Day
1: Sunday March 25th
“Good Morning Vietnam!” You movie watchers should
understand this reference as it is the name of the movie?! Naturally I am
clueless on the reference (so not a movie watcher)… Moving right along, I can’t
wait to tell you ALL about Vietnam/Cambodia!
Before I begin on my journeys, I shall
start off with explaining that I chose to do a SAS trip that took me to
Cambodia. This is the only way I would be allowed to travel to Cambodia as it
is SAS policy that you have to stay in the country we are docked unless you
travel with a SAS organized trip. Going into the trip, I was almost kicking
myself that all of my friends were going to be together in Huelong Bay (in
North Vietnam), while I along with the rest of my group would be traveling to
Cambodia… clearly I an extreme case of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out!). As I now
look back on my decision I am so happy that way back in January I chose to sign
up for the Cambodia trip as it truly was a monumental experience.
My trip to Cambodia didn’t leave until 1:30
PM on Monday so that gave my friend Maddy and me some time to shop in Vietnam
before our departure… my friend Katie had a field trip in the afternoon so she
too shopped with us as well! We decided that the best use of our time would be
to go to the market called Ben Thanh Market --- this market was one huge
building that was open on all sides and had stalls all throughout. They sold
anything and everything you can imagine: food, jewelry, shoes, clothing, fabric,
bowls, souvenirs, shampoo, candles, DVDs, and more--- it is actually so
overwhelming to go shopping when there is so much you can buy at your finger
tips. Here is a picture of me in one of the stalls picking out some bowls!
A really popular thing for SASers to do in
Vietnam is to get clothing custom tailored as the quality is great, the price
is right, and the speed in which you can have your one of a kind product is
amazing! Maddy, Katie and I really wanted to get dresses made and knew that if
we didn’t order them today, we may have lost our one opportunity, thus with
about 45 minutes until we had to run back to the ship, we managed to pick a
fabric, find a tailor, and have measurements taken for our custom dresses. As
you can imagine I was a nervous wreck about the darn dress coming out properly
as it ended up costing me around $50 including the fabric and tailoring, which
was more than I had wanted to spend… but I was SOOO pleased with the finished
product ;)
Here is the process that we went through to
get our dresses made:
Step 1: Pick out fabric from the market…
obviously for Maddy and Katie this was an easy task, but for me… no such luck.
I’ll be honest, after a good 15 minutes of looking I was near tears that I
couldn’t find anything I liked… that is until I found this beautiful periwinkle
color:
Step 2: Select your dress style…I didn’t do
my homework before coming to Vietnam, thus I didn’t know the style of the dress
that I wanted made, but lucky for me as I looked around the store I found this
really cute magazine picture of a one shoulder dress so I pointed to it and the
tailor said that she could recreate the dress for me!
Step 3: Take all of my measurements
Step 4: Arrive on the last day of Vietnam
(Thursday) to see the finished product! I had to of course snap a photo with my
AMAZING tailor… (ps this was the most
hilarious line of Vietnam as the boys would constantly tell everyone how they
had to “go to their tailor” for a second fitting… we are getting not only
worldly, but also classy!)
4. Finished Dress
After we were finished with the tailor, we
went immediately to the shuttle bus and returned back to the ship. We quickly
grabbed a bite to eat, gathered our belongings and were off to Cambodia! I will
admit that I was a little nervous because the group size was about 55 people,
however it ended up not feeling that large at all as there was a variety of
people from different groups so it seemed like everyone could hang out together
as opposed to many little cliques which can sometimes happen on the larger
trips.
We arrived at the airport early because we
were taking an international flight and ended up having plenty of time to relax
and of course enjoy free wi-fi access! There is nothing quite as precious as
FREE wi-fi when you haven’t had it for 3 months… we literally get so excited to
be able to surf the web for free! Don’t get me wrong, it is actually even more
accelerating to not be on the internet constantly, but every now and then it is
nice to be able to search the web with a FAST connection ;)
We landed in Phnom
Penh, the capital of Cambodia around 5:00 PM and we were off for
our first activity, a tour an orphanage that is run by Semester at Sea alumni.
Because of my international service learning class I see community service
environments in an entirely different light. That being said, I did not like
the way in which we toured the orphanage as you will read in my explanation
below which is actually part of my service report for the class:
As
I entered the orphanage, Srey Nit, a 7-year old girl, initially introduced
herself then proceeded to hold my hands followed by handing over a yellow sheet
with information about Palm Tree. At first, I was touched by the act, thinking
this girl must be extremely out-going, for I would never have had the courage
to go up to a complete stranger at the age of 7 and be so hospitable. However,
as I began to look around, I realized that I was not the only one getting the
royal treatment, for all of us were greeted by one of the children. Honestly, I
was taken aback by how rehearsed the children appeared, as each one seemed to
be programmed with the exact same agenda.
The
first stop of the tour was for Srey Nit to take me to a room full of art
projects that had been made by the children and were sold to raise money for
Palm Tree. I am more than understanding to Palm Tree, as I know that as a
non-profit it is a constant struggle to raise funds, however the way in which
Palm Tree chooses to solve this dilemma made me feel quite uncomfortable. Lucky
for me, the room was too crowed for us to enter, thus I avoided being put in
the awkward position of feeling forced to make a purchase, but many of my peers
that did go into the room felt obligated to buy something from their child.
Additionally, as I reflect on the experience I question who acted as the
cashier when one purchased an item from the market, as I am fairly certain that
the child took the money as opposed to giving it to one of the adult
volunteers.
The
tour of the orphanage concluded with all of the children wanting to get our
contact information. As I surveyed the scene, I once again found that all of
the children were partaking in this act. I could not help but wonder why Srey
Nit, a 7 year old with limited computer access wanted to have my email address.
I have come up with three possible reasons as to why she wanted my email
address. The first explanation is that she does not have much steady contact
with an older person and would like for me to fill this role. Another
explanation is that Srey Nit, is acting like any young child would act when
under the influence of older children and simply mimicking their actions. The
final explanation, and the one in which I am most apt to believe is that Palm
Tree Organization has instructed for the children to get our emails so as they
can gather our information for an email list.
I
would like to clarify that my problem with the Palm Tree visit was the following:
I assume (but have no way of knowing for certain) that whenever Srey Nit or any
of the children see a visitor at Palm Tree they draw the conclusion that all
visitors have a lot of money. That being said, there is no doubt in my mind
that we made an impact on the children of Palm Tree Orphanage and am therefore
satisfied with the visit. Although I viewed the experience in perhaps a
negative light, I feel that I made a difference in the lives of the kids at the
orphanage and at the end of the day that is all that truly matters about the
visit. We made the kids feel special and gave them an opportunity to have an
older person’s undivided attention.
After the orphanage visit, we were back on
the bus and ready for a yummy Cambodian dinner! My favorite part of the meal
was definitely the delicious vegi spring rolls! Hellloooo Asia, I have
certainly made it ;)
That night a bunch of us went out to celebrate
my friend Kira’s 21st birthday! In Cambodia Sunday night is
apparently the popular night to go out as it is common for people to have
wedding celebrations on Sunday Night… A fun fact about Cambodian weddings is
that unlike in the US where the bride’s family pays for the wedding, in
Cambodia it is the groom’s family that pays for everything!
The night was tons of fun when I was able
to keep my blinders on and only hang out with Semester at Sea people, however
whenever I looked around and saw the Cambodian women in the bar, I became
immediately saddened… I am currently reading the book, Half the Sky,
which is about women’s rights in developing countries and the need for us to
invest our time and money into helping oppressed women around the world (I urge
each of you to read it as it is both eye opening and powerful) I’ll be the
first to admit that I could certainly be jumping to conclusions, however many
of the women were wearing provocative outfits and I couldn’t help but to wonder
if the women were being sex trafficked. As you can probably imagine it was a
lot to take in and I think freeing oppressed women may be the next issue that
CK tackles… this doesn’t mean out with recycling and in with women’s
oppression, rather it means that I will be working for both causes.
Day
2: Monday March 26th, 2012
We rose bright and early on Monday morning
and were off to see the Palace and the Silver Pagoda. The Royal Palace as you
might guess is where the King of Cambodia resides. An interesting fact about
the King is that he was appointed King because he was the next in line in terms
of his family and was forced to take the throne, however he had no interest in
the position as he studied photography and ballet in college and wanted a job
in this field. Here is a picture of the Royal Palace:
The Silver Pagoda is right next to the
Royal Palace and once again must be honest that I am pretty sure I missed the
importance of the Silver Pagoda. I do know that its floor is made from silver
and they have put down carpets so that visitors do not walk on the silver
flooring… additionally there are millions of Buddha’s inside the Silver Pagoda…
just a side note that I don’t have any pictures of the Silver Pagoda because
this was one of those “No Flash Photography” Zones.
Our next stop was by far the most
meaningful stop of my entire voyage thus far and that is the visit to the
Killing Fields followed by the visit to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Before
going to Cambodia I was clueless on the Mass Genocide that took place between
1974-1979… I actually left our visit feeling angered that not once in my
multiple history/ social studies classes had we discussed the Genocide in
Cambodia… come on MCPS this is RECENT history! Sadly, I was not alone as many
members of the group also felt the same anger that we were not taught about the
horrid events!!!!
For those of you who feel in the dark about
the Mass Genocide in Cambodia, please allow me to explain… in 1974 the Khmer
Rouge, a group of uneducated Cambodian citizens, teamed together to over throw
the government and start a revolution for the country… their main goal was to
kill anyone with an education and then have an entirely brainwashed population.
This included doctors, lawyers, teachers, students, children of the above
groups, the entire upper class (as they clearly had been educated)… for some it
was obvious that they were educated, but those that were unsure of they would
actually look at their bare hands to see if they had callous on them… those
that had callous were kept alive because this indicated that they used their
hands for farming, those without these marks were taken to be killed. They ended
up killing 3 million people.
A victim was first taken to the Tuol Sleng
Genocide Museum, at the time this was not a Museum, but rather a jail site. The
person was stripped of their humanity as they had photographs taken in order to
record their existence for the Khmer Rouge--- throughout the Museum they have
placed boards and boards of the innocent victims photos and as you look from
one picture to the next you can see the terror on each person’s face that
screams HELP ME! After their photo was completed, the victim’s clothing was
taken, thus stripping them of any remaining humanity…
The Khmer Rouge would then torment the
people in hopes of receiving more information on other educated people that
were in hiding throughout Cambodia. Some of their torture practices included:
beating and starving their victims, pulling out their victims finger nails and
then pouring acid or alcohol on their fingers… They were given 2 meals a day,
but clearly the food was anything but adequate. One of the most terrifying
aspects about being at the jail site was that because the events were so recent
I could actually still see the blood stains on the walls… Additionally, the
original purpose of the jail was a school, thus as I walked around I saw
evidence of the school building such as the playground equipment (which the
Khmer Rouge used as tormenting devices) and chalk boards as seen in the
background of this room which was used as jail cells.
After a victim was tortured long enough,
they were blindfolded and then taken to the Killing Fields. When a victim
arrived at the Killing Fields they were forced to literally dig their own hole
in which their body would be “buried.” Now you see, The Khmer Rouge was scared
that bystanders would hear the screaming from their prisoners, so instead of
killing them in gas chambers or with guns, they chose to beat adults and kids
over the heads with bamboo until were dead. Babies on the other hand were taken
by their feet and then viciously thrown against a tree until they were dead. One
of the most horrific aspects about the killing fields is how new it all
appears…the grass has not fully grown back above the Mass Graves (the holes)
and you can also still make out pieces of tattered clothing that were so
clearly worn by the victims before they were murdered.
Walking through the Killing Field and Museum
was an emotional experience… I wrestled with feelings of sadness, anger, guilt,
depression, and tiredness… Honestly, the reflection process takes time, thus I
have not fully comprehended all that I saw, but it seems to help my thought
process by questioning all that I experienced:
v What
did it feel like to dig your own grave or know that you were walking to your
deathbed?
v How
can one be an innocent bystander and allow such horrific events to occur?
v How
can I be clueless about a genocide that occurred a mere 35 years ago?
v Why
was I NEVER taught anything about Cambodia in all of my courses?
v What
other historical atrocities do I not know about?
v How
am I going to stay better informed in the future?
v Who
am I going to share this information with so they are not left in the dark and
so history CAN NOT repeat itself?
I would like to make one final comment
about the Killing Fields/ Museum… I am proud of my fellow peers during our
Killing Fields and the Museum “visit” (it
feels wrong to use even the word visit as it implies a positive connotation).
Earlier in the day people were hung-over, tired, and full of complaints, but as
soon as we got to these 2 sites, everyone put on a serious face and knew better
than to make any negative commentary on their own well being as what we were
seeing was far worse than the minor head-ache or exhaustion that we were
feeling. We acted as intelligent travelers who were genuinely curious, yet
concerned with all that we were experiencing and together were able to lean on
one another to try to make sense of the events.
Our next stop was lunch, which consisted of
nothing to “blog home about” and we also went to a Museum in Cambodia, again
nothing to “blog home about.” Our day concluded with a flight to Angkor Wat…
home of the TEMPLES ON TEMPLES ON TEMPLES--- oh my!
Well, I guess our day was not over
completely as we arrived to Angkor Wat around 5:00 PM with time to shower and
get ready for our delicious buffet dinner of Asian cuisine! Yum yum yum… it was
really fun because there were a bunch of other Semester at Sea trips also at
the restaurant so we all sat at one long table and chatted about what everyone
had seen/ done in Cambodia and Vietnam. After dinner there was a great authentic
dance show and as you can see the costumes were beautiful!
My friends and I decided to leave the dance
show a little early in order to take advantage of the night market… we were all
exhausted, but chose to rally on, I mean why not spend a few more dollars on
some souvenirs right?! And how could I forget the AMAZINGLY CHEAP yet OUT OF
THIS WORLD massages? So Cambodia/ Vietnam are known for having these things
called fish pedicures in which there is a giant tub of water full of fish and
they all bite at your dead skin to make your feet mucho soft ;) Some people are
terrified of the foot massage; I on the other hand loved the feeling of the
fish pecking at my toes and allowed them to continue biting away ;) The cost of
this bad boy… take a guess--- if you predicted $1.00 then you are correct!!!
Additionally, Maddy and I enjoyed getting
our feet massaged for once again, $1.00…
After we were fully pampered, we chose to
call it a night at which time I made a quick call home to mom via facetime…
shout out to Jilly for learning how to take full advantage of her electronics…
you go girl!
Day
3: Tuesday March 27th
Tuesday was filled with Temples on Temples
on Temples… yes, I know I already used this expression once, however I feel it
is needed once again to enforce how OVER Temples I was after Tuesday March 27th.
Alright, alright that’s a lie they were actually incredible, but after an
entire day in the heat at the temples, it was enough already ;)
We began the day with an optional sunrise
tour of Angkor Wat… that was actually really cool because we sat down directly
across from Angkor Wat and were able to literally just watch as the sky began
to get lighter and lighter and then finally bam out of nowhere it was normal
outside! We were there for about an hour and then it was time to get back on
the bus to the hotel for breakfast…
After breakfast we were back on the bus
again, this time to actually take a walk around Angkor Wat! We received the
guided tour of the Temple in which we learned about the Temple, but if you know
me well enough by now, you should know that the information has all blended
together, thus I only know bits and pieces of what I was told. I can tell you
that Angkor Wat was the capital of Cambodia, but in 1432 it was moved to Phnom
Penh (the first place I went to in Cambodia)… it was moved because of water problems
and also a clash between the Hindu and the Buddhist…
I found it particularly interesting that at
Angkor Wat there was a sacred Temple that unlike any other place I have
traveled thus far, as a female I was required to wear something that covered my
shoulders, but a shawl was not acceptable… good thing I stuck a t-shirt in my
purse! I find this noteworthy as even at the Western Wall in Israel, a female
can get away with covering her shoulders with a shawl, yet at Angkor Wat this
is unacceptable… I wonder who on earth comes up with these rules?!
Here is a picture of my friend Taylor and
me at the Library in Angkor Wat… notice us reading our books?!
Our next stop was drum roll please… you got
it, another temple this time: Ta Prohm Temple. The claim to fame for Ta Prohm Temple is that this is
where Angelina Jolie’s film, Tomb Raider” takes place. Had I been in shorts and
sneakers, I would have had a field day climbing about in the ruins, not to
worry I still climbed, but it was a bit more painful in a long dress and
sandals… It reminded me a lot of the big foam pits that you can jump in at a
gymnastic center, except if one were to jump into the ruins, the fall wouldn’t
be nearly as cushioned! Below is a picture of the famous scene from the movie:
After exploring the Ta Prohm Temple, it was
time to head back to the hotel for lunch! WAHOOOO some much needed air
conditioning! After about an hour, we were naturally, back on the road for yep,
you guessed it folks … MORE TEMPLES! In this Temple Maddy and I chose to find a
nice quiet place and just sit, chat and take in the beautiful view of a
Cambodian Temple… I have to say this was the way to do it ;)
After about 30 minutes, we all met back up
once again only to find that our tour guides wanted us to go to more temples… By
this point, the group was really lagging and had had it up to HERE (use your
imagination for how high that must be) with seeing Temples, thus we put our
American Democratic power into action and held a little vote to see if we
should stop at another Temple or if we should just do a drive by… what’s your
guess on the outcome? (trying to have some audience participation!!) BINGO---
we went for the drive by of the Temples and it was equally as rewarding. After the Temple
drive by, it was time to say so long fair well to Cambodia and head back to
NAM! Side note: I think I visited only 3 of the 300 Temples that apparently
reside in Cambodia… additionally fun fact to know and tell is that the
Cambodian flag is the ONLY flag in the world to have a building on it!
I would like to reiterate how thankful I am
that I chose to go on the Cambodia trip as I truly feel I learned so much and
although the Temples were repetitive at times, they were well worth it. If you
ever plan a trip to the Vietnam or Thailand region, I urge you to visit
Cambodia as well, specifically the killing fields as they are one of those
things that one must experience on their own for the pain to really sink in…
We made it back to Vietnam around 8:00 PM
at night… I was exhausted, but not willing to go to bed for I was CRAVING
MEXICAN food (funny story on why I was craving Mexican). In a nut shell I had
read Maddy’s sister’s blog (she did SAS 3 years ago) and she had mentioned that
in Vietnam she had gone out for amazing Mexican food … therefore as soon as I
read this line (mind you it had been about a week before we had even arrived in
Vietnam) I too wanted some scrumptious Mexican food… well, I did get Mexican,
but not the Cali N Titos (shout out to my UGA-ers) that I was craving... the
chips were a joke, but now that I think about it, I’m the one who is a joke…
who on earth goes to Vietnam to eat Mexican food!? Teheheh don’t worry I redeemed
myself with my night 4 dinner ;)
Day
4: Wednesday March 28th
On Wednesday I woke up bright and early for
a field trip for my International Service Learning Class where we visited a
School for the Deaf and Disabled children in Vietnam. I was actually pleasantly
surprised by the trip as I was expecting to not have much interaction with the
kids, however the group size ended up being perfect (there were about 15 of us)
so we actually got to play with the students. Below is the majority of an essay
that I had to write as a reflection to my service visit (no need to reinvent
the wheel on this one!)
After
a brief introduction meeting with the Principal and his assistant, we were
broken into pairs and then off to the classrooms! My friend Marisa and I chose
to be partners and were immediately directed to a class of students that were
around 12 years old.
As
we entered the room, the eight students and the teacher all stopped everything
they were doing to smile, wave and nervously giggle at us. It all of the sudden
hit me that communication was going to be a major issue for Marisa and me as
neither of us knew any sign language or Vietnamese. As the moments ticked by,
Marisa and I waited nervously for instructions on what we were supposed to do
with the students, however due to the language barrier, we had to wait on the
side of the room. I felt like a burden on the teacher and could tell from her
body language that she did not know quite what to do with us. The teacher continued
with her lesson, but of course, the students were distracted by our presences.
It just so happened that the principal walked by the class and ended up
directing us to a different teacher, as our body language must have read that
we were of no help to this teacher.
We
went to a class of students who were around the age of 6 to 7 and as soon as we
walked in, I knew this was a way better fit. In this classroom, I did not feel
like a disturbance, but rather it appeared that the teacher was waiting for our
arrival and immediately stepped back to allow us to interact with the students.
Although we had no assigned task, Marisa and I immediately began to color with
the students. The children in this class all appeared to be deaf, but some
seemed to have other disabilities as well. Just from the 30-minute visit, I
could see the need for extreme patience when working with kids with special
needs. Although the teacher could speak the same language as the students, it
was still difficult for her to communicate with them. I give the teacher’s at
this school a lot of credit for if this teacher taught at my Elementary School
back in the United States there would have been at least 1 other person in the
room helping her to control the class.
Our
next activity was recess in which the students from all of the classes were
outside together playing on the jungle Jims or else hanging out with one of the
Semester at Sea students. I ended up spending recess time with a little girl
who after meeting me decided to hold my hand for the remaining break period.
At
the conclusion of recess it was time for our de-briefing session with the
Principal and his assistant at which point were able to get our questions
answered. One thing that particularly struck me is that aside from the Principal,
every other teacher at the school was female. When I posed this as a question,
the assistant laughed and told me that this was an excellent observation yet
did not expand on whether or not this was common for this field of work.
Another question that I asked the Principal and his assistant was if people
stayed teaching at the school for a while, they both smiled and said yes as the
Principal had been at the school for 8 years and his assistant had been working
there for 17 years!
For
many of my peers this experience would left them feeling unfulfilled as they
would come back saying, “I feel like I did nothing,” but I have the opposite
reaction. As I peered into the teacher’s classrooms during recess time I
noticed many of them sitting at their desk in peace and quiet with a smile on
their face enjoying a break from watching their students. I’m glad that my
actions not only made the children’s days a little brighter, but I was also
able to provide a much deserved break for the teachers who are enabling these
children to have the opportunity to an education even though they have a
disability. This project was particularly meaningful to me because I learned
the importance of a smile. The students at the school, my fellow Semester at
Sea participants and I could not communicate with one another because of our
language differences, however, there was one thing that we could convey and
that was the universal symbol of a smile. Regardless of the age, gender,
ability, or nationality everyone on the playground that afternoon was grinning
from ear to ear.
l
Maddy, Marisa and I had all decided that we
wanted to go to the Cu Chi Tunnels in the afternoon, thus Marisa and I promised
Maddy that as soon as our field trip was done we would meet her back at the
ship. As Marisa and I were getting on the ship, we ran into 2 of our guy
friends, Austin and Zach who also wanted to go to the tunnel. However they
needed to go to their “suit fitting” (this is what I mean by how hilarious the
boys are with their fittings)…we told them to go to their fitting and meet us
at the bus station… we decided to really culturally immerse ourselves and take
the bus!
Well, if you know me by now, this plan
couldn’t have gone on smoothly… thus please bear with me as I try to set-up the
hilarious scene…
Marisa, Maddy, and I all reached the bus
station and after our first encounter with, “WELCOME TO VIETNAM, no one speaks
English here!” we eventually were able to use hand motions and pointing on a
map to communicate to the staff that we needed to know which bus to ride to get
to the Cu Chi Tunnels. A las--- the lucky bus #13… As we were waiting at the
bus stop, we suddenly realized that buses may only run every hour… we didn’t
want to be rude, but a #13 had just driven by and been waiting in the lot for a
long time, thus it was probably in our best interest to hop on and hope for the
best as far as the boys making it on time… After about 5 minutes on the bus,
the driver came on so the 3 of us attempted to ask him the time the bus would
be leaving? His response was that it would leave at 2:00 PM! WONDEFUL, the boys
had plenty of time to meet us… Maddy sent a quick text to the boys letting them
know they had to be at the bus stop before 2:00. Now flash forward 20 minutes
and out of nowhere the doors on the bus close, and we begin moving… ut oooooo!
I let out a sigh, and was feeling ultra guilty, when all of the sudden I look
out the window only to find Austin moseying across the street!
Alright, so what would any normal person
do… cause clearly that’s not what CK would do! I ended up getting up and yelling
to the bus driver that I had to go get my friend who was standing across the
street and asked him to PLEASE wait for me! Hahahah as I write this, I laugh at
the ridiculous-ness of the situation… the bus driver nods his head, and I
assume of course he understands, thus I leave my bag on the bus, with the
mindset that by leaving by bag, the bus won’t be able to leave without me…
I sprinted across the 3 lane road (once
again this is apparently a good idea in my frantic state of mind) nearly get
hit by multiple cars, and finally make it to Austin. Like any boy, Austin acts
calm, cool, and collect as I am freaking out that we need to find Zach … Side
note: the boys took motorcycles to the bus stop and had somehow separated while
they were driving to meet us. Now just let out an OY VEY!
This time, out of the corner of my eye I
see a yellow jersey mosing across the street and turn my head to find non-other
than Zach! Hip hip hooooory… now I just had to get these darn boys to run with
me to the bus… well, not so fast… suddenly we turn around to look for the bus
only to find that it has started to drive away… OY VEY! OY VEY! OY VEY!
Alright, so you probably are not picturing
the bus stop correctly, basically there is a giant 3 lane traffic circle that
reminded me of the streets of DC or NYC so think busy busy busy… the 3 of us
decide alright we can either sit here together and pout or else chase after
this darn bus…
In our frantic state, we decide to chase
after the bus. I totally wish we had a camera taping our mad dash to the bus,
as it probably was one of the funniest scenes EVER! HAHAHAH We literally went
sprinting through the streets of “NAM”… this included dodging cars, people and
anything else in our way! At first I was able to kind of keep up with the boys,
but after about I’d say a good 2 minutes I was like I’m over this, if they get
on the bus, it will have to wait for me! I question if that was before or after
the fall… as I most definitely face planted on the grass during the sprint… not
to worry this story has a happy ended. We made it safe and sound to the bus,
huffing and puffing of course, but not to worry, we were on our way to the Cu Chi
Tunnels ;)
The ride took about an hour and 15 minutes
costing a womping 30 cents! When we got to the bus station we had to hop onto motorcycles
for an amazing 20-minute ride to the tunnels. Before I continue (and since any
of you moms out there are probably freaking out) traveling by motorcycles is
the way to go in Vietnam… it appeared that many locals owned their own
motorcycles as the traffic is super congested in Vietnam, thus why not motorcycle---
then you can just whizz past everyone! I kid you not, the Vietnamese are CRAZY
drivers as they are constantly zooming about… they also don’t stop for
pedestrians so you cross the road at your own risk. We were lectured several
times on how to properly cross the road, the task includes keeping a steady
pace so that the drivers can anticipate your walking, if you run across or stop
in your tracks, then drivers don’t expect you and therefore BAM! You are
donzoooo! Naturally, my first time crossing the street I went sprinting across
completely ignoring the constant reminders that we were given by SAS---
tehehehe ;)
Now back to my motorcycle ride, the ride to
the tunnels was amazing. Ho Chi Minh City (the place where the boat was docked)
was a great city, but I felt I really missed out on seeing rural Vietnam, which
is why the ride was ideal. I got to see more of the rice paddy fields and got a
sense of the now peaceful country of Vietnam.
We arrived to the tunnels around 4:00 PM
where we began our tour with a video about the tunnels. For some reason they
shuffled us into the movie a bit late, thus we missed the beginning, however
certainly got the gist in that we all got our first taste of what I like to
refer to as, “oh wow, maybe the US is not as great as I once thought we were… “
I’m going to be honest and say I don’t know enough about the US involvement
with Vietnam, however after my time at the tunnels (and museum on which I went
to on Thursday) I feel justified to say that I left with a sense of guilt by
the way in which we left the country after we lost the war. (More on this
subject when I explain the War Memorial Museum)
Now on the specifics of the tunnels: they
took us on a tour of the army camp site where they showed us replica weapons,
old tankers, and best of all, the village underground. I of course knew a
little about the underground villages as this was key to the success of the
Vietnamese people but was beside myself when I found out about the complexity
of the tunnels… there were actually hospitals, hide out spots and army bases
all underground. Another interesting fact that I learned is that the tunnels
were originally built for the Vietnamese when they fought for their
independence from France and they just used them again when the big bad
Americans came to town.
Alright, let’s cut to the chase… what was
it like being in the tunnels? Of course I was nervous about the claustrophobic
aspect of going down under, however it was not nearly as bad as I had
anticipated…;) We were at the end of the day and our tour guide was rushing us
through the tunnels, thus we didn’t get to crawl around for as long as I would
have liked, but it was still an incredible experience. I don’t think I was able
to grasp the concept that people actually hid out in the tunnels as a way to
protect themselves during the war… that’s nuts!
My day concluded with a drive home from the
tunnels via motorcycle and bus. I got back to the ship, took a quick shower,
and headed out for a night on the town of Vietnam! All my friends met up for
dinner at a hole in the wall Vietnamese restaurant where we sampled many
Vietnamese delicacies which include a variety of seafood entrees… it was tasty!
But once again, don’t ask me what I ate because I couldn’t even begin to tell
you… I just know it was seafood! Austin’s mom who is an avid Food Network TV
watcher recommended the restaurant to us. Apparently there is a show on Food
Network where they find amazing restaurants around the world… so look at me
going to 2 top rated restaurants in Asia (remember I went to a top rated Indian
restaurant in India)! WOOOOW WOOOOOT!
Day
5: Thursday March 29th
On Thursday morning, Jenna, Austin and I
decided to go to the War Remnants Museum. We all were adamant in visiting the
museum, as we wanted to understand the war through the Vietnamese people’s eyes.
The Museum was a difficult place to tour as an American. There was a room
dedicated entirely to nations around the world supporting the Vietnamese and
stating that there was no reason for the Americans to get involved in a war...
The worst of it all was the specific rooms dedicated to the toxic chemical:
Agent Orange and its everlasting effects. In a nutshell the Americans used a
highly toxic chemical to kill thousands of lives, without considering the
environmental consequences… not only did we kill a generation of Vietnamese
people, but the effects are still being witnessed today. A major side effect of
Agent Orange is that once it gets into your blood stream, it has the power to
cause birth defects such as physical deformities... The chemical companies knew
better than to be producing this deathly chemical, as it was stated on one of
the boards, “chemical companies knew their Dioxin laced products would be used
in Vietnam; yet they continued to manufacture and supply the agents with very
high levels of Dioxin to the US government.”
One of the major struggles that I found
myself wrestling with as I walked around the museum was the guilt I felt for my
Vietnamese peers… I am an American girl who has parents that were alive during
the Vietnam War (just like my Vietnamese peers) the only difference is that the
war was fought on their soil, thus they must suffer with the aftermath of the
war. This includes being born with physical deformities such as missing body
parts, skin defects. Life is unfair, that
is nothing new, but how am I supposed to make sense of this situation?
Below you will find a picture of a letter
to President Barack Obama from Tran This Hoan, a 23-year-old woman who is a second-generation
victim from Agent Orange. She lives today without legs and a left hand… I hope
you can click on the picture so you can read her powerful letter to Barack
Obama. I have also included a picture of Tran following the letter
I came to Vietnam with little knowledge
about the Vietnam War, although I learned a lot from visiting the tunnels and
the Museum, I would like to continue to learn more on this area of history. If
you know of any good books on the subject, I am open for suggestions…
My time in Vietnam concluded with a
wonderful field trip to QST. QST is a waistband manufacturer that has one of
their factories in Vietnam… they produce waistbands for companies such as North
Face, Levi Straus, Abercrombie, Hollister, and the list keeps going and going!
At the time of our factory visit, one of the top managers, Mr. Kussman (works
in the Chicago office) was taking a business visit to the various Asia
factories. He was able to rearrange his trip so that he would be in Vietnam during
our visit. With Mr. Kussman leading our factory tour, I gained a lot of insight
on operating a global company and was able see my various business classes
coming to life!
NEXT STOP: China--- that means you get to
hear all about CK meeting up with Jilly and Andy (sadly B-rad and Roy both
couldn’t get off of work!!!)
No comments:
Post a Comment