HI.
This is Sara and I’m a senior. My my, just the plane ride to Vietnam has been a journey itself. We thought we’d would be on time, but we were quickly corrected. Arriving at the airport around 9:30 for our 11:00 flight was a bit of a mistake. We were rushed through Customs and I don’t think we even went through Agriculture. It was all a bit of a large headache and as we rushed to our gate, we sadly realized that our gate was probably the farthest gate in the airport. Finally on the plane, we were prepared for an extremely long flight. We settled into our seats but realized we weren’t as close to our friends as we thought we would be. We were oddly scattered all over the plane and many of us sitting next to a stranger. I was sitting next to Elise and when we asked the flight attendant what movie was playing, the only answer we received was, “A Korean movie.” Eeep. A ten-hour plane ride with pretty much nothing to do. Thankfully we were allowed to switch seats all over the plane so we ended up by at least one person we knew. Once the plane took off, I was out cold until our food was brought to us. We had a choice of either pasta with meat or bibimbap, a common Korean meal. I had the pasta but Shalynn had the bibimbap and really loved it. I’m not so sure what was in it, and I don’t think she knew either, but apparently it’s delicious! Quickly after I fell back asleep until woken up for meal #2. It was fish, potatoes and carrots or chicken and rice. You’d expect airplane food to not be so good, but the Korean airlines stepped up their game. Not only was the food good but also it came with real forks and knives with a dessert and everything. Pretty amazing. I have to admit; I think the best part of the flight was the flight attendants. They were dressed so cute with their beige pants suits with matching blue bows in their hair and scarves tied around their necks. Apparently they were a little self-conscious because Max and Emily asked for a picture and were denied. The rest of the trip was a blur because we were all tired and ready to get out of an airplane and step onto solid ground.
*****
Xin Chao from Ho Chi Minh City
This is Kristin Keeno another senior. Picking up where Sara left off . . . we exited the airport and breathed in the air hung thick with smog. The transition from the comfortable air condition to the muggy atmosphere was shocking, and moisture quickly formed on our brows. We loaded our bus with boxes and suitcases and soon headed off to our hotel. Exhausted from spending the last 15 hours of our lives on a plane, and reaching the hotel at around midnight, the plan to wake up at 6:00 a.m. was embraced with feeble enthusiasm. Having slept through the meal service on the airplane, I quickly joined the group headed for a midnight pho run. About 15 of us crammed into an open restaurant to order food. The small shop filled with the scent of gas and cigarette smoke as the cooks prepared our food. While waiting we sipped on coconuts, and tried to dig out the meat with our plastic straws. When our food arrived we received our first experience with the exotic tastes of Viet Nam. Garlic frog and roasted pigeon were presented before us, and we sampled each dish excitedly. Ironically enough, everything ended up tasting like chicken . . . as long as you didn’t examine the frogs too closely. The mystique of this foreign cuisine is somewhat replaced with disgust when you can make out the see the frogs eyes and taste the texture of its skin. Nonetheless, the meal was completely satisfying to fifteen starving kids at 12:30 in the morning. After this first experience with Vietnamese food, we dragged ourselves up to our luxurious hotel rooms to prepare for the first day of fun, excitement, and new experiences in Viet Nam.
*****
Hey from Viet Nam. I’m Shalynn, the last senior girl on this trip. It’s about 12:15 AM right now and I’m exhausted. I never imagined something as simple as ordering lunch could be so demanding. The language barrier is something I’m sure Mr. Dang wishes we could overcome, as it is his job to translate back and forth between each of us and the vendors we approach. It has been a long and exciting first day, so I will do my best to recount what we’ve experienced.
This morning Sara, Kristin, and I were woken by the early rays of sunlight slipping through the bars of the balcony and the thin white curtains of our suite. We three stepped onto the balcony to observe Ho Chi Minh City for the first time in daylight. The air was cloudy and thick, difficult to breathe. We were soon distracted by the chaos of Viet Nam traffic. Massive packs of mopeds, hoards of people, cars, vans and cyclers all entering the same intersection simultaneously from every direction, not bothering to slow down or stop, ignoring pedestrians, and loudly (but usually not angrily) honking their horns when they approach each other. It can be quite frightening to walk through the mass of multiple transportation devices, but the trick is to walk slowly and purposefully. The idea is that as long as you travel relatively slow, the mopeds, cars, etc… will have time to avoid you. After the initial shock of their lack of a coherent (to us) traffic system (with few traffic lights and hardly any lane lines), we soon found the whole ordeal to be quite entertaining, especially the insistent, always-present honking. It’s funny because Americans honk when their angry or about to crash, while the Vietnamese here honk simply to announce their presence. Something at or between a “I’m here, right next to you,” and a, “I’m not stopping, so get out of my way”, depending on the size of the vehicle. Cars and vans seem to be less likely to stop for pedestrians, while mopeds and cyclists will simply swerve around you.
After wake-up, our group met for a 7:00 AM breakfast at the restaurant in the hotel. We were expecting something more along the lines of a typical continental breakfast, but what we got was buffet! There was everything from dim sum, bacon, potato croquets, to fresh fruit, yogurt, cheese, bread, pastries, porridge, and even a pho bar! It was amazing. On top of that, we were able to try the ca phe sua, or coffee with condensed milk, something we had been excitedly anticipating. Suffice to say, it was excellent. Sara particularly enjoyed the full, roasted flavor of the coffee.
After breakfast, we went to exchange money. The rate was approximately around 17,500 VND (dong) to one US dollar. Then we walked to the War Remnants Museum, which had on display multiple US tanks, helicopters, artillery, pictures, and horror stories from the Viet Nam War. We took a walk through the “Tiger Cages” which depicted the horrors of torture, and maltreatment of political prisoners from the war. There were even cells with very life-like, gaunt–looking people inside, and writing on the walls, as well as a replica of the French Guillotine.
We left the War Museum sad and disturbed. As we walked in the stuffy heat, we were constantly confronted by street-side vendors who would walk the entire length of the street with us in futile efforts to sell their goods. A little girl with wide and innocent eyes tried valiantly to sell us hats for a dollar when her mother’s attempts failed. We walked past the old courthouse, and finally we came to the Old Presidential Palace. We took a tour of the massive building full of corridors, glass doors, and secret passageways. We learned of a failed assassination attempt by bomb, a little history of Viet Nam, and the casualties of war. The tour reminded me something of my tour of the White House, with an introduction and brief history and significance of each room. The palace was impressive.
As we left the palace and made our way toward the school we were visiting, a van of possible circus performers waved at us and we rushed to visually capture the moment. At the school we were introduced to the principal who was an old classmate of Mr. Dang. She let us talk to some the kids on break and Miranda and Colby played a little basketball with them before we took group pictures. We then visited an English class and watched one of the girls perform a song by Kelly Clarkson for use. In thanks, Miranda, Leilani, and Courtney performed the hula for the class. Before we left, a sixteen-year-old girl who was born in Russia and is trilingual (Russian, Vietnamese, English) came onto our air-conditioned bus to speak to us. Her name was Lina Tran, and she was very friendly and outgoing, commenting that we had a very “pretty” group, while she good-naturedly took individual pictures with Kristin, Josh, Tommy, and I. =) She left us with her yahoo email address and a smile.
We then caught the bus to the Thien Hau Pagoda (The Chinese Goddess of the Sea), a place where Mr. Dang came to pray before he escaped to the U.S. We were given the opportunity to light large incense spirals (which looked like large mosquito punk lanterns) onto which your wish was written and attached. The cost was less than a US dollar and the lantern was hung on high wires where it would continue to burn for approximately another fourteen hours.
The next stop was the Mai Lien Orphanage, which was an all-girl orphanage founded by Catholic nuns, but on the way we stopped at our insistence (but mostly Sara’s) to buy fresh fruit. We tried different types of fruit: rambutan, star apple, peaches (I think), pears, and this other fruit that looked similar to a small artichoke on the outside, breadfruit on the inside, with large seeds as often as a watermelon.
At the orphanage, we each split into our four groups and conducted our projects: T-shirt painting, picture frames, painting, and friendship bracelets. The girls had a wonderful time and were very thankful for all of the wonderful donations.
Finally, we had dinner around 7:30 PM at a very fancy, and very air-conditioned, restaurant where exotic food was offered, and men cracked ceramic-enclosed rice and hurled it across the room to another man who caught the rice on a plate and served it. The entire ordeal was very fascinating. Josh, who is going to be the king of eating really weird, sometimes gross, food, ordered sea cucumber, pig’s ears (with the hair bristles still in place), pig’s brain, and womb (yes, you read that correctly). Kristin and I only had stomach enough to try the brain and womb, but Stanley, who was sitting next to me, tried some of everything, although he had a bit of difficulty with the sea cucumber, which he described as tasting of ocean water. Yuck, it shook worse than Jell-O when he picked it up – “gelatinous” was the word I remember. Imagine that!
Shalynn Ho ‘09
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
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