I began this entry thinking that I was going to write about our visit to District 7, under the same title: Another Planet. But then I got to thinking about it, and there are several moments when I feel like I'm on another planet. It is fun to watch myself in these situations and see what my reactions are. One day I may laugh, the next I may get upset. Most of the time I just go with it and smile.
Every day is like an adventure here. I don't know why I don't see the world that way at home..it seems easier to release control when I am not at home, in the U.S. I tend to think of the moments of discomfort and stress as moments for growing. "O.K. You are upset. That's fine. What can you learn from this?" Again, I am not so good at doing this at home...
Some of our "other-worldly" adventures have included:
The Com Chay: 'Com chay' means vegetarian restaurant. Vegetarianism is not rare in Asia, but it is unusual. Our friends call us "not normal". Around Hanoi or HCMC you can find vegetarian restaurants. They are interesting. The cooks, who are truly masters, take tofu and manipulate it into shapes with flavors and textures that so closely resemble meat, I frequently have to ask, "is this vegetarian?" The menus at restaurants like these list the items like you'd see them on a regular menu: Bun Bo Hue, a famous noodle dish from Hue, in central Vietnam, is one such example. The dish arrives and it looks just like meat. When I taste it I am freaked out a little bit. When our omnivorous friends eat it, they KNOW it is not meat.
We ordered "vegetable beer" there, assuming that it would be beer made of vegetables. OK. When it arrived we learned that it was really "near beer". Maybe everything in a com chay is fake?
The Market: The markets are always my favorite! I love learning the language there-informal and quick, and how people buy things. Every market experience is an opportunity to learn. I typically try to ask how to say something (what is this called?). That never seems to work- a woman yesterday wouldn't listen to my question. She thought I was asking the price. I had to give her an explanation: "This is a banana, what is this?"
It is funny how the mind works. People get a bit nervous dealing with foreigners. They see us and categorize us as non-speakers, so they don't listen. People who work with us often have gotten used to our way of pronouncing things and saying them grammatically incorrect. They listen and gather what they can from what we are saying. At times like the one in the market, my reflection is: I need to start studying again so I can be understood. But then I think that it might not make a difference- even if I spoke the most perfect Vietnamese, they would not hear me, at first.
Development Zones: District 7: We took a city bus out to District 7 yesterday. The main roads are wide, divided highways with very little traffic. There are tall apartment buildings that look like they've been beamed to Vietnam from New York or any other city in the U.S. or Europe. There are wide sidewalks in front of cafes, and cars outnumber the motorbikes. That's not saying much since there is very little traffic on the roads. We were walking along and didn't feel like we were in Vietnam anymore.
It is disturbing: it is too quiet.
I am walking on the sidewalk and getting run over by motorbikes.
The roads are wide, and empty
The vehicles are not swervinig wildly out of their lanes.
There are big cars- SUVs, Mercedes, and Hummers
It is too quiet.
As we walk back out to the main road, a motorbike drives up on the sidewalk. As I get to the end of the walk, I notice that the transition from sidewalk to street is sharp, vertical..the driver still managed to get his bike up onto the sidewalk. I smile. I am still in Vietnam.
These 2 photos are of the wide, empty streets of District 7, in the southern part of HCMC. Most of Vietnam doesn't look like this.
No comments:
Post a Comment