the world for more than it simply is

Today I was exposed to another side of Viet Nam most tourists may not get the opportunity to see. It was one of simplicity, yet at the same time guilty poverty. After returning from Cu Lao Chàm this afternoon, I paid a visit to Chú Tâm the Cannibal. Two days earlier, I had placed an order at his family’s tailoring shop for a custom-made suit which included vest, trousers, dress shirt, and two ties which he threw in at no extra cost. Of course I had realized this was all a ploy from the beginning, but I just went with the flow. It was today that he took me to two Buddhist temples, a restaurant serving a Hội An specialty called Bê Thui, and a beer garden where I met a woman named Dung with her own story.

The Cannibal has an interesting bittersweet history—he is a man of post-seventy in age with one true love. In the late 1960s, he met his one true love while in his thirties. However, this woman was taken away from him for reasons I did not truly comprehend due to my lack of Vietnamese vocabulary and the central accent. The most which I can recall now is take she was a casualty of the war many years ago. Soon afterward, he was conscripted into military service in Saigon for three years. While in the service, he rose to a high enough rank to command two thousand troops under his wing. During this time, he boasted that he had over fifty women in his company. However throughout our beer drinking escapade, he would always repeatedly mention that there existed only one woman which he ever truly loved.

After his three-year mandatory service, he became an entrepreneur and eventually opened up a total of twelve jewelry stores over time. However, when that fateful day in 1975 passed, he lost his wealth and had to start anew. Soon thereafter, he studied medicine in order to become a doctor. This occupation lasted for almost twenty years until he decided to retire in Hội An with the family he had started with another woman which he ultimately did not wed. After this retirement, he opened a tailoring business and eventually gained enough capital through the tourism industry to open a custom shoe store and an imported sewing machine merchant for Hội An’s many sweat shops. He currently resides in Hội An with his partner, his children, and grandchildren. His daughter is likely to be a heroin consumer, if not addict.

The beer garden which I went to with the Cannibal was called Thuấn. Fruit trees and other plant matter lined the perimeter. It was here that I met Dung—a woman of twenty nine years which introduced herself as twenty five. Dung works there as a bar maid and according to my host for the day, she only earns the meager sum of one US dollar per day. I quickly figured out that this was the classic sob story told to get some money out of a Việt Kieu, but either way I sympathized and coughed up 10000 đong. Dung is married, and has a child aged eight living at home with her deadbeat abusive husband who beats her. Over the span of her career, she has had many lovers which is greatly reflected in the gold watch, gold bracelets, and wrinkly pearl necklace which she wears to work. She does not much seem to enjoy her line of work. Who would? Coincidentally, when I ask for the business card to the establishment, she scribbles her number on the back. I will never call her. I realize that as an overseas Vietnamese I cannot help everyone here.

At this point, I should probably explain the cannibal bit I attached to his name.  This morning I met him for breakfast and he cracked a Vietnamese metaphorical joke which I did not catch onto until well after the fact (a few hours later in fact).  He asked me if I have ever eaten human meat—to which I replied no.  He continued by stating that the meat of young girls was best.  There is the joke.  Laugh now if you will.

Beginning from the previous Friday onwards until some time after into the next week is our class trip to Central Viet Nam. Boarding the train around eleven at night was a divergence from the usual travel via bus. I shared the sleeper cabin that night with Brian, Danielle, Michael, and two Vietnamese women on their way to Vinh and Hue. After a good twelve hours or so, we were in Hue–the city where I had been previously in July.

We arrived here on a cloudy morning. The rain falls in intervals and the streets become flooded due to poor drainage. After check-in at Bamboo Hotel, we were treated to a royal lunch consisting of banh it, banh khoai, and others that I will post pictures of at a later time. Afterwards we visited the Citadel (Dai Noi). I have been there previously on my last visit. Not much has changed besides the noticeable fact that reconstruction of this ancient site from the 19th century is moving along smoothly.

Before nightfall hit, the rain started as we stopped by Thu on Wheels to say hello to the owner. A few hours down the road was the traditional Hue music performance aboard a boat on the Perfume River. I think I would like to purchase a traditional Vietnamese instrument or two and ship them back to the states before I leave here. The night concluded with a dinner with Hac and Ngoc at Nha Hang Ong Tao, some time at Why Not Bar, and watching the film I Am a Sex Addict with Nguyet, Kara, and Hac.

The rain continues to fall today. It almost gives time a slower pace. I enjoy it. Since the weather did not permit the boats to run, our collective traveled by van. Thus far, we have been to two tombs and another Van Mieu. In an hour, we will visit the last two.

Awoken early today around eleven am by Ha Linh–she had finished work early and had nothing to do before our meeting to visit the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology (Bảo tàng Dân tộc học Việt Nam). We had breakfast or perhaps it was brunch before meeting up Hạc and his tutor Quyen to go to the museum together.

 
Along with a look into the lives of Việt Nam’s many minority groups, there was a feature exhibit on the Bao Cấp/Subsidy System era of Việt Nam from 1975 to 1986. During this time, the country existed on a system of redeemable coupons based on citizen rank to obtain living essentials such as rice, meat, clothing, etc. Speaking to Ha Linh on the period, she recalled that she had it better than most during the time since her father was a musician (flute) whose services were required by the government. She explained that because of this, they were able to obtain food easier than others–often times, commoners would have to wait in line all day starting from midnight to receive their food rations. At times, the food supply would run out and those who had been waiting all day would go home empty-handed. Also regarding the food supply, the exhibit noted that rice would often times be moldy or smelly when it was distributed to commoners. Thus, their dreams were generally more limited to just obtaining a rice stipend that did not smell.

 
These were hard times in Việt Nam’s post-war existence, in which black markets and other operations would appear. Recalling further memories, Ha Linh said that her mother learned how to knit during this era in order to make clothing to sell in order to get other supplies (almost a system of bartering). Likewise, because of this era of hardships, her only manufactured toy was a doll which she was only allowed to play with every two weeks when she was on her best behavior as another could not be afforded to replace it.

 
Life was different then. The exhibit states that the future of Việt Nam is moving towards a brighter one now.

I’m a bit grimy right now–haven’t had a proper shower in about three days or so. This weekend was our class trip to Hồ Ba Bể, an expansive lake in the Bắc Kạn province. The trip was amazing complete with morning trips to the ethnic markets, daytime treks through rural areas and rice fields, home-stays with local families, and jumping off thirty foot rocky ledges into the water among other things.

I finished reading a great book earlier today on the ride back; perhaps you have heard of Andrew Xuan Pham’s Catfish and Mandala. I would recommend this book to Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese alike. During the course of the many hours I spent finishing the work, I realized that there were quite a few parallels between the author’s story and my own which I am currently in the process of forging. I will not describe them here as I deem it unnecessary to do so. However, this book got me thinking about the future–my future to be exact.

It does not matter what the ethnicity of my future wife will be. However, I have the feeling that this so-called culture that I at times try to grasp is ever-changing with the different forms of existence that I encounter daily. Thus, I begin to wonder what kind of cultural environment my children will grow up in. I have not firmly decided where I will make my home in the years to come, but I hope that I will be able to share this country with future generations. For the most part, I have come to understand that the majority of local Vietnamese residents feel that this country is poor. In fact, nine out of ten of my usual conversations with the locals eventually reaches a point where Việt Nam’s poverty is mentioned. Habitually, I would reply to the speaker that wealth does not matter and that I enjoy the country nevertheless. But who am I to speak of these matters when I have never experienced such hardships myself? In the eyes of the local populations, I have the means of obtaining a better life than they. Their struggles are vastly different than mine. In a sense, I would like to be able to help these people who share a common land with my ancestors. Yet at the same time, I feel that I have a duty to educate and change the landscape of the United States towards that ideal goal called equality. I believe this is why I cannot yet decide on what future line of work I would really like to do. Perhaps something that spans domestic and international at the same time?

Just need more time to dwell on these thoughts, that’s all.

Việt Nam is truely a beautiful country–from Dọc Let to Hạ Long, the landscape never ceases to astonish. Our group guided tour this weekend was a much needed departure from the routine of attending classes. Thanks to the National Holiday which celebrates the independence of the country, our trip to Hạ Long Bay and Cat Ba Island lasted for three days and two nights.

The first day began on an early Saturday morning when the tourist van came to collect us from A2 at 0630. Still half asleep from the previous night’s snake dinner at Lệ Mật village, we boarded the van which took us to the Việt Nam Open Tour office. The funny thing here is that copyright infringements carry little penalty since we purchased our tickets from a Sinh Café knockoff for under half of the real one’s price. One would think that these infringements would start to matter more to the government as they are attempting entry into the WTO. After an hour’s wait and a breakfast of Bun Rieu, a three hour bus ride ensued towards Hạ Long with a stop over in Hai Duong for about 15 minutes. We had a lackluster lunch aboard our ocean cruiser before leaving the docks towards the bay.

Our first day in Hạ Long included a visit to a cave on one of the islands, swimming on an island, and sea kayaking. Sea kayaking was damn awesome–Michael did slip on some rocky steps onto his head, but nothing too serious. That night I slept on the top deck under the stars while docked in the center of the bay.

On the second day I awoke to a brilliant sunrise, followed by a morning swim off the side of the vessel. After a breakfast better than any of the other day’s pre-paid meals, our next stop would be Cat Ba Island. Some people tend to operate on receiving monetary compensation here rather than the kindness of their hearts. Such an instance was when two European tourists not on the same tour wanted to be dropped off in the center of the island. After an argument which lasted close to twenty minutes, the couple succumbed to the extra fees the driver wanted. This is of course a vast generalization to make, since these are only the actions of a minority. After everything was settled, the next part of our trip consisted of an unexpected three hour trek through the national park of Cat Ba Island. Not being experienced in forest trekking, I scraped my leg on a rock. That was remedied by one of the tour guides who found some forest herbs to patch it up. Likewise, some local tourists shared their water supply with us. Afterwards, we checked into our hotel and had some lunch before departing for nearby Monkey Island. With the ocean waters warm and the sun shining down, there were a scarce amount of monkeys sitting on tree limbs eating fruits and crackers.

The third day started with an early checkout, a drive back to the harbor, and enjoying the scenery on the boat back. On the way back to Hạ Long City, our boat stopped by a floating village nestled in the rock formations jutting out of the green waters. There we boarded a small blue boat powered by a single engine to view the grottos of Hạ Long. The weekend concluded with lunch back on the mainland, and then a van ride back to Hà Nội. The driver, who had the classic fat gangster haircut, refused to take us directly to our abode by stating that the police did not allow such vehicles onto our street. I think he was probably just lazy and late for his mahjong appointment.

  
At night after dinner at R&R, Jacob, Danielle, Katie, Hac and I met up Eric and Mr. Lee at a place called My Way to say goodbye as Eric would be departing the next morning to HCMC for work.