Geography Update

I'm now up to 46 of the 53 African countries.

I think I can honestly say that I had never heard of some of the small island nations out by Madagascar. Am I allowed to blame the American education system for that? Or I am responsible for my own ignorance? I do remember that in the 2nd grade I thought Madagascar was the coolest place ever. Its just so fun to spell!

A Quick Break

I think I am a bad employee. I have gotten so used to not having work that now that I do have things to do, I still let myself get easily distracted! I'll make this short so that I can get right back to work :)

Since I've mastered the countries of Asia (ok, you caught me. I haven't quite mastered them. I seem to forget a different "stan" everytime! annoying...) I've decided to move on to a new continent. I might as well get better at all geography while I'm here, right?! So Africa, here I come. Disclaimer: really pathetic confession coming up. I only got 20 right the first time and that was a struggle. Looks like I have my work cut out for me!

If you'd like to test your own skills, here is the quiz I use.

Also, I go through extreme music phases, which isn't new to me, but this time it might be more extreme than normal. I just listen non-stop to Mumford and Sons, a band I recently heard of through a friend and now seem to always have in my head. This might by my favorite song today (it changes daily, but I tend to pick one and just listen to it over and over. Ridiculous, I know!)


Ok, back to work!

Hanoi in a Snail-Shell

Yesterday I was craving a treat. It was the type of night that, if I had been at home, I would have taken a nice stroll up to the grocery store on the top of Queen Anne and bought myself a delightful mm cookie. But alas, I did not have that option. While I sat in my Vietnamese living room brainstorming what options I did have I received a text from a friend saying, "Ali, I'm bored! Come play with me." So now I had a partner in the treat hunt. But the question still remained, what type of western treat would we be able to find?!

After a short discussion we thought of the only thing within a reasonable distance that would maybe qualify as a western dessert---a donut. Yep, that's right. It may represent everything stereotypical about overweight America and yet, it was delicious. They even had ones with chocolate frosting and sprinkles! What more could you need?

Actually, that is the point of this story, we decided we did need something more. After our donut fix we realized we were both actually hungry. So we brainstormed again and came up with our next food craving: snails. Yep, that's right. We happened to be right next to a lake that is known for having good snail restaurants. The word "restaurant" is a little misleading though; it is closer to street food. Small tables, little plastic chairs, etc. Once we arrived and sat down to look at the menu we realized neither of us had ever been to snails without being accompanied by a Vietnamese friend who could decipher the difference between the plethora of snail options. In the end we just picked a random option (we actually went with the one that had the word for ear in it because who doesn't think the idea of snail ears is hilarious?!). Everytime I eat snails---or snail like things---I have a moment of panic where I'm convinced I'm remembering wrong and that they'll be really gross. But then I eat one and remember that they are actually quite good.

As we sat there, finishing the plate of snails (to be fair, I only had probably about a fourth of them and let Joel take the rest. Snails are good, but I can only eat so many) I realized just how funny our evening's choices were. First, uber wanna-be-Western donut joint. Second, street food snails. It is yet another example of the irony of this city. The result of idolization of the "developed" world coupled with a strong allegiance to a traditional way of doing things. I realize that is a big statement and mostly I just say it meaning, Vietnam is so intriguing! I just wish I could know and understand everything.

PS Please say you noticed the title of this post and chuckled to yourself. It's a pun! hehe. I crack myself up :)

Blame the smiley one for this post.

I feel like whenever people travel overseas there are always pictures of children. Whether it is on a blog or a facebook album, without fail there is something about how cute the little foreign kids are. I'll admit to you that I think that is a bit silly. I mean, I wouldn't put pictures up of a random cute child that I didn't know in the states, why do it just because I'm now in Vietnam?

And yet, here are some pictures of kids. I promise it was work related though! Last week Cô Bảy, Hannah and I went to a preschool where MCC helps with the lunch program for the MCC Global Family program. Hannah and I were in charge of taking photos and interviewing people, which went surprisingly well! We talked to two little girls, and then it just so happened that their mom and grandma were at the school that day. It was like someone simply handed us the story, wrapped with a nice little bow and everything, which happens to be just the way MCC likes it. I would call it a successful day. And the little boy, who you are about to see, was just so gosh darn cute. You never get Vietnamese to smile like that!

This is Hannah interviewing...look how the smiley one just sneaked into the background!

Our story is about the lunch program, so we needed pictures about lunchtime. We got the woman who makes lunch to feed a child for a picture--yes, this was very staged. But look at the face. Hilarious. Also, the cook is the same age as me and was rather surprised that I don't have children yet.

Here are the little girls, mom and grandma. They were very soft-spoken but readily talked to us. Very sweet little girls.

And finally, just in case you didn't believe me in the last post, here is another example of Uncle Ho. This is even a hand drawn one...amazing. This was in addition to the picture of him hugging a child that has been in every school I've been to.

The Great Uncle Ho!

On Sunday I was walking home from the bus stop and I saw this, just chillin on the side of the road outside of a major construction site. I'm telling you, he's everywhere!!

keeping boredom at bay

When March started I had a realization: I was going to have very little work to do this month. More than a realization, it was a fear. We know that I don't do well when I have too much free time; I've whined about it on this blog before. I wallowed in this suddenly acknowledged fact for a day, knowing that the minor damage would simply be too much wasted time spent on facebook and reading people's blogs but the real cause for anxiety, the over-arching threat that dares to permeate any bad day, was too much time to think about home and the fact that I'm not there. A day was all I needed though; after a little self-pity and a bowl of ice cream I choose the pro-active route, made a list of things to tackle this month, and set out to accomplish it.

The biggest thing on the list was to get invested in learning Vietnamese again. I acknowledged my lack of ability to study on my own and my family, while very well-intentioned, was not the way to go about it either. So after a few conversations, I found myself a language partner. Tú and I now meet three times a week (in theory at least) and it is wonderful!! She is a freshman in college and studying English. We meet in the morning here at the office (thats right, I get to do this during working hours!) then head to a near-by cafe. The goal is to speak half the time in English and half in Vietnamese which so far is going quite well. This morning we went to a cafe close to the office that I've seen since moving here and had yet to go to. It was everything I could have wanted it to be! We sat on pillows on the ground on the 3rd floor in a room with giant windows. Tú brought nail polish because of a conversation we had last week, so my work morning was filled with rich Vietnamese coffee, painting my nails and a great conversation. I feel like I'm slowly rebuilding my confidence in speaking Vietnamese, which for some reason I let myself lose. Not only do I feel productive, but it's a giant step towards busy.

Surprisingly, March is half way over and it has been really good. Due to a combination of having more work than expected and having back-up things to do when I don't, I've felt perfectly occupied. And, if you were curious, I can now spell and remember all 48 countries in Asia--Kyrgyzstan is especially tricky to spell and Qatar is hard from me to remember for some reason. Yeah, lots of things count as productive these days :)

School of Peace

I've mentioned before that part of my job was helping to plan for the School of Peace (SOP). Currently, SOP is under way and, from what I hear, going really well. Many of the students are from areas of conflict and tension and had never left their home country before. Now here they are, 19 students from 10 different countries, learning about justice and peace from a global perspective while also getting to share their experiences. Amazing!

SOP has a blog if you have any interest in knowing more about what is happening there. It has a lot of information, written by the students themselves, about what they are doing as well as some pictures. There is a page that has links to a couple reflective essays that I thought were really interesting to read. Enjoy!

An Di! Alisa!! An Di!

I didn't expect living in another culture to be peachy all the time. It seems obvious that at some point there will be things I don't understand or things that I do that others can't get. While they are small things constantly--such as the things "everyone knows" (see past blog posts)-- there have been very few cultural shocks. My transition into vietnamese culture has been, for the most part, smooth.

That being said, I have my moments. In fact, there is one cultural habit that comes up all too often. I've maybe mentioned this before because it is not a recent realization--eating. It shouldn't be hard right? I actually really like the style of eating here. It isn't a plate of food for you, but dishes for the table. It's kind of like buffet style. You have a bowl, you put rice in it, then you take from dishes in the middle of the table as you eat. You kind of just dish a few bites worth at a time. Very communal. In theory, I really like it.

But the theory of it misses the participation of the other family members, or more accurately, their observations and vocal opinions of my participation. I have come to think of it as very Vietnamese to put food in someone's bowl for them. Or if it looks like you are slowing down to say, "an di" which is saying "eat" in a kind of command form. Eat more! Eat more! I think it is a mix of their way of providing and caring for you as well as wanting all the food on the table to be eaten. That in itself can get really exhausting, but I have learned to accept a normal amount of it and defend my bowl against their food advances. If you place your chopsticks just right when finished, you can keep your bowl clear of additional unwanted food.

What has made this cultural issue worse recently is that my family has decided that I do not eat enough. Why now, I have no idea. Now, I know that those who know me at home would not vouch for my adventurous food-eating spirit, but I promise, I try everything here. There are a few things I don't like and I'll admit to that if asked directly (meat processed into these weird circle things--not my fav) but for the most part, the food is just fine. I never walk away from a meal feeling hungry. I do not sneak other food after meals. At every dinner I eat a bowl of rice, (sometimes even a little more), some meat and normally a sizable portion of vegetables--when they are available (my family isn't big on the vegetable thing). And yet....they are concerned. The food attacks come on all fronts and do not let up as easy as before.

I don't think I can accurately paint a picture of how exhausting this is. Imagine with me for a moment: You're sitting at the dinner table, eating your rice and maybe a piece of delightfully boiled chicken. You have just taken the chicken, dipped it in the lemon/salt combo sauce and are taking your very first bite when on your right Chu Hung starts pointing to the next piece of chicken he wants you to eat while saying, "Alisa. Alisa" and simultaneously on the left Co Hue starts putting squid in your bowl and saying, "An Di. An Di". The multi-front attack is heighten by the fact that Co Sa just starts laughing from across the table and you don't understand enough Vietnamese to comprehend anything beyond the fact that you are simply trying to eat one thing at a time. The laughter stops when you actually finish eating (after having had at least a little of all the things they pointed at and are feeling pleasantly full) and suddenly you are surrounded by very disapproving looks. You eat too little, you are told in Vietnamese. Even though you don't understand all that Co Hue is saying as she starts whispering furiously under her breath, you definitely know that her frightfully disapproving glare in your direction means she is not pleased.

There are quite a few things that I would like to say in response to them but, even with the language barrier, I'm pretty sure those would be rude. Instead I just say no in the face of their disbelief and accept the disapproval. There is a tiny part of me that feels like it would be good to compromise and eat more to please them, but then I remember, I live here. I need to find a way of doing everyday things, such as eating, that is comfortable for me as well. Yes, I am still adapting to this new culture and some things about my behavior and attitude must change, but it is my body and I will eat how much I want to eat.

Do me a favor. Next time you sit down to a meal remember this lengthy rant and savor every bite until you are full and then....stop. Amazing, right? Who knew such a small thing could be so glorious?

A Walk Around the Neighborhood.

I tend to take a lot of walks here in Vietnam. My usual path is a loop that involves the park across the street, but the other day I deviated from it and went out further. I'm glad I did because I had totally forgotten that at the beginning of my time here I had found a lake and a pagoda on the alleys behind the main street! I guess that isn't necessarily rare here, there are small pagodas everywhere. Regardless, I greatly enjoyed my re-discovery.

Recently I've also been appreciating how pretty my neighborhood is. Much of Hanoi appears covered in a dusty film. Between the construction, the motos and the buildings that block you from being able to see any of the sky, everything is seen through a brown-tinted haze. But the green space of the park across the street leaves an entire block's worth of air left to be enjoyed. While you can't actually see the sunset set, you can see the bright red beginnings of it. And after the sun disappears behind the buildings, the lighting that gives that peaceful, city at dusk look, remains. I like to sit on a park bench and admire it.

Intangible Cultural Heritage and Presidential Retreats

On Friday, instead of going to work (where I continue to be lacking sufficient tasks to keep me busy) I went with the publishing house Hannah and Calah work for to Họi Lim, a festival celebrating a Quan Họ, a UNESCO recognized form oftraditional singing. It is even on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, although not an Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding--which is the actual term used by the UN for endangered traditions.

I can't even put into words the chaos that was this festival. Imagine being at a state fair, with a parade, games, booths, and thousands of people trying to cram through small gateways. Then imagine being one of the very few people of foreign origin at this fair. I have never heard the word, tây (westerner) so many times. And it was without inhibitions. People clearly didn't think we knew any Vietnamese words because they would stare right at us and yell to their friends, while pointing (or snapping pictures), tây! tây! Ridiculous. It was kind of an overwhelming festival. Although interesting to see. Well, correction, "see" is an inaccurate word--we could see/participate in very little. But it was a good experience none-the-less
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Below is actual Quan Họ singing, although it doesn't have to be on a boat. This is just a special example:

Then on Saturday I went with some friends to Ba Vi, a national park just a hour and half outside of Hanoi. Turns out Ba Vi is where grand ole' Uncle Ho used to hide out during the war. I can't blame him, if I was a revolutionary military leader in the midst of a war I'd make that my hide-out too; I think it might be my new favorite place here! We spent the night at this guest house half way up the mountain where we were the only guests! It was a beautiful, crowd-free weekend to make up for my crowd-filled Friday. Although at Ho Chi Minh's pagoda, the reward for climbing up the stairs that lead to the top of the mountain, I heard my fair share of "tây!". And it does make one wonder, what do people do with all of their pictures of the random foreigners they saw. Is my smiling face adorning vacation slide shows all over Northern Vietnam? Or the background of someone's phone? Eh...who knows! All I know is that it was a fantastic weekend.