Vietnam Liberation Day

Today is Liberation Day in Vietnam. Liberation Day: also known as Reunification Day, Victory Day, and The Fall of Saigon.

It was 35 Years ago that tanks of the North Vietnamese Army broke through the gates of South Vietnam’s President’s Palace while the last Americans in Saigon caught the final helicopter off the roof of the U.S. Embassy.

I have off work today, and apparently there are parades and fireworks and all other kinds of hoopla happening all over Vietnam. While I don’t plan on celebrating with the rest of the country, I wouldn’t say it’s completely strange to be here. Perhaps it is far stranger for those of my friends and family alive in 1975 to think of me being here.

In 1975, my parents were freshmen in college and I wouldn’t be born for another 11 years. When I told people of an older generation back in America that I would be coming to Vietnam, they always seemed surprised, if not a bit concerned. There was also at times the distinct look of “Are you crazy?” in their eyes. Of course, now I understand that I was in fact crazy, but not for the reasons they thought.

While I didn’t understand their feelings completely--the war ended 35 years ago after all--I can somewhat see where they were coming from. How will I feel if in 35 years my 20 something daughter tells me she is going to move to Iraq to teach English? Maybe, like people of my parents' generation with Vietnam, war images off the newsreel will flash through my mind and I’ll wonder what she is thinking.

But isn’t it something to hope for?

Taken by Dutch photographer Hugh Van Es, this picture is one of the most famous images from the Vietnam War. Although because of a newspaper editor's error it is widely believed to show the last helicopter on the roof of the US Embassy, it is in fact a different American chopper on the roof of a downtown Saigon apartment building.

KARAOKE-OK!

I’m all about breaking down racial stereotypes, but let’s get one thing straight:

ALL VIETNAMESE PEOPLE LOVE KARAOKE.

I just got back from an evening at the karaoke cafe with fifteen belting 15 year olds, some new students I’ve recently acquired from Hai Duong’s gifted secondary school. They’re hoping to go to high school abroad, so for the past month I’ve been helping them prep for their big interviews.

Today after our class they took me to a Karaoke joint which was deceptively disguised as a coffee place. Downstairs, it was all little tables and individual Vietnamese-style french presses. Upstairs, it was all private rooms with group-sized leather couches and wide screens.

Of course, I was all but made to sing by FORCE.

I tried to get out of it by saying that I needed to get home to prepare my dinner since I live alone, unlike my students whose mothers still do that sort of thing for them. (How lucky they are!!)

They would have none of my excuses. The other teacher of the class told me not to worry and promptly left the Karaoke Cove. 20 minutes later she returned carrying a large plastic bag filled with cabbage and a small plastic bag which appeared to be filled with some sort of raw meat mixture. Holding up the bag she proudly exclaimed,

“I have brought you the meat of two fighting cocks!”

It is not laying in my room, watching Sex and the City DVDs and eating tofu with noodles which makes me sometimes wish another American friend was here, nor is it sitting in cafes or bicycling through town which makes me pine for Western company.

No no.

But it is times like this, when I am surrounding by a group of Vietnamese teenagers singing their hearts out and someone uses a term like “the meat of two fighting cocks” to describe my dinner, that I wish there someone else who could, as I do, see the sweet hilarity.

Watch this Video. It makes me very happy.

Under 40 Days

If Jesus did it in a desert, then I can do it in a developing country, right??

Part Two: Things I've Bought in Vietnam (and Cambodia and Laos)

This is Part Two of the Two Part Series Creatively entitled: Things I've Bought in Vietnam (and Cambodia and Laos)!!

I pick up where we left off and move on to Cambodia...

All over the temples of Angkor Wat are bas reliefs of dancing Asparas--the muse-like figures of Cambodia. I love their movement and sensuality. I was looking for a small stone relief that I could hang on a wall, but found this ceramic one instead. It was $5 in a little shop in Phnom Penh. Thank you to Corinne and Emily for being patient with me as a I searched for it.

In Cambodia I also bought this little lotus flower puzzle. Lotus flowers are very symbolic here, and this puzzle reminded me of little things my grandparents had around their house when I was growing up. My grandfather was in the Air Force, and they always had the neatest things from Germany, Holland, Korea, Japan, etc. that they’ve passed onto all of their kids and grandkids. I love thinking that I’ll have things like that to pass along, too.

Laos is very famous for its paper crafts, and I found this collapsible paper star in the same little village as the scarf. There was a lady standing outside drying the big sheets of paper, and she gave me a little demo. I’m not sure what I’ll do with this...but I couldn’t not buy something:).

Also in Laos, at the night market, I bought these two little pillow pins. They cost maybe 50 cents, and they just made me smile.:) I mean, they say "I love you well" and "kiss you!"

Although I am giving so much of my clothing away, believe me when I say I won’t go naked. I’ve done a good bit of shopping since I’ve been here. In Hanoi you can find some clothes that are really well made (or made to order!!) for a fraction of the cost you would pay in the States. The boutiques are really cute and unique, and often the designer is working in the store, too. The tailor that I found is also really fantastic. She’s copying a J Crew Linen blazer and pencil skirt for me as we speak...

For my birthday, the lady teachers got me this Ao Dai. This is the traditional dress in Vietnam, and me getting one was quite the to-do. I picked out the fabric----well, I picked out a lot of other fabrics first that the other teachers didn’t like, so we settled on this. When I went for my final fitting, the shop was filled with other Vietnamese women I had never met. They all laughed when I came out wearing the Ao Dai, and then one woman proceeded to feel me upl. I was a little taken aback, but no one else seemed to think it was weird. Curves are hard to come by in these parts, so maybe she was curious what they felt like?

I like jewelry, and I’ve been able to find some really unique pieces here and there. One of the things I was on the lookout for from the beginning was a jade bracelet, and I found this one in the lower left corner at a place called “Nagas Creations” in Laos. I had not seen such a dark, rich color anywhere else. Unfortunately, that doesn’t really come through in this picture, but trust me it’s beautiful! The store was owned by a French ex-pat and his CRAZY mother who had been raised in Zimbabwe during the colonial era. I bought these 3 wooden bangles there, too. The chunky large bracelet with the purple flower design is from Nha Trang, a beach town in South Vietnam. The coral beads are from a shop in Hanoi, and my mother bought me the little silver earrings shaped like the Non La--the Vietnamese hat--when she was in Sapa with me. Sapa is known for their silver, and these are kind of quirky and very cute.

For my birthday, I was given this great rice wine carafe shaped like 2 ducks, made by Chu Dau Pottery in Hai Duong. It was another gift from the teachers I work with. They told me it is customarily a wedding present, so I should think of it as a birthday/wedding present since they won’t see me again before my someday-wedding. They like to talk about me getting married a lot....

When my parent’s visited, the school gave them a large Chu Dau vase, and they told us that Chu Dau pottery was “world famous in Vietnam.” Everyone in Vietnam is always saying things are “world famous”--world famous green bean cake, world famous bakery, world famous tailor--so we didn’t really take the claim too seriously. Then we googled Chu Dau, and it turns out that it is actually World Famous! Chu Dau pottery is recognized by UNESCO as an ancient craft.

I also bought these two smaller vases. I was only planning on buying one, but the one on the left is the “female” vase, and the one on the right is the “male” vase. The idea of buying one and not the other was not going to fly with the sales team...Together they cost about $7.00. The pieces are cast in molds and then hand painted. The detail is really beautiful up close.

The last thing I have to make room for are some of the little gifts from my students. The glass jar is filled with hundreds of little paper stars they made me for my birthday. They also gave me the mug with my picture on it. One of them had asked me to email them pictures of me to show their mom; when I opened this mug a few days later I almost died. The shoes were a gift on teachers day, and the scarf and hat were gifts on women’s day.

Now about that weight limit....

Couples' Massage

I think that everyone who comes through Vietnam has some sort of massage story--good, bad, or indifferent. Sometimes the massages here are great, sometimes they are awkward, sometimes they take place under shady and sad female exploitive circumstances which as an upstanding world citizen you must avoid like the plague. Dan, Scott’s good friend who came to Vietnam last September, wrote about his harrowingly awkward massage experience on his blog here.

I personally am not a big massage person. I never had one until I was 22 years old, and then I cried throughout the whole thing. I’m not kidding; I wept like a baby and freaked out the masseuse. Something about the pressure points in my shoulders and the knots of tension housed there.... However, the recent stress of getting cornered by motorbikes and surviving meals of chicken innards lovingly prepared by my students in a power outage (i.e. I couldn’t see what I was eating) forced me to NQ spa in Hanoi this weekend to see if I could release some of my deep rooted, though somewhat understandable, tension.

The spa came recommended by my fave hotel, Rising Dragon 2. This made me feel more comfortable and assured that the spa was not simply a brothel in disguise; while our “ending” would hopefully be joyful, I trusted that it would not be “happy.” I went with Sofia, a fellow Fulbrighter. The spa was down a little dark alley, which was also home to some lovely stray chickens. When we went in they looked thrilled to see us and gave us tea; I always appreciate such gestures. They asked Sofia and I what treatments we wanted (Body Massage and manicure/pedicure, please) and then led us upstairs. They took us into a room where there were two beds very close together, and then told us in broken English, “Get all naked but underwear and lie down.”

No robes. No screens. No privacy. Turns out we had booked a couples’ massage, without the romance. It’s times like this that my maturity fails me, and I let out an awkward giggle as I did as I told, with Sofia doing the same beside me and the two young Vietnamese women standing about 3 feet away watching.

I don’t have a problem with being naked or naked people. I actually really like to draw naked people. (See exhibit A. Sorry most don’t have heads. It's not a statement; I just need to work on drawing faces...).

But really I’m a private person, and I found it a little uncomfortable.

Luckily, my self consciousness lessened once the massage started because it was indeed really great. Of course, sometimes it was still a little strange. We were two naked white girls lying beside each other with two small Vietnamese girls in pajamas sitting on our backs, whacking us with their hands in such a way that it sounded like simultaneous whoopee cushions letting out. The masseuses would also talk to each other in Vietnamese from time to time. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but I’m 99% sure my masseuse said I had fat thighs.

Despite the distractions, I came out of the massage pretty relaxed. It ended when the cell phone of a third Vietnamese woman who had a slipped in the room (to watch?) went off to the tune of some R&B song I had never heard. That’s Vietnam for you...

In other news, my manicure was good. I went with a light pink color, which Sofia nicknamed “Pretty Pretty Princess.” It sparkles. :)

Part One: Things I've Bought in Vietnam (and Cambodia and Laos)

My time in Vietnam is drawing to a close. Well, not really: I’ve still got 7 weeks here, but time is relative. Compared to the 9 1/2 months already spent, trust me that 7 weeks is close to the closing. I have a lot to get done before I go. A portfolio of my work is due to Fulbright, my students are putting on a Drama Competition, Final Exam period is around the corner, I have a bit of traveling left, and the job search continues to be ignored. But the truly most difficult task in the coming weeks?

PACKING!!!!!!

The other day, while lying on my bed reading home decorating blogs and dreaming of New York apartments I'm light years away from affording, I glanced around my tiny flat and started seizing up. I have so much STUFF! Where did it all come from and how the hell will I ever get it all home?

Now, to begin with I came to Vietnam with a lot of stuff. 130 lbs of stuff to be exact--that’s 30 lbs. over my Delta-imposed weight limit....30 lbs that cost me $300....

Add the many souvenirs, art, gifts, clothes, memorabilia, etc. bought in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos to the original stuff I brought, and we’re looking at some wide-load luggage for the return.

Despite these weighty additions, I refuse to be held at the mercy of a sour looking baggage checker again. My luggage will be underweight if I have to wear 3 pairs of shoes to board that plane. I have begun a cleaning-out spree unparalleled in my 24 years of pack-ratting existence.

Some of the cleaning-out has been made easy. For example, my lights and whites have turned an ugly shade of gray by the washing machine’s water (thank you, Vietnam water system), and my pants don’t quite fit anymore(thank you, strange Vietnamese diet changes). Furthermore, when faced with $300 in overcharge fees, a lot of stuff just isn’t worth it. I’m giving most of the clothes I brought to fellow teachers--especially those in between sizes due to recently giving birth or recently becoming pregnant. The life cycle is alive and well at Hai Duong College.

I also brought a ton of books to ‘Nam--teaching materials and otherwise--which I just can't slug back. I've donated them to the English Department, and their library has tripled.

Being a lifetime hoarder, I’m actually pretty impressed with the way I’ve let go of my belongings. The biggest reason that our parting has been more sweet than sorrow is the fact that I have so much great new stuff to take home in their place.

Oh, what is that you say? You want to see what I’ve bought since I’ve been abroad? OK!

This is Part One of a Two-Part Series creatively entitled,

“Things I’ve Bought in Vietnam (and Cambodia and Laos)”

This Chess Set is perhaps my favorite thing I’ve bought here. No, I am not an avid chess player....YET! I have visions of taking this set to the mountains and playing by the fire while drinking a hot toddy...le sigh....Just look how beautiful the hand carved stone pieces are. This set was made by a non-profit that helps persons with disabilities hone artistic skills.

Out of all the places I’ve visited in Vietnam, the Northern Mountains around Sapa remain my favorite. There are ethnic tribal women everywhere, selling their wares and carrying their babies strapped across their chests or backs. Most women also carry a basket like this one. Its the hot new back-pack alternative! My mom--who has been known to host a Longaberger Basket party or two-- saw these baskets and immediately fell in love. She and I each bought one right there in the market for less than $10.00. They are extremely well-made of very durable fresh bamboo. I actually saw one lady carrying a pig in one, so you know they’re all purpose! I guess theoretically I could use this as my “market basket” back in the states, but I’m really thinking it’ll be a great place to keep extra rolled up towels or blankets in plain view.

I also bought this painting at a little gallery in Sapa. The artist, who I was able to meet, used black ink and watercolor. I like the simple lines, bold colors, and the expressions on the mother and child’s faces.

While on another hike in Sapa, I bought this hand embroidered tapestry piece from my tour guide Su May’s mother. Originally, this would have been attached to a cloth belt and worn by a Red Dao woman. I’m thinking of eventually framing it or putting it under glass on my sewing table desk at home.

(image from Vietnam-quilts.com)

Vietnam has a few really great non-profit organizations that benefit female craftsmen in the poorest regions of the country. I bought a quilt similar to this one at Vietnam-Quilts. The money from each purchase goes back to help the community of the same quilters who completed it. My quilt has a pineapple pattern!! One side is red and the other is white, but all stitching is red. I chose the design, color, stitching, etc. It took about 2 months to complete, and now it’s en route to America with an ETA of June.

Craftlink is another great non-profit organization. You can be sure that the products you buy there are well made and that the money goes back to the actual artisans and their communities. I’ve bought wallets, scarves, a purse, these small set of ink paintings, etc, etc. They sell great gifts at very reasonable prices for the high level of craftsmanship.

Yeah...I’ve bought a lot of scarves... The black and green wool scarf is from Sapa. Women in certain ethnic groups rock scarves like this around their heads, but usually in much more colorful plaids. I liked that this one was more simple and versatile, but still unique with the green stripe and dark dye. I’ll wear it with my pea coat next December.

The purple and black silk scarf is from Laos. Laos had the most beautiful woven designs, and these are my favorite colors. While trekking around Luang Prabang, my friend Anne and I left the main tourist drag by way of a rickety bamboo bridge, only to find ourselves in a quiet village with a teeny tiny old Laotian lady at a loom.

The Rickety Bridge

The teeny tiny old Laotian Lady

The last scarf on the right is from Cambodia. Everyone in Cambodia wears one of these cotton gingham scarves..little old ladies wrap them around their heads, young girls tie them as sarongs, middle aged men wear them as belts...I just like to wear it around my neck:).

That's all for Part One: Things I've Bought in Vietnam (and Cambodia and Laos). Stay tuned in the next few days for Part Two: Things I've Bought in Vietnam (and Cambodia and Laos).

The Ugly Truth

You want to know the truth? The real truth? I’ll tell you the truth. Sometimes Vietnam blows. Sometimes you wake up with 2 mosquito bites on your lower lip. Sometimes rats poop in your sauce pan. Sometimes the water coming out of your shower turns brown midstream. Sometimes your clothes mold and smell like mildew because of the weather. Sometimes you ignore your Vietnam-induced lactose intolerance and have to face the consequences.

See, if you really want to understand life in ‘Nam, you have to realize that its not all quirky coffee shops, trips to pagodas, and cultural exchanges amidst the rolling rice fields. It’s hard work, dudes! And while most of the time you can chalk the tough stuff up to “learning experiences,” there are other times when you just have to throw yourself on the ground of your mosquito-gecko-rat infested apartment and, pounding your fists against the ground, cry out, “Why God!? Haven’t I learned enough?!?!? Can’t I go home now?!?! Where people love me and I can have dairy products?!?!

All joking aside, the mosquitoes have quite literally been eating me alive, and, yes, I did wake up one morning last week with a fat lower lip from a double-bite. However, there is an upside!! I had been under the impression that the rainy weather was responsible for the mosquitoes and everyone was getting bit. Au contraire. This weekend I saw some American friends who have thus far been un-sucked by the little suckers, and they were able to shed some light on why I might be the favored dish of the Hai Duong mosquito swarm. Mia, who is always up on the latest news breakthroughs, told me that she read an article saying mosquitoes may be most attracted to people with high stress levels. Then Uyen, who is good at math (unrelated, but true), asked if I eat a lot of fruit, because that changes the scent of your sweat and attracts mosquitoes as well.

Apparently all I have to do to keep these mosquitoes at bay is relax and stop eating fruit, or at least stop eating 2 pineapples a day (What? Is that excessive? They’re cheap and delicious...). Ok, in reality, I don’t know how to relax and, as I told my friends while eating Indian food, the fiber of pineapples keeps me regular; I can’t give that up. I guess I’ll have to keep sleeping fully clothed and sprayed down with Off!.

The sauce-pan-rat-poop debacle also really pushed me over the edge. I have long known that I have a rat which comes into my kitchen at night; I can hear him scurry as the clock strikes twelve. I’ve also grown accustomed to finding his poop on the floor and counters. He’s clearly made his presence known, so why did he have to jump 4 inches INTO my sauce pan to do his business? Upon finding the evidence and feeling mocked, violated, and above all else grossed out, I did what every other independent, self-sufficient female living alone in Vietnam would have done: I called a man in America. More specifically, I called Scott. He said comforting things like,

“At least it pooped so you knew it was there. Think of the times it’s been in there and you never knew!”

And

“At least you saw the poop. Think of the times you didn’t and cooked in the pot anyway!”

And

“Why is your chest red? Are you breaking out in hives?”

The upside to the Rat Poop Incident 2010? Come on, it’s kind of funny. Even I can see that.

Now it’s Monday of this week, and despite the things that sometimes happen in Vietnam, I’m feeling recharged after a great weekend with friends in Hanoi. The sun is shining for the first time in weeks, my nails are painted a cute coral red, and another week is underway. We’re going full steam ahead to May, and May is almost June. And, not that I’m counting down, but in June I’m going home, where people love me and I can eat cheese.

The culture-shock-to-come

Right now, I am here:

In 2 months, I will be here:

What will that feel like? Any guesses? Comment below.

xoMaddie

Coffee Shop Books

Most days in my little town in Northern Vietnam, I find myself sitting in a coffee shop feeling rather conspicuously American, or at the very least, conspicuously white. Despite other changes over the last 8 months(8 months!!!), my pasty pallor and big brown eyes have remained the same. A small stature and straightened hair have helped me blend in, but still--good, bad, or indifferent--I stand out in a crowd. I can’t imagine being a leggy blond...Sure, I’ve dreamed of it, but I can’t imagine it.

Very few women go out for coffee or meals alone here, further epitomizing me as THE “single, white, female.” So, what happens? Well, I tend to attract uninvited male table-mates dared by their friends to A) make small talk (in Vietnamese) and B) sit uncomfortably close to me.

I’m a friendly girl, really I am. And I can certainly enjoy the company of the opposite sex. But let’s be honest: it’s awkward. I can hardly speak Vietnamese, but the one phrase I can always recognize is “Do you want to marry a Vietnamese man?” It is, after all, the #1 most commonly asked question here in Vietnam. I usually respond by saying, in broken Vietnamese, “Khong! Khong! Nguoi yeu cua toi song o Nuoc My.” (No! No! My lover lives in America.) Over the past 8 months, I’ve made up more lovers, fiancees, and husbands than a polygamist. Immigration officials at JFK will hear of my reputation and send me straight on to Utah.

Truth be told, the Vietnamese men I attract at coffee shops are actually somewhat akin to the men I attracted back at bars when I lived in America: kind of weird, kind of desperate, kind of drunk. They are usually sucking the life out of a pack of Vinataba cigarettes, maybe taking a shot of rice wine or two, and sometimes leaning so close to me that the long hair sprouting from their little chin mole hovers dangerously close to my turned shoulder.

Over time, through trial and error, I have found that my greatest defense is good book. Reading is Power, dudes.

I arm myself with either my kindle or a good paperback and proceed to bury my head away from detection or scrutiny. Of course people can still see me, but this way I can’t see them seeing me. Reading does wonders to keep the eye contact and uninvited guests to a minimum.

In addition to keeping me somewhat undercover, books of course have provided another escape. In the words of Emily Dickinson:

“There is no frigate like a book

To take us lands away...”

So, what am I reading?

I’m not ashamed to say that I just finished a book entitled THE VIRGIN'S LOVER. It was written by Philippa Gregory--of THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL fame-- and chronicles the relationship of Robert Dudley and Queen Elizabeth I. Who doesn’t love historical fiction and the salacious details of the Elizabethan court?!I have another book by Gregory downloaded onto my kindle--this one about the dueling houses of Lancaster and York and the tragic lovers caught in the middle. I can hardly wait to get started.

(I live alone in Vietnam...Stop judging me and allow me my fantasies.)

It's not all semi-trashy historical fiction; I’ve gone through many different reading periods here in Vietnam. I’m an emotional reader, and books provide a certain catharsis. There were a few months when I was really into reading about the Holocaust and WWII. Read into that what you will, but I’d definitely recommend THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Suzak and THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

There were another few months where I just read a bunch of memoirs written by women...some of which involved Southeast Asia, and all of which dealt with life changing circumstances.I’ve read a few novels written about the plight of African-Americans in America, and some books that can only be described as Chic-lit.I’ve also re-read some old favorites--like THE ALCHEMIST by Paulo Coehlo, and GREAT EXPECTATIONS by Dickens. There’s no outward rhyme or reason to my literary choices, but when I look back at what I was feeling or thinking at the time, what I chose to read makes a helluva lot of sense.

What’s next on the “To-Read list?” My friend Lauren just sent me Greg Mortenson’s new book STONES INTO SCHOOLS--the sequel to THREE CUPS OF TEA--and I’m getting started on that. I’d recommend his books to anyone. I also have had WAR AND PEACE downloaded onto my kindle for a few months now...maybe I’ll get to it before I leave??
Regardless, I just have to take a minute and thank my reading-teacher momma, who didn’t let us watch TV as kids--except PBS and Sports-- and really made me love books. I bet she never guessed that all of that hard work and hiding-of-the-remote would someday help me ignore creepy dudes in Vietnamese coffee shops.