Dong D-Dong Dong Dong

3/28/09
21:44

All my friends from home are aware of my brief P!nk stage during the seventh grade (brief being the operative word… I am not still obsessed with P!nk…) Well, blasting over the speakers prior to the diplomatic briefing was P!nk’s “This is my Vietnam.”  I don’t know how fitting the song actually is to Vietnam as it is about P!nk’s parents difficult divorce, but I guess they couldn’t find any native Vietnamese music so P!nk’s angry lyrics sufficed.

Once the briefing was finished, I ventured into the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, previously know as Saigon, with the intention of getting a formal dress made.  My ship brother Steve designed dresses for Disha, Lia, and me and we wanted to get them made inexpensively while in port so we can wear them at the Ambassador’s Ball on the ship.  So Steve, Hussain, Keith, Alex, Disha and I went in search of a good yet cheap tailor. 

We stopped at a place called Mangrove and Steve helped us pick out fabrics and then he explained his vision to the tailor.  I picked a midnight blue and a grey-blue for my dress with black straps.  I didn’t have high expectations for this dress, however, because I had heard girls from previous voyages had been disappointed with the outcome of their dresses.  This last sentence is foreshadowing….just to let you know.  Luckily the dress was only $35 US so I didn’t waste a fortune.  Anyways, after we had our dresses all squared away the tailor told us to come back in 3 days to pick up the dresses.

We stopped for lunch at a place near the tailor’s and then went to Ben Than Market, which is this huge market selling t-shirts, food, sunglasses, jewelry, dresses, and more.  There are all kinds of smells.   Fish, incense, durian (a horrible fruit that smells rank that we tried in Thailand based on the advice of others…never again.)  The boys wanted to get suits made so they stopped to get a good deal at one vendor in the market, and Disha and I perused the many many stands.  I bought a few trinkets for friends and a few t-shirts for myself.  Thank god I bought these t-shirts because I have no clean clothes right now.  Laundry day was 2 days ago and I still haven’t gotten my clothes back yet and we arrive in Hong Kong tomorrow.  Soo it looks like I might have to wear a swimsuit.  Get ready China!

The vendors at this market are intense.  They grab on to you and hold on tightly in order to keep you at their stand.  I had to pry one woman’s fingers off Lia one day.  They can be really friendly and make a deal “just for you” or they may slap you and tell you that they won’t ever sell to you if you come back.  That event actually happened to Hussain.  There is all kinds of bartering.  I have gotten pretty good.  And pretty cheap.  If a t-shirt was more than $2 US, I would just chuckle and move on.  I probably won’t buy any clothes ever again once back in the US.  I’ll go into GAP and be like, “$23 for a t-shirt?!  Is this a joke? I can get this for $2 in Vietnam.”  So just be prepared for that my American friends and family. 

I didn’t exchange any money into Dong, the Vietnamese currency, because they readily accept US dollars ($1 =17,000 Dong…lots of math).  I did partake in many a Dong joke, though.  A theme song of the trip was the “Dong Song” sung to the tune of Cysco’s “Thong Song”.  That Dong d-dong dong dong.  A direct quote from Disha was, “I’ll eat anything for one thousand dong.”  We got a hit out of that.  I love Dong.  I know, I know….that’s what she said. 

It is sweaty hot in Vietnam.  Constantly.  It doesn’t cool off at night, whatsoever.  If anything it gets hotter.  So after finishing our long day of bargaining and walking and sweating, we showered and got ready to go out.  Steve, Hussain, Keith, Disha, Alex and I went to a bar and played a game of pool and then went to this club called Apocalypse Now.  Pretty much every SASer on the ship was at Apocalypse.  They even had TV screens flashing a sign saying, “WELCOME SEMESTER AT SEA!”  Smart.  They definitely got their money’s worth from the SAS crowd.  We danced and drank there for an hour or two, but everyone was over the crowded, sweaty club scene pretty fast so we walked back at about midnight.  It was a nice walk home.  And it didn’t cost money.  I’m all about not spending a lot of money.  Even though I do.  Oh well.  When in Vietnam….when traveling the world….Carpe diem.

The next day I had a service visit to Da Thien School for Handicapped Children, which apparently gets the majority of its funding through a shipping industry along the river.  The headmaster of the school informed us that the children were either deaf or had Down Syndrome.  My friend, Taylor commented that she thought it looked more like severe autism rather than Down Syndrome. Despite the possible misdiagnosis, this service visit was a completely different experience than that in India.  The facilities were sooo much nicer.  It was a three-story school with spacious classrooms, a nice eating/play area inside, a kitchen, decent bathrooms, a playground/courtyard outside. The school also had enough staff to interact with smaller groups as opposed to eleven children per adult, which was the case at the orphanage in Chennai.

The students were very excited to see us.  They sang for us and we sang for them.  Then we colored, played games, sculpted with play dough, or blew bubbles.  I blew bubbles with one boy for about ten minutes.  Then the students went back to class and the school served us a HUGE lunch.  There was so much food.  And it just keep coming.  And coming.  It was traditional Vietnamese food.  It started off with deep-fried bananas and fresh fruit.  Next came fixings for spring rolls: rice paper, rice noodles, fish, shrimp.  Then there was this soup with pork in it, I think.  I tried almost everything.   It was pretty good too. 

When we left this school, I did not feel like bursting in to tears.  My heart wasn’t broken. 

Back on the ship, they were serving pizza and fries…so I had L2.  Then I went back out into Ho Chi Minh City with Lia, Taylor, Nate and Jordan.  Lia and Taylor wanted to stop at a dress shop to put in their dress/suit orders.  So I did that.  For the second day in a row.  I was sick of shopping and I wanted to do something cultural so after they had placed their orders, I told the group that I was going to break off.  Lia joined me and we went to the Vietnam War Remnants Museum.  It was really hard to see the travesties of that war. 

The museum is not elaborate but it is powerful in its simplicity.  It is basically one big room that is lined with pictures, quotes, and weapons from the war.  I am embarrassed by how little I know about this war.  Despite my ignorance, I was still overwhelmed with sadness while looking at pictures from the war.  Pictures of dead, naked babies.  Corpses of children.  Vietnamese soldiers being dragged behind tanks.  Disfigured children and adults from Agent Orange.  Barren land.  I went from picture to picture, read each quote or caption with tears welled up in my eyes, a lump in my throat.  This war was devastating.  And why?  Why?  So much destruction, so much death, what did it accomplish? 

Lia and I didn’t really talk much during our walk through the museum, but on our walk back to the main part of town we discussed our lack of knowledge, our confusion, our horror, our awe.  How can Vietnamese people even tolerate Americans?  Perhaps this museum was a bit one-sided, but I’m glad I saw the Vietnamese perspective.  It gave me a lot of respect for the people of Vietnam.  For their tolerance, perseverance, forgiveness.

There was section of the museum devoted to the artwork of children.  There were paintings and drawings of death, blood, guns, fear.  All in the innocent, imperfect, beautiful style that embodies children’s artwork.  There were also painting of peace, love, forgiveness.  Children are so good.  So good.

After our heavy afternoon, Lia and I took motorcycle taxis back to the ship.  One dollar for a trip back.  I realized how much I love riding on motorcycles.  From this point on I took a motorcycle taxi as often as I could.  This may not have been a smart choice, given the crazy traffic in Vietnam, but like I said…when in Vietnam.

Later that night I went out with Greg, Caroline, Greg’s friend Dan (a former SASer who is volunteering at an orphanage in Cambodia currently), one of the med students on board named Ben, Disha, and Lia.  We were all craving western style food and I finally got nachos.  I had been craving them after our human never served us nachos in Thailand.  They were nothing compared to the ones in Spain, but they still hit the spot.  After that, we roamed the night markets a bit and then Lia and I shared a motorcycle taxi home.

I have more to write about but I’m tired and we arrive in Hong Kong tomorrow.  I’m meeting up with Meredith Altenhofen, who is studying in Hong Kong this semester.  I’m really excited to see her and to have someone who has been in the city for a while to show me around.  I’ll be in Hong Kong for 2 days and then on the ship for two days and then in Shanghai for two days.  Very few people will be staying on the ship during that time…like 150 students.  Most people have Beijing trips to see the Great Wall and all that jazz.  It’ll be crazy to see the ship that empty.  I hear we get good food.  So that’s a plus.

More later.   Sorry for delays.  I’ll catch up sometime.