rach-goes-to-nam

[rach-goes-to-nam]

A 50 Hour Day

Yesterday was a doozy.

We went to the Saigon River, where we had one last amazing meal on the boat until it began to cruise up and down the river. We took the obligatory Titanic-esque pictures on the front of the boat, and created a dance circle while a classical guitarist and flutist played “Que Sera Sera” and it was hilarious. Then, Kate being Kate, brought out a cake that read “UEF & Pitt Friends Forever” and you bet I teared up a little bit. After the boat, we had our final bus ride/karaoke party back to the hotel. 

Once we all changed into something more comfortable we walked to the intersection of Vo Van Tanh and Pasteur streets where there’s a giant traffic circle with a tower you can walk up surrounded by a pond and winding pathways. Think Hunger Games starting platforms. We hung out there in the humid HCMC air and found that we were accompanied by lizards, rats, and cockroaches. Mm. 

After awhile there, we walked back so everyone could have time to shower before leaving for the airport at 3. Nobody went to sleep. Our goodbyes with Bo, Vic, Ariel, Vy, and Kate happened at the front of the airport, and goddammit if I’m not going to miss that crazy bunch. Hugs happened all around and then we began the journey home. Saigon, hen gap lai. 

[rach-goes-to-nam]

Don’t make me leave

Last day in Vietnam. I’m gonna miss this place.

We started the day early with the event that everyone was waiting for: UEF vs Pitt basketball and soccer. We got beat in basketball, but won soccer. Their school teams played, and the basketball guys were really good. Luckily and surprisingly I didn’t end up on the ground at any point, but I loved reprising my role as a defensive brick wall from my indoor soccer days. I mostly stayed out of basketball because I’m really terrible at it (sorry PFC, I have learned nothing) and I was already dripping after a ~3 minute play. Aster was dubbed MVP of both sports, and we got a little trophy for our soccer win, which BSchultz says is going straight into the CBA trophy case that’s currently being built in Sennot. After sports we exchanged some gifts with our UEF friends. I got bracelets and keychains with my name on them, and I’ll keep them forever. I love those guys and its another reason I’m glad I chose this Plus3 trip because I think of all of them we get the best local students.

Lunch was at a restaurant that specializes in food from central Vietnam, so we had a different kind of noodle bowl with beef. It was good, but it was sooo hot and after playing sports for 3 hours, hot was not what I needed. We had this weird dessert thats different types of gelatin candy things in coconut milk with ice. I like it enough to have a few bites when its offered to me, but I have yet to finish a full one.

After lunch was an immediate swim swam, which as per usual, felt awesome after being sweaty and gross all day. I took a quick trip to the co op to spend some last small dong bills for travel snacks, since its 10000% cheaper to do it not only outside the airport, but in Vietnam. Plus I love my Vietnam snacks that I randomly chose off the shelf on the first day.

My suitcase is packed and its 46 pounds which makes me feel super accomplished because thats only 6 pounds heavier than when I came here, but i have way more stuff. Its probably because I just shoved all my laundry in a bag. Mom, prepare the laundry room for round 2 of unpacking.

Later tonight we have a boat ride on the Saigon River to say goodbye to the crazy city I have come to love. Before that, we have a quick photoshoot in the lobby in our ao dais, so that should be interesting. Last time we put them on, we were stared at and photographed. Its like a paparazzi. After dinner we’ll probably all just bum around the hotel until we leave at 2:30. I’m not planning on sleeping until its on a plane.

See you all stateside

( PS Mom if you love me, you’ll bring a bacon egg and cheese with salt pepper ketchup and an iced coffee to the airport <3 )

[rach-goes-to-nam]

[rach-goes-to-nam]

The end of the wick

Today was our last day of classes. Its so strange to think that my time in this crazy city is coming to an end. 

For history and culture class, we had a slightly nutty professor explain visual arts and cognitive culture to us. The cognitive culture essentially boiled down to the prevalence and permanence of yin and yang in daily life. The most common example was man and woman, separate but together, but with parts of each other within both. The visual arts segment was more entertaining because no matter what we were looking at, whether it was a temple, a altar piece, or an ink drawing with different subjects, we always ended up somewhere phallic. I wish I knew more about the art of this part of the world so I could take it with a grain of salt, but I don’t think I can, which is vaguely concerning to me.

For our last language class, we played games in teams and reviewed everything we learned. Then for a “test”, 2 members of each team had to talk about themselves in Vietnamese. To my infinite relief, it wasn’t me. We then took lots of pictures with our friends and headed to lunch.

While we were at our usual rooftop canteen, we went out to the balcony and had a little photoshoot, which will be posted to facebook later. Kristen brought the flag that she bought at the market, which made them 10x better. 

We then took the bus across Saigon to the Xa Loi pagoda, the site of a protest in 1963 of the Southern Vietnamese government. A march from there to a nearby corner found Thic Quang Duc, a buddhist monk, burning himself alive in protest. We saw both the pagoda (which was beautiful, btw) and the memorial for the monk a few blocks away. I lit an incense stick at the memorial park and gave a donation to the pagoda’s upkeep because it felt right. 

Afterward we walked to the War Remnants Museum. Dr. Berman mentioned that it used to be named the American War Crimes Museum, which made me feel very on edge being there. The exhibits were all photography based, but I couldn’t stay too long because a lot of them freaked me out, especially pictures of disfigured babies in the room focusing on Agent Orange. The tanks and fighter planes in the yard weren’t enough to keep my attention after seeing those images, so I felt like after giving the museum my due diligence, I walked back to the hotel less than a block away.

Of course there was swim swam time, and after, I met up with some of the group and UEF kids to go to a random Vietnamese place for dinner. I had noodles that ended up coming with not only shrimp and pork, but pig liver, which I did not eat because its not even in front of me anymore but it gives me the heebie geebies. 

I’m going to meet up with everyone again soon for our last full night out in the streets of Saigon. Who knows where it’ll take me?

[rach-goes-to-nam]

This is maybe half of what I ate at lunch today

[rach-goes-to-nam]

The word of the day is: Food

Late start today. Yes.

We went to the bus at 9:45 knowing that ahead of us was a cooking class, but no other info. We got off the bus at a giant five star hotel and we thought we were just lost or confused. Nope. We entered the cavern of a lobby and we’re greeted by a teacher from HUTECH, another college in HCMC, and we got a quick tour of the place. It had beautiful hanging gardens near the pool and a small silk shop. We were taken to our token giant table in the restaurant/ buffet area, where we met the sous chef of the hotel and he taught us how to make spring rolls, both the fresh and the fried kind. My fresh spring roll (rice paper, shrimp, lettuce, bean sprouts, and some unidentified greens) came out kinda disfigured because the wet rice paper kept sticking to the rubber gloves we had to wear, but it was delicious anyway. After we finished making the rolls, we were let into the buffet for lunch. Oh. My. God. It was the best/largest amount of food I think I have ever eaten in my entire life. There was fried fish, roasted everything, dumplings, clams, sushi, flatbread pizza, different tropical fruit, a huge dessert bar, a cheese selection that was decimated by the students of plus 3. I know I’m forgetting so many things but it was so overwhelming and all so good.

After lunch we did a quick change to go to Saigon Newport Corporation, our final site visit. Its a shipping facility for goods to be exported out of Vietnam, and it works alongside the navy. We had the usual briefing, but today we seemed to be a bit too focused on the management of the complex and dynamic environment of the shipping industry. We also got a tour of the control tower and a bus tour of the grounds. I felt like I was just looking at Bayonne from the turnpike but I was as enthusiastic as I usually am. 

The usual bus ride of delirium later, we all went upstairs to do another quick change to go back to Ben Tanh Market. I got a couple more things that I didn’t get a chance to, and I was really able to let my haggling ability show. Mom and Mom Mom, I think I made you proud. Your girl has some new nice looking but actually cheap crap :)

Danielle, Malik, Kohler and I stayed longer than most of the group, along with Vy, our resident Vietnamese speaker and adorable perfect human. We all helped each other present shop and got dinner somewhere down the street from the market. I had noodles with prawn and crab and it was awesome. 2 hours later, we finally went home only to go out again for a Dairy Queen run. That blizzard tasted amazing, especially after the 6 block walk it took to get it. 

I’m still sweaty from the market so its finally shower time. Tomorrow we finally go to another temple, so I’m super excited for that. Hen gap lai 

[rach-goes-to-nam]

Can’t stop, won’t stop (napping)

Last night was so Asia I couldn’t handle it. We went out to dinner with a few UEF kids for “pancakes”, which meant an egg omlette with bean sprouts, beef, shrimp in it, along with a special sauce and Vietnamese iced tea. While we were talking about iced tea, we were brought pitchers labeled “Put Sauce Pancake” so naturally Sam poured it into his glass and drank it. It was not ice tea. The pancakes were really good, and afterward we took our usual caravan of taxis to the next location, a Karaoke place, where we had a giant room to ourselves and we were screaming into echoing microphones and having a grand ol’ time. The selection was filled with American songs, like “We Can’t Stop”, “Wannabe”, several tracks by Queen B, and a surprising amount of Ke$ha. The real kicker was the finale, when Allen busted out during “Dancing Queen”. He knew all the words and just yelled straight into the mic but I’ve never seen anyone happier. We went back to the hotel to chill because it was still kinda early, so some people went out after.

This morning had an early start but an hour bus ride to VSIP, Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park, and II-VI, a manufacturing company located in the industrial park. But this was obviously no ordinary industrial park. This one has the support of both of its namesakes’ governments, and is the “one stop shop” of industrial parks. It has its own power grid, sewage system, water supply system, and even a Customs clearing center so that the planes shipping things out of the country can skip that process at the HCMC airport. Its a cool place, with its own street system and a canteen. There’s 3 locations like this, including one in progress in the central region of the country. Then II-VI gave us a tour of their plant, where they produce temperature control chips and glass lenses for lasers and glass things for cateract surgeries and just a ton of other stuff. They’ve been profitable since their 2nd year (of 40) so maybe its time to check out the stock page.

After lunch out by VSIP we headed back on the bus, where I think just about everyone passed out. I woke up to Arielle nudging me awake outside the Victory, so I can’t be too sure.

Then I went upstairs and changed for a swim swam time, and Bryan was up there chillin with us. Its so nice in that pool, I might just never leave it. 

I feel like I always end about to go out for dinner, but thats whats up, so I’m going to go eat something that will probably be delicious. 

[rach-goes-to-nam]

“Student Discounts”

Today I learned that people half my size can scare me while trying to sell me things. The Ben Tanh Market is full of such people.

After a quick review of how to negotiate in language class, we went to the market with stacks of dong in hand. Its aisles upon aisles of fabrics, jewelery, clothes, food, handbags, and any chachkies (sp?) you can think of. I’m not gonna say all of what I bought here because I want to surprise the people I bought things for. 

The negotiation process is exhausting and a little scary. You find something you like and then ask how much. Sometimes the UEF kids would make a face and the seller would lower it, but most of the time I had to ask. A lot of the things I bought I could get a discount of about 50% of the original asking price, including a good fake Michael Kors bag. I went from 1.8 million dong to 400,000 which in dollars is about $80 to $20. I also got a rainbow and gold chunky necklace (yes mom, we can share) and a tank top that says “Saigon” in the RUN DMC logo (if there was nothing else in this city that was more typical of me to buy). Lunch was also at the market but I had eaten a big breakfast so I wasn’t hungry.

After lunch we had a site visit at VinaCapital Group and VinaCapital Foundation, a money management firm and NGO, respectively. The profits from the Group go to funding projects that are started and maintained by the Foundation, including a program that sponsors the high school and college education of women from “ethnic minority” groups from the Vietnamese highlands to be able to pull their communities out of poverty, as established by the international standards. They also mentioned that they have internships in HCMC, and that would be cool to be able to come back here. 

I think there may be a return trip to the market tonight for things that were left unbought, so I may go back to just tag along and see whats going on. See you tomorrow, dear readers.

[rach-goes-to-nam]

Kohler post

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Pictures from the day: kohler being happy and cultural and Chris modeling his hat and my Jesus fan

[rach-goes-to-nam]

[rach-goes-to-nam]

Today I found Jesus

Today began with sleep. The bus left for Vung Tao at 7 am. I shuffled down to the usual breakfast, and then when the bus left the hotel, passed out again almost immediately. Two hours later I woke up to a beachy little town on the water. Our first stop for the day was a monumental statue of Jesus, similar to the one in Rio, on top of a cliff. We climbed up 750 steps to get to the statue, and Bryan commented that I was "gleaming". He was being polite. I could have just showered and you wouldn't know the difference. The view was gorgeous. One end was the rest of the beach and the other was pure, blue ocean of the South China Sea (but the Vietnamese call it the eastern sea). The top of the cliff around Jesus had wild flowers and benches sponsored by people from all over the world, including a shockingly large number from Pennsylvania. You could take a staircase up through Jesus and stand on his arms, but it was another site that needed pants to be respectful, but in my dripping sweaty state could not get myself to do it, especially after Akhil told me his saga of attempting to get down through holes that are not meant for tall people. So I played mom again and watched bags and ate ice cream. It got to the point where I couldn't stand the heat and I saw somebody waving a fan at themselves, so I wandered over to the souvenir stand and sure enough, fans were being sold. I forgot for a minute that we were at a tourist attraction so now I own a purple fan with Jesus on it (says the Jewish girl). Once everyone was down from Jesus, we walked back down the way we came and drove about a mile down the road to a little beach club where we would make our base camp for the day. I think the beach is public, but the clubs have little areas with chairs, as well as a lifeguard and a locker room with showers and toilets that are 2 inches off the ground (I didn't use them). We had an hour before lunch, so I sunscreened and actually sprinted to the ocean. It was so so so nice. We were all there for awhile and played a few games of chicken (naturally a great idea) and I got stung by a jellyfish! He was a cute little guy and didn't do much damage, except it was a little annoying poke in my ankle every now and then and it just looks like I have 3 bug bites. After a while we were called into lunch, but we all had to change to go upstairs into the dining room. I was with Alex, Evan, Chris, Sam, Snowball, and Aster, so our platters iwere finished in like 2 minutes. There were fresh clams, prawns, calamari, pork, and a giant hotpot with all different kinds of seafood and greens. It was all so delicious. As soon as it wasn't rude to leave, I went back down to the beach and got back in the water, where Arielle, Kristen, and I came up with a magazine called "Water is Fun" complete with action shots. We were called in to the shore to play a game that the UEF kids taught us. I don't know the name, but it's similar to Steal the Bacon, except we used a water bottle, then a ball. Two teams line up facing each other with the ball on a center line and every player has a number. If your number gets called, you have to run and get the ball and bring it back to your team. As many numbers as possible can be called, or just 1 person. I fell flat on my butt trying to do the 180 on the way back the first time I was called. Typical. I actually fell a lot of times. Once in the water I grabbed it away from Allen and sprinted back through the shallow waves, fending off both Jeff and Allen again in the process. It was the most fun I had playing a game maybe ever, and i think camp might need to learn a new game this summer. When that game ended, Bryan came over and gave us our 15 minute warning so we jumped back in the ocean again. I got my obligatory throwing Chi O in front of the water picture, and off to the bus we went. I knew all day I had a stupid grin on my face but I couldn't help it and I didn't care because I was at a beach in a beautiful place with awesome people. On the way back from the beach we stopped at this little marketplace and I bought mini pancakes. They were so good. Kate also got us durian paper, peanut cookies with mint, and some paper roll that smelled fishy (literally and metaphorically). Tomorrow is the market day! Can't wait to blow stacks of dong on fun pretty things I probably don't need.

[rach-goes-to-nam]

[rach-goes-to-nam]

Tunnel Vision

Today’s weather: 95 degrees with 80% humidity.

Today’s activity: being outside ALL DAY

We went to the tunnel site at Cu Chi, a major battleground during the Vietnam War. We took the bigger bus (thank goodness, otherwise we’d all be packed like sardines) and drove for about 2 hours north west of the city, except we never actually left the city limits of HCMC. A lot of the farther out stuff was very rural, cows and oxen and restaurants with no walls, chairs, or tables, but just hammocks under a thatched roof. I’ve decided that I want a hammock so I’ll look at the market. But I digress. 

Once we arrived on site, we were taken to a large thatched roof hut, where we sat to get a little bit of a briefing before getting to the tunnels themselves. Dr. Berman showed us where we were on the giant light up map with most of, if not all. of the tunnel system. Then, Pete aka Snowball gave us some information about the engineering of the tunnels; the layout, types of spaces that were down there, traps that could be set for intruders, and living conditions. We were then showed a video that was made in 1969 and painted Americans in a terrible, aggressive light. A woman was featured that was referred to as an “American Killer Hero” and it made me pretty uncomfortable. I realize that this was made during the height of the war, but I don’t know why this video is the one that is shown to groups as the first impression of the site. I realize seeing things from this side of history is important, but it made me feel very unwanted, as opposed to the rest of our trip that we have been treated with such extreme kindness by the people of Vietnam.

After the video we were greeted by a tour guide that only spoke Vietnamese, so Lan translated for us. There were several tunnels that have been widened so that large people (aka tourists) can fit through them and see vaguely what it was like. I did the first one, which was just a 40 foot passage way, but I felt very claustrophobic so after that I played mom and held backpacks. All of this was outside, and the Vietnamese students were very uncomfortable in the sun because they were wearing skinny jeans and hoodies to protect their skin from the sun. 

After a short burst of a water sprayer and a bit of coconut milk later, we walked through some larger huts that showed a woman making black pajamas, the Viet Cong uniform. There were also VC bucket hats for sale, but I decided against that purchase. The next hut had different types of ways to fall through a hold in the ground and get injured/killed by spikes. 

We had lunch in, surprise! Another hut! It was on the Saigon River and we saw greenery floating along the river, making it seem like we were traveling. Lunch had rice, skewered prawns (which were awesome), egg rolls, and veggies. We even got plates, forks, knives, AND SPOONS! So many utensils that aren’t chopsticks that I almost forgot how to use them.

After lunch, we took a 2 minute bus ride to a beautiful temple that is a memorial for the soldiers that died on the North Vietnam side. The roof is adorned with dragons and latticework, while the sides of the building are all mosaics. One side is of happy daily life in Vietnam. The other 2 tell completely different stories. The back shows enemy (assumed to be American) soldiers committing various acts of cruelty to the Vietnamese people. It made me uncomfortable to look at for too long, although I realize that they are just showing their side of the story. The third wall is a triumphant new life of the united Vietnam, with motorbikes, modern ao dais, images of citizens united against the enemy, and of course, an almost godly image of Ho Chi Minh himself. It was huge and hectic and beautiful. I did not go inside the temple because a sign asked that people wearing shorts not go in, although some of our group went anyway. 

Soaking in sweat, we got back on the bus one more time and drove to the cemetery that houses the soldiers that are memorialized in the temple we had just seen. There were flowering trees dotting the landscape, and a white monumental statue of a man holding a dying soldier in the middle of a large patio-like space. I didn’t think that we belonged there, and I was surprised when our resident camera man and teachers gathered us in front of the monument to take a photo. I didn’t think it was appropriate to smile, so I didn’t. 

I realize that to understand a new country, and even my own, I have to know history so that we are not doomed to repeat it. However, I don’t think turning a site of massive destruction into a tourist attraction (complete with large and mostly irrelevant gift selection) is the way to do it. I also know that we were taken to these places only with the best of intentions in mind, so I think I have more thinking to do about what I saw today and how I feel about it. 

The bus ride home had half of us passed out and the other half laughing because we were all delirious from the heat and exhaustion. We went straight to the pool upon arrival and all just unwound from the day together. Tomorrow is our beach day, and we’re leaving the hotel at 7. Less than 12 hours from now. Oy.

Ps- Hi Kohler’s mom! I have some cute pics of him sleeping behind me on the bus if you want to see them

[rach-goes-to-nam]

Gurlz nite in a nutshell. We’re all crazy but it somehow just kinda works. 

[rach-goes-to-nam]

GURLZ NITE

Tonight was awesome. No dudes, just the 7 girls and Kate, our lovely perfect guide (Nickname: 8 including Kate). We have a big long day at the Cu Chi tunnels tomorrow, so we all wanted to have a relatively mellow but fun night.

We went from the hotel to an area in District 1 that’s kinda touristy, but its surrounded by beautiful hotels (including the famous Rex and a 6 star joint) and the People’s Committee building. Obviously the first thing we did was get street food, which today meant flat waffle disk things, banana chips in the form of a large square, and triangular cake things. We walked around and ducked in and out of shops and bought various souvenirs and things for our friends/families/others (rach, hannah, and lo runn if you’re reading this, I got you guys something we will all be able to enjoy together). We got this awesome peach iced tea that had ACTUAL PEACHES on the bottom and it was so sweet but the combo of sweet and cold was perfect for tonight. 

We realized that Kate needed a bathing suit for our trip to the beach on Sunday so we took a taxi to a different part of town, but we couldn’t get her one because the shop closed. Apparently some store will deliver it if you tell them what size you want so she can still get it in time. 

We found a Vietnamese version of Forever21 and I got 2 pairs of jorts for $15, so that made me happy. Then we went into a different shop on that street and Kate bought a dress and I tried on a hat that said “DOPE” but I just wasn’t feeling it so I didn’t get it. We didn’t know what we wanted to do next so we were half dancing to the music they were playing (a remix of an ABBA song) and a random guy from the store came out to dance with us so he and I had a grand ol’ time. Yes, there are videos from us but also from random people on the street. I might be internet famous. 

Then we took a taxi back to the hotel, hoping to find pizza, but everything was already closed. Bummer. 

JUST KIDDING BECAUSE IT WAS KATE TO THE RESCUE! She brought us noodles, because there are never enough types of noodles to try, and there is never a bad time for noodles. We sent her home because she has to be up super early with us tomorrow, and she definitely needs sleep just like the rest of us. 

The day is now done, and its time to mentally prepare myself that I will be crawling underground tomorrow, and its gonna be hot. 

Peace, love, I have no idea what the guys did tonight and honestly I kinda don’t want to know 

[rach-goes-to-nam]

My new friends! I loved talking to them and getting to know the country through the people