Conclusion to My Blog

Hello everyone. I know it has been a very long time since I last wrote my blog and I thought I should provide a wrap-up for the semester. I was unable to access my blog the last couple of weeks in Vietnam because of government censorship, which also often shut down facebook. Fortunately, I am now back in the US where there seems to be a bit more freedom of the internet.

The end of the semester was very fun and of course, a little sad. The last weekend before finals, Anna and I went to Loretofest. Loretofest is a music festival put on by RMIT, an Australian University and featured bands from Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, and the American band, Ratatat. It was held in a big grassy area, quite a rarity in Ho Chi Minh City, so I was very excited to run around the lawn. The bands were really great and the highlight of my night was probably dancing with Pham Anh Khoa, the winner of Vietnam Idol and featured in Coca Cola advertisements all over Vietnam (and also Cambodia I discovered). We also got to see Ratatat front row, center.

The guy with is shirt off is Pham Anh Khoa, Winner of Vietnam Idol

Before we knew it, exams were over, final projects were turned in, and it was our last night of the program. For our farewell dinner, we went to a restaurant with our Vietnamese teachers and roommates, sang karaoke, and Anna and I played the flute.

After a visit from my dad, I flew to Hong Kong to meet with my mom for a vacation. After Vietnam, Hong Kong was a little bit of a shock. Although Ho Chi Minh City was very large, I was not prepared for the sky scrapers and shininess of Hong Kong. I kept telling my mom, "Wow, it's like a city of the future!" We took the ferry across the harbor, ate a lot of amazing dim sum, and met up with one of my mom's high school friends.

The Harbor
Night Skyline

After a few days in Hong Kong, my mom and I flew to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The city reminded me a lot of Ho Chi Minh City with motorbikes whizzing by, lively outdoor markets, street vendors, and a river running through the city (though this river was much nicer than the Saigon River!). We went to the royal palace (or the small section that tourists are allowed to see), the genocide museum, and the killing fields of the Pol Pot regime. Cambodia was still very poor and under-developed and it was clear that the country had still not fully recovered from the relatively recent attrocities of the Year Zero campaign. However, there were certainly signs that the economy and tourist industry have improved greatly in recent years and I also saw evidence of numerous public work projects. It was interesting to compare Vietnam and Cambodia and the relative position on the trajectory of development for each. Vietnam seemed, understandably, more developed than Cambodia. It will be interesting to see if in 10 years, Camodia's development will be similar to Vietnam's today.

Phnom Penh's Royal Palace

Thanksgiving at Little Rose, Visiting the Green Bamboo Shelter

Even though the Vietnamese don't typically celebrate Thanksgiving, I've tried to bring a little Thanksgiving to Vietnam since it is my favorite holiday. Sunday at the Little Rose Shelter, I taught the girls how to make pumpkin pie. I had made pumpkin pie a few times in the United States before, but it is a completely different experience in Vietnam, especially with 20 teenage girls! When I had made it before, I always used canned pumpkin and ready-made crust. These things were not available in Vietnam so we had to make the crust from scratch and use a real pumpkin. Also, pumpkins in Vietnam are a little different than in the US. I was a bit concerned because the outside of the pumpkin was green and yellow but the pie ended up looking the same and tasted wonderful. Cooking was a bit chaotic and I ended up very floury, but in the end we had a lot of fun and produced three fairly decent looking pies. Anna and Alyce also came to help out. Anna and I did a performance on the bamboo flute which we recently learned to play and Anna also showed a couple of the girls how to make an origami turkey.

Baking the Pie, Basically one of my favorite pictures ever

The pie right before going in the oven

The next day, following up on Anna's popular idea, I did origami with the girls at the Little Rose Shelter. The girls loved it and it no one wanted to stop. The especially liked making the boxes and by the end of the day there were boxes of many colors everywhere.

The next day, I went to visit the Green Bamboo Shelter, a partner shelter of the Little Rose Shelter. It is similar to the Little Rose Shelter except it is for boys and near the center of the city. I met one of the supervisors at the Little Rose Shelter and he invited me to come check out the place. The boys are a little younger than at the Little Rose Shelter. They are ages 7-16 instead of 12-18 and have not necessarily been abused. Many of them were homeless or their parents sent them away because they could not afford to take care of them. The boys were incredibly energetic, but in a surprisingly well behaved way. As soon as I came, they starting showing off incredibly complicated break-dancing and gymnastics moves. One boy pulled on my arm and said in Vietnamese that he wanted me to draw with him. He took out paints and a piece of paper. Even though he had only heard my name once and only knew a few words in English, he painted my name on the paper and spelled correctly SARA.

Me and some of the boys

They were little monkeys

Mặc dù người Việt không ăn lễ Tạ ơn nhưng tôi muốn cho lễ Tạ ơn đến Mái Ấm Hoa Hồng Nhỏ. Chủ nhật tuần trước tôi làm bánh bí với các em gài ở đó. Làm bánh bí ở Việt Nam hơi khó vì ở Việt Nam không có "ready-made crust" hay hộp bí. TÔi phải làm bánh "from scratch." Làm bánh với 20 người thanh thiếu niên cũng khó lắm! Anna và Hồng đi Mái Ấm để giúp tôi. Anna và tôi đã chơi sáo và Anna dạy các em gái làm gà tây origami.

Vì các em gái rất thích origami, nên thứ hai tôi làm origami với các em gái. Chúng tôi làm hộp, con méo, con chó, và con hẻo. Làm origami vui lắm.

Thứ hai, tôi đi thăm Mái Ấm tre xanh. Mái Ấm tre xanh là mái ấm cộng tác với Mái Ấm Hoa Hồng Nhỏ. Mái Ấm này và Mái Ấm Hoa Hồng Nhỏ khác nhau tại vì Mái Ấm Tre Xanh có các em trai thôi. Các em trai nhỏ hơn các em gái ở Mái Ấm Hoa Hồng Nhỏ, từ 7 tuổi đến 16 tuổi. Tôi thấy ngạc nhiên vì các em trai vừa năng nổ vừa lịch sự. Tôi chơi nhiều với các em trai. Các em trai rất thích nhảy. TÔi cũng giúp các em trai học bài tiếng Anh.

Mangroves, Chinese class, My last few weeks in Vietnam

I haven't written for awhile because we've just been in Ho Chi Minh City for the past week and a half, but a lot has happened.

On Thursday, we took a field trip to Can Gio for my environmental sustainability class. Although Can Gio is considered Ho Chi Minh City by some sources, it was about a two hour drive away and is actually on the ocean. We went to learn about mangroves, mangrove restoration, and biodiversity in Vietnam.

Can Gio is not very wealthy or developed, but is extremely important to Ho Chi Minh City. Our teacher calls it "The green lung of Ho Chi Minh City" because all the trees are very important for providing oxygen to an already very polluted city.

First, we went to see the beach at Can Gio. It is a really interesting beach because it goes to the ocean so gradually. Because of this, the high and low tide are dramatically different. We saw many people fishing and catching various crustaceans.

Sifting through the sand for mussels

Then, we went to an island that has a mangrove protection area. Mangroves are very important to the environment because they provide a habitat for many species of animals, stabilize coastlines and mitigates the effects of tropical storms. Many of the world's mangrove populations have been greatly diminished and this is an especially big problem in Vietnam due to over-farming of shrimp and some lasting damage from the Vietnam War. The place we saw was actually a Vietnamese base during the war to protect Saigon from ocean attacks. In recent years, the government has implemented mangrove restoration projects and the results seem to be quite favorable so far. The island also had a lot of monkeys on it. The monkeys were very used to people and would come right up to you. They were both very cute and a little scary at the same time.

Mangroves!

Monkeys!

Yesterday, Trang invited me and Anna to a cooking competition in her Chinese class in celebration of teacher's day. It was a really interesting experience. Anna said it was a lot like a Japanese party. Everyone cooked a "Chinese Dish" although I'm pretty sure none of them were really Chinese. Trang made Singapore spring rolls, another group made sushi, another made chè which is a Vietnamese desert and another group made fried shrimp. It was also kind of funny that they spoke mostly Vietnamese with some occasional English but I didn't hear anyone speak Chinese the whole time. After that, we did performances (Anna and I sang the one song that we know all the words to in Vietnamese) and had a competition to make cards for the teacher. There was an extremely complicated point system for everything we did. After being judged on and assigned points for about 20 different categories, our group won the overall competition out of the four groups present!

Trang working on the Singapore spring rolls

Today, we also went to an art exhibition featuring artwork by blind children. It was really incredible what the children were able to produce, even without the ability to see. Many of the pictures used textured materials such as beads or were carved into wood. Everything was for sale and the proceeds went to a school for blind children where Vi did her internship.

Some other things to look forward to in my last couple weeks here are:
-Baking pumpkin pie and doing activities at the Little Rose Shelter for Thanksgiving
-Only one full week of classes left followed by a week of final presentations and tests!
-Loretofest, a huge music festival featuring bands from Vietnam, Thailand, New Zealand, Australia, and group from the US that I really like! Ratatat! Also, the expat magazine that Anna is working at is giving her a press pass and she gets to interview Ratatat! So exciting!
-Another visit to the HIV clinic
-Visiting The Green Bamboo Shelter, a partner shelter with Little Rose that takes care of only boys
-Farewell dinner for CET program
-My dad coming to visit and a huge Vietnamese food festival in Ho Chi Minh City

A busy last couple weeks before meeting my mom in Hong Kong!

Thứ tứ tôi đi chuyền với lớp "bảo vệ môi trường." Chúng tôi đi Cần Giờ, gần Sài Gòn. Chúng tôi đi Cần Giờ để học cây đước. Cần Giờ có nhiều cây đước và bảo vệ môi trường ở Cần Giờ quan trọng lắm. Cô giáo bảo vệ môi trường nói rằng Cần Giờ là "phổi xanh lá cây của Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh." Cây đước ở Cần Giờ quan trọng vì nhiều chim và cá sống gần cây đước và cây đước làm dịu bão. Chúng tôi đi bãi biển và đao khỉ. Đao khỉ có nhiều con khỉ. Các con khỉ dễ thương mà tôi thấy hơi sợ.

Hôm qua, em đi lớp tiếng Hoa với Trang. Mặc dù lớp tiếng Hoa nhưng chúng tôi không nói tiếng Hoa. Chúng tôi không học tiếng Hoa mà có cuộc thi nấu ăn. Tất cả các sinh viên đều phải nấu ăn món Trung Quốc. Trang, Anna, và tôi nấu ăn "gỏi cuốn Xin-ga-po." Sau đó, chúng tôi hát và làm thiếp mừng cho cô giáo của Trang. Cô giáo tính điểm và đội của Trang thắng!

The Rest of the Central Region Tour and the North

I have so much to write about. We're so busy and I have so many things that I've seen the past few days so this entry might not do everything I saw justice. I may try to fix it up a bit and add the Vietnamese version when I get back to Ho Chi Minh City.


After Hoi An, we went to the My Som ruins. These are some beautiful ancient temples near Hoi An. They contain a lot of Hindu iconography and are different from the majority of temples in Vietnam which are mainly Buddhist. These temples resemble those in Angkor Wat, Cambodia. However, many of these temples were destroyed during the Vietnam War. We were able to see a few of the original temples, some that we left damaged by bombing, and some that were restored.



After that, we went to Hue. Hue was the old capital of Vietnam and is a beautiful city with a lot of History. We spent a lot of time in the forbidden city which has beautiful temples commemorating Vietnam's previous emperors. Our tour guide was full of stories about which emperors may or may not have been infertile or homosexual.

Standing in the Forbidden City

Following Hue, we went to Alyce's family's hometown of Quang Tri. Quang Tri is in the central region of Vietnam and definitely not a tourist spot, though it is close to a lot of interesting historical sites. We saw the bridge that crossed the river separating the North and South during wartime and another set of tunnels used during the war. The Vinh Moc tunnels are not as famous as their Cu Chi counterparts, but are just as, if not more interesting. The site definitely has a quieter, less touristy feel to it and is on the beach which provides a beautiful setting. The tunnels were not, as in Cu Chi, "widened for Western visitors" but were still larger than those at Cu Chi. Our guide explained that was because these tunnels were used for refugee from bombing rather than for fighting. They needed to be equipped for long term survival as people lived in there for six years and even had children inside the tunnels. I went through the whole thing this time though because these tunnels didn't have bats!

Venturing into the tunnels

Although most of Alyce's family lives in the United States, she still has a lot of family remaining in Vietnam, mostly in the central region. We were able to meet some of her family and their friends. We met her aunt, who sells motorbikes and is the richest woman in Quang Tri. We also visited her family's old house where three guys that her family's church were helping lived. We met the three young men and saw the small farm that they had in the backyard. Sadly, a lot of the plants and animals that they were raising were lost in the recent typhoons. The boys did take the large pig up to the second floor of the house though and he was saved. Next, we visited the village where her grandma used to live. Now, three women from her family's church live in the house and look after it. They were extremely sweet and hospitable, though I thought they might kill me with food. They made an enormous and very delicious Vietnamese meal for us. We all ate so much but the oldest woman kept telling us that we weren't eating enough and that she was offended that we didn't like her cooking. She said that I was a college student and an American so that I should be eating more. She told me I wasn't fat enough and if I didn't gain weight, no one would want to marry me. They all offered to let Anna and I live upstairs free of charge so that we could practice our Vietnamese. This may sound strange, but we also spent a lot of time in the Central region visiting graves and memorials to the dead. It is very interesting to see the extremely elaborate graves that Vietnamese people have. Some graves are Catholic and some are Buddhist, but they all share the Vietnamese characteristic of taking care of your ancestors even after they die. Many of the graves had incense and offering of food and flowers. We also got to see a lot of homes and farms of villagers. There were houses, a lot of farm animals, and a school full of really cute kids.

Walking through the village

Kids hanging out in front of the church

In the evening we flew to Hanoi. We arrived late at night and went to bed early so that we could go to the Perfume Pagoda. The perfume pagoda is a really beautiful pagoda in a cave on top of a mountain. We met up with students from another study abroad program in Hanoi (they made me feel better about my Vietnamese. They had been taking classes here for two months and could barely count) and took a long bus ride to a bay near the mountain. After that, we went by boat. The water was unbelievably clear and beautiful, which is a nice change compared to the Saigon River which I am used to seeing. We then climbed the 600 steps to the top of the mountain and saw the beautiful alters inside of a cave at the top. It never fails to amaze me how many beautiful temples and pagodas Vietnam has tucked away in the mountains and caves.

On the way to the mountain

One of the altars inside the cave at the top

The next day, we went to Halong Bay. If you are one of those people that has a list of places to go before you die, add Halong Bay to it right now. It is easily one of the most beautiful places I have been in my life. We took a boat ride around the bay and saw many villages of people who have lived on the water for years. There were boats for fishing, houses, and even a school. We also had an opportunity to explore on our own in kayaks. Anna and I went through little caves and lagoons and found out that we are terrible at steering!

The beautiful Halong Bay. Incidentally, this rock is featured on the 200.000 dong note

Getting ready to Kayak. I'm super excited

Heading out

The next day, we had the amazing opportunity to attend a panel discussion about environmental issues in Vietnam. The panel talked about climate change, fisheries, waste management, environmental health issues, and a host of other interesting issues. We were able to ask questions about Vietnam's environment to a number of local and foreign experts in the field. It really was an amazing educational opportunity for our environmental sustainability class. After that, I went to visit the Hanoi School of Public Health. I had read about the school's opening before I went to Vietnam and knew that I wanted to visit. I was a little worried because I did not plan ahead and contact anyone before I visited. Fortunately, Vietnamese people are extremely friendly. I just wandered over to the school on my own and told the guards at the gate that I was a student at another school and just wanted to look around. They thought it was cute that I was speaking Vietnamese and gave me a visitors badge. I wandered around the school and met a consultant from Colorado. We started chatting and he told me about his work with anti-smoking campaigns in Vietnam. He introduced me to his colleagues and I talked to them about their work there for awhile. After that, I spent a few hours in the library, practicing my Vietnamese with the librarians and looking through their collection of Vietnamese and English books about public health.

After that I went to visit the temple of literature. This is a really beautiful park in Hanoi that contains manuscripts of Vietnam's kings inscribed on huge stone tablets which rest on the backs of turtles. I then headed back home (talking to a few people on the bus, of course) and have been writing this blog entry pretty much for the rest of the day... We head back for Saigon tomorrow afternoon so my project for the plane ride will be translating all of this into Vietnamese.

Sau Hội An, chúng tôi đi di tích Mỹ Sơn. Di tích Mỹ Sơn có chùa cổ, đẹp, gần Hội An. Mặc dù hầu hết đền ở Việt Nam là chùa Phật giáo nhưng các đền này có nhiều biểu tượng Chàm. Các đền ở Mỹ Sơn giống các đền ở Ankor Wat ở Campucia. Nhiều đền ở Mỹ Sơn bị phá hoại vào chiến tranh. Chúng tôi xem các đền gốc, các đền bị phá hoại, và các đền được trùng tu.

Sau đó, chúng tôi đi Huế. Huế là thủ đô cổ Việt Nam. Huế là thành phổ lịch sử.

Sau Huế, chúng tôi đi nơi quê của gia đình chị Hồng, Quang Tri. Quang Tri ở Miễn Trung Việt Nam và không là nơi du lịch. Thành phố này có một khách sạn thôi! Mặc dù không nơi du lịch nhưng Quang Tri gần nhiều nơi lịch sử. Chúng tôi thấy cầu chia cắt Việt Nam, miễn Bắc và miễn Nam. Gần cầu này có đài tưởng niệm chiến tranh. Sau đó chúng tôi đi hầm Vinh Moc. Hầm Củ Chi nổi tiếng hơn hầm Vinh Moc mà tôi thích hầm VInh Moc hơn. Hầm Vinh Moc không có nhiều khách du lịch và gần biển. Ngoài ra, ở đây không có dơi!

Mặc dù Hồng ở bang Cali nhưng có gia đình và các bạn gia đình ở miễn Trung Việt Nam. Chúng tôi có dịp gặp họ chị của Hồng và cô của Hồng. Chúng tôi đi thăm nhà cũ của bà của Hồng. Bây giờ, ba người làm việc ở nhà thờ của gia đình Hồng ở nhà này. Ba người nấu ăn nhiều và nói rằng nếu Sara không ăn nhiều hơn và béo ra thì không thể lấy chồng được.