What do you do when you don't really have anything substantial or thought provoking to write about? Just write a list, which is what I'm going to do (another example of lazy writing, announcing what I'm going to write about instead of letting the writing announce itself).
Anyways, I'm converting the prices of some of the items I've seen around town into USD. I'm using 18,400 dong = 1 USD, which is the conversion rate at the gold shops around here. $100 will get you over 1.8 million in the local currency.
Can of Schweppes soda water (club soda) at the market: $.18
same soda water at restaurant: $1.35
decent bike for cruisin' the streets: $40
glass of fruit juice at the hotel cafe: $.50
bowl of some of the best noodles I've ever had (I think it's called bun real): $.44 !!
1.5L bottle of Aquafina: $.32
silk painting sold in a restaurant: $2.50
same painting sold on the street: $.55 (I totally fell for this scam)
cell phone including 2hours worth of minutes: $22 and up (I know because I lost (read "possibly got pickpocketed") the phone I brought)
fruit smoothie: $.65
packet of wetnaps: $.22
laundry: $1/kilo
As you might notice, drinks dominate the list. I'm drinking like 2L of water a day, one or two cans of tonic water or soda water, and whatever (actually typed that as water at first) else gets served during meals. It is hot and humid here. That and the cheap prices just make you want to drink. I literally just got back from the hotel cafe where I dropped 9000 (less than $.50) on soda chanh (club soda with lime, ice, and sugar).
Alright, so Charles and I (C. Records, Esquire) just returned from a two hour whirlwind tour of the inside of the Citadel and the buildings within. Some of the structures have been fully restored, with various degrees of success, while a variety of others are in serious disrepair. What was really amazing (to me at least), was the complete accessibility of the structures and their vulnerability to tourists and to the elements. Overgrown with weeds and grasses and trees, some of the buildings looked as though they were receding back into nature.
Other highlights included observing an impromptu sword fight (with wood beams) of some very loud and blonde Scandinavian tourists atop the ruins of a temple. The buddha within me was amused, though my sense is that it was bad karma for them. In other words, watch out Hans and Olaf!
In other news, yours truly, the only vegetarian in the group, am finding it somewhat problematic to remain on the straight and narrow. Pork, I am happy to say, is thoroughly avoidable in this city, but fish seems to be in everything. Therefore, I'm sad to say, I've fallen off the wagon a couple of times in the past couple of days and given in to the urge to ingest things that formerly moved. I'm going to try to go out of my way more to avoid the fish in future, and to relegate myself to things with roots and seeds and cellulose.
Thought of the day: There is officially no reason to return to the United States.
On Tuesday, July 28th, the whole class planned a trip to go and visit a local orphanage call Duc Son. We were accompanied by Co Anh, Professor Bigg’s wife, and student volunteers from Hue University. We took three cabs and the travel was not far from our hotel. As we approached the orphanage, we were enthusiastic to see the kids and wanted to start playing with them.
As we got off the cab, we met the head nun who was in charge of the facility and she let us in with open arms. She gave us a brief description of the place, with the help of Co Anh as the translator, and said that the entire class who came meant a lot towards the orphans.
Here in Duc Son, there are about 192 orphans. The age varies from the youngest child at 2 month old to a 3rd year college student. The orphans can stay at the facility until they decide to leave and can live on their own. When I was looking at these kids they’re faces glow with hope and happiness. So I decided to meet some of them.
One orphan that I met was a little girl who was practicing her writing skills. Since she was so shy she would not tell me her name or say anything to me. All she would you when I say something was stare at me like I was some sort of alien. However, I didn’t give up. I gave her a sheet of stickers and action spoke louder than words. Once she took the stickers, a smile lit up and then I knew that was a start for me. I asked her to continue what she was doing. On two full page of her note book, she repeatedly wrote the word “chá.” Her penmanship was consistently perfect. Although I don’t know her name or the things about her, I knew that she’s an amazing child and she yearning to learn.
Let me just say that the girls at the orphanage are very nice and respectful; however, some of the boys were very mean. I hate to say it but they were mean towards me. As I sat with the little girl, some of the boys surrounded me out of nowhere like a zebra trapped by a group of lions. The stared at me, pointed, laughed and said the words “Con Ga!” The word con ga means chicken. At first I did not know why they said it but then it hit me. My hair style was in a fohawk and it looked like a head of a chicken or a rooster. They kept on laughing and touching my hair, but I didn’t mind must because boys will be boys. I wish I had pictures of this event, but I don't.
After that chicken ordeal, one of the nuns told the kids to get together and sing. They sang various songs and the rest of us joined in. Most of us don’t know the songs so we just clapped or pretended to know the words.
Finally, I met another kid but he was a bit younger than most of the boys. I don’t know his name either since he was 2 years old and could not talk yet. But I have to say he was adorable and barely knows how to walk. However, there is a trick. The trick to make him walk is to show an object and as he stands, just tease him with it. It’s fun, mean, and adorable at the same time. I did it with my camera but I let him play with it for awhile.
In the end, we could not stay long because Co Anh told us it was time to go. Some of us wanted to stay a little longer and some wanted to take the kids home. We were glad that we went. Some of us will return to do our internship at the orphanage, and other like myself will do other type of internship. However, I would like to go back before I leave.
This is what greets most Summer Sessions students upon arrival: brilliant skies, warm weather, and super friendly people. After five days in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), we were so happy to pop out of the plane and find this! No traffic jams, mountains in the distance, and clean air.
