Wednesday, March 30, 2011

End of the trip and home again


March 29th: I can't sleep. Laying in my bed and sleep is no where in sight. The end of the trip. The remnants of 14 hour time change. My mind knows I am home in Seattle, but my body is most definitely confused.

I'm going to work my way forward:

March 26th: Farewell Dinner group shot

March 27th: My last day in Vietnam - I woke up very early - 4:30AM, and walked to the Hoan Kiem Lake. As the sun rose, the path around the lake filled with walkers, and exercisers. Some people doing yoga and others doing Tai Chi. There were badminton players. People brought their portable stereos and groups did calisthenics to the beat. I saw one row of old women standing in a line, each massaging the back of the person in front of them.

morning bridge


Hat bicycle
I love Hanoi for all the action on the streets. There are more people selling things, more people walking, more sidewalk restaurants, then anywhere in Vietnam.

Just a conversation

bread lady

Sidewalk restaurant

bridge through a door way

Eli leading the last "Gratitude Circle," with Mike on his shoulder

The students were free in the morning, until hotel check-out. Then we walked all the students to the lake, went to one pagoda on the island in the lake, then had our last "gratitude circle." There are so many things we all have to be grateful for.

That evening, before the bus ride to the airport, Mike and Ha took me out for one last meal. they know how I love to eat "like the locals," so we went to this street of sidewalk seafood restaurants.

We sat on the street on little red stools, ate clams and prawns and toasted loudly to everything from cross-cultural confusion to how much we love each other.

Mike with three huge prawns.
These may have been the best prawns I have ever eaten.

Ha in the bus, with his "microphone"

Last group shot at the airport

Our 11:30PM flight got us into Seoul, Korea 3.5 hours later, though it was 5AM on March 28th Korean time when we landed. Korean Airlines gave us the option of a day tour or day hotel. Back in Seattle a few months ago I picked the tour, but the airlines got it wrong, and booked us in a hotel, and we were all really glad that they did, as the students collapsed at one stop after another on our way through immigration, customs, and waiting for the bus to the hotel. 12 hours later we were back on a flight - this time 9 more hours to arrive in Seattle at noon on the 28th (crossing the international date line gave us an extra day), though our bodies thought it was 2AM (Vietnam time).

At that is the end of our story, except for my sleeplessness as my body readjusts to Pacific Standard time, oh yes, and all the things I am grateful for.

I believe I must have the best teaching job in the world, and for this I am grateful. It is not the best teaching job because I get to go to a foreign country for 4 weeks every year. It is the best teaching job because, for four weeks, I get the privilege of witnessing the transformation of these young men and women. I get to be there as they open their eyes, open their hearts, and spread their wings. I get to see their wings. What can be better than that!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

March 26th Farewell Dinner Most Important Lessons

I asked the students to be prepared to share the "most important lesson" they learned while in Vietnam, something that they want to hold on to when they return to Seattle. I have included all 26 students' lessons, because they are all precious.

March 26th, 2011 Farewell Dinner Most Important Lesson
I never thought a place could change me, but that was the pre-Vietnam person. I wouldn’t say I’m a changed person, but I would say I have a changed mind.
For the past month, we’ve been traveling through Vietnam, going to places filled with opportunities. Like trying new foods from a rundown restaurant, or diving off boats into the Mekong Delta. Some experiences I didn’t do, maybe because I was nervous, or scared, but I’ve learned to push those feelings away. I guess what I’m saying is that you should always try new things because it’s rare to get another chance to try it.
The trip has affected me in a lot of ways already, but the most important lesson to me is; whenever something new comes up. Try it, because the chance of doing it again is very slim.

The most important lesson that I have learned on this trip is to take all of the risks, chances and opportunities that come up in life. There is a time for everything, and when we get older, we will not be able to try all new things and take risks. Whether you think it will turnout well or not, try it. Otherwise, you will not get the chance to try the same thing again. You also may be surprised; your conclusion may be different than your hypothesis.

As I wander the endless foreign streets with old friends and bargain with desperate shopkeepers, I feel a longing for home. Not home in the normal sense, but the carefree days at camp, surrounded by the gorgeous cascades, and endless forests. Days where I can just throw on shorts and a t-shirt, pull my hair in to a pony tail and go. Days where I can run around with my friends acting like complete idiot and no one bats an eye. Days when I scream at the top of my lungs and bang on tables in the middle of dinner and everyone else joins in. Sitting at dinner one night, I realized that I‘d been with all these people five times long as my camp friends. Why wasn’t I able to do that with these people? Slowly I started to let go, and care less. Today, I rolled out of bed five minutes before breakfast and just walked out the door, something I never would have done before this trip. I haven’t worn anywhere near as much make up in the past week as I did before, and I’ve never felt better. Sure, I might still wear some make up, and I’m still going to spend more than five seconds picking out my outfit in the morning, but this time it’ll be for me.

On this trip I learned so many different things. One of the main lessons I learned from being in Vietnam for a month surrounded by the Vietnamese people and their environment is to be thankful for everyone, and everything I have. In the U.S. we don’t realize how much we have, but being exposed to how little most people have in Vietnam really makes me grateful for what I have.

I think the most important lesson I learned was during the Sapa minority village homestays. I was in a group that I would not have normally chosen. At first I was disappointed that I was not with my closest friends, but on the first day there, I realized that this was going to be an even better experience because I wasn’t with my friends. This was going to be a great opportunity to expand my group of friends. I first realized this when we were farming in the rice patties on the first day. I noticed that our group was working together extremely well, and we were having a ton of fun doing it. I want to branch out to new people that I don’t normally hang out with back at school.

I should stop complaining about small things that I don’t like, because there are others who don’t have those things to complain about. I have so much, so I don’t really have the right to complain about those little things that are easy to fix.
There are many small comforts I take for granted at home, which I haven’t had here. One of these is *cough, cough* having clean clothes regularly. Currently, I have one clean and dry pair of pants until the end of the trip (Note: it’s a good idea to do laundry at every opportunity, or else you get backed up with nothing to wear like I am right now). This is mostly because of my procrastination in washing them, and I will be fine. However, it is a good lesson for the next time I do something like this.
At home, I take a lot for granted. One thing is, as I mentioned before, having clean laundry every week. But there are many other things. Specifically finances, which I never paid much attention to before this trip. Now I have started to think about cost. For example, high schools. I want to go to an expensive private high school, which I wouldn’t be able to do if I was Vietnamese.
We should all realize how much we take for granted. Then, I then it will be easier to understand Vietnam.

On this trip I learned even more than I already have this year about how lucky I am to have such a comfortable life with a loving family, many opportunities, and little hardships. Mainly, I realized that I should not only appreciate what I have, but dedicate my life to giving back and helping others because, to me, learning these important lessons isn’t about what it makes you feel, it’s about what it makes you do.
This lesson will immediately affect the way I live in three ways. First, I have decided to really follow through with all the volunteering I’ve been wanting to do. Second, when I’m thinking about buying something for myself or I’m spending too much time on me I have to ask myself whether my money, time, and passion would be better used for someone else. Third, I realized that the things like appearance, popularity, and drama that we care so much about are really unimportant and selfish. I’ve stopped wearing makeup and started not letting these things get in the way of having fun and being considerate of others because they really aren’t the things that make us happy.

My most important lesson is to enjoy each moment. Because if you don’t, you’ll keep waiting for the next moment, and you’ll always be waiting.

We have been surrounded by poverty for the past four weeks. I have seen people living in shacks, working on the rice fields, and with absolutely no luxuries whatsoever. I didn’t think it was fair for people to be living in shacks right next to fancy buildings, but when I walk down the street I see happy faces smiling at me. Over the past month I have noticed that these people are happy without being rich or having any money to spare. I have come to realize just how lucky I am, but at the same time have learned that I don’t need a soft bed to come back to every night, or a cell phone to be happy. There are things that just don’t matter as much anymore since being on this trip and I am going to make a bigger effort to spend my time worrying about more important things than how I look every morning, or what’s going on on Facebook.

Why, I must ask myself, was I always trying to impress these people? Wearing all these tight clothes, and all this makeup, to get something. I wanted to be a ‘pretty girl’. I would notice the things that people would say to everyone else, and I wanted to be those things. All my friends were hearing it, and it seemed like it would be nice. But it isn’t. It’s all so fake. That’s all we want… something. To have something, to hear something, to be someone. But I hate sitting up here on the surface. It’s so easy just to float, and hear those words that you can’t tell yourself anymore. But they’ll never be quite right, no one you’ll have, and nothing you’ve been made out to be. Because all you wanted was just underneath. To be able to be wearing soccer shorts, and a baggy t-shirt, and not have piled on the makeup, and look in the mirror and tell yourself, tell myself, ‘I am beautiful’.
And I don’t want to hear it from anyone else. I don’t want to hear something, have something, and I don’t want to be some girl. We don’t have to be just floating on the surface. We can go as deep as we want into the water. As deep as you want into life; everything. When we’re too busy floating up here, trying so hard to make sure the water is smooth, we can never be fully submerged in this. It doesn’t matter if no one’s following you or letting the water touch their face. Don’t even think about wading in; letting the water only up to your eyes. The lesson I learned is to dive in.

The greatest lesson I have learned from my experiences here it to live in the present because before you know it, it’s gone. If you spend your trip thinking of all the things you miss or of the things ahead in your journey it will be over before you know it. Noticing the little things can help slow it down, like the kid at the school in the school trying to have a conversation with you or the old woman in the market chopping fish. Don’t worry about the future or think about the past just live in the moment.

The Vietnamese have shown me that people are basically loving, happy, and forgiving. My classmates have shown me that the more you get to know people, the more you get to know their ins and outs, the harder it is to see that sometimes. But then they taught me, once again, that people are basically loving, forgiving, and happy.

The lesson that I got out of this trip wasn’t something that I learned here in Vietnam but something that I had been told all my life but never really gotten before now. Need is a funny word. As we traveled throughout Vietnam I looked at how much we have in America and how little the Vietnamese have here and how happy they are. In Seattle we think we need to get that pair of cleats or hand bag but really we only want it. Here in Vietnam people don’t want much even if their need is greater than ours.

I remember the land mine victim from champs who described a moment he had to be strong for his parents. There is no way that he could have expected that to happen. What I learned from this was don’t take things for granted. All the little things that are so easy in the US are much harder here and even something as simple as walking properly we should be thankful about.

After seeing all the local Vietnamese people throughout this trip, I’ve realized how many things I took for granted back home. All the hard work the people do with so little to live off of, compared to the many privileges I have with the little work I do, has not only taught me to appreciate the little things. But also take action and help make a difference around the world.

I think that the most important lesson that I want to take away from this trip is to really appreciate my parents and to help them out when I can. Before this trip I didn’t quite fathom just how much they do for me. Now that I have a better understanding of it, and I know that I can do some of it myself, I want to take some of the weight off of their shoulders when I get back. Also, when we went to the orphanage, it really hit me hard, seeing all of these children left without parents. It was brought to my attention that I’m lucky just to have parents in the first place, because some kids go their whole lives without any actual parental support.

Carpe Diem. This will never happen again, so enjoy it while it lasts. I mean, the amount of things you can spend your time on is, more or less, infinite. Your time is not. Therefore, what you do with your life is valuable. Be someone interesting. Take a chance. See the world. Don’t look back.

While Vietnam might not have changed who I am as a person, it has helped me become aware of the way I live my life and the way I look at the world. One of the lessons that especially affected me was my realization of the power of patience. At the beginning of the trip, I had a problem with time-management; being a naturally tardy person, I had trouble with the strict time line imposed our band of traveling chaperones. So as I struggled through the first week, dealing with the consequences of always being late, I learned to be patient with myself and accept that it takes time to change my previous habits. So eventually, after beginning to show up on time, I truly began to realize that when I have patience with myself, I transform in a subtle, but everlasting way.

On this trip, I have learned many things, but perhaps the most important is to enjoy the little things in life. In our sheltered American lives there are so many things we take for granted that make such a difference here. I have come to realize that the reason people who have so little can be happy is because they enjoy little things, such as hot water or even a smile from a passing tourist. I see far too many instances of people getting upset over petty things, so when I get back to Seattle, I plan to take nothing for granted.

On this trip you have to deal with the same 34 people for an entire month. You will probably learn a little bit about each person while on the trip. Maybe you will discover something that you have in common with someone that you didn’t know before. The most important lesson I learned is to learn something about everyone and extent your friend circle.

I learned a very important lesson during this trip. I learned how fragile trust is. It isn’t granted at birth, and people don’t give it out automatically. It must be earned. And once it’s earned, it’s not set in stone. Trust can be lost at the blink of an eye and can be difficult, even impossible to get back. I have learned through trial and error, more error, to always think about the trusts I have with my parents, friends and teachers, and how easily my actions can effect it.

Love is blind. Beauty is on the outside and the inside. No one cares about what I look like so why should I? True beauty is on the inside.

The most important lesson I learned on this trip was to not be worried or stressed about anything. Whether its high school or social stuff it doesn’t matter, you’re in Vietnam in a foreign country so just slow down and enjoy Vietnam and don’t stress out over things so much.

Before I came to Vietnam I never used to take many risks or try too many different things. FOR EXAMPLE back at the homestay Eli had told us that we were going on a 2 hour hike around our village I pretty much just groaned and tried to crawl back into bed. But while I was going back up the stairs I thought about how I was never coming back to Vietnam and this is probably my last chance to explore and experience what Vietnam is really like, instead of the touristy city places. When I got back from the hike I was so glad I chose to! So because I decided to try something new I saw amazing views and went swimming in one of the nicest rivers I ever been to.

The best lesson I believe that I’ve learned would be that communication is precious. During the homestays on our second night in the village, our group had a three hour dinner. We were discussing how people had two sides and spending too much time with them can cause the second, less appealing side show through more than usual. This alone was a cool discussion topic to share with my friends because it was something different than normal. But I was impressed with the fact that we could get this far into a topic in a serious manner. It has confused me how much my parents and my relative could talk and talk but I’m realizing now that it’s these interactions that define us.

The most important lesson I learned this trip was to try new things don’t assume because usually you will find you will like them. An example of this is I used to hate eggplant but then one day I tried it at the cooking lesson and it was one of the best things I had had in my entire life. Meditation was a new thing I tried on this trip and I really liked it. Before I thought meditation was really weird but even me the always hyper one meditation was really cool. I will continue to try new things even if I am positive I won’t like them.

3/26: 3 days and 2 nights in Ha Long Bay

Though almost impossible to imagine, the 4 hour bus ride from Hanoi to Ha Long was virtually silent. The formula for keeping 26 14-year-old students quite for that long is sleep deprivation: put them on a night train from Lao Cai to Hanoi, arrive in Hanoi at 5AM, eat breakfast, then take a long bus ride to Ha Long.

Ha Long means "descending dragon." Each time the dragon descending into the water, he brought up another island. There are thousands of them in Ha Long Bay.


little floating village

Trip leader Eli leading a "class meeting" on reentry back into the US and high school choices, from our boat's top deck.

Kayaking in Ha Long Bay - the students are followed by a "floating store."

The floating store, going from tourist boat to tourist boat

Our boat from my kayak inside a cave

Jaclyn jumping off the boat


Eli doing a back flip off the boat

This little girl and her slightly older sister go from boat to boat, trying to sell sea shells.

Robbie taking a break on his kayak

Last morning in Ha Long Bay, cruising back to the harbor


Early morning fog - I love the "feel" of this picture

We have 2 days and one night left.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Student Composite Journal

One of the assignments students have while in Vietnam is to contribute to the "Composite Journal." As I read my students writings and reflections, I realized that they must be shared, for the students see through such fresh eyes, and in their innocence there is such wisdom. Below are some of the student entries from the beginning of the trip.

Leaving Seattle 3/1/11
I left the car and got my luggage out of the trunk. Goodbyes were said, but they felt insubstantial, unreal. Meeting up with the rest of the group, there was a sense of “are we really going to do this?” The general mood was that of a group of bungee jumpers, or perhaps roller coaster patrons. There was a excitement in the air, akin to looking down from the top of the cliff, or up at the mountain. We did not know how things would turn out, but we knew it would be a heck of a ride. Getting through customs was accompanied by a strange sense of alienness. Most of the place looked familiar, but things were, or seemed to be, different. Full-body scans in the checkpoints. A different route to the plane. Little things. Once on the first plane, the hours blurred away. Getting off, finding my way to the next plane, seemed unreal. I caught myself wondering when I would be home, not processing my surroundings. Once aboard the second, I entertained fantasies about the trip being a hoax, that we just flew back to Seattle, and then doctored some photos. The second flight also passed quickly, and before long we were on the ground. The plane emptied, and I left the air- conditioned cabin for the bridge between the plane and the airport. The heat and humidity hit me like a fist. I continued, into the airport proper, and the actual heat level hit me like another fist. Reeling from this one- two, I entered Vietnam.

Arriving 3/2
I walked into the Sea-Tac airport thinking the same words that I’m thinking now- I can’t believe this is happening. The thing was, it still hadn’t hit me- the fact that we were going to spend a month in Vietnam. I had been waiting for it to hit me for the last month. We went through security and such and wondered through the airport for about an hour. Finally, the time came to board the plane. We all filed on and waited for take-off. As the plane rumbled to life I grabbed my friend’s hand in excitement. My eyes glued to the window, I watched Seattle grow farther and farther away until it disappeared underneath the clouds.

When we arrived in Korea it seemed strangely familiar. Not that I had been there before or anything, but I guess I expected it to be, well, more foreign. More signs that I couldn’t read. More people that I couldn’t understand. So I waited a bit longer for it to hit me.

My first steps in Vietnam- off of the plane. My first thoughts of Vietnam- I hate humidity. As soon as I stepped off of the plane, it was like stepping into a sauna, for me. I felt dead on my feet, it was around 8 o’clock in the morning for me and I had gotten maybe two hours of sleep. My first view of Vietnam- people. Lots and lots of people, all waiting right outside of the airport. Trying to get to my group once outside was pretty hectic. I became acutely aware of, once pointed out to me by my classmates, that I was one of the very few blonde people there. I climbed aboard the bus and as it started driving I looked out the window. For some reason seeing what was outdoors made me want to smile. It was 11:30 in the night for the Vietnamese people, but there were still plenty of people out and about. Then- there it was. The moment I had been waiting for, for the past month. The cyclos, the people, the signs and restaurants and shops. None of it was American. This is no longer America. I was in Vietnam now, and it felt amazing.

March 2
So many different feelings and words come to mind when I think of Vietnam. In the time it took to travel from Seattle Washington to Seoul, Korea to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, I have started to define those feelings and experience new ones.
When we landed in Ho Chi Minh City, everyone was overwhelmed by the immense wave of heat and humidity. At once I began sweating. I went to the restroom, and discovered a first difference. It was much more efficient then the bathrooms in America. The stalls where skinny and tall versus the wide spacious bathrooms in America. Yes, the smell was not pleasant, but I was impressed by how many stalls fit into the tiny room.
When we walked outside to our bus, we came face to face with hundreds of Vietnamese citizens waiting for their arriving loved ones. Some held signs, others shouted. It sort of made me realize that now I was a racial minority. I had traded shoes with the Vietnamese in America, and I kind of liked it.
When we boarded the bus, the smell hit me first. Very specifically smelled like rice and feet. Although I was extremely tired from the plane rides, the excitement took over and I spent the entire time looking out the window in awe at this country.
My first impression of Vietnam was that it was a very loud, efficient, beautiful, diverse, and full of life. Even though it has only been two nights and a day, I feel as though I have taken the first step into this amazing experience and adventure.

First impressions 3/2
When I walked out of the airport in Vietnam the first thing you see is people lots and lots of people. Now one could say that there are always tons of people at an airport but in Vietnam it’s different. The hundreds of people outside the airport weren’t leaving or coming back to Vietnam. Most of them were families all of them waiting for a member of their family which for some reason was coming back to Vietnam. I immediately realized how unique Vietnam is.
As we got onto the bus we were awed by all the Vietnamese things. As we drove through town I was amazed by the motorcycles and the way the swerved through traffic it was almost like there were no rules in Vietnam. I stared at the motorcycles through the bus window. They drove through Vietnam in an elegant chaos, it was amazing. Couldn’t help but stare out of the window when I got to the hotel room, I had finally made it. I was in Vietnam.

War remnants Museum 3/3
The word war is something we use to cover up the cold truth, something to keep the tears in from past memories. The American war was something on its own, not meant to be shoved aside with all the other wars. The horror of the atrocities that we can commit when we face enough fear and pressure is terrifying. Agent Orange is only one of the many examples of what people will go to in war and even in everyday life, to busy thinking about the immediate and not in the long term.
Being from a different generation from the war gives you a much different perspective. It changes things for you and brings out certain feelings and ideas that you may not normally feel. Guilt is one of them and it runs deep with the shock of what happened. In our eyes we are always the good guys but, in reality that is not always true. On the other hand the loser always seems to become the villain when everything is over. With death must come life and a flower has risen from the ashes of the American War.

War Remnants Museum 3/3
Even as I write this passage hours after the fact, a sense of horror still lingers in me after visiting the War Remnants Museum. The relatively benign exterior of weapons of war such as helicopters, tanks, and planes do not betray what lies ahead. As the intensity slowly ramps up, you walk through “tiger cages” and accounts of the torture that awaited VC captured by the South. That is only the beginning. Many of the pictures and accounts that followed are too gruesome to mention, but one photo has been forever burned into my mind. An image of a US soldier holding up the mutilated body of a communist hung on the wall with a caption explaining he was killed by a grenade stuck with me. It provokes a profound question. How can a human being treat another one so? The American holds the body of his adversary like a fishing trophy, with no regard to the horror of it. A smile seems to cross his face. How can this happen? People say greed is the root of all evil, but they are wrong. Dehumanization can be spotted as causing many of the world’s ills. How can a person mistreat another so? The easiest way is to make the victim less than human. In the eye of the aggressor, if they are not human, then it is not a big step to torture, mutilate, or even kill them. People try to stop wars, but they treat people unequally. We must be fair for a kinder Earth for the future.

The Mekong Delta
3/4
Today we got up early and rode the bus to the Mekong. It felt great to get out on the river, away from the stagnant air of the city. The river was so wide and the current so faint that it seemed like we were on a giant lake. Our boat passed miles of houses that protruded out over the water, their floors resting somewhat haphazardly on large, stripped sticks. All around us were boats, probably twenty feet long, piles of fresh produce, or fish, or houses with people living on them. Some of the people we saw waved as we passed, reinforcing my opinion that the Vietnamese are largely a happy and friendly people. I also saw little children in their yards, eating or doing work, and they waved and shouted “he-llo!” as we passed. As we were walking along the path, a kid about as old as I was, or maybe a little older, who was lying in a hammock in their yard, asked me, “What are you thinking about our country?” No one here seems to dislike Americans for any reason.
After several tea-and-fruit stops, where we saw how rice paper, coconut candy, and popped rice were made, we got into smaller boats, , paddled into an island on a smaller screen. There was little talking for a long time. Maybe it was just the awkward position that discouraged conversation, or the heat, but I think the setting stole the words from our mouths. There was an ancient feel to it, sitting in a long, low boat, sliding quietly through the jungle, wearing traditional Vietnamese style hats. I felt like the scene could have been from ten, fifty, one hundred, five hundred even a thousand years ago. It was peacefully awe inspiring.

Mekong Delta March 4th, 2011
Straw hats bob down the sidewalk as Vietnamese ladies shout their wares. All 34 of us loaded the boats, each person nervous to step on. The boat wavered under my feet. I could feel each ripple splash against the boat. I stepped on, and the view was a stunning, even from under the roof. Lillie pad as scattered all over the Delta, hiding the greenish brown infested water. The sun glared down at us, causing us to gulp down our water bottles. By the time we got to the first island the bottles were half empty.
Shock, Fascination, sadness and hopefulness. That’s what I thought the moment I stepped out of out of the Evergreen bubble and into to the world. The first island we went to looked like a torn apart paradise. Each house was made with scrap metal, and a couple planks of wood. As we walked down the dirt road, complete strangers would wave and say, “hello!” and start a conversation. I really wanted to help these people, seeing how hard they work, but how they really know what’s important in life.
The rest of the day blurred by. We ohhed and ahhed at the exotic food and large snakes. Not one thought about the sadness of how poor the conditions were came up. I really learned from these people. They don’t need much money to have a great time, or love life. All you need is a family, friends, and to accept yourself.

Cu Chi Tunnels 3/5/11
200 miles through the red clay, eighteen feet underground, over twenty years. It’s hard to believe that the feat of the Cu Chi tunnels was done during the dark of night with only hand spades and bamboo baskets to carry the dirt out of the tunnels. If American G.I.s had been able to see these tunnels during the war they would have seen the sheer determination of the Viet Cong and their unwillingness to quit. This quote from Catfish and Mandala comes back to me now, “There are only two things worth seeing in Asia. One you can see from space. The other you can’t see when you’re standing on top of it.” It is amazing the quality of work went into Cu Chi and ingenuity in the making the tunnels.

Cu Chi Tunnels Reflection March 5, 2011
Nothing
Have I done.
At this time I
Carry the burden
Of those
Who have.
Photographed as
The enemy;
Invited as
A guest.
Why then
Do they
Stare, wide-eyed?

First Impressions of Hoi An – 3.6.11
As I bike down the street, I realize that Ho Chi Minh City didn’t really feel like Vietnam. It was too much of a big city, and not enough of a relaxing place. Now, going to the beach it really feels like Vietnam. I think it’s mostly the lack of noise. Ho Chi Minh City was so loud; I didn’t get to enjoy the peaceful aspect of Vietnam. Now, I can enjoy the feel of Vietnam in a beautiful city with lots to do.
The realization hits me again and again as we keep going. All the time we are going to the beach, and while we’re there. I also realize afterwards at dinner, while I’m watching the lights on the river. I keep thinking, I’m actually in Vietnam, and I believe it. Now, I am in Vietnam.

Hoi Anh first impressions 3/6
It was hard to take in the beauty of the city and beach through the window when the world outside was moving so fast. Used to the hills of Seattle I was unprepared for how flat Hoi An was. It was less busy than Ho Chi Minh but still enough to be fast paced. It wasn’t as much as when we first flew into Vietnam but my senses were on overload and time had slowed down. The architecture looked Chinese influenced. Monster hotels sat next to small one bedroom households. The beach was one out of a postcard when viewed from three hundred yards away, I soon found out it was littered with garbage. The weather was hotter than Ho Chi Minh but there was much less humidity.
When stepped out of the bus it was like a blast of city mixed with farm land and some water buffalo to top it off. Sun beat down on us and was only cooled by the almost constant wind. I made an effort to take pictures of everything I could while still paying attention to my other senses and remembering to look around. The over load was wearing off and I noticed small detail’s, like the woman selling what appeared to be doughnuts and the lack of sunglass vendors swarming us. Here they made us go to them.

Hoi An Orphanage March 7, 2011
After a long day of activity, I had the amazing privilege to visit a nearby orphanage along with most of my classmates. We took a pleasant five minute stroll and were greeted by a man pushing a blue cart overflowing with food. Following Ha’s lead we helped this man push his heavy load into the orphanage. Then we were hustled into a room with a circular table, where each spot had a glass waiting for tea. Then Ha translated for us while we asked the director questions about the orphanage. It really struck me that they only received three hundred and sixty thousand dong per child each month. That’s how much I use in a day or two. Realizing that made me appreciate what I have. I admit and we all should admit to the amount of time I spend wishing that I had more. In the moment, I felt greedy and disgusted at my American lifestyle.
The instant entered the room with disabled infants, 24 set of eyes lit up. Tiny hands beckoned me over. As I got closer I saw that the little one reaching for me was a small 2 year old girl. As I approached her, I realized she could not see because she kept looking passed me with a disconnected look. I placed my hands in front of her. She immediately grasped them and began feeling her way around my palms. It felt like she was searching my soul through was of touch, instead of sight. I held her hands and swung them back and forth, which made her laugh. It amazed me at how a person who daily endures two of the worst things in the world; being disabled, and an orphan, could find happiness in the most simple things, like hand games.
I think we can all learn an important lesson from this girl. Although times get tough, it’s still important to find happiness through great struggle, and appreciate the little things.

Cooking class
Cooking was my favorite activity so far. After having a free morning we were taken through the back alleys and side streets of Hoi An to a rickety old boat which took us down the baby barf brown river to a shallow marshy area with a stream flowing through it. After following the stream we eventually got to the cooking class/resort thing. After having a quick lesson on what plants looked like we were off again to the cooking class.
Cooking class was a gigantic collection of tasty failure. The teacher of the class would throw the ingredients together and then in a whirl of knives fire and chopsticks make a dish. Then we would do it. We sucked. The finished dish would be a haphazard concoction, held together by rice paper and hands looking nothing like the meal the chef had prepared. And then we would eat them. Even though they didn’t look pretty they still tasted great. We ate a lot of food that day and the boat ride back was really peaceful.

Farming in Hoi An
Going farming was an interesting experience. Firstly, because I fell off my bike and strained my wrist ten minutes before the farming, and second due to the slow quality of the work. Nothing was hurried or rushed. I mean, take the lesson. We biked there, got outfitted in farmer garb, and headed into the fields. We got a bunch of interesting herbs pointed out to us, and then arrived at a small rectangle of unplanted land. We dug it, placed some seaweed in it, filled it back up, plowed it, planted it, and watered it. Then, the farmer answered some questions for us, and then we went back to his house and made ourselves some food. We ate it, and then headed home. That slow pace consumed five hours. It is all too easy to imagine the time stretching into days, weeks, months. That kind of simple life evokes a timeless quality to the space, but in an interesting way. In the rubber tree farm we passed on the way back to Saigon, where the trees seemed infinite, you expected fallen leaves to hang in the air, forever drifting. In the farm, you expected to walk outside and be in the midst of the Chinese occupation of Vietnam, or Dien Bien Phu, or the American War. The farm seemed to be everywhere, unchanging through the ages. You could enter the farm in 1968 and meet the same farmer who greets you in 2157. The trees were nowhere, detached from the ages. And then there are the places that seem to move ahead of the times, skyscrapers rising in a village, hospitals in the desert. Vietnam is all of these at once. It is an amalgamation of past history, present development, and future planning.

Connections – 3-9-2011
While going to the lantern making lesson, we had a little time to spare. Our guide decided to go to a school playground. A group of boys were playing soccer in the field and our guide asked the kids if we could join. They let us join, and our game started.
The boys and we barely had a single language in common. We spoke nearly no Vietnamese and they spoke just a little English. Even though we didn’t understand each other with words, we had connections. We understood what to do and when. I understood them well and I had great connections with all of them. A great example of my connections was I scored two goals. They were both off great crosses. I thought that we both had the same objective and the same goal.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

March 19th through 22nd: Sapa and the Red Dao Village

March 19th: Sapa town
After 9 hours on the night train from Hanoi, we arrived in Lao Cai, in north west of Vietnam on the Chinese border. From there we took a one hour bus ride to Sapa, the center for a variety of minority people and the jumping off place for village trekking. I first came to Sapa in 2006 on my second Evergreen School trip to Vietnam. The town has grown so much since then as tourism has boomed. There are Vietnamese on holiday here, as well as quite a large international community. I am told that some property value has increased 800 percent. The cold spell that hit Hanoi while we were there dropped snow on Sapa - the first time in ten years.

Black H'mong girl selling a necklace

Red Dao (pronounced Zow) woman

Black H'mong woman selling her incredible hat

Street food - my lunch - YUM!

Colorful products for sale from the minority people

Personally, I do not think the pig hanging outside the restaurant is much of an enticement.

Tile roofs

My friend Song. I met her the first time I came to Sapa. I helped her set up an internet account, but never kept in touch. I do manage to run into her almost every time I come to Sapa.

Trekking to Ta Phin of the Red Dao
We stayed in Sapa just a few hours, then divided into 4 groups and each headed for a different village of a different minority group. Every year the village stay is the students' favorite time in Vietnam, and every year that ask for more time. I was able to increase our time spent in the villages to three nights this year.

My group has one parent chaperone and six students. We have a local guide named Ha (I call him Ha Hai , meaning Ha two, to differentiate him form our national guide), and will be met at our home-stay by a local cook as well.

We walked for 3 hours through beautiful rice terraced hills to the village of Ta Phin.

I apologize for all the pictures, but it was just too difficult to edit, for the scenery was so spectacular.




I have never seen anything like these rice fields, as if swirling down a sink hole.

Rice drying on the trail, with rice terraces in the back ground.



View from our home-stay

After a magical walk of three hours, we arrived at Ta Phin village, home of the Red Dao people. Our home-stay is a very simple wood house with a tin roof and a cement floor. There are no windows with glass in this house. All the students stayed in one room with a number of mattresses and mosquito nets. I stayed in a sectioned off area. Between the two areas was a sitting room open wide to this view. At night a big, blue plastic tarp is lowered to keep out the wind. All the food is cooked over a wood fire. The smoke, at times, fills the whole house. The family (father, mother, son, daughter and "adopted" son) sleep in another room behind the cooking area. The roof is high to allow for a loft area as well.

March 20th: Day two of our home-stay
Life moves at a simpler pace here. It is 6:30AM and I am the only person from my group awake. The village animals are so noisy - roosters crowing, dogs barking, pigs squealing. The village is starting to wake up as well. I watch kids dragging long bamboo poles down the trail, the women in their black or indigo clothes with their Red Dao hats and a hoe over their shoulders, heading for the rice fields. People are gathering wood, or feeding and watering the animals. The wind blows through the valley. You can hear its roar building as it gets closer, but barely feel it as it follows the channel of the valley below - very cool! I have always loved the wind. It feels like it cleanses me as it blows through me.

Chu and the family Breakfast

Chu is 15 years old and an indentured servant to this family. Chu comes from a very poor family. His family traded his services to our home-stay family for 4 years, and at the end of that time, our home-stay family will give Chu's family a buffalo. Chu is treated like a family member - he eats, sleeps and works with the family. Our guide Ha says Chu is very happy here and will be sad when he lives, for his standard of living is so much higher here than with this family.

Silver bracelet Offer of engagement
The red Dao still practice arranged marriages. The boy's family will send a spokesperson, someone who can speak very well for the family, to the girl's family. They bring a silver bracelet and a bottle of rice wine. The girl's family makes a special breakfast of buffalo meat, stomach and liver, as well as other savory dishes. The girl's family holds on to the bracelet for one week. At the end of a week, the girl's family either keeps the bracelet, accepting the proposal, or rejects the proposal by the girl returning the bracelet.

Chao May, 20 year old daughter of our home stay family

Chau May received her 22nd marriage proposal the morning after we arrived at the home-stay. Needless to say, she has rejected the previous 21 proposals. Our local guide Ha explained that "the times, they are a changin." The home-stay family is letting Chau May accept or reject each proposal, unlike their arranged marriage, which was set up by their parents before they had ever even met each other. Chau May is 20 years old, and so her parents are concerned that she is becoming an "old maid." At the end of our three day home-stay, I asked Chau May what she will respond to this proposal. "I have no idea," she said. How will she decide what she will do, I asked. "I have no idea," was her reply. Our home-stay family has never met this family, so I asked the mother how the decision will be made. She said she will ask about the family this week, and then go to a "fortune teller" to look at the couple's horoscope. I asked the mother how many more rejections will she allow her daughter to make. When this question was translated, everyone just laughed.

We worked in the rice fields in the morning, scraping the weeds off of the terraced walls and digging up the hard ground with picks. It was very hard work and we were exhausted after one hour. Ha told us that one square meter produces about a bowl of rice. So every time a farmer eats a bowl of rice, he or she is reminded of all the sweat that went into producing it. Unlike a city dweller, for the farmer nothing is wasted and nothing is taken for granted.

Izie and an infant

We went for a walk in the afternoon, touring the villages around our home-stay.



Early evening cooking lesson

At night we took advantage of hot herbal baths, made from 17 different jungle herbs. The herbs are boiled in a large wok, and then the liquid is poured into two small wooden tubs, large enough for one person to squat in. One student remarked, "It was like soaking in tomato soup. . . .But in a good way." It was a pretty good description of the smell, and quite a luscious experience.

3/21: Day three of our home-stay
In the morning we volunteered to go with Chu to gather wood. We trekked through the jungle for close to an hour, sometimes using all four limbs as the trail made its way up a slippery wet path that closely resembling a stream bed. I asked why we had to walk to so far to gather wood, and was explained that all the land is owned by families, even the jungle, so we had to walk to our home-stay's property.

Our group with back packs for carrying the wood back to the home-stay

Izie bursting into song

Anna in Red Dao garb

Our home stay family is wealthy, and does not need to sell hand-made textiles any more, unlike many of the Red Dao people we have met. They do have a basket full of stuff that is for sale. As we looked through the items, our search became a fashion show.

Sam

My group modeling their Red Dao clothing

Chau May, the 20 year old daughter, with Mai Duong, our cook. Though Mai Duong is also from a minority group, though not Red Dao. She is Thai, and so she was excited to get involved in the fashion show as well.

March 22nd - Day four of our homestay

Saying good bye to our home-stay family. In the middle is the father, daughter, and mother.

We walked to the van, were driven to another location south of Sapa, then walked for an hour or so to Ta Van, where we met two other Evergreen school groups. From there we took our vans to Ban Ho, the location of the fourth group.



View from the Ban Ho home-stay, the location of the fourth group

The reason we all met at Ban Ho is because of this water fall and river. Though the water is very cold, it was so nice and refreshing to swim in. The waterfall is just around the corner, in the upper left of the photo.

We all ate lunch together at the Ban Ho home-stay, and then were treated to traditional dancing, including this dance with poles that separate and come together. We all had to try.

Me with Mai Duong, our group's cook. I teased her that I would have to hide this picture from my wife.

My old friend Ming, the owner of the Ban Ho home-stay. I came here the first three times I came to Sapa, in 2006, 2008, and 2009. The last two years I have gone to the Ta Phin home-stay. Maybe next trip to Vietnam I will go to the Ta Van home-stay. It is important for me to experience all the different home-stays, though it is difficult to not return because of the bonds created.

We returned to Sapa in the afternoon. We have been trying to give the students a "work session" from 6 to 7PM every day. The students have a number of assignments while on the trip: reflect in their journal every day, work on their NGO projects, upload their best photos to a shared file, contribute to the "composite journal" (each student must contribute 4 entries, which I will compile for everyone on the trip), email their parents, and read the other students' itinerary reports. Today we asked each student to write three "post cards" or slides about their home-stay experience. Then we got back together in home-stay groups and decided on six of them to share, creating skits for each entry. We then got back together as a whole group and read and acted out each vignette. It was a fun way to share with everyone each group's home-stay experience.