The Final Weeks

Hello! I'm sorry that I have been a little MIA the last few weeks. I am now back in HCMC happily living with Alex again in a guesthouse that has no internet, hence the lack of blog posts! I ended my time in Hanoi on Thanksgiving day. I loved everything about Hanoi, from the area I lived, the street vendors, the park and lake nearby, the general feel of the city, and especially the work and research I was doing. Other than my guesthouse being absolutely awful (I'm talking…there were ants infesting my bed, I could reach the ceiling it was so low, no windows, they were doing massive drilling in a room below my room and because I had a gigantic hole in the floor of my room, which opened into the under-construction room, it was like living IN the construction site). I've learned that these inconveniences are truly insignificant – in fact, I was living luxury compared to the way that most people in this country live. I have to say that living with Alex again in HCMC is a relief. Living alone was great for the schedule I was living during that segment of my research, but living entirely alone in Vietnam does take a toll on you even when you don't realize it. I can't describe the relief I felt when I landed back in HCMC. I love Hanoi, but something about this city is so comfortable and familiar. Alex and I returned to our pho hole-in-the-wall "restaurant" where they welcomed us realizing we had been away for some time. We returned to the track, where all the old ladies remembered us as well, smiling as we ran past. Even the sticky rice ladies near the university remembered us when we visited this morning. Things are just falling into place here, as strange as it is to think that in two weeks from now, I will be formally finished with this incredible experience. It will certainly be over technically, but what I have learned this semester and especially the last few weeks living alone here, is absolutely indispensible and irreplaceable. I couldn't be more thankful.

Speaking of thankful, happy late Thanksgiving! One would think that being in Vietnam for Thanksgiving would mean no turkey, gravy, pumpkin pie, or mashed potatoes. But think again! Alex and I splurged on a Thanksgiving dinner at the New World Hotel, which is the hotel Bill Clinton stayed at during his famous visit, and the hotel that I longingly looked into each day on the walk to school from my home stay, hoping that one day I would be able to set foot inside. That day finally happened. The food and wine were great, but greater than that was the fact that out of the six or so Americans also eating dinner there, two of them were from GREENSBORO. Yes, that's right! We all sort of raised our wine glasses together as we sat down wishing one another a Happy Thanksgiving and asking one another about where we were all from. After a minute or so, it became clear that two of the men (both in the furniture business, one of them lives here doing quality control at a factory nearby) were from Greensboro, one graduated from Grimsley and one from Smith. What a small world. It was definitely the most memorable Thanksgiving I've ever had. I couldn't have missed my mom's pumpkin chiffon pie more, but nonetheless, I made due with what I have here. On the walk home at around 10:30, Alex and I passed a woman digging through the trash, clearly in the squatting position she would be for the remainder of the night…out on the street. We felt full, happy, and content that we had just allowed ourselves to spend money on a real dinner, but seeing this woman made us squirm inside. We gave her the rest of the money we had in our money belts and walked home. You just can't get away from these situations here – we felt like we were in a bubble of luxury in the hotel, but once you step foot back onto the street, this bubble explodes right in your face and leaves you with a sense of guilt, or rather just plain reality. I enjoyed and loved every moment of my Thanksgiving indulgence, but not without recognizing how lucky I truly am for what I have and how the majority of people here cannot say the same.

I wanted to write about my research and field work the last few weeks. As you may now, I am studying the cultural influences on iron fortification of fish sauce and how national efforts toward widespread fortification can alleviate micronutrient malnutrition, specifically iron-deficiency anemia. I know that sounds like a mouthful, which it is, but I couldn't be more interested in my research topic. In essence, I am studying the nutritional impacts of iron-deficiency anemia in Vietnam and how the role of fish sauce in the Vietnamese diet affects will affect the success of the national project. In terms of fieldwork, I think it's most important to start off explaining the incredible advisor that I have been lucky enough to work with. She is a PhD candidate from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, but is from Vietnam and conducting her research at the National Institute of Nutrition about social marketing of iron-fortified fish sauce. Her American experiences, however, have helped significantly with the language barrier that tends to get in the way of successful verbal interactions here in Vietnam! I spent a few days at the National Institute of Nutrition using their library and primary sources available there, but the majority of my research came from the work I did in the field. With the help of Van and her contacts through the NIN, I was able to set up a day of rural interviews in Thon Dong Ba village with severely micronutrient malnourished women. Van was kind enough to accompany me on the hour trip to the village and be my translator. I conducted pretty in depth interviews with four women over the course of the day. I also had the opportunity to visit the commune health center and see the facilities (or rather lack of them). For a few thousand people in the neighboring communes, there is only one medical doctor. The entire courtyard was filled with plants, which were all the herbal remedies used in the facility. The interviews with the women, however were the most memorable. They were so open to sharing information about their lives, their food intake for their families, the percentage of their budget that goes toward buying meat, fish sauce consumption patterns, and experiences with IDA. One woman, for example, had arms about half the size as mine and was at least five inches shorter than me. She was tiny and clearly malnourished. She had a family of six (which she was embarrassed initially to tell me since there are family planning regulations about having two children – but she and her husband wanted to have a son, so they had children until she gave birth to her fourth child). She and her husband are rice farmers and get by in the off-season by reselling vegetables in a nearby market. Each day, she spends less than one dollar on food for her family. I just couldn't fathom it…it means that her children literally eat no meat, just rice porridge for three meals a day. After the interviews, I gave each woman about six dollars as a token of my appreciation, and realized that I was providing a week's worth of food for most of the women. I also used my grant money to donate six month's worth of iron tablets for each of the women I interviewed. I just couldn't sleep at night knowing that these women and their families were not eating enough each day to survive, let alone the micronutrients to keep them healthy.

The next segment of my fieldwork took place in Hanoi proper. I interviewed four more women through Van's contacts at NIN. Basically we contacted another health center near Van's home and recruited three more women who had recently visited the clinic for IDA. I also did about 10 interviews of fish sauce sellers in four different markets (two supermarkets and two traditional open-air Vietnamese markets, which were totally isolated from any tourists…I was definitely the only white person for miles!). One of the students I befriended from Hanoi University was my translator for the market interviews. Finally, I did a short questionnaire for the Hanoi University students. All in all, I did 17 interviews and 15 surveys. The results were fascinating – I will share them in my next post! For now, I have to go! I hope all is well with everyone there. Can't wait to be home!!!