This morning I woke up and checked the tempurature on my IPod, as I do most mornings, only to find that the tempurature was reading at 21 degrees celsius. My first thought was "yes, it's going to be so cold today!" I know what you're thinking, "how in the world is 21 degrees cold?" And realistically it isn't, but it is a lovely break from the 35 degrees with 100% humidity weather I've been sporadically enjoying (read: surviving) since my arrival in Vietnam. Yesterday, I was having lunch with my co-workers and I think the tempurature was somewhere between 23 and 24 degrees. I was standing there in my shorts and tshirt thinking to myself "man it's so nice today," and was quite surprised when my coworkers started complaining about the cold. My piece of advice to them: never visit Canada.
I'm currently experiencing my first typhoon (like a hurricane, but in the pacific) and it is really quite windy and rainy here at the moment. Yesterday I watched a tree blow down by the lake on my way home from work. It's not quite as bad here today, but the weather is still fairly nasty.
Honestly, not a whole lot out of the ordinary has happened this week. So I thought I would take this time to write about my general experiences, thus far, as a foreigner dealing with the Vietnamese. I may have mentioned this before, I'm quite certain I definitely have in fact, but the first thing that you will notice when you come to Vietnam is that people will stare at you. A lot. It's not so bad in the touristy Old Quarter, or the expat filled West Lake, but in our district it is quite uncommon to see a foreigner walking down the street. Therefore, you're automatically the center of attention, and most of the time it is an extremely uncomfortable feeling.
Since I work on the other side of the city, I spend a lot of time commuting by myself, and the attention that you receive is much more noticeable when you're alone. The Vietnamese seem to have no shame about blatantly staring at you. When I catch someone staring at me I'll often look their way and raise my eyebrows or smile and they'll just continue staring at me like I'm a forty-eyed, green alien. I've had people get on the bus, sit across from me, and full on stare at me non-stop until they reach their destination ten minutes later. Yesterday, a young man stared at me for 17 minutes straight (yes I timed him, because I was on the bus with nothing better to do, and it was really noticeable). Really their staring is quite innocent and they are usually only curious about who you are and why you are in their country. Nonetheless, getting so much attention is still an extremely uncomfortable feeling.
It makes it a lot better when one of the people starts trying to speak to you, or if they can't speak English (or French, because many older Vietnamese speak that as well) they show kindness or acceptance in some other way. The other day I was waiting (for freaking forever) for my bus home, and there were two young men and an older lady sitting on the benches at the bus stop. The two young men did their whole "ooh a foreign lady" thing and scooted apart indicating that I should sit between them. To say that the prospect of doing that made me uncomfortable would be an understatement. Before I could figure out how to say no, the older lady grabbed my arm and pulled me onto the seat next to her, sending me a nod and a reassuring smile. She then turned to the disappointed looking men and said something in Vietnamese, that I of course could not understand, but I hope it was along the lines of "leave her alone, she isn't interested."
Another extremely odd thing about the way the Vietnamese treat foreigners (especially older Vietnamese) is their fascination with our skin tone. I have heard stories from friends who have travelled in Africa of complete fascination with the light color of our skin, but I never expected it here. In case you don't know, and if you know me at all how could you not, I am a fairly fair skinned person. There have been numerous times now where a random person has grabbed my exposed skin in passing. Obviously, I was completely startled every time, but the Vietnamese person would just keep walking, or continue looking at me in bewilderment as if they didn't just completely invade my personal space. The first time it happened I froze in complete shock, and turned to my friend who had been here for a while who just shrugged and said "yeah, they do that."
It may be just because Canada is such a multi-cultural society, but I truly believe that we do not treat foreigners with such interest and bewilderment when we see them at home. I can honestly say I have never stared at a foreigner for a full 17 minutes while riding public transport back in Canada, and I've never seen anyone else do it either. Nor have I randomly grabbed a person I didn't know just to feel their skin because it was a different color. Getting used to these things has been interesting, to say the least.
Considering how often I have been made fun of for it throughout my young life, I would say back home I am considered to be a pretty short person. At 5'3", I'm only slightly below average, but I'm hardly tall by any stretch of the imagination. That is not the case here. In fact, I stand a nice bit taller than practically all of the women, and some of the men. The average Vietnamese man is about my height, perhaps slightly taller, while the average Vietnamese woman is usually around my shoulders. Even the tallest women I have seen have only been slightly taller than me. It's a very odd experience to be standing on the bus and have everyone looking up at you when you're used to being the one looking up at everyone else.
Well I suppose that's all I have to say in my blog for the day. I'm heading into the city centre in a little bit and hopefully out of the city for an adventure tomorrow. I promise (I really mean it this time) that I will post some pictures on Sunday. I know I have been quite bad at getting some up this far.
Until next time, remember that globally speaking, you're a lot taller than you realize.
Sarah
Friday, 30 September 2011
Saturday, 24 September 2011
Weekend On Expat Lane
This is completely random, but in a lot of Vietnamese food a key ingrediant is fish sauce which actually has a very nice taste to it. But, interestingly, when it's cooking it smells exactly like Kraft Dinner. So right now I'm sitting on my bed relaxing listening to Band Of Horses and the smell of KD is wafting into my room. I'm not even a huge KD since practically living on it for a while at university, but right now I think I would kill for some.
Anyway, back to the point of this blog which is recounting the last couple of days of my life in Hanoi. Thursday was a bit of crappy day because our house flooded due to faulty piping (yay for living in a dump) and none of us could shower or do laundry. I haven't spoke about it much in this blog due to the fact that I don't really want to bitch about it, but the place we're living in really isn't that nice. Everything breaks constantly (from the water to the internet and everything in between) and it's very dirty. We have both rats and cockroaches on the bottom floor (thankfully not in the bedrooms), and ants everywhere. I did not expect to be living in luxury, but I definitely got ripped off in terms of the accomodations and the organization refuses to refund any of our money. But hey, c'est la vie.
In order to escape the squalor for the weekend, my friend Lisa and I headed to the West Lake region of the city to stay with my co-worker Kath and her boyfriend Joel. Their place is beautiful, air-conditioned, and clean and they pay about half what we pay a month which is frustrating to say the least. The West Lake region of Hanoi, which is where I work, is where many foreigners and expats live and work. It's absolutely beautiful down there and all of the staff in the restaurants and cafes speak english and are so friendly. On Friday night Lisa and I went to this place called Al Frescos, which is like a Vietnamese italian restaurant, and it was just lovely. The staff were so friendly and even gave us a coupon for two free drinks since it was our first visit to the restaurant. Afterwards we went to meet Joel and Kath at this place called the Vine Cellar. We paid 250,000 dong (about $12.50) at the entrance and got a card good for eight glasses of wine. There were six different wines to choose from (three reds, three whites) and they were all excellent. The place was filled with expats so we got to meet a lot of people which was really, really cool. Afterwards we went down to the this amazing little bar called 21 degrees which is right on the lake and had drinks while watching the city skyline in the distance. It was so beautiful, and I will definitely put up some pictures as soon as I get them loaded on my computer.
Yesterday, Lisa and I headed into the Old Quarter for the day. One thing I really like about where we live, as well as the West Lake region, is that you don't really get a lot of pushy street vendors trying to sell you things. In the Old Quarter, since it is so touristy, some people will literally chase you down the street to get you to buy their merchandise. One lady practically attacked Lisa with pineapples, and she tried to get me too but I jumped out of the way and almost got hit by a bike. Another guy grabbed me and started calling me "his baby" to try and sell me a lighter and I was like "oh hellllll no." We spent some time sitting by the lake just listening to music and they would approach us there as well. Generally, if you completely ignore them or give them a firm no they give up and leave you alone, but others just can't seem to take the hint. You also have to be really careful of "shoeshiners" who will try and scam you. What they do it they sit on the street and point to your shoes to try and grab your attention. If you stop and look down, they'll be on you like bees on honey and you'll probably have to pay a pretty penny for their services.
Other than the small hassles and annoyances, the Old Quarter is truly beautiful. We had a lovely time just sitting by the lake and relaxing. There are also many bridal parties that get pictures done in that area, and they are quite fun to watch because they really look like princesses the way they get all done up. The only down part of the day was that I got really dehydrated and ended up vomiting in a random hotel bathroom. One word of caution about traveling in hot countries is to always drink alot of water, even if you don't feel thirsty. I felt better after I drank a few bottles of water, but it was not a pleasant experience.
Before we left to go back to the West Lake, we went to see the Water Puppet Theatre, which is like a major cultural attraction. All of the narrative is in Vietnamese, but it doesn't really matter because it is really awe-inspiring watching the puppets dance across the water to a backdrop of live traditional music. It's a little bit difficult to put in words, it's just something that you have to see for yourself. Suffice it to say, I really enjoyed it.
After the show, we caught a cab back to West Lake and met Kath and Joel at a morrocan restaurant for dinner. I had never had morrocan food before and I absolutely loved it! It was very vegetarian friendly and pretty reasonably priced considering how nice of a place it was. The place is actually owned by a Morrocan couple, so it was very authentic apparently. We then finished off the night at Hanoi Rock City, which was another bar absolutely packed with foreigners. Actually more accurately, it was packed with Australians. Interestingly enough, I actually haven't met a single fellow Canadian on this trip yet. I guess it's probably because it's completely on the other side of the world whereas Australia and New Zealand are much closer.
Overall, it was an awesome weekend, but not something I would like to do all the time. There were times, since we were surrounded by so many foreigners and english speaking Vietnamese, that I almost felt like I was at home. It was lovely for a break, and I had a really great time, but I didn't come to Vietnam to live like I would at home in Canada. Our area doesn't have any other foreigners, and it isn't as nice, but it's very interesting to get an authentic Vietnamese experience. But since I work in the West Lake region I will get a nice balance of the two.
Before I clue this up, I want to write a little comment about the xe om drivers here, since I forgot to mention it earlier. A xe om is literally a "hugging taxi" or a motorbike, and they are everywhere. What is extremely annoying about them though is that the moment they notice you as a foreigner, they immediately target you. When I stand at the bus stop I am CONSTANTLY bombarded by them, and while I mostly completely ignore them like they aren't even there, it can be very annoying. The locals stare at me enough since foreigners are uncommon in my district, and drivers constantly pulling up in front of me saying "taxi?" really does not help. Like, seriously, I am standing at the bus stop to get the bus, not to get on the back of your death trap. There is one guy who is at my bus stop everyday and he basically smacks my arm until I acknowledge him. Another man took off his helmet and started smacking me with it to get my attention. And then, when you move away from them to the other side of the bus stop they pick up their bikes and follow you. Seriously, I may be a foreigner, but I'm not stupid. I feel like I should start carrying a sign that says "leave me alone, I'm not getting on your bike" in Vietnamese.
I suppose that is all for me now. I'm going to go back to my relaxing day of laundry and listening to music. I will really try to get some pictures up this week!
Until next time, remember that persistance is not always the key to success.
Sarah
Anyway, back to the point of this blog which is recounting the last couple of days of my life in Hanoi. Thursday was a bit of crappy day because our house flooded due to faulty piping (yay for living in a dump) and none of us could shower or do laundry. I haven't spoke about it much in this blog due to the fact that I don't really want to bitch about it, but the place we're living in really isn't that nice. Everything breaks constantly (from the water to the internet and everything in between) and it's very dirty. We have both rats and cockroaches on the bottom floor (thankfully not in the bedrooms), and ants everywhere. I did not expect to be living in luxury, but I definitely got ripped off in terms of the accomodations and the organization refuses to refund any of our money. But hey, c'est la vie.
In order to escape the squalor for the weekend, my friend Lisa and I headed to the West Lake region of the city to stay with my co-worker Kath and her boyfriend Joel. Their place is beautiful, air-conditioned, and clean and they pay about half what we pay a month which is frustrating to say the least. The West Lake region of Hanoi, which is where I work, is where many foreigners and expats live and work. It's absolutely beautiful down there and all of the staff in the restaurants and cafes speak english and are so friendly. On Friday night Lisa and I went to this place called Al Frescos, which is like a Vietnamese italian restaurant, and it was just lovely. The staff were so friendly and even gave us a coupon for two free drinks since it was our first visit to the restaurant. Afterwards we went to meet Joel and Kath at this place called the Vine Cellar. We paid 250,000 dong (about $12.50) at the entrance and got a card good for eight glasses of wine. There were six different wines to choose from (three reds, three whites) and they were all excellent. The place was filled with expats so we got to meet a lot of people which was really, really cool. Afterwards we went down to the this amazing little bar called 21 degrees which is right on the lake and had drinks while watching the city skyline in the distance. It was so beautiful, and I will definitely put up some pictures as soon as I get them loaded on my computer.
Yesterday, Lisa and I headed into the Old Quarter for the day. One thing I really like about where we live, as well as the West Lake region, is that you don't really get a lot of pushy street vendors trying to sell you things. In the Old Quarter, since it is so touristy, some people will literally chase you down the street to get you to buy their merchandise. One lady practically attacked Lisa with pineapples, and she tried to get me too but I jumped out of the way and almost got hit by a bike. Another guy grabbed me and started calling me "his baby" to try and sell me a lighter and I was like "oh hellllll no." We spent some time sitting by the lake just listening to music and they would approach us there as well. Generally, if you completely ignore them or give them a firm no they give up and leave you alone, but others just can't seem to take the hint. You also have to be really careful of "shoeshiners" who will try and scam you. What they do it they sit on the street and point to your shoes to try and grab your attention. If you stop and look down, they'll be on you like bees on honey and you'll probably have to pay a pretty penny for their services.
Other than the small hassles and annoyances, the Old Quarter is truly beautiful. We had a lovely time just sitting by the lake and relaxing. There are also many bridal parties that get pictures done in that area, and they are quite fun to watch because they really look like princesses the way they get all done up. The only down part of the day was that I got really dehydrated and ended up vomiting in a random hotel bathroom. One word of caution about traveling in hot countries is to always drink alot of water, even if you don't feel thirsty. I felt better after I drank a few bottles of water, but it was not a pleasant experience.
Before we left to go back to the West Lake, we went to see the Water Puppet Theatre, which is like a major cultural attraction. All of the narrative is in Vietnamese, but it doesn't really matter because it is really awe-inspiring watching the puppets dance across the water to a backdrop of live traditional music. It's a little bit difficult to put in words, it's just something that you have to see for yourself. Suffice it to say, I really enjoyed it.
After the show, we caught a cab back to West Lake and met Kath and Joel at a morrocan restaurant for dinner. I had never had morrocan food before and I absolutely loved it! It was very vegetarian friendly and pretty reasonably priced considering how nice of a place it was. The place is actually owned by a Morrocan couple, so it was very authentic apparently. We then finished off the night at Hanoi Rock City, which was another bar absolutely packed with foreigners. Actually more accurately, it was packed with Australians. Interestingly enough, I actually haven't met a single fellow Canadian on this trip yet. I guess it's probably because it's completely on the other side of the world whereas Australia and New Zealand are much closer.
Overall, it was an awesome weekend, but not something I would like to do all the time. There were times, since we were surrounded by so many foreigners and english speaking Vietnamese, that I almost felt like I was at home. It was lovely for a break, and I had a really great time, but I didn't come to Vietnam to live like I would at home in Canada. Our area doesn't have any other foreigners, and it isn't as nice, but it's very interesting to get an authentic Vietnamese experience. But since I work in the West Lake region I will get a nice balance of the two.
Before I clue this up, I want to write a little comment about the xe om drivers here, since I forgot to mention it earlier. A xe om is literally a "hugging taxi" or a motorbike, and they are everywhere. What is extremely annoying about them though is that the moment they notice you as a foreigner, they immediately target you. When I stand at the bus stop I am CONSTANTLY bombarded by them, and while I mostly completely ignore them like they aren't even there, it can be very annoying. The locals stare at me enough since foreigners are uncommon in my district, and drivers constantly pulling up in front of me saying "taxi?" really does not help. Like, seriously, I am standing at the bus stop to get the bus, not to get on the back of your death trap. There is one guy who is at my bus stop everyday and he basically smacks my arm until I acknowledge him. Another man took off his helmet and started smacking me with it to get my attention. And then, when you move away from them to the other side of the bus stop they pick up their bikes and follow you. Seriously, I may be a foreigner, but I'm not stupid. I feel like I should start carrying a sign that says "leave me alone, I'm not getting on your bike" in Vietnamese.
I suppose that is all for me now. I'm going to go back to my relaxing day of laundry and listening to music. I will really try to get some pictures up this week!
Until next time, remember that persistance is not always the key to success.
Sarah
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
The Perils of Karaoke
I think the best thing about my last couple of days has been that autumn is really starting to come here, so the tempurature is getting much cooler. When I first got here, my favorite part of the day was the two freezing cold showers I had to take. At night time I slept with two fans in my bed, wearing as little as possible, and was still unformfortable. But last night I actually used a blanket! Not that I really had to, I just like the security of blankets, especially considering I don't really have any idea what kind of insects and spiders could be crawling around outside of my mosquito net. But nonetheless, the tempurature is continually dropping, and although it is probably still considered hot enough to scorch any of you folks back home, after dealing with 35 degree weather for a week it feels like heaven.
When I leave for work in about an hour it will be my fourth day at Viethealth. Unfortuntaely, so far my commute has been about two hours each way due to the distance and the fact that I travel during rush hour. But to make it better for me my boss is allowing me to work from 11-6 to avoid rush hour, and I can work Wednesdays from home. So I'm really hoping that will make a difference in my travel time. Other than that, I'm really enjoying it so far. The people I work with are really nice and the work I'm doing is actually very worthwhile. I had a meeting with my boss yesterday and she brought me the preliminary information on the emergency proposal I'm going to be working on. We're trying to get funding to increase emergency health standards on every level from better training for emergency staff to offering first aid courses to people around the community. They're seeking about a million in funding, which is alot of weight on my shoulders, so wish me luck!
The funding is definitely needed though, as I witnessed first hand the other night. My friends and I were out at a karaoke bar celebrating someones birthday. We had a private room and were pretty much having the time of our lives with all of the ridiculous music we kept putting on. Unfortunately, the glass table in the room had a crack on the edge of it that had not been repaired and it sliced into one of my friends legs when she bumped into it on her way up to sing. It was a crazy situation because the Vietnamese staff spoke no english and had absolutely no idea what to do in an emergency. I ended up using my cardigan to stop the bleeding (it was extremely deep and there was alot of blood) because they had no first aid supplies and then drawing an ambulance on a piece of paper so they would call one. Even then they kept saying "taxi?" We had to call our program advisor to tell them that we could not carry her down three flights of stairs to a taxi. But in the end the ambulance ended up taking so long that we did have to carry her down the stairs because we were afraid to leave her for much longer. Luckily (or unluckily depending on how you look at it) the ambulance arrived right as we got her out of the building. Myself and two of the other girls then rode with her in the back of the ambulance to a really nice english speaking hospital where she ended up having to get surgery to repair the damage to her knee. Luckily enough she had travel insurance, but it was still a crazy situation to be in. But the positive side of it (if you can really find one I suppose) was that I got to witness what was lacking in the emegency system first hand and hopefully get my proposal funded to make some positive changes.
As I mentioned previously in this entry, my journey back and forth to work is quite long. So yesterday evening I decided to take a taxi home just to see how much it would cost. I flagged a cab and handed him the address, or at least what I thought was the address. The thing about VPV is that they have two dorms, one in the city where I live, and one about twenty minutes outside the city in the Vietnamese countryside. Once my driver got on the freeway, I kind of knew something was wrong. But once he pulled onto a dirt road full of barn yard animals, I knew I had gotten myself pretty lost. I managed to straighten it out by finding the real address in my bag, but it was a pretty hilarious situation to be trapped in the Vietnamese countryside with no clue where you are with a taxi driver who doesn't speak any english. When I got back to where I actually lived, it still only cost about $20 after an hour and a half in the cab. Money that I would like to have back, but hey, what are you gonna do?
Well, I suppose that's all for my blog today. This weekend myself and some of my housemates are heading down to the West Lake region for a wine tasting and maybe a night in a hotel. I'll probably have another blog up (maybe with some pictures!) on Sunday.
Until then, if you're in a foreign country with a non-english speaking cab driver, make sure you give them the right address.
Sarah
When I leave for work in about an hour it will be my fourth day at Viethealth. Unfortuntaely, so far my commute has been about two hours each way due to the distance and the fact that I travel during rush hour. But to make it better for me my boss is allowing me to work from 11-6 to avoid rush hour, and I can work Wednesdays from home. So I'm really hoping that will make a difference in my travel time. Other than that, I'm really enjoying it so far. The people I work with are really nice and the work I'm doing is actually very worthwhile. I had a meeting with my boss yesterday and she brought me the preliminary information on the emergency proposal I'm going to be working on. We're trying to get funding to increase emergency health standards on every level from better training for emergency staff to offering first aid courses to people around the community. They're seeking about a million in funding, which is alot of weight on my shoulders, so wish me luck!
The funding is definitely needed though, as I witnessed first hand the other night. My friends and I were out at a karaoke bar celebrating someones birthday. We had a private room and were pretty much having the time of our lives with all of the ridiculous music we kept putting on. Unfortunately, the glass table in the room had a crack on the edge of it that had not been repaired and it sliced into one of my friends legs when she bumped into it on her way up to sing. It was a crazy situation because the Vietnamese staff spoke no english and had absolutely no idea what to do in an emergency. I ended up using my cardigan to stop the bleeding (it was extremely deep and there was alot of blood) because they had no first aid supplies and then drawing an ambulance on a piece of paper so they would call one. Even then they kept saying "taxi?" We had to call our program advisor to tell them that we could not carry her down three flights of stairs to a taxi. But in the end the ambulance ended up taking so long that we did have to carry her down the stairs because we were afraid to leave her for much longer. Luckily (or unluckily depending on how you look at it) the ambulance arrived right as we got her out of the building. Myself and two of the other girls then rode with her in the back of the ambulance to a really nice english speaking hospital where she ended up having to get surgery to repair the damage to her knee. Luckily enough she had travel insurance, but it was still a crazy situation to be in. But the positive side of it (if you can really find one I suppose) was that I got to witness what was lacking in the emegency system first hand and hopefully get my proposal funded to make some positive changes.
As I mentioned previously in this entry, my journey back and forth to work is quite long. So yesterday evening I decided to take a taxi home just to see how much it would cost. I flagged a cab and handed him the address, or at least what I thought was the address. The thing about VPV is that they have two dorms, one in the city where I live, and one about twenty minutes outside the city in the Vietnamese countryside. Once my driver got on the freeway, I kind of knew something was wrong. But once he pulled onto a dirt road full of barn yard animals, I knew I had gotten myself pretty lost. I managed to straighten it out by finding the real address in my bag, but it was a pretty hilarious situation to be trapped in the Vietnamese countryside with no clue where you are with a taxi driver who doesn't speak any english. When I got back to where I actually lived, it still only cost about $20 after an hour and a half in the cab. Money that I would like to have back, but hey, what are you gonna do?
Well, I suppose that's all for my blog today. This weekend myself and some of my housemates are heading down to the West Lake region for a wine tasting and maybe a night in a hotel. I'll probably have another blog up (maybe with some pictures!) on Sunday.
Until then, if you're in a foreign country with a non-english speaking cab driver, make sure you give them the right address.
Sarah
Sunday, 18 September 2011
City Tour and the Weekend
It seems as though I'm doing alot better with this blog thing that I originally anticipated. With this post I will have posted just as many entries in one week as I did in the entire time I was in Peru. Once I start work tomorrow the updates will no doubt become less frequent, but I will of course still try my best to keep everyone updated on what I'm doing.
On Saturday morning, myself and the six other international volunteers that started on September 15th were brought into the city centre for a tour by two local Vietnamese students. It was an extremely hot day on Saturday (33 degrees with 100% humidity I do believe), so I'm sure you can imagine how uncomfortable walking for six hours was. Despite the heat, we still managed to have a good time. Our guides took us to the Temple of Literature which was the first university in Vietnam. It was jam packed full of tourists, but it was still a very beautiful place to visit. Of course I forgot to charge my camera the night before so I couldn't take any pictures, but luckily everyone else has a million so I can steal some. Inside one of the temples there were local musicians playing traditional Vietnamese music and I absolutely fell in love. So, no one should be surprised when I come back with an armload of Vietnamese instruments for myself and as presents. My friend took a video of their performance so once I get a copy I'll put it up on facebook or something.
After that we headed into the Old Quarter of Hanoi for some lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant. Everyone in the group wanted to try Pho which is a very common Vietnamese soup. They don't make a vegetarian version so I ate noodles and tofu with a spicy sauce which was actually pretty good. I put some thai chilis in it, and as much as I love hot food I was near tears trying to cool my mouth down. As funny as it was, I don't think I'm going to be doing that again anytime soon. Once we finished eating we went down to look at the Old Quarter lakes which were absolutely beautiful, and then onto an extremely large and crowded indoor market. We finished our tour at a traditional dessert restaurant where we had this fresh fruit drink thing which was pretty good, but also a little strange. They had alot of melons and pineapple and stuff and then, randomly, an avoccado. I'll be honest and tell you that I just about vomited when I tasted that; suffice it to say I was finished then.
When we got back to the dorm we all got ready and headed right back into the city centre for dinner. We ate at this reaaaaaaaally nice traditional Vietnamese restaurant and got a crap load of food and beer for less than six dollars. It is not very common to have vegetarian Vietnamese food without a special request, so I ordered their one meatless stir fry and roasted potatoes. Well, at least that's what the menu said... but when they came out they were just crinkly french fries with a spicy dipping sauce. I was confused to say the least, but we all had a good laugh and went with it. After we finished dinner we went to check out a few of the bars which was pretty cool because you don't have to pay cover anywhere. But it also kind of sucked because every bar was completely jam packed, and you can smoke in bars here. So being in the clubs felt a little bit like suffocating in a pool of short people.
Today has been a pretty chill day so far. The heat really drains you and most of us are still recovering from the jet lag associated with flying across the world, so sleep was in order for a Sunday. I went to go get my phone sorted out with a local friend, because doing things like that is difficult here when you do not speak Vietnamese. That is one thing that I have really enjoyed about this program in comparison to the one I did in Peru. When I was in Peru, I don't think I became friends with a single Peruvian, but here I have already met so many local Vietnamese who are very friendly and very excited to meet foreigners. They are most students (because the University of Humanities and Social Science is right next door to our apartment) and are willing to help translate for us poor folks who speak little to no Vietnamese. Vietnamese is a really hard language to learn for Westerners because it is tonal so I am not picking it up as easily as I did with Spanish.
This evening I had to head out to the market to pick up a few things and it was my first time heading out by myself. Man, the stares and attention you get are even worse when you're by yourself. Most people are completely harmless and either just stare or smile and wave. Some even say hello and ask how you are! But when they whistle at you and get all in your personal space, it is very uncomfortable. It's also really funny to watch people on motorbikes almost crash because they're staring at you as they go by. As I may have said before, our neighborhood in Hanoi is not that touristy, so seeing foreigners is still pretty uncommon. There was a kid in the market who followed me around and whenever I would turn around and see him he would run away and giggle. It was pretty cute, but when you're by yourself it's pretty unnerving to get so much attention.
Well I suppose that's it for me for now. It's almost 10:30 here and I have to be up fairly early for work in the morning.
Until next time, be glad that people don't stare at you like you're an alien everywhere you go.
Sarah
On Saturday morning, myself and the six other international volunteers that started on September 15th were brought into the city centre for a tour by two local Vietnamese students. It was an extremely hot day on Saturday (33 degrees with 100% humidity I do believe), so I'm sure you can imagine how uncomfortable walking for six hours was. Despite the heat, we still managed to have a good time. Our guides took us to the Temple of Literature which was the first university in Vietnam. It was jam packed full of tourists, but it was still a very beautiful place to visit. Of course I forgot to charge my camera the night before so I couldn't take any pictures, but luckily everyone else has a million so I can steal some. Inside one of the temples there were local musicians playing traditional Vietnamese music and I absolutely fell in love. So, no one should be surprised when I come back with an armload of Vietnamese instruments for myself and as presents. My friend took a video of their performance so once I get a copy I'll put it up on facebook or something.
After that we headed into the Old Quarter of Hanoi for some lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant. Everyone in the group wanted to try Pho which is a very common Vietnamese soup. They don't make a vegetarian version so I ate noodles and tofu with a spicy sauce which was actually pretty good. I put some thai chilis in it, and as much as I love hot food I was near tears trying to cool my mouth down. As funny as it was, I don't think I'm going to be doing that again anytime soon. Once we finished eating we went down to look at the Old Quarter lakes which were absolutely beautiful, and then onto an extremely large and crowded indoor market. We finished our tour at a traditional dessert restaurant where we had this fresh fruit drink thing which was pretty good, but also a little strange. They had alot of melons and pineapple and stuff and then, randomly, an avoccado. I'll be honest and tell you that I just about vomited when I tasted that; suffice it to say I was finished then.
When we got back to the dorm we all got ready and headed right back into the city centre for dinner. We ate at this reaaaaaaaally nice traditional Vietnamese restaurant and got a crap load of food and beer for less than six dollars. It is not very common to have vegetarian Vietnamese food without a special request, so I ordered their one meatless stir fry and roasted potatoes. Well, at least that's what the menu said... but when they came out they were just crinkly french fries with a spicy dipping sauce. I was confused to say the least, but we all had a good laugh and went with it. After we finished dinner we went to check out a few of the bars which was pretty cool because you don't have to pay cover anywhere. But it also kind of sucked because every bar was completely jam packed, and you can smoke in bars here. So being in the clubs felt a little bit like suffocating in a pool of short people.
Today has been a pretty chill day so far. The heat really drains you and most of us are still recovering from the jet lag associated with flying across the world, so sleep was in order for a Sunday. I went to go get my phone sorted out with a local friend, because doing things like that is difficult here when you do not speak Vietnamese. That is one thing that I have really enjoyed about this program in comparison to the one I did in Peru. When I was in Peru, I don't think I became friends with a single Peruvian, but here I have already met so many local Vietnamese who are very friendly and very excited to meet foreigners. They are most students (because the University of Humanities and Social Science is right next door to our apartment) and are willing to help translate for us poor folks who speak little to no Vietnamese. Vietnamese is a really hard language to learn for Westerners because it is tonal so I am not picking it up as easily as I did with Spanish.
This evening I had to head out to the market to pick up a few things and it was my first time heading out by myself. Man, the stares and attention you get are even worse when you're by yourself. Most people are completely harmless and either just stare or smile and wave. Some even say hello and ask how you are! But when they whistle at you and get all in your personal space, it is very uncomfortable. It's also really funny to watch people on motorbikes almost crash because they're staring at you as they go by. As I may have said before, our neighborhood in Hanoi is not that touristy, so seeing foreigners is still pretty uncommon. There was a kid in the market who followed me around and whenever I would turn around and see him he would run away and giggle. It was pretty cute, but when you're by yourself it's pretty unnerving to get so much attention.
Well I suppose that's it for me for now. It's almost 10:30 here and I have to be up fairly early for work in the morning.
Until next time, be glad that people don't stare at you like you're an alien everywhere you go.
Sarah
Friday, 16 September 2011
Placement, Traffic and Day Two
Anytime you travel to a new place, especially on a new continent, one can expect to experience a certain degree of culture shock. I think anyone from the Western world is bound to practically have a stroke as they take in the complete insanity that the Vietnamese call traffic for the first time. I thought the driving in South America was bad, but at least there, there seemed to at least be rules of some sort. Here the only rules are: the bigger vehicle gets right of way, and don't get hit.Making a left turn in a taxi while traffic continues to zoom past you in every possible direction will make you heart jump in your throat the first time, I can almost guarentee it. Stop signs do not exist, traffic lights are rare and when they are in place they are practically ignored unless it's an extremely busy road. Most Vietnamese drive scooters or motobikes and there are literally hundreds of them all over the road at any given time. There is no such thing as driving lanes, other than one lane goes one way and the opposite goes the other (although motorists do not always seem to abide by this). It's amazing how many near accidents you see every couple of minutes.
For someone like me, who plans on riding a scooter only when hell freezes over (what? I may be a thrill seeker but I don't actually want to die), the real challenge with the traffic is crossing the street. In Vietnam, there are no crosswalks and cars and scooters will not stop for you. So what you're supposed to do is slowly cross the street and let the cars and scooters avoid you. It is actually an exhilarating experience, because although there are literally hundreds of cars zipping around you, it does not feel dangerous. The trick to it is walk extremely slowly and never hesitate or panic. If you do, it is a surefire way to end up roadkill. I have to cross two major streets on the way to my work place, so I'm hoping that I get the hang of it pretty quickly.
That brings me right to my next point, which is that I was brought to my placement for the first time yesterday. The downside is that it is going to take me an hour and half by bus everyday to get there because it is on the complete opposite side of the city. However the trip is absolutely beautiful (I will post some pictures in an upcoming blog) and after meeting my boss and the staff at my placement, I think it is totally going to be worth it. The organization I am working for is called Viethealth which raises awareness and offers support to people living with HIV/Aids. It's ironic that it is actually my experience with the Campus Police rather than my education that made them want me there, because my job is going to be helping to implement a system that offers emergency first response to their clients. I am also going to be responsible for helping with research and proposal writing since everything has to be in English, as well as helping the Vietnamese staff with their own English skills. Due to my background in human rights they also want me to work on some campaigns raising awareness for the rights of the disabled and people living with HIV. My boss seems awesome, and they were so nice and seemed extremely excited that I was there. Although I don't speak their language and many of them do not speak English, I felt very welcomed. My boss also gave me a Vietnamese sim card loaded with enough minutes to last me until December, because they want me to have a phone so they can contact me. Now I just have to go pick up a cheap phone for $10, and from what I was told it will be even nicer than the phone I have at home anyway! So if anyone is interested in having my Vietnamese cell number for emergencies just inbox me on facebook and I will get it to you.
Last night we headed out to the local supermarket where I bought yogurt, beer, crackers, diet pepsi, peanuts, and gum for less than $5. Yes, life is extremely cheap here, and it fits my budget excellently. We were going to go out to a club last night, but instead we stayed in an had a few beers in our common room. I broke out the guitar and sang for a bit (which went over well, of course), and we played a really messed up Australian version of Asshole called Cumrags and Prostitutes (don't ask, because I did nothing but laugh at it). Right now we're all getting ready to head into the city centre for a guided tour on our last day of orientation. Apparently we are staying down there in a hotel tonight or something and going out to check out the bars and nightlife. So I suppose this is it for my second blog entry. I'm doing better with this than I thought!
Until next time, if you see a crazy driver, remember how much worse it could be.
Sarah
For someone like me, who plans on riding a scooter only when hell freezes over (what? I may be a thrill seeker but I don't actually want to die), the real challenge with the traffic is crossing the street. In Vietnam, there are no crosswalks and cars and scooters will not stop for you. So what you're supposed to do is slowly cross the street and let the cars and scooters avoid you. It is actually an exhilarating experience, because although there are literally hundreds of cars zipping around you, it does not feel dangerous. The trick to it is walk extremely slowly and never hesitate or panic. If you do, it is a surefire way to end up roadkill. I have to cross two major streets on the way to my work place, so I'm hoping that I get the hang of it pretty quickly.
That brings me right to my next point, which is that I was brought to my placement for the first time yesterday. The downside is that it is going to take me an hour and half by bus everyday to get there because it is on the complete opposite side of the city. However the trip is absolutely beautiful (I will post some pictures in an upcoming blog) and after meeting my boss and the staff at my placement, I think it is totally going to be worth it. The organization I am working for is called Viethealth which raises awareness and offers support to people living with HIV/Aids. It's ironic that it is actually my experience with the Campus Police rather than my education that made them want me there, because my job is going to be helping to implement a system that offers emergency first response to their clients. I am also going to be responsible for helping with research and proposal writing since everything has to be in English, as well as helping the Vietnamese staff with their own English skills. Due to my background in human rights they also want me to work on some campaigns raising awareness for the rights of the disabled and people living with HIV. My boss seems awesome, and they were so nice and seemed extremely excited that I was there. Although I don't speak their language and many of them do not speak English, I felt very welcomed. My boss also gave me a Vietnamese sim card loaded with enough minutes to last me until December, because they want me to have a phone so they can contact me. Now I just have to go pick up a cheap phone for $10, and from what I was told it will be even nicer than the phone I have at home anyway! So if anyone is interested in having my Vietnamese cell number for emergencies just inbox me on facebook and I will get it to you.
Last night we headed out to the local supermarket where I bought yogurt, beer, crackers, diet pepsi, peanuts, and gum for less than $5. Yes, life is extremely cheap here, and it fits my budget excellently. We were going to go out to a club last night, but instead we stayed in an had a few beers in our common room. I broke out the guitar and sang for a bit (which went over well, of course), and we played a really messed up Australian version of Asshole called Cumrags and Prostitutes (don't ask, because I did nothing but laugh at it). Right now we're all getting ready to head into the city centre for a guided tour on our last day of orientation. Apparently we are staying down there in a hotel tonight or something and going out to check out the bars and nightlife. So I suppose this is it for my second blog entry. I'm doing better with this than I thought!
Until next time, if you see a crazy driver, remember how much worse it could be.
Sarah
Thursday, 15 September 2011
Trip From Hell and First Impressions
If there is one thing I have learned throughout my travels, it is always be prepared for the worst. Considering the trip I just completed to make my way across the world I would say it is a piece of advice that is very valuable indeed, as just about everything that could have possibly gone wrong seemed to do so.
When it comes to travelling by air, I honestly have very low expectations. This is probably due to the fact that I have been travelling with AirCanada numerous times a year since I was 17 and their gross incompetance has shown through practically every time I've flown with them. My journey here was a joint effort by United Airlines and Southern China Airlines, and although my flights were all fairly comfortable especially considering their length, the end result was the same. But before I skip ahead to the end of the story, perhaps I should start at the beginning.
My first flight had me landing at Newark International Airport in New York City to catch my connecting flight to Beijing. New York City has always been at the top of my list of places I have to visit before I die, so to say I was excited to even be in the airport would be an understatement. I may as well have glued my forehead to the window I was so awestruck by the view, its a good thing the flight was about half empty and there was really no one around be to see how much of a dork I was being. But the fun stopped there, because I quickly found out the moment I stepped in the airport that everyone who works there is an asshole. Okay, perhaps that is going to far, but everyone I encountered most assurdedly was. Folks, I may have just caught a bad shift of workers, but if that is the way it is all the time then don't bother trying to aks anyone a question in Newark. Seriously, every person I attempted to ask for directions or any other kind of help either rudely ushered me along without answering, or talked to me like I was a complete idiot. Unfortunately for me, I had to keep asking because my flight boarded approximately ten minutes after I landed so I didn't have much of a choice but to get help making it there. Also, side note since this is my first time travelling through the US, I seriously had to take off my shoes? Seriously? Like I'm going to hide something in there that you won't find with your giant people scanner. Running through the airport to make your flight while silmultaneously trying to put your shoes back on is not my idea of a good time. But anyway, I digress.
With the help of a very nice American tourist (no, not even an employee) I managed to board my flight to Beijing with time to spare. It was unfortunate I did not manage to contact anyone via Facebook or email before I boarded, but c'est la vie. On the flight, I was seated next to a very sweet middle aged Chinese couple. Well... at least I think they were very sweet. The kept speaking to me in Mandarin and considering my skills in that language go no further than hello, goodbye, and thank you, they could have been telling me I looked like a drowned sewer rat for all I know. But they were smiling as they spoke, so I took it to be a good sign and went with it. The flight was excrutiatingly long (fourteen hours) but it really was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The airline had a large selection of television programs and films so I kept myself entertained for the majority of the flight. The highlight of my flight was easily the movie Bridesmaids. As embarrassed as I was to be full-on guffawing at a movie on a plane full of stranger, the movie was so freakin' funny it didn't matter to me. Seriously if you haven't seen it, do it now. The food was subpar though, and despite the fact that I requested a vegetarian meal I did not get one. Luckily I could eat around or pick out most of the meat, so I did not go hungry.
When I landed in Beijing, my day just continued to get worse. Weirdly enough, I ended up wishing to be back on the plane again I was so frustrated. As we de-planed, the crew informed us that there would be an international concierge greeting the plane that would help us make connecting flights. I approached said concierge with questions only to be told "transfer desk," repeatedly rather than actually answered. So much for speaking english. I then headed to the transfer desk where I was told I needed to go to terminal 2 to catch my flight. I asked for directions and all they did was point down a very long hallway, which you will soon understand was not very helpful at all. I made my way down to the customs and security clearance area and got in line at the International Connections port, only to be told I needed to go around through the other side of the terminal to print my boarding pass, since they were unable to print it for me in St. Johns. After rounding the airport terminal and encountering several unhelpful employees who claimed they spoke english but did not, I was told I needed to back to the customs and security clearnace area. More than a little frustrated, I approached an Australian woman and asked for her help. She really tried her best to help me and was very kind, but I ended up even more lost with her directions. Finally, I figured out that I needed to clear security to get out to the main area of the airport to get to the elusive terminal 2. I made it out through, and after like twenty minutes of increasingly frustrating attempts at finding out how to get to terminal 2, I finally found a woman who spoke enough english to tell me that terminal two was 40 minutes away by bus.
Awesome.
Panicked and frantic since I only had approximately one hour before my flight was supposed to leave, I hopped on the shuttle train to get to the area where I could get a bus. I still had no freakin' clue where I was going, and I must have looked it because I was appraoched by an english-speaking "red shirt" offering me assistance. These "red shirts" help passengers with their baggage for a small fee, and this young man told me he could get me to my flight on time, but that we would have to hurry. After grossly overpaying for his service (I only had American money, but it was better than having to pay for another flight) my day became chase the little Chinese man through the Beijing airport. This guy was not kidding about us needing to hurry, I actually had to jog to keep up with him. And seriously, after spending almost twenty hours in the air and already feeling tired and dirty, running through a hot sticky airport is an extremely unpleasant experience. The plus side of the story was that I actually got to step foot in Beijing, as the terminal was a fairly long bus journey away. Although I didn't see alot, it was still a pretty cool experience.
So with the helped of my "red-shirt" friend, I managed to make it through in time to be the very last person to board my flight just before it took off. Again, I took the positive with the terrible and said: "hey at least I'll be at Vietnam in three hours." But then, of course, I arrived in Vietnam only to be informed that my luggage was lost. A perfect end to a perfect journey. I will say though that I was very lucky to be attended to by a lady who spoke excellent english, and she assured me that my luggage was not "lost," only delayed, and that I should get it within the next couple of days. Well, it's been a full day now and I have still heard nothing, but I am hopeful that I will be getting it sometime tomorrow.
When I finally got out of the airport (almost two hours after my flight had landed) I met my escort, as well as another volunteer who was being picked up at the same time, in the terminal. My fellow traveller, an American, and I hit it off pretty quickly during our journey to our accomodations as we both sat staring slack jawed at the insanity that the Vietnamese call driving. Upon arrival to our volunteer house, I quickly learned that I was currently the only Canadian volunteer (represent). My housemates range across several nationalities, with Americans and Brits leading the charge with three volunteers a piece. The accomodation is very basic to say the least, and is without a doubt going to take some getting used to. It is certainly not a hotel by any stretch of the imagination, I can assure you of that.
The heat here is positively overwhelming. We have no air conditioning, of course, so there are at least ten fans going in the house at any given time to keep us from sweltering. It is also extremely humid, which brings me to my next point... you should see my freakin' hair. The fact that I lost my luggage and therefore did not have product to put in it after I showered did not help, but it is seriously twice its normal size. Oddly enough, I have got numerous compliments on it despite its slightly more controlled "Monica in Barbados" appearance. For my own sake though, I really hope my luggage arrives very soon.
So that was my first day in Vietnam in a nutshell. Today we did our first day of orientation and a quick tour of the area that we're living in. The area is very safe, and authentically Vietnamese as it is not really a toursity area. Any time we ventured out, we did not see another foreigner anywhere, and pretty much everyone stared at us as we walked by. Some of the younger groups even waved at us! It's a little bit odd to be given so much attention, but they are only looking with interest, not malice.
The food is... um... interesting? Its a completely different spice palate here, so it is definitely going to take some getting used to. Unfortunately, it is considered rude to leave food on your plate here, so if you try something you have to finish it. I learned that the hard way, and I have already woofed down a myriad of strange tasting dishes while silmultaneously trying not to vomit. The Vietnamese seem very big on their meat, so being a vegetarian has not proved overly easy so far. Hopefully once I get a little more used to it I will be alright. Also, thanks to Marie who gave me chopsticks as a gift before I left, even if they were a joke gift practicing with them helped keep me from looking like a complete idiot during meals. I'm not even close to the worst one at using them!
The traffic here deserves a blog entry all to itself with accompaning pictures, so I hope to post about that in the next few days.
As part of our orientation today I, along with the five other volunteers that started today, had a Vietnamese language lesson with two local students. To say it was entertaining would be an understatement. Vietnamese is a very difficult language, so we all had a good laugh attempting to navigate the complicated pronunciations and tones. Our teachers were very sweet and spoke english very well, and didn't balk at us as we completely butchered their language. Sure they laughed, but we definitely laughed at ourselves more so it was all good. After all of this, the jet lag hit us all pretty hard so we crashed for a nap fairly early, which brings me to the present time. Alot of information for a first blog, eh? And people were worried I wouldn't post at all.
It is approximately midnight here now, which I guess means it's about 2:30 at home. The time difference thing is certainly odd, especially when I see people posting about being out at a bar when I'm getting up in the morning. The jet lag is also fairly difficult to overcome for the moment, but I'm hoping a good nights sleep tonight will do the trick.
I suppose that is it for my first blog entry. I realize it is a little stilted, but I had so much to fit in I just wanted to get it all down. Tomorrow we are going to the Museum of Etymology before being brought to our placements for the first time. Hopefully I will post again sometime tomorrow with all of the happenings then, as well as my thoughts about the traffic.
Until then, enjoy your evening. I'm going to bed.
Sarah
(This is not edited or spellchecked yet, so do not judge me for my mistakes.)
When it comes to travelling by air, I honestly have very low expectations. This is probably due to the fact that I have been travelling with AirCanada numerous times a year since I was 17 and their gross incompetance has shown through practically every time I've flown with them. My journey here was a joint effort by United Airlines and Southern China Airlines, and although my flights were all fairly comfortable especially considering their length, the end result was the same. But before I skip ahead to the end of the story, perhaps I should start at the beginning.
My first flight had me landing at Newark International Airport in New York City to catch my connecting flight to Beijing. New York City has always been at the top of my list of places I have to visit before I die, so to say I was excited to even be in the airport would be an understatement. I may as well have glued my forehead to the window I was so awestruck by the view, its a good thing the flight was about half empty and there was really no one around be to see how much of a dork I was being. But the fun stopped there, because I quickly found out the moment I stepped in the airport that everyone who works there is an asshole. Okay, perhaps that is going to far, but everyone I encountered most assurdedly was. Folks, I may have just caught a bad shift of workers, but if that is the way it is all the time then don't bother trying to aks anyone a question in Newark. Seriously, every person I attempted to ask for directions or any other kind of help either rudely ushered me along without answering, or talked to me like I was a complete idiot. Unfortunately for me, I had to keep asking because my flight boarded approximately ten minutes after I landed so I didn't have much of a choice but to get help making it there. Also, side note since this is my first time travelling through the US, I seriously had to take off my shoes? Seriously? Like I'm going to hide something in there that you won't find with your giant people scanner. Running through the airport to make your flight while silmultaneously trying to put your shoes back on is not my idea of a good time. But anyway, I digress.
With the help of a very nice American tourist (no, not even an employee) I managed to board my flight to Beijing with time to spare. It was unfortunate I did not manage to contact anyone via Facebook or email before I boarded, but c'est la vie. On the flight, I was seated next to a very sweet middle aged Chinese couple. Well... at least I think they were very sweet. The kept speaking to me in Mandarin and considering my skills in that language go no further than hello, goodbye, and thank you, they could have been telling me I looked like a drowned sewer rat for all I know. But they were smiling as they spoke, so I took it to be a good sign and went with it. The flight was excrutiatingly long (fourteen hours) but it really was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The airline had a large selection of television programs and films so I kept myself entertained for the majority of the flight. The highlight of my flight was easily the movie Bridesmaids. As embarrassed as I was to be full-on guffawing at a movie on a plane full of stranger, the movie was so freakin' funny it didn't matter to me. Seriously if you haven't seen it, do it now. The food was subpar though, and despite the fact that I requested a vegetarian meal I did not get one. Luckily I could eat around or pick out most of the meat, so I did not go hungry.
When I landed in Beijing, my day just continued to get worse. Weirdly enough, I ended up wishing to be back on the plane again I was so frustrated. As we de-planed, the crew informed us that there would be an international concierge greeting the plane that would help us make connecting flights. I approached said concierge with questions only to be told "transfer desk," repeatedly rather than actually answered. So much for speaking english. I then headed to the transfer desk where I was told I needed to go to terminal 2 to catch my flight. I asked for directions and all they did was point down a very long hallway, which you will soon understand was not very helpful at all. I made my way down to the customs and security clearance area and got in line at the International Connections port, only to be told I needed to go around through the other side of the terminal to print my boarding pass, since they were unable to print it for me in St. Johns. After rounding the airport terminal and encountering several unhelpful employees who claimed they spoke english but did not, I was told I needed to back to the customs and security clearnace area. More than a little frustrated, I approached an Australian woman and asked for her help. She really tried her best to help me and was very kind, but I ended up even more lost with her directions. Finally, I figured out that I needed to clear security to get out to the main area of the airport to get to the elusive terminal 2. I made it out through, and after like twenty minutes of increasingly frustrating attempts at finding out how to get to terminal 2, I finally found a woman who spoke enough english to tell me that terminal two was 40 minutes away by bus.
Awesome.
Panicked and frantic since I only had approximately one hour before my flight was supposed to leave, I hopped on the shuttle train to get to the area where I could get a bus. I still had no freakin' clue where I was going, and I must have looked it because I was appraoched by an english-speaking "red shirt" offering me assistance. These "red shirts" help passengers with their baggage for a small fee, and this young man told me he could get me to my flight on time, but that we would have to hurry. After grossly overpaying for his service (I only had American money, but it was better than having to pay for another flight) my day became chase the little Chinese man through the Beijing airport. This guy was not kidding about us needing to hurry, I actually had to jog to keep up with him. And seriously, after spending almost twenty hours in the air and already feeling tired and dirty, running through a hot sticky airport is an extremely unpleasant experience. The plus side of the story was that I actually got to step foot in Beijing, as the terminal was a fairly long bus journey away. Although I didn't see alot, it was still a pretty cool experience.
So with the helped of my "red-shirt" friend, I managed to make it through in time to be the very last person to board my flight just before it took off. Again, I took the positive with the terrible and said: "hey at least I'll be at Vietnam in three hours." But then, of course, I arrived in Vietnam only to be informed that my luggage was lost. A perfect end to a perfect journey. I will say though that I was very lucky to be attended to by a lady who spoke excellent english, and she assured me that my luggage was not "lost," only delayed, and that I should get it within the next couple of days. Well, it's been a full day now and I have still heard nothing, but I am hopeful that I will be getting it sometime tomorrow.
When I finally got out of the airport (almost two hours after my flight had landed) I met my escort, as well as another volunteer who was being picked up at the same time, in the terminal. My fellow traveller, an American, and I hit it off pretty quickly during our journey to our accomodations as we both sat staring slack jawed at the insanity that the Vietnamese call driving. Upon arrival to our volunteer house, I quickly learned that I was currently the only Canadian volunteer (represent). My housemates range across several nationalities, with Americans and Brits leading the charge with three volunteers a piece. The accomodation is very basic to say the least, and is without a doubt going to take some getting used to. It is certainly not a hotel by any stretch of the imagination, I can assure you of that.
The heat here is positively overwhelming. We have no air conditioning, of course, so there are at least ten fans going in the house at any given time to keep us from sweltering. It is also extremely humid, which brings me to my next point... you should see my freakin' hair. The fact that I lost my luggage and therefore did not have product to put in it after I showered did not help, but it is seriously twice its normal size. Oddly enough, I have got numerous compliments on it despite its slightly more controlled "Monica in Barbados" appearance. For my own sake though, I really hope my luggage arrives very soon.
So that was my first day in Vietnam in a nutshell. Today we did our first day of orientation and a quick tour of the area that we're living in. The area is very safe, and authentically Vietnamese as it is not really a toursity area. Any time we ventured out, we did not see another foreigner anywhere, and pretty much everyone stared at us as we walked by. Some of the younger groups even waved at us! It's a little bit odd to be given so much attention, but they are only looking with interest, not malice.
The food is... um... interesting? Its a completely different spice palate here, so it is definitely going to take some getting used to. Unfortunately, it is considered rude to leave food on your plate here, so if you try something you have to finish it. I learned that the hard way, and I have already woofed down a myriad of strange tasting dishes while silmultaneously trying not to vomit. The Vietnamese seem very big on their meat, so being a vegetarian has not proved overly easy so far. Hopefully once I get a little more used to it I will be alright. Also, thanks to Marie who gave me chopsticks as a gift before I left, even if they were a joke gift practicing with them helped keep me from looking like a complete idiot during meals. I'm not even close to the worst one at using them!
The traffic here deserves a blog entry all to itself with accompaning pictures, so I hope to post about that in the next few days.
As part of our orientation today I, along with the five other volunteers that started today, had a Vietnamese language lesson with two local students. To say it was entertaining would be an understatement. Vietnamese is a very difficult language, so we all had a good laugh attempting to navigate the complicated pronunciations and tones. Our teachers were very sweet and spoke english very well, and didn't balk at us as we completely butchered their language. Sure they laughed, but we definitely laughed at ourselves more so it was all good. After all of this, the jet lag hit us all pretty hard so we crashed for a nap fairly early, which brings me to the present time. Alot of information for a first blog, eh? And people were worried I wouldn't post at all.
It is approximately midnight here now, which I guess means it's about 2:30 at home. The time difference thing is certainly odd, especially when I see people posting about being out at a bar when I'm getting up in the morning. The jet lag is also fairly difficult to overcome for the moment, but I'm hoping a good nights sleep tonight will do the trick.
I suppose that is it for my first blog entry. I realize it is a little stilted, but I had so much to fit in I just wanted to get it all down. Tomorrow we are going to the Museum of Etymology before being brought to our placements for the first time. Hopefully I will post again sometime tomorrow with all of the happenings then, as well as my thoughts about the traffic.
Until then, enjoy your evening. I'm going to bed.
Sarah
(This is not edited or spellchecked yet, so do not judge me for my mistakes.)
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