Swindled

Ho Chi Minh city. A city filled with about two times as many people as Hanoi (which i believe is like 7 or 8 million people) which means twice the mopeds, twice the excitement, and twice the food selection. The two cities truly are two very different worlds; while Hanoi is the capitol and epitome of the Vietnamese communist state, Ho Chi Minh is far more capitalist and westernized. Here, buildings are new, streets are cleaned, there are a large variety of international restaurants, and westerners don't feel quite as smacked in the face with culture shock. I immediately loved the city due to the deep influence of French architecture (and shopping- giggity gee!) and was anxious to explore. We checked into our hotel, which was the stand true life version of "don't judge a book by its cover" situation. The hotel appeared to be the fanciest thing alive, but then after checking in and in fact weaving to the back side of the hotel, we discovered mediocre rooms without windows. Could be worse, but you really don't realize how much you love a good window until you no longer have one. Anyway.

Walking the city was the first on the todo list, along with finding lunch. Walking through this city requires the general same set of standards from Hanoi; motorcycles move around you, cars and buses don't (so don't jump out in front of them) and some mopeds take the sidewalk as another version of a road. Any-who. We wandered, saw the Palace of Independence (ever seen the famous photo of the tank crashing through the gates of the palace at the end of the Vietnam war? Yeah, that), some shopping districts, city hall (old french architecture- loved it, couldn't get enough of it) and a few other sites. Tomorrow will be our big sight seeing day with the cu chi tunnels, war museum, and more wandering. One large difference between here and Hanoi is the open spaces and trees. I never realized how much I missed trees as well. The gardens and city floral landscaping here is amazing. Most of the floral landscaping is actually bonsai tree type things, which I'm in love with. I also am dying to buy some of their orchids (which apparently grow like grass here) but alas, tomorrow we depart for home. I really could imagine living in this city, were it not for the heat. Hmm.

We ate at a more westernized restaurant, which, after a week of Pho, rice, spring rolls, and noodle dishes, was amazing. Never before have I enjoyed a Caesar salad so thoroughly. And bread. Oh how I've missed bread. Most of the Vietnamese food is made from fresh food consisting largely of meats, seafood, or vegetables. Carbs outside of rice and noodles are lacking, and often the food gives you the effect which is famous for Chinese food: stuffed one minute, searching for left overs in the fridge 2 hours later. It felt good to have a hearty western meal, as bad as that is for having such a small amount of time to experience the food here. Oh well.

After lunch we cruised over to the Vietnam National University of Social Services and Humanities where we were greeted by a group of approximately 15 of their students who are active in a type of international experiences club. Apparently, Carroll University is in the process of making a connection with this university for future study abroads, and we helped strengthen that connection by making a presence on their campus. They hosted a presentation about their country, taught us a bit of Vietnamese, and chatted with us about our country, school, hobbies, etc. It was a brief meeting; only about an hour, but it was enjoyable. I regret not making further contact attempts with some of them, seeing as they were truly great people and would be great contacts for the future.

After all of this bouncing around we decided to take on the biggest task of the day: attending the market. There is a huuuuuge market located right near our hotel which sells literally everything and anything from food, to flowers, to knock off brand purses and wallets, souvenirs, clothing, and whatever else you could dream of. It was enjoyable due to the bargaining and great deals we were getting, but I soon found myself annoyed and frustrated with the pushiness of the sales clerks. If you even glanced at something, they honed in on you as though you had already began throwing money at them. Additionally, they do not take no for an answer, which actually landed me in a sticky situation. I was looking at a purse for myself for quite some time, and decided it was not a good deal, and the woman grabbed my arm and would not let me go, screaming I was crazy for not buying the purse and blah blah. That annoyed me and caused me to seek shops outside the market shortly thereafter. I found myself some lovely knock off brand purses and such, and an amazing travelers backpack (hello future adventures!). I'm truly going to miss the steals and deals of Vietnam; it is insane how cheap things are here and how much you can barter. I'm not the best at it due to my guilt factor and lack of a backbone in such situations, but a few people in our group are beasts. It's awesome.

After we returned from shopping we went to visit a Vietnamese Carroll student's parents at their home where they invited us for dinner with them. It was a great meal of the most amazing, mouth-watering spring rolls, Pho, and sweet soup (which really isn't my thing.. sorry Vietnamese friends). Sweet soup is a soup which is sweet (wow, right?)) and has lotus seeds in it. The flavor just really isn't my favorite, but oh well. The family, like everyone else I've encountered thus far' was insanely nice and extremely hospitable. They even gave us good bye gifts even though they barely knew us, or for some of us, not at all. I love, love, love the hospitality and open hearts of the Vietnamese. I cannot stress to you all enough how amazing of a culture this is. Relationships mean the world to them, and I love it. We could all learn so much from them, truly.

I am now beyond exhausted and about to crash. Only 24 hours until take off back to the homeland. It's so disturbing how fast this week flew, but I also can't wait to return and tell everyone about the trip and show them the vibrant colors, stories and memories of the trip. Good night from Ho Chi Minh.

Ha Long Bay

Xing Chao! Just for an interesting point of reference, at this exact moment, I am jet setting across Vietnam's coast towards the famous Ho Chi Minh city, also formerly known as Saigon. This may be a slightly terrifying flight due to the amount of turbulence we've already experienced, but nonetheless so far so good. We caught the flight by the skin of our teeth thanks to an overly relaxed bus (if you can call that a bus) driver, but thanks to a kind Vietnam Airlines check in assistant and a less than par (by American standards, seriously, seriously under code) security check, we landed right in the line for boarding. Major win for Carroll U Vietnam. Alright. Enough of those details, back to yesterday.

Wait. Just wanted to let you all know I was just served an in-flight breakfast for my 2 hour flight, and it came with fresh watermelon and dragon fruit (which is in a never ending abundance here). This seems like not that big of a deal, but this flight cost me under $100... yup. Winning even further. Ah the little things in life.

Back to the journey of events. I apologize but we will be skipping Wednesday. That was great, just like every day in this city filled with culture, soul, and an endless array of insanely delicious food. I did a ton of shopping with my little Ha, a tour of the temple of literature, and the usual school activities. In the evening Trung Vuong school hosted a good bye dinner for all the students families, and teachers in a buffet restaurant (nicest buffet of my life, hands down) which was on about the 20th floor of a tower over looking Hanoi... definitely a memory I'll hold close to the heart forever. Saying goodbye to my Ha was quite literally heart breaking and filled with quite a few tears, but I feel it was not a good bye but a see you later. The potential for this little girl who hosted me is unbelievable; her level of intelligence, hospitality, street smarts, and open-mindedness surpasses many of the adults I've encountered in my life, and I'm excited to see how her next few years play out for her. I wish I could have spent more time with her and her family, but alas, tis life and forward on to the next journey. Phi family, if you're somehow reading this, thank you from the bottom of my heart for the two days which you not only opened your home and life to me, but for also truly granting me the insider view into Vietnam culture and an experience which I will hold close to my heart and in my memories forever. It was simple but perfect, and I'll miss you all! Alright. Now, for the sake of blogging and the essence of time, we'll just move forward to Thursday.

It was an early start; 8 am bus departure. I am used to this time due to school anyways, so it wasn't rough. My sleep schedule is also just sporadic and a disaster in and of itself, so the trip went off without a hitch. We clambered into the bus at 8 am and set off for Ha Long Bay; a world wonder which lies off the northern Vietnamese coast. There are approximately 5,000 islands within three bays, and let me tell you, it is absolutely captivating. I have flown to various sites, cities, mountains, and sunsets in my life all across the globe, but this moment, standing atop a slightly rickety boat (beyond my father's comfort level, I'm almost sure) it was one of the moments where you just stop and truly feel that this is the beauty of the world which will never leave you, no matter how far you depart from it. I probably did not seem so awe struck to those around me, but to just be in the middle of such a scene of small, rickety fishing villages, towering island mountains, caves, fog lacing in and out between them, it just hit me. Life is truly good. Truly, truly good.

On the boat we were fed a basically 8 course meal containing all varieties of things from the freshest of the fresh crawfish (with arms and eyeballs thoroughly intact), to spring rolls (I am already going through withdrawals of leaving those behind..), to french fries. We were the only ones on the boat; an odd scene when it is a boat built to accommodate approximately, holds only 7 mere American tourists. But hey, no one is complaining here. Apparently the bay has a huge problem with pollution (much like many places here in Vietnam near Hanoi) and I'm fairly positive it could be due to the 500 boats that dock in the harbor, clamoring around, waiting for tourists and departing with small groups and half empty boats each. I suppose they'll never collaborate and run fewer boats with larger loads, but oh well. Not my culture, not my bay. On the bright side, it was thoroughly enjoyable feeling like Queen Stephanie and her friends on a full-staffed private tour group boat. Ahhhh bliss.

Just a random interesting fact, there is a fishing village located within the Ha Long Bay which has approximately 150 inhabitants.  These people live on house boat platforms and make a living through the fishing industry.  We briefly stopped at a house like this in the bay to see some King Crab, squid, and other sea creatures up close- it definitely was a whole another world.

The only downside to the day was the obnoxiously long bus ride. The distance is only about 130 miles (I think) but it took us four hours. Vietnamese traffic is not only insane, but also on rough roads and at slower speeds (which I am ever most thankful for). After about two hours, ones gluteus Maximus becomes quite square (or numb) and the bumps in the road begin to hit nerves mentally (and physically in some of our members' cases). We did make a pit stop at a tourist trap, but still. The total eight hours of driving were just almost too much. Getting out of the van at the end of it resulted in baby giraffe legs (I say giraffe due to my obnoxious height here...) and a deeper appreciation for walking and my half marathon training.

In the end of the evening, we met up with our new friend Austen from Alaska who we met Tuesday through the school. He took us all back to his apartment where his housemates were holding a good bye party for his house mate from Denmark (who is really only going on a brief vacation, so I'm not entirely sure what the good bye shindigs were all about, but whatever). It was a nice little gathering, and those of us of age tried a little bit of Vietnamese beer, or rather the southern asian pacific version of Keystone. Yup. It was called Tiger beer. Yay. Anyway. On the trip home, the taxi driver played the typical gip the tourist game and took the cab around the block a few times to make our fare two times the actual cost (we're not that dumb, seriously). We were pissed until we realized that the fare was $2.50... who's the sucker now? ha. Just kidding. But seriously. It feels odd to be the minority here and at a loss of language constantly, but I enjoy it. Life is always better in my world with a bit of mystery and element of leaps of faith. Besides, what is life if you don't participate in events that result in stories that begin with "So this one time in Vietnam..." or "You'll never guess what happened when..." If you don't agree with this and the sense of going with the flow, please don't travel with me. I've also taken on the mentality in the last year that I'll try anything once (naturally, with limits such as illegal substances and sky diving. Oh and Jelly Fish. Yeah, no.). Hence the dog. Oh sorry. Forgot you're all still overly sensitive about that one. Too soon, too soon. Pff

That's about it for now, mes cheries. Oh that's right. I'm quite pleased to announce that I have been able to put my french to good use here and have discovered that I can, indeed, quite actually speak french. This is quite a relieving discovery considering my flight for France leaves in 50 or so odd days.

I'm young, alive, happy, and in love with the world as a travel destination.

On to Ho Chi Minh!

It tasted like steak.

It really, really did. Dog, that is. Yep, you read that correctly. Today, a few of us experienced dog for the first time; an experience which was quite shockingly not shocking. We had met another American who was teaching at our middle school who joined us for today's activities, and he was intent on us being able to try dog. When he brought it over, it honestly looked disgusting. There were weird flecks of things on it and rosemary shaped herbs which looked almost like hairs, so, basically, the entire image was just a bit gnarly. However, early this morning, while face-timing my family, my father instructed me to live to the most of my experiences. Well, tada! I ate dog. I'm sorry Otter, I really do love you! I swear!

Alright. Now that the majority of you are either incredibly disgusted, judging me through disturbed lenses, or are just perplexed by the last tid-bit, we shall just move forward, by going backwards and starting from the beginning!

This morning came way too early, as many of you may have seen by my early blog post. 4:30 sucks. The rest of the day was extremely busy to follow, of course. We started out the morning after a breakfast of cheese and sausage sandwiches in a panini form. A little out there, sure, but it worked. After breakfast, her uncle drove us to school. One thing about Vietnam that I will never wrap my head around is the concept of driving and mopeds. The idea of traffic laws appear to be mere suggestions here. I have plenty of video to help place a visual for you all at a later date. Anyways, to give you a better sense of it, motorcycles weave in and out of each other (hundreds at a time sometimes) amongst cars, trucks, bicycles, and people on foot. To cross the road, one simply throws themselves into traffic under the rule that bicycles and motorcycles/mopeds will move around you, but you need to adjust your speed for cars. Once you leave the curb, you need to just keep moving, because stopping could cause an outright accident. It really isn't terrible, and you can get used to it, but the first few tries are literally terrifying. My little host buddy (13) throws herself into traffic all the time with not a care or second thought. It's mind boggling, but like I said, you get used to it... kind of.

Back to the motorcycles and mopeds. It's insane. People carry their entire four person family, entire shipments of things to stores, small children or babies, or even gallon tanks with gold fish on their mopeds, often on their laps. Women can even ride side-saddle without holding on to their driver. Awesomely insane. We met another American at the school today who has moved here to teach English at the school we were volunteering in, and he confirmed my theories that Americans would not be able to handle the moped madness; he had an extremely bad crash and broke his leg about three months ago. But thats another story.

Once we were at school, we departed on a bus to the other side of Hanoi where we visited a pottery village. There, almost all the residents of this village have the artisan craft of ceramics and pottery as their profession. I have never seen such an incredible amount of ceramics and pottery in one location ever, and I doubt I will ever see that much again. We were given the opportunity to make our own bowls, and then toured a pottery shop which creates, paints and glazes pigs, Pokemon, and angry birds piggy banks. We ended up wandering around the village and saw pagodas, a religious festival and a bajillion pottery shops. The intricate details that the Vietnamese put into their pottery (even the simple designs) are amazing. Love, love, love. Again, a moment where I wish I had photos. Soon, I promise! The end of the pottery village was the site of the dog meat consumption... yeah.

After the pottery village we met up with the father of one of my residents at Carroll, Duc. HIs father invited all the Carroll students and our advisors out for lunch to a restaurant which featured food from the middle area of Hanoi. When we arrived we had no idea what we were in for- a basically 10 course meal with options ranging from simple goey little circle things with a little spice sprinkled on them, to shrimp cakes (way gooey-er than one would imagine by the name), to banana leaf wrapped shrimp rolls, and to the Vietnamese version of what I associated as nachos. The flavors that I discovered blew my mind, and there were only about two things out of the countless numbers of items that I tried which I could not finish. I had originally believed I would lose weight on this journey, but of course the food here had to be straight from heaven. Or Buddha, or wherever. Darn spring rolls. They get me every time.

Once we finished lunch (and I experienced the first nightmare of an Asia bathroom), we went back to the school where we proceed to teach classes and do activities until 5, when we went home with our families. My little Ha surprised me with a treat after school which apparently is quite common in Vietnam: getting your hair washed. Before our evening activities, Ha lead me to the local hairdresser shop (which was multiple levels in a very tall, skinny building... wash your hair on the top level, cut on second, dry on the floor level) where I was treated to having my hair washed for about 15 minutes and then also having my face washed. My hair has never felt so soft, and my face never so clean. I felt like pure joy. Major win.

After the hair activities and such, Ha and I adventured out into the night city life with a few of the other Carroll girls and their matches. We hit up the occasional souvenir shop and tourist site, and indulged in Vietnamese ice cream. Life was good indeed. Unfortunately, time got away from me and this post is now a day late, and I am beyond exhausted, to the point of which I really don't feel like hashing out all the details which are pooling in my brain. I have so much I want to tell you all, but the words are eluding me. Therefore, until next time.