Vietnami tuba: 2 weeks and more

Slowly getting used to it.

Lately the Living with HIV project I came here to join has kicked off with some events. The latest of them is a visit to Mai Hoa orphanage.
Mai Hoa orphanage is home to ~50 HIV+ children and is managed by a French non-profit organization . Many of the interns didn’t know about them being HIV positive until after we had left the place. But none of them looked shocked at the time, which is good, since we’re all the advocators of anti-discrimination this summer. Luckily nobody’s cuts nor wounds made contact that day. The children were very open and friendly from the beginning. I guess they have become used to the flocs of interns and other visitors who had come there before. And although the language barrier was quite a problem, there was nothing that a little body language couldn’t communicate. We played games that were well-known for the kids, and during a number game we, the interns, faced quite a challenge when trying to instantly remember the first 20 numbers in Vietnamese. In the game we failed, at times found ourselves under a load of laughing kids, and sat with beleagured faces when they shouted at us in Vietnamese. I’ve visited some orphanages in Estonia and when I compare those children with the ones in Mai Hoa, I see no difference. There is tons of energy, excitement, jolly spirit and potential. Many of these kids are fit for school, but because public schools don’t accept them, it’s the orphanage’s task to give then some measure of education. This reflects the concerns of HIV and AIDS-wise poorly informed parents of school children, who contribute to discrimination. In an article in Time magazine, one grandparent who opposed letting HIV positive children study with her grandchildren said "We survived the French bombings and the American bombings. I'd rather be bombed to death than die slowly of AIDS."

(http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1918243,00.html#ixzz20PBsXA4R).

The girl who faces the picture with her back is

15 years old. I didn’t know that until after

the visit, and I assumed her to be no more than

8 years old. Her mother died because of AIDS,

and she was left to her father, who wouldn’t

accept her HIV status. Refusing to believe that she

is HIV positive she didn’t seek any treatment

for her and with time her condition got worse. She

was brough to Mai Hoa by her neighbour when

she was on the verge of dying. Now she stands out

from the others because of her calm temper and silentness.

She was also the least energetic participant in the games.

The chilren have fairly good conditions

The intern team a week or so ago, with some current members

still missing. The mix consisted of a little bit of France, Germany,

China and Estonia. Now there is also a little bit of Hong Kong.

There are also 2 locals on the picture, but they are not interns.

Right now the project is mainly focused on organizing a 2-day summer camp for high school children in the end of July. The contens of this camp will turn students’ attention to leadership, the cultures and identity of the interns’ home countries, sexual education (including HIV/AIDS) and communication skills. Putting together the contents of the sexual education session is an interesting, but challenging task. For instance, some locals who we’ve asked: “what would you do if you were homosexual?” answered that they would try to change themselves and they perceive homosexuality as something totally unacceptable. They also expressed the fear that their families would ditch them. Next to widespread conservatism about sexual issues , there seems to be a low level of awereness. Some of the locals were amazed to discover that we had visited a orphanage of HIV positive kids, asking: “weren’t you afraid to get infected?“. I think the sexual education lessons will be anything but a waste of time. Also, marriage plays a fundamental role here. Me and Kelly have witnessed repeatedly that couples aren’t taken seriously if they’re not married. For example, when we looked for a room to rent together, hosts were never okay with couples moving in, whereas 2 men or 2 women would’ve been fine.

Now I’m gonna jump off to something more tastier than sexual education and social issues: Vietnamese cuisine. Staying with locals has created a true travel experience for my taste buds, and to get the most out of it, I’ve sometimes just dipped head first (so to speak) into the variety of weird and wonderful local foods.

In the front are plates with bitter melon, a vegetable regarded
here to be very healthy. It has shown to increase sensitivity to
insulin (alleviating diabetes), fight herpes simplex virus,
and have anti-malarial properties. But all of these properties
come in a package with extreme bitterness (especially when
they're ripe)

Shrimps in a kind of jelly made out of rice, covered with
banana leaves. The glass bowl contains fish sauce, which is
extracted from fish by fermenting them with sea salt. It has
a very distinct taste and it is served with almost every food.

A rice pancake

On the right is fish, in the middle is tofu
filled with minced meat and tomato and
on the left is a soup of shrimp and )some
kind of - havent' found about those yet) leaves

No comments. When I was taking this picture, the
woman behind this mysterious masterpiece started
shouting at me and thereby this food remains a secret.

Pho, the noodle soup, is a very staple
food here

As for tourism, there has been plenty of it recently. On Sunday evening me, Kelly and 5 other interns took a bus from Saigon to Dalat, which, according to Lonelyplanet, is the most popular honeymoon destination in Vietnam. The expectations were raised a bit too high, since it was just a small town with a typical Vietnamese setting of traffick-busy streets, lots of streetside booths and markets, at times the overwhelming odor of trash left out in the sun, and a vibrant nightlife. The only romantic bit that we witnessed was the Xuan Huong lake, which offered the opportunity to pedal around in a giant white swan (an incredibly slow and clumsy one though). The regions surrounding Dalat were quite a sight.

The path down to the bottom of the
waterfall

In a pagoda near Dalat, a buddhist monk is

seeking for an escape from the rattle of children

and parents who stayed inside to avoid the rain.

With big numbers of visitors every day, the

refuge that a hilltop pagoda promises for buddhist

monks seems to be turning into a mirage.

Embroidery factory.

This is not a painting. It's made of silk

In Nha Trang, a small coastal town in central Vietnam. Inevitably, a lot of the local culture and atmosphere here is adapted to fit the needs of tourists. The long strip of beach is lined with pompous hotels and some local houses in between them. The hotels are already fighting for the sea view, as new hotels can only be built behind the row of first ones.

Having the face and skin color of a tourist is not a good thing here – all the shopkeepers and taxi drivers I’ve met so far are like huyenas, who want to scavenge your wallet and whose company always feels a bit uneasy. We’ve got ripped off many times and it seems that some taxi drivers have a button next to their wheel that can make the taximeter do nasty stunts. It actually feels as if every salesperson wants to rip us off here. I hope that doesn’t reflect the Vietnamese personality.

3D cards. They are amazing.

There seems to be 2 different sets of prices for foreigners and locals. After asking the price of something, the locals always have a prolonged moment of thought before giving their answer, whichusually makes my eyebrows raise quite high. My white skin tends to suggest to every last salesman on the street that I want to buy their pink plastic sunglasses, their fans, lottery tickets and jewelry, which is especially annoying when you’re trying to admire the beauty of for example a (~metre high ) Buddha statue on a hilltop in Lam Son Pagoda, Nha Tranh. The best way to avoid that kind of company is to keep your eyes down.

The lying buddha in Lam Son Pagoda

... with its exceptionally large ears

Dead people's belongings

A nice place for a midday break

I'm back to Saigon now, but instead of giving me some time off after long days of travelling in other areas, the speed of the city life is swallowing me even more. I'll try to update soon with more pictures of more everyday local lives !