Relatives!

Ben Tre

Aunt and Great-Uncle 

This week, I met my relatives and spent time with them in their hometowns, Ben Tre and Soc Trang.  I admit it was a little awkward and nerve-wrecking to meet my relatives for the very first time, but it was such a good and meaningful experience! I tried making conversation with all the vietnamese I could muster and I am so glad that I'm at least proficient at speaking Vietnamese! 

That night I went in a taxi with my (aunt?) to stay at a hotel which was closer to the bus station. Early the next morning, we hopped onto a bus to Ben Tre, where my grandma's brother lives. My first time out of the big city and I could tell some differences of this suburban town compared to Saigon. It is a lot more spread out, the streets are a little cleaner, and my (great-uncle?) lives in the more country side of town. There was not much to do, but it was nice to have conversations and show them pictures of how my family looks like now. My great-uncle (grandma's brother) is such a warmhearted person that reminds me so much of my grandma! And he sure can dance and boogie on the dance floor! :]:]

Soc Trang

After a few days, we hopped on a sketchy hippie bus to go to Soc Trang, which is 4hrs south from Saigon. The bus ride there was horrible!! We were centimeters away from crashing into oncoming traffic, but glad to say that we made it through. We went to my aunt's (grandma's neice) house, which is the house that my grandma and her parents lived in. It was amazing to go back to my roots and I felt this sense of gratitude of it all. I paid respect to my ancestors at the shrine that had pictures of my great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents. At Soc Trang, I love the feel of the close community especially when we go to the market and everything is so fresh! 

Me in rice hat (nong la) heheh :]

 This was such a meaningful experience for me and I am glad to have set time to specifically to spend with family :]

SEALNet Project Vietnam 2013

Logo for Project Vietnam 2013 !

SEALNet is the best thing I chose to do for the start of my trip abroad! I applied for Project Vietnam because I was going to be here to study abroad anyway and I wanted to do some meaningful work of giving back to the community. I was ultimately accepted into the program, yayy! This particular project brings 15 international college students and 15 local vietnamese college students to come together to work with people with disabilities.




Throughout the two weeks, we built leadership skills, learned each others' stories, and formed strong friendships. The first few days were good, we did a lot of bonding and leadership activities. By the fourth day, we as a team had to re-evaluate our goals and what we wanted to accomplish from the 2 weeks. From that turning point, we started to really focus on what kind of performances and the message we wanted to portray to our audience.

In Vietnam, there is a very bad stigma of people

Circle Painting

who have disabilities. The streets are really tough to walk through and especially get around by wheelchair because the sidewalk tends to be narrow and have broken tiles. There are too many cars and motorbikes, so it is difficult to cross the street, and it is near impossible to get on a city bus because the stairs are very steep and there aren't ramps available. There are laws in Vietnam that help people with disabilities, but they aren't enforced well or at all. Thus, we wanted to showcase our friends from the Disability Resource D through a special performance free to anyone to change the misconception of people with disabilities.
                                                                     
When I first met our friends with disabilities, I noticed right away that they are not much different from anyone else. In fact, they were so talented! They could sing and play instruments really well, and one fella could even wheelchair dance. I learned so much from them and their stories and I am truly appreciative to have met them!

By the end of the two weeks, we had such an amazing performance!! It involved a skit with dance and singing performances. I had a minor acting role with 3 lines and I was so proud to do. I guess my acting class and improving vietnamese language skills did the trick and I nailed it (made people laugh:) There were also 3 famous vietnamese singers who sang to support the cause, which is nice. Although, I felt that we were a little overshadowed but it's okay!

SEALNet was such a meaningful experience and the best transition into my next 3 months here in Vietnam. I just have so many good things to say about it! I made some really close native Vietnamese and internatiional friends. And it has just been a blast joking around in Vietnamese, going crazy at Karaoke, and having deep meaningful talks at night.  I will forever remember the memories I've made with the amazing group that is Project Vietnam 2013! :]

After the show :]

Dancing and singing :]

Some of my closest friends from SEALNet <3

Flashmob!!

Upon Arrival to Vietnam

After a 13 hour flight (without movies because the entertainment system was down) and a 4 hour flight, I finally made it to Saigon.. or more politically correct, Ho Chi Minh City. I was very exhausted from sitting on my butt for so long and just wanted to sleep because of the jetlag. I had to get my Visa upon arrival at the airport, which took about an hour! As I walk out the doors of the airport, the very first sight I see is a very huge crowd of people holding signs to meet with people who have arrived. And I immediately feel the humidity! Dang, Vietnam is very hot and humid, which makes me sweat a lot... no amount of deodorant can help me here. I walk around scanning the crowd to see some kind of sign that says my name or "sealnet".. but I don't see anything at all.. by the time I walked around the crowd 5 times with my big ol' luggages, I start to freak out because I have no way of contacting them and never wrote down the phone number. So I end up going back into the airport, feeling very overwhelmed from all the people and just the idea of being lost. I try to speak vietnamese to look for an outlet to charge my ipod touch, and I don't think they understood me..yeah, the way I speak Vietnamese just screams "fresh from America!" I finally find an outlet at a cafe and the worker kind of hints me to order something. I felt guilty for using their electricity and internet so I ordered a can of 7-up which was 35,000 dong. I didn't know it at the time, but it was a rip-off...it normally should be only 10,000 dong. Dong is the vietnamese currency, the conversion rate is about 21,000 dong to 1 USD. Which makes everything really cheap! Then, I am finally able to get a phone number and I muster the courage to ask a lady if I could borrow her phone. The person who was supposed to pick me up had already gone back because he had to wait too long..so then he asks the lady to help me catch a taxi to the hotel. I got into a taxi and on the drive I actually had a conversation with the driver about coming to Vietnam for the first time and what I will be doing. When I get to the hotel, the person came out to pay for my cab fare, which was 350,000 dong. Again, at the time I didn't know...but it was a rip-off! But he wasn't an actual taxi, so that's why it cost more -.-

In Vietnam, some people would take the opportunity to rip off foreigners, especially near the touristy areas, such as in Ben Thanh market or at the airport. Which is why bargaining is a must!  But sometimes the store owner can get very intimidating >.<