Using Bullets to Highlight Life

After posting my blog in the dorm’s hallway last night, I went to find people to go out with. When I start to get homesick I usually go out in order to talk to people and distract myself. I truly feel like some of our campers because we are always told to keep them busy in order to fend off the inevitable homesickness. Anyways, I found Becca who said she’d call me when she got to Bia Hoi Junction. I waited for a bit and then she called DiDi’s phone to tell me she was at the junction already. Leah and I caught a xe-om there at about 9:00 and I sat, had a Coke, and talked. After only about an hour the rest of the group ran out of beer money and Becca and I shared a xe-om back to the dorm. Back at 10:15 pm, I found DiDi and Bryan watching the movie “Apocalypse Now” in Bryan’s bed. I crawled in next to DiDi and promptly fell asleep. They woke me up at midnight when the movie ended and I went to my room, read for a bit, and fell back asleep.

I woke up this morning at the usual 8:15 and realized that I had just dreamt about the weirdest thing. I dreamt that I had both of my arms amputated just above my elbows, which left me with no hands. This was not painful and I just walked around for a couple of days highly annoyed that I could not accomplish anything that required having two hands. Miraculously, one day I had the limbs reattached and I went back to feeding myself and tying my own shoes. If anyone interprets dreams (or has a funny plausible interpretation) then this would be a good time to share it.

After waking up and reviewing my latest odd dream, I read until 8:40, when I decided I should probably get going. I quickly got dressed, bought my egg sandwich, and ate it on the short walk to class. Vietnamese class was especially frustrating today, as our teacher was confusing us the entire time. I’d then tell her we didn’t understand and that she should speak slower. Her slower speech would only last for about the following two sentences before we were back to square one—which is struggling to understand a few words and helping each other out with understanding the larger concepts. I was glad to finally leave class at 11:00 and headed back towards the dorm with Sarah and Will. We met Jackie, Monica, and Leah at our usual rice buffet (and peanuts, baby!) and I ate there until 11:30 when I returned to my room. I did my Vietnamese homework for Thursday and looked over some more pictures for my next photography assignment, played computer games, and listened to music until 12:55, when I packed up and headed downstairs to go to class. I saw Meggie and Mike tossing a Frisbee in the courtyard and they told me that photography class was starting a bit later today. I joined in the game for a while before going to class a bit early.

I found that our photography class was going to feature a guest speaker, an older Vietnamese man who used to photograph for the Viet Cong. His name is Mai Nam and he had to speak through DiDi, who had the difficult job of translating. He is an amazing man who has even met Ho Chi Minh. He keeps the picture of him as a young man standing with Uncle Ho in his wallet and he shows it to police officers in order to be let off the hook. I loved when he started speaking of one of his most famous pictures of four women in a small underground tunnel. For one month, he stayed in a part of this huge tunnel somewhere in northern Vietnam. This allowed all of the people to live underneath the war and it allowed Mai to photograph them going about their lives as usual. When it came time for a cultural song and dance performance one day, Mai asked the four happy young women to pose for a picture. Since his camera didn’t have a flash, he opened a bullet, spread the powder on a piece of paper, and lit the powder in order to create enough light to take the picture. I especially liked how he described the event as using the bullet to show life, not take it. He enjoyed staying away from the front lines of battle (smart guy) and instead took pictures of the daily life of the Vietnamese still living in the north during the war. His pictures were used to boost morale and get people excited to serve their country. He spoke about many of his pictures at length and, with only a five-minute break in the middle, we spent from 1:45-3:45 listening to him tell the stories behind the pictures.

I then went back to the dorm and Cathy, Oliver, and I departed for Vincom Towers. I showed Oliver the post office at which he should pick up his package and then Cathy and I left him to do just that. I walked a few blocks more and we reached the mall, where I walked around and tried to find a turtle. Cathy also took me into the Levis store and proceeded to ask me about how a pair of jeans looked on her. She thought I wasn’t being honest with her but really I just didn’t know how they were supposed to look. I’m not the one to take shopping if you want in-depth descriptions on how clothing fits. I also went up to the fifth floor and got Tica and me chocolate croissants.

We then walked back towards the dorm at about 5:30, but we were so hungry that we decided to stop and get food at our regular eatery. The peanuts, rice, greens, and eggs were good as usual and then I went back to my room at about 6:00. Jill wasn’t there so I listened to music and uploaded some of my pictures before starting to really miss people back home. The situation was quickly becoming disastrous so I packed my backpack with my laptop and some fruit for my little beggar friend and headed down to find DiDi. She was getting ready for her friend’s birthday party and we cuddled for about half an hour before she had to go. I left to go to the internet café at that point and I have been sitting here posting picture, checking up on the Red Sox, emailing people, and drinking my iced coffee ever since.

Ok I guess it’s time to go fix yesterday’s blog. Obviously, I didn’t notice it only posted the first paragraph. That’s what happens when I post my blog entries in the hallway of our dorm. It’s so very frustrating and I can’t wait until I get back to the states and I don’t have to go down the road to get onto the internet. Keep commenting!