This weekend I flew to Hue with some friends--mostly German and Vietnamese. I spent a lot of time listening to both languages and trying really hard to understand. I haven't had to use my German in a long time but some of it came back to me. Some English was spoken as well, but not much. :)
Friday morning at 4:00 I found my breakfast lady, bought an egg sandwich, and jumped into a taxi with Inny, Sarah, and Seweryn. We met Catherina and Kara at the airport and our flight took off at 6:00 am. The flight was only an hour but just as we were about to start our descent, the plane's jets came back on and we shot back up into the sky. It was scary for a second. Our plane landed in Da Nang instead, which is only 10 minutes from Hue, our real destination. Confused, we got off the plane and were handed laminated "transportation cards" that were to be used instead of our plane tickets. We sat in the Da Nang airport as the Vietnam Airlines representatives told us to keep waiting for more information. After about 45 minutes, it was announced that the weather in Hue was too bad for us to land before. We then reboarded our plane and flew the 15 minutes to Hue. This time, we landed safely. The round wasn't wet, however, so I think there was no bad weather. Maybe the pilot simply didn't want to land that first time. Who knows. This is typical for Vietnam.
This unmarked gray box sat there for a while. No one seemed alarmed that no one had claimed it. I explained to my group that this would never happen in America without total hysteria and possible detonation. I guess my American paranoia is more alive than I thought.
Then some guy used the mysterious and possibly dangerous box as an ottoman. Go figure.
We then took a taxi to the middle of the city of Hue, which is smack dab in the middle of Vietnam. Upon entering the lobby of our reserved hotel, we were informed that they didn't have any rooms for us. Again, typical for this country. We were walked across the street to a hotel with vacancies and I moved into our room alone, as DiDi had to fly to Hue later that night after work. Then we all ventured a couple blocks over to this awesome restaurant named Bloom. It helps kids from outside the city by employing them and teaching them the skills needed for running a kitchen, or waiting tables, or cooking. This restaurant is also tied to the ACWP, or Aid to Children Without Parents. They funded the school we were to visit on Saturday. We met the restaurant staff, looked over the materials for the children's day we were to run the next day, had an awesome lunch, and then were dismissed for two hours while more materials were secured. Catherina and I immediately went back to our hotel and rented bikes while the rest of the group napped. We biked for a while and took photos (quite a feat while biking in Vietnam traffic) and then stopped outside the citadel, where some Vietnamese king used to live. I played soccer with some 12 year old boys and it was awesome. Then we rode our bikes inside the citadel, got some water, and found a beautiful old lady to talk to and photograph.
By 2:45 we headed back and returned our bikes in order to meet at Bloom restaurant again. We spent hours preparing the materials and arts and crafts for the "Hands and Feet Day" that was the following day. We made name tags and prepared the origami and drawing we were going to do with the kids. We grabbed a snack and then DiDi arrived from the airport. I had showered and taken a short nap before we all got some dinner. We ate traditional Hue foods, which feature this rice jello-like stuff. It's mashed up rice with water that they then let set. They put seafood inside or on top and it's got an amazing taste. It's also wrapped in large green banana leaves, which is eco-friendly to say the least. After dinner DiDi and I walked around and found some Hue t-shirts and then went to bed.
On Saturday morning the whole group was awake and drinking coffee at Bloom restaurant by 5:30. We packed the van with lunches, toys, and the arts and craft materials and took an hour and a half trip outside the city of Hue. The land was gorgeous and full of pine trees. At times, it could've even been mistaken for a forest in Connecticut. We arrived at the small two-room school in time to put the names of all 55 students on their nametags and to set up for the arts and farts. I mean arts and crafts. I was assigned to help the kids in one room and we had so much fun. One of our group members drew things on the chalkboard (birds, etc) and then the kids learned to draw them too. Their school has two teachers, one for each class, and the curriculum really focuses on writing, reading, speaking, and math. This was their first art class, which was awesome. We brought markers, colored pencils, and paint and they had so much fun. We were also supposed to teach the kids about being hygienic and polite, so I gently reminded all of the students to say "thank you" after I gave them a clean sheet of paper. Washing their hands in a small metal bowl in the windowsill was also encouraged by us. Their hands were very dirty and their parents and teachers don't stress things like cutting fingernails and washing hands before eating. So the art time went very well and the kids soon started to draw everything from the school and their houses to airplanes and even helicopters. It was pretty cool to see. They were surprised that I could speak Vietnamese and I was able to coach and encourage them.
Then came the time where we took all of the students outside and got them into a big circle in the paved courtyard. DiDi led them in traditional Vietnamese children's songs and games. We played a version of "Simon Says" and a game where someone starts a pattern that everyone else repeats and one person needs to find the pattern starter. They had a lot of fun, which was evident by their giant smiles and contagious laughter. After about an hour in the sun, we set up a table with the sandwiches and water we had brought for lunch. Every kids was also given a brand new school uniform (blue pants and a bright white shirt) and a toy (the traditional dolls for girls and cars for boys). They were pretty happy and headed home to show their parents their new stuff. We said goodbye to them around 11:30 and repacked the van. The principal of the area schools (yes, one for all of the schools) joined us in the van and he demanded we stop and hike a bit to this waterfall. Besides the usual Vietnamese garbage everywhere, the waterfall was nice and cold and I climbed quite a ways up it. Almost at the top, I found a group of Vietnamese 20-somethings drinking and swimming. I don't recommend mixing the two, but they were more than happy to speak Vietnamese with me and we took some photos with each other.
Our group then put our shoes back on and headed down the mountain a bit to grab some lunch. We had noodles with morning glories and deer meat as well as rice and fish. It was really good and it was my first time eating deer meat. Around 1:30 we said our goodbyes and boarded the van bound for our hotel. I sat in the way back and listened to music, took photos, and wrote a bit. It was some much-needed quiet down time. Everyone else slept and woke up only when we reached the hotel mid-afternoon. Then they moved to their hotel rooms to sleep and I went out and talked to some people, took photos, and watched some old men playing this Vietnamese game that looks like checkers. I have to look it up online but I hear the game is easy to learn but the many strategies make it entertaining. I went back to the room to shower before dinner and we rented motorbikes to find some bun bo hue, a famous hue soup. It was these round rice noodles, various types of meat (usually beef) and a reddish broth. Mine was a bit spicy but the soup is really good. We then headed to a che restaurant and had a couple of those desserts. It's a jelly-like sugar concoction with fruit and I love them way too much. Back at the hotel around 9:00, we got some snacks and settled into one hotel room to watch the movie "Team America," which I had been talking up for weeks now. Unfortunately the bootleg copy of the DVD refused to play in Seweryn's laptop and we watched "The Last King of Scotland" instead. I had already seen that movie and promptly fell asleep on the floor, wrapped in a comforter.
I was awakened on Sunday morning by DiDi shutting the bathroom door and got up and dressed in order to go on an adventure with her. We got breakfast (an egg sandwich for me, of course) and then walked along the river before ordering iced coffees and sitting next to the Perfume River. Luckily, it doesn't live up to its name and is relatively odorless. We talked for quite a while before Catherina called and joined us for coffee. We then decided to go back to the hotel and grab DiDi and my motorbike in order to drive outside the city. We drove for about half an hour before deciding we wanted to photograph some rice fields. Unfortunately, this meant that DiDi had to ask somebody where the rice fields are. She was hesitant because, as she said, "Guys, 'where are the rice fields' is the dumbest sentence I've ever spoken in Vietnamese." This is because usually the fields are everywhere and the Vietnamese know that. She asked anyways and we found them shortly thereafter. I spoke to two old ladies that were toothless due to beetle nut use. This is a red nut that one mashes, adds some taste to, and then slathers all over their gums. It's actually a hallucinogenic and mostly Vietnamese women, not men, use the nut. It causes your teeth to fall out and your mouth to look like it's bleeding. So I talked to the old women and then many neighborhood kids came out to talk to us too. One was a small monk boy on a bike that was much too big for him. He talked to DiDi about being ten years old but wanting to be a monk for the rest of his life. She was amazed that anyone could know something like that at such a young age.
One boy was the ringleader of the kids and tried to hit me with a long stick. He'd move closer and closer, all the while slapping it on the ground in front of me. I told him I wasn't scared (in Vietnamese) and he found something else to do. They quizzed me on the Vietnamese names for animals and posed for photos. It was so much fun to horse around with them and right before we left, one kid presented me with a small grasshopper he had fashioned from some grass.
On the ride back to the city of Hue, we got a phone call from Inny saying that the rest of the group was awake and ready for lunch. At 11:00 we all grabbed some awesome Vietnamese sandwiches and sat down for lunch. One of DiDi's friends from work and her Kiwi boyfriend joined us. We then got on our motorbikes and drove half an hour outside the city to a famous tomb of some really old Vietnamese emperor, Tu Duc. We were immediately assaulted by women hounding us to buy their trinkets and drinks outside the walls of the old palace/tomb and we quickly made our way inside the fortress. It was gorgeous inside. There wasn't any garbage strewn around and the old buildings were awesome. We walked around for a while and then I had to go to the bathroom really badly. Of course there wasn't any bathroom in sight so I chose a tree instead. I took lots of photos and our group left after a couple of hours because Catherina's flight was leaving earlier than ours. We drove back to the hotel with her only to find that her flight was delayed. No surprise there, according to the previous track record of Vietnam Airlines. I packed my stuff and DiDi and I grabbed a snack of sticky rice with chicken and onions, which was awesome. We then met her work friend and her boyfriend for some coffee. Sarah and Seweryn soon joined us and we talked for quite a while before I had to go find a pharmacy to get something for my sunburn. When I returned to the cafe and we were all ready to leave, I discovered that my loaner helmet had been stolen off our motorbike. With all the other helmets sitting around, I have no clue why mine was taken. Oh well. We went out and bought one so that the hotel wouldn't charge me too much for it. Then I went with Inny, Kara, Sarah, and Seweryn to get some more soup but I just had some tea. Earlier we had discovered that our flight was delayed by almost two hours and had planned accordingly. By 7:00 pm we were all sitting on the steps of our hotel, waiting for the bus to take us to the airport. I had a quick Vietnamese sandwich while talking to some small girls selling postcards and then the bus arrived. Since DiDi flew to Hanoi this morning for some business meetings this week, I flew with Inny and Kara back to Saigon. Sarah and Seweryn flew to Hanoi for some travel.
After a bumpy but short flight, we arrived back in Saigon and I was in my apartment by 10:30. I unpacked and ventured out to find some aloe vera. I struck out and had an uncomfortable sleep. Hopefully tonight will be better.
So this weekend was awesome. To cover last week, nothing exciting really happened. I substituted for a kindergarten class and had a lot of fun. I taught them the phrase "wash your hands" and the names of fruit and some other food (eggs, bread, juice, etc.). It's a really good age and I like teaching them a lot.
In other news, last Monday I had an informal interview with my friend Abbie. She runs these different movement classes for kids ages four to six years old and she wants me to teach some of them. We met and decided that I'd come and view a class this afternoon. I'm really excited because the program seems to feature skills I already have but with a different focus. For instance, we might use different sports skills such as dribbling a basketball but not for playing the sports. Instead, the program focuses on improving the kids' balance, hand/eye coordination, etc. This will be a good fit for me and I'm really excited to be working with this age group in a different capacity (not teaching English).
The only bad news to report is that early last week I was talking with Andy on skype and all of a sudden my computer reported that there was no power source any more. I looked beside me on the couch and tons of little black ants had invaded the black box of my laptop charger. The charger was actually ruined and I spent Monday morning searching the city for a computer store with IBM chargers. I found one for about $15 but it has a Vietnamese plug. When I get back to the states I'll need to buy a converter to be able to use it. Oh bother, as Winnie the Pooh would say.
Here are some of my favorites from last week in Sai Gon. There was some karaoke, some nights out, and lots of stuff on the street.
One of my co-teachers, Ngoc
That's it for now. Miss you all...
