Museums 'Till You Drop

After posting my blog in the hallway of the dorm last night, I talked to Andy for a bit on the internet. That was amazing because it’s so rare to talk to him, especially before I go to bed. I then went and cuddled with DiDi from 10:30-1:00 am. I was so tired by then and went straight to bed.

I woke up this morning at 8:00, got dressed, and went to go get my usual egg sandwich. I then headed back to the dorm and sat on the front steps until I was joined by the rest of our group. We left on a coach bus at 8:45 and only had a short ride to the “Hanoi Hilton,” the prison that held Vietnamese prisoners as well as some American pilots that had been captured when their planes were shot down during the American War. Even John McCain spent some time in the prison there and they had saved his pilot uniform that he was wearing while he was captured. They had posted pictures of the American soldiers playing cards and guitars as well as ping pong and basketball. The Americans even received packages from their families while in captivity there. That was odd to see, since the rest of the museum there consisted of much different treatment for the Vietnamese who were imprisoned there in the early1900’s. They had kept some of the cells and even had them filled with gray mannequins that were made to look like they were interacting with each other while sitting shackled together in long rows. That kind of thing usually freaks me out a bit, but I did ok this time. Then I hit the part of the museum in which they were displaying the women’s cells as well as a huge guillotine that they had used frequently. Items used for torturing the female political prisoners, such as electrical wires hooked up to generators as well as glass bottles, really disturbed me. After a while I realized that I was holding my arms up over my chest and had to leave. That stuff really freaks me out. I was especially confused by the disparity in treatment of the Americans versus the Vietnamese.

After a bit more than an hour, we boarded the bus and drove around the corner to the Vietnam National History Museum. It was on the boring side of things, as some of the museum was shut down for renovations. Plus, ancient sandstone statues can only hold my attention for so long. There were also old paintings, robes, weapons, and some ancient texts from as far back as the seventh century. At 10:45 I went outside to get a Coke and we then walked across the street to our third museum of the day, the Museum of Vietnamese Revolution.

For a full hour I wandered around these giant rooms lined with old documents, pictures, weapons, flags, quotes, propaganda, and transportation. Some of the pictures and weapons were a bit disturbing. For example, I’d see a giant rusty 3-pronged hook and assume it was used for fishing before reading the caption and finding, to my horror, that it was used for people. God help us not to kill each other. This museum did lead me to one very important realization, however- the Vietnamese were never left alone. Between the Chinese, French, and Americans, they were always forced to fight for their own land on their own soil.

At 11:30 we finished the death and destruction of that museum and chilled out in front of the building on a bench in the shade. Fifteen minutes later, we boarded the bus again and drove down the street to a restaurant for lunch. They seated us on the second floor at three long tables and I had pho bo, the Vietnamese soup with noodles, greens, and beef (bo). It’s the fourth picture in my entry today. We all left the restaurant at 12:45 and drove half an hour away to the Vietnam Ethnology Museum.

By 1:45 we had ready chilled in the lobby of the museum for half an hour and then finally snagged an English-speaking tour guide for the museum. She moved quickly which was nice. They had some really interesting exhibits about the 11 different ethnic minority peoples living in Vietnam. They had their crafts, clothes, videos of their dances and rituals, and even their houses. The Thai people living in Vietnam make their houses with roves modeled after turtles. This is because these people were supposedly taught how to build houses by turtles. The tour ended at 2:45 pm and we were told that we had a few minutes to explore. DiDi and I immediately went outside to the back of the museum where they had erected more replicas of the ethnic houses. We chose this very tall house made of what looked like thatch and climbed inside it. After exploring the inside a bit, we climbed down the harrowingly narrow and steep stairs down to the ground, quickly visited the gift shop, and sat down to wait for the rest of the group. We then got back on the bus for the half an hour ride back to the dorm. We got back at 4:00 pm and I immediately met with our group of teachers in Jackie and Leah’s room for the next 45 minutes. We sorted out some more details for the Halloween party and then I dropped some stuff off in my room before Jackie and I left for the Old Quarter at 5:15. We caught the 31 bus to the lake and walked to Sago to get iced coffees and banana pancakes. They were delicious as usual and we then walked to Mau’s Red Lounge to pick up our awesome t-shirts. They directed us to this other bar called “Le Pub” with whom they share their t-shirt collection. Jackie and I bought these little apple turnover pastries and then walked across the street to the tourist center to grab a map. We located the street on which Le Pub resides, walked a couple streets over, and found it. There was hardly anyone there and we were helped by this really nice British guy. That made me think of Bridget right away :) After about 20 minutes, Jackie and I ate our pastries and walked to the bus stop on the other side of the lake. We waited for a bit before the bus came but we were still back at the dorm before 8:00 pm. I cleaned up a bit and then talked to Jill for half an hour while we ate another grapefruit. I then brought my laptop to Jackie and Leah’s room, checked my email, and made our lesson plan for tomorrow’s class. I have been writing this blog entry in the hallway while talking to James and Andy for the past hour. It’s time to go shower and see if DiDi is still awake...