HARVEST TIME!

This past week I’ve been in kind of a funk and haven’t been able to figure out why. I mean, I’m a semi-single twenty-something living alone in a socialist country in the middle of South East Asia. Why would I be moody and blue?

Ah! I know! Because the moon is full in Vietnam!

I can’t remember if that means the moon is also full in Pennsylvania/NYC. So you tell me: are people driving like idiots in New York and being just generally bizarr-o in Pennsylvania? (The answer to this question will in no way verify the fullness of the moon. )

Regardless of the current lunar status on my beloved east coast, this particular full moon in Indochina is a BIG DEAL because it means its the MID AUTUMN FESTIVAL! It’s like Halloween and Thanksgiving rolled into one!! Well, not really, but everyone keeps asking me if I have a holiday like this in America, and I’ve just been saying “Yes, its like Halloween and Thanksgiving.” Then I start crying when I think about missing both of those holidays this year. Sorry I’m a downer. I blame the moon moon. And I miss my momma.

Moving on.

All in all, this Mid-Autumn Festival has made for a busy weekend for me here in Vietnam. On Friday night I was asked to attend the Festivities for faculty children here at my college. Upon arrival at the event, I was told that I was a special guest and would be in charge of an activity. I was to ask the children some easy questions in English and if they answered correctly give them prizes. Simple enough.....if the children spoke English. But they didn’t. They just stared at me blankly, albeit cutely. And I got embarrassed, albeit cutely. Then the kids did a fashion show. It was one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen. I actually have it on Video but wasn’t able to upload it. Suffice it to say that there were small Vietnamese children dancing to the American song, “Boom Boom Boom: I want you in my room” on the same stage as a 5 foot bust of Ho Chi Minh and 20 foot long Vietnamese flag. This was made less ridiculous only by the fact that clearly no one understood the lyrics except for me, AND there were people running around dressed as dragons on the floor to distract me from what was happening on stage.


On Saturday I spent time with students and their families. This is one of the most rewarding things I do here, but its also kind of exhausting, mostly because it always involves eating. I still am not great with chopsticks...it’s embarrassing. And, unlike the Vietnamese, I cannot put a chunk of full chicken in mouth, chew off the meat, and spit out the bones, cartilage, and tendons like sunflower seeds. And as I flounder with chopsticks and bones and anything within a 5 foot radius of my clumsiness, everyone watches me with this strange, bemused expression on their faces: no judgement--just curiosity at how I've managed to get through life when I can hardly get through dinner. But all of that is old hat to me by now.

What happened in the evening near my student Tra’s house in Hung Yen was NOT old hat. Tra is my little Catholic friend. At some point, I’ll rehash the whole bizarr-o/miraculous circumstances of our first meeting, but suffice it to say now that she’s small, Vietnamese, and likes to boss me around in a sometimes-but not always- endearing way. Her family also has for some reason decided to adopt me, and most recently has become intent on having me sleep over at their home, which I found out legally I'm not allowed to do. Something about being a foreigner and always having to be registered wherever I sleep...

I digress. So it was about 7pm and getting dark, and Tra asked if I would go to her local church. We arrive at the church only to see 3 men in robes carrying life sized crosses above their heads, followed by about a 1/2 mile full-on parade. There is a marching band. There are small children singing into microphones powered by wheeled generators. There are red and gold wooden floats that look like they belong on the backs of elephants in India carrying the Maharajah, but are instead on the backs of men dressed like Samurais carrying statues of Mary, Jesus and Joseph. Tra tells me this is for the Autumn Festival and asks me if we have this at my church in America.

I say no. We do not have parades of 10 foot lanterns with pictures of the Madonna bedazzled in neon lights and carried by small boys dressed like Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum guards at Mary, Mother of the Church, Parish in Mount Joy, PA. But maybe we should....hmmmm....

On Sunday I went to Nga’s house. Nga is one of my favorite students, and not just because she’s really short. She’s also really smart. I guess she just reminds me of myself. Nga lives in the small village of Ninh Giang and her parents are rice farmers. To them, Mid-Autumn Festival means HARVEST TIME! It was pretty cool to be there for this. I got some pics, so I’ll let them speak for themselves. What you can’t see in these pictures are the hordes of mosquitoes feasting on my flesh. Nga told me the mosquitos just aren’t used to me yet...Does that mean they’ll warm up to me over time, like step-children or boyfriends’ sisters? I just finished bathing in Calamine. I’m a pale pink mess.

I am also a bit exhausted and somewhat stressed about the next two weeks. I have a ton of stuff to get done. BUT all things are made a little easier when I look at the picture of Nga’s niece and I. Babies make everything better.

Nga in the village. You'll notice the rice straw everywhere. So did my allergies.

That bike is made of wood.

Nga's aunts harvesting the rice.

Nga in the field.

Vietnam Scene

This may be the happiest, most content baby Ive ever met. I love her.