I think the title of this post describes perfectly what I have been feeling and experiencing the last few days since my last blog post. There is so much about this country that is unknown to me –the food, language, cultural mannerisms, modes of transportation, and the fact that so much history is incorporated into daily life here. At the same time, I feel so much comfort in the fact that I am not on this journey alone. The group and academic director of my trip continue to be great.
Since my last post, so much has happened and I have felt so many emotions it's really hard to even put it in words. Every night when I go to sleep, my mind is just inundated with thoughts and feelings and it is often hard for me to even process and synthesize how I feel. I will do my best in this post to kind of sort through everything, but in advance I apologize for this scattered-ness of this! Before we left for our two day excursion to Can Gio, we had our first day of classes, which entailed a three hour intensive Vietnamese Language class, a break for lunch with the group, and then a Culture and Development Seminar in the afternoon. The language class was so intense! This language is incredibly multi-faceted and complex. Being a tonal language, it makes it particularly difficult even to master the simplest of words and phrases. The professor seems really great, although it will definitely be a challenging class. It is pretty entertaining to look around the room at everyone's faces as they attempt to even just repeat the words the professor asked us to! I'm not expecting by any means to become fluent or even close to fluent, but it will be nice to actually be able to understand and speak basic expressions. It is so hard to get around not knowing the language. Although many young people speak English, it is not as widespread as I expected. The seminar in the afternoon was very interesting too. We talked in general terms about culture and development and the interrelation between these two concepts, yet the challenges Vietnam in particular faces as a result. For example, even though Vietnam has the fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia, developing industries here based on the western model is often quite problematic. The western model, typically quite individualistic and standardized, often challenges the more community-based characteristics of Asian countries like Vietnam. The development in Vietnam occurred so abruptly that there are often problems with the professionalism of industries as well. We saw this when we visited a monkey island on this latest excursion – the monkey island advertises its "ecotourism," yet there is nothing about it that even resembles this idea.
Onto less academic things, I want to share a bit about this excursion we went on, which was a complete eye opener for me not only about this country and the great poverty that we witnessed, but also as it relates to me and my life. We left on Friday morning for Can Gio, which is located in a much more remote, swampy, and impoverished area than HCMC. There were so many shocking contrasts we felt, saw, and experienced, right from the start. We left the hectic chaos of HCMC for the quiet, more remote countryside, which immediately translated into witnessing such unbelievable poverty. Because we had to take a ferry to cross the river, we saw so many shack-like boats and crippling homes along the shoreline, in addition to the ferry filled with mopeds, cars, and people on their way to work across the river (we were the only white people once again in site).
We first visited the Mangrove forests. Before 1975, these mangroves were primary forests in Vietnam, but the forests were devastated during the War by the U.S. and our use of Agent Orange and other chemical weapons (700,000 gallons of Agent Orange were used on these forests). In March 1975, the local government decided to replant the forest and the majority of trees were replanted, mostly by locals living in the area. It was interesting to me how it was a completely local decision and operation. It continues to be the people living in the forests who plant these trees. We then climbed this tower that overlooked the mangroves, which was another example of how this country is an absolute hazard! Granted this tower was steel and probably quite sturdy, it was absolutely terrifying. It was probably about 10 stories tall with a spiral staircase and grid-like metal stairs. Somehow seeing straight to the ground by just looking between your feet made the experience pretty terrifying. In America, climbing this tower would require signing your life away to some kind of waiver, but no, in Vietnam, you just go for it. When we got to the top, it was swaying back and forth. So terrifying, but a beautiful view. I will try to post pictures of this tower. We then had lunch at this really remote restaurant run by the Can Gio forest reserve where we were the only customers there. I ate catfish for the first time (by the way, I found out that last week when I met my host family and had dinner, I ate pig skin, which I thought was some kind of fried vegetable)! It was actually delicious. The heat on this day was absolutely unbearable. This restaurant had two fans blowing, but because of all the dogs roaming around that clearly had not been bathed in weeks, the fans just spread the smell of dirty dog, which let me tell you, is not the most appetizing smell ever. Hey, at least we didn't have to eat the dogs (this does happen here). We then visited a monkey island, where monkeys and crocodiles were everywhere! The monkeys loved posing for pictures, so we got to take quite a few of them! From the monkey island we took a tiny boat through the way-too-shallow water to the guerilla headquarters from the War. We kept having to stop because the water was so shallow and the mud was so thick. The swampy river we navigated through is literally the same water and physical landscape in which the Vietnam War was fought. This sensation, coupled with the fact that I sat next to Michelle (whose father fought in the war along these same waters and escaped to America afterwards) was quite eerie and emotional, especially for Michelle. Dr. C – I thought of you as well as I remembered vividly the History class when we talked about John Kerry and the swift boats, since these were the same waters in which Kerry commanded his swift boat. When we got to the guerilla headquarters, we learned about the innovative and resourceful techniques used by the guerilla fighters, such as their use of unused ammunition, ability to transform salt water into drinking water, and "T" and "H" shaped underground hide-outs. It was fascinating to see this site and realize that 'no wonder the U.S. lost the Vietnam War.' Seeing and learning about the War from another perspective was without a doubt, incredible.
After an extremely busy and active day, we checked into the "resort" that we stayed at for the evening. It was so relaxing and wonderful to take showers! Once again, we were the only guests at the resort – there were more security guards and employees per square inch than visitors! All the girls stayed in one massive room with six beds, which felt like Madeline (one of my favorite childhood books!). We swam in the salt water pool, had a nice meal, walked along the China Sea, and went to sleep very early. The next morning I went for a run along the China Sea as well, which was so peaceful, tranquil, and quite entertaining because of all the stares I got from the security guards placed literally everywhere within the resort property. Instead of returning the stoic look they all gave me, I lived the American, southern way - smiling and waving. I can't even describe the perplexed stares I received. On this run, I even came across this little Buddhist shrine as I was running on the beach.
We began our second day of excursion adventure by visiting a salt making field, an organic shrimp farm, and a mangrove forest located two hours by boat from Can Gio so that we could plant mangroves ourselves. The car ride from Can Gio to the boat was pretty incredible on its own. We drove through villages along an incredibly one lane bumpy road as we "dodged" the oncoming traffic (that is what it felt like). There were so many wild animals like goats and dogs and the homes were literally just four walled shacks. It made me realize how much we take for granted in America – this is real poverty we saw. When I came back from Moldova I remember resenting the American way, the excess, the indulgences. After this experience, however, I think I will only appreciate how much we have in America. It is no wonder that there is a strong sense of community here in Vietnam. In America, you can trust the system more, you can find comfort in the fact that your home, car, children's toys, roads will be generally safe. Here, there is no safety net whatsoever. I have to assume that is why there is a stronger and less superficial sense of community and camaraderie here.
There is a proverb in Can Gio that says that those that come to Can Gio and stay, make the mangroves grow. Keeping this proverb in mind, we got the opportunity to plant our own mangroves. We took a boat ride through swamp lands to then dock the boat. When I say dock, I don't mean dock as in there was a dock. I mean we stopped the boat into a downward slope of mud. At first we were cautious and tried to avoid the mud, but that was impossible. We sunk a solid eight to ten inches into the thick mud with each step and then hiked about 20 minutes into the forest before reaching the mangrove planting spot. The mangrove seeds are long, slender "sticks" resembling ink-pens, which you simply insert a few inches into the ground. It was really roughing it by this point, which was a lot of fun, especially with the group. I think it is time I tell you all about the "bathroom" I had the wonderful privilege of using after the planting session. We stopped in this village home (I believe it was a family-friend of our mangrove reserve guide). Another example of the hazard that is this country, this "bathroom" looked something like this. After passing the beautiful and adorable children that were running through the dirt road through the center of the village (they kept yelling "Hello!" and "How are you?" in English – it was so cute!), you take off your shoes before entering the house and then proceed to the second room in the house, which entails a space of about 12 tiles or so and a pale of water placed at the entrance. The back left corner tile is removed and there appears to be a hole in this back corner. The floor is not slanted towards this hole either (don't forget you are barefoot at this point). You squat to go the bathroom on this floor, and then use the pale of water to wash the floor. Oh my gosh! This was DISGUSTING! I kept thinking that this is how cholera is spread. I have never used so much Purell in my entire life. I guess I technically should have Purell-ed my feet versus my hands, but so it is. Once again, no concept of sanitation in Vietnam…not even the faintest idea of it, making me realize yet again how we take so much for granted in America. Even the most unsanitary public bathrooms in America likely have soap, running water, or you at the very least have the privilege of wearing shoes in them. What an eye opener. After this slightly traumatic (but entertaining in retrospect) bathroom experience, we visited this all-organic shrimp farm in the quietest place I have ever been to on earth. Literally silent. It was so peaceful! I managed to get no mosquito bites, although everyone else in my group was literally eaten alive. I still don't understand why I never get mosquito bites, but hey, I'm not complaining. I guess I won't be getting any malaria or Dengue Fever (actually quite common in southern Vietnam unfortunately). We trekked through hornet nests and jungle forests to get there because our boat had some technical difficulties, but it was so worth it. We ate a meal entirely on the floor of this farmer's home with our muddy feet and all. It was so simplistic, so peaceful. Just us, our chopsticks, and the most basic, just-from-the-ground-and-sea food. This farmer lives so far away from civilization that his children and wife moved to the nearest village so that his children can go to school. He stays back at this farm to harvest the shrimp and make the family living. He is hoping to set up an "ecotourism" center at this farm, but once again, this concept of ecotourism is a little sketchy here. It once again illustrated to me the contrasts of this country—this farm is located in the most remote place in the world I have ever been to, yet his cell phone with its American pop-song ringtone still went off during our meal seated on the floor of his one-room shack.
This is getting quite long! Even though I have much more to say, I am going to stop. Today we have our first free day, so I've been relaxing, hand-washing some clothing in the bath tub, doing homework, maybe some yoga later, and having dinner with my host family. I have to get myself to their home, so that should be interesting but I'm up for the challenge. Things really are great here – it is sinking in that I am actually here for four months, which is a long time, but I keep reminding myself that people live in this country year round for their entire lives, and I really am fortunate to get a taste of it. I'll try to keep my head up, even when it gets hard and keep my attitude positive and excited. Miss you all so much!
No comments:
Post a Comment