have also had VN language lessons, which continue to get more intense as we get into more than just common expressions. Knowing we have our first language test on Wednesday definitely gets me motivated to study and learn, which somehow happens during our incredibly crazy and hectic schedule during this excursion. We also have learned a significant amount about semi-structured interviews. Yesterday for example we were each split into groups (we are doing this excursion with the other SIT VN program, so it adds another 8 people to the mix!) with one translator. Each group had a different topic. My group had Education and Health. We then proceeded to walk through the village and choose randomly two homes to interview. I unfortunately am running out of time before dinner, but when I post next I will write about my incredible experiences in both homes and what I learned. I think I may even be changing my independent study project research topic because of these interviews because I was exposed to so many more health related concerns in this country. Today we learned a lot about biodigesters and sanitary toilets within the rural village context, and tomorrow our project will culminate with actually building two biodigesters for two separate farmers. It is amazing to actually be changing people's lives here, rather than just watching or observing culture and development in Vietnam. The heat, mosquitoes, extensive traveling to get the village (we have to go by boat, taxi, and sometimes bike) and other challenges have made this excursion very difficult, but rewarding nonetheless. I really have so much more to say but no time and am being eaten alive by mosquitoes as I sit at this cafe, so I promise to write more later. I hope all continues to be well with everyone in the States and I miss you all so much!