Where Do These Tunnels Lead?

If you could call each day another "stop" on this month-long journey, then yesterday was perhaps my favorite stop so far. We had to be up bright and early for a long and bumpy bus ride to parts unknown. This was the first time we'd seen the more rural parts of Vietnam and it was an interesting change of pace. Erica pointed out to me a cemetery as we were driving along, and I noticed it was overgrown by weeds and what not. It seemed strange at first, but perhaps that's the way the people feel it should be here instead of neatly trimmed green patches with spots of burnt yellow like we're used to in the states. I appreciate how the people here try to more organically live with nature, even though there's plenty of times they don't succeed. We're very used to fighting with nature back home, that we forget what natural can look like.

Anyway, we first stopped at Cao Dai temple, a temple that helped establish a Vietnamese religion that combines aspects of Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism, etc. It may not be the biggest religious site, but every time I took a step down the marble floors, it felt like a massive step. The place has presence. I did my best to step quietly and not be intrusive to the local worshippers, even though I couldn't stop marveling at the whole thing.

Here's a shot of Anh, the lovely SEAMEO staff member who accompanied us along the trip Sunday. Unlike many places we've been to, this temple had plenty of space all to itself showing how important it was to the townspeople.

We had lunch inside a good little place off the main road and with my seventy-five cent beer, life was good.

The best stop for me however came in the afternoon at the Cu Chi Tunnels, essentially a jungle/forest that has been restored to life after being a prime war zone in the Vietnam War. The idea of the place was far from wonderful, especially after our little walkthrough started with an almost comical piece of war prop. that went long and mentioned the "American enemies" too many times. Imagine watching that, then taking a few steps down the path to see all the technology-less ways Americans slipped into deadly traps. It made me uneasy, but I feel that the people are preserving this type of history because they know they should for memory, not to alienate. As our tour guide said the day before, the Vietnamese are looking to the future, not the past.

The place itself was an awesome little adventure however. We took a brisk walk along the trail spotted by little exhibits about how the people lived, how they worked, etc. The actual trek through the tunnels which I had to frog-walk through, was frightening but worth experiencing. I cannot imagine how some of the guerrilla fighters did it for twenty years. Unfortunately the few pictures I took at Cu Chi came out blurry, but hopefully the rest of the group has some good ones. For now, here's a shot of our hometown hero Vanessa crawling out one of the camouflaged hideouts:

I'm hoping we'll get to see more sites submerged in a more natural environment as we had with Cu Chi. In more businessy news, I think I'm definitely hitting my groove with the teaching part of this expedition. It's been important for me to realize that the teaching isn't just the 55 or so minutes in the classroom. It's their dinner or their ride home the same day where they think they had a good day and remember just even a few things from that morning's lesson.

Speaking Profoundly

[This is an unfinished/now-published post from a few days back]

What really amazes me about this place is that the people seem to try so hard at everything they do. The way they work, the long hours they put in, even the way they try to appeal to you in the marketplace. This is a society that doesn't take life for granted. Yet above all the grittiness of everyday life they also remain appreciative, caring, and spiritual.

It's so amazing how the city has slowly tried to develop while doing its best to preserve some sense of history. Pagodas are literally (??) embedded in city blocks, just down the street from sidewalk mechanics, men as covered in oil and grease as the tools and parts they're walking on. And for all the little boutiques popping out of the HCMC walls, there's a glaring Western-based fashion store that tend to hog up the spotlight. I saw a whole corner store today for Jockey, I had no idea they even had entire stores!

As with the abundance of art galleries, there's a lot of boutiques here that you'd never spot in American cities. I saw what was an entire store devoted to grandfather clocks and other elegant clocks. There's also one city corner with a few stores for selling safes, SAFES. I guess with gold items being so important here, there is more of a need for those kinds of things. When walking through the market, you're also bound to see the same shirts, same clothes, in different places throughout the square. Is there that much difference among prices or do the locals choose based on the people working the shop stall, and other factors like that we don't really think about when we're in big department stores. As a whole, competition for business is very fierce everywhere you go.

Sounds and Smells

Saigon. The first thing you notice about this eclectic city is the incessant honking of motorbikes. Second is the combination of aromas. From spices to smog, this city has an interesting smell. This is a city of contrasts. Seedy ally ways dot the streets between trendy restaurants and pricey boutiques. We haven't even begun to crack the surface of this place but I think that we are all intrigued.

As for teaching, .. my students are amazing. - Nessa

I slept a little and now I can't sleep so thought I'd write a little bit. Also did no one notice the new image header I put together? :(

I'd agree with you Liz that there are elements of NYC over here, but the underlying tone is quite different. Just today walking back home from the restaurant, I saw swarms of people passing by on motorbike. And not just one person on a bike but two, three and even families of four. I wonder, where are all these people going, are they going out to eat, are they riding home? Some of them may even be heading to work even if it is 9:00 on a Sunday as HCMC never seems to stop churning. I do appreciate that the locals here seem to have a better appreciation for spending time outside and not locked in away in rooms like we often do back home.

It's always interesting to see what different cities seem to be crazy about. I've seen tons of shops with art galleries inside. I can't think of the last time an art gallery stuck out to me in NY. There's also a lot of attention given to designer names and brands. Nearly the entire mall is filled with shops of different designers, there doesn't seem to be any big department-like stores that we're used to. How can the people here afford it though when the prices are still over the top for us? I worry that there is a conflict between luxuries and basic standard of living that is probably pushed from higher up on down. Let me not be a sociologist right now though (do sociologists study class issues or is that economists?)

One of the more interesting things about HCMC to me is that there is no unique look or feel to it as some cities seem to have. It's spreading its branches in different directions and not quite sure which one to go with. Seemingly any city block can have nicely lit up boutiques and restaurants only for there to be some darkly lit, alleyway of terror halfway down the block. Then there's the immaculately kept supermarket in the THIRD level of a basement mall. This mall is easily nicer looking than many malls I've been to in the States. I cannot say that the sidewalks are anywhere near immaculate though. They're full of bumps, chunks of sidewalk missing, and creepy crawlies that like to dance with your feet as you walk by.

There's also a tremendous assortment of different restaurants here with little Japanese nooks, Thai, American style, French, etc. I've been to places where there is the token Chinese place or Indian place, but here if you find one, you will find another. I'd say it's actually harder to find the more traditional Vietnamese place than a restaurant of a foreign cuisine.I think the locals have also made the adjustments easier. Most are helpful, particularly the younger crowd. Our waiter at the restaurant Liz mentioned couldn't have been any nicer. He also bore a resemblance to Justin Long. The staff of SEAMEO have treated us with such warmth too and I am very glad to be working with them.

I'll try to have some pictures next time. I've been kinda slacking on the photo front but at least everyone else is making up for me :)