Learning about Vietnam in Vietnam
Here is a picture of all the kids on my program at the Fairy Springs in Mui Ne. From left to right: Sam, Anna, Ali, myself, Tara
Hello again! Time is flying by here and every day is an adventure. A lot has happened since I last wrote you, so I will try to include everything.
I am becoming more acclimated to the culture and I am even enjoying some of the local foods (shocking right?). My roommate Khuyen and I have done some cool stuff together. One day we went to a spa with some free vouchers to get massages and we also went to a famous local rice restaurant. Khuyen and I have such busy schedules so its nice when we are able to spend some more time together. She has also continued to help me build my grasp on speaking Vietnamese and lately I haven’t called anyone cake. (Although I have called myself stupid instead of saying I am sleepy, minor problem) Otherwise I am improving everyday and it is satisfying to be able to understand the locals when they talk to you.
We are continuing to have a great time together exploring Vietnam. The other night we got to spend an evening learning how to cook traditional Vietnamese dishes at our program director’s apartment. Our roommates came and helped us cook the delicious meal. I am surprisingly good at making the fried banana dessert! Don’t worry I memorized how to make it so I will bring the recipe back to the states.
My classes are going really well. It is certainly special to be able to learn about Vietnam while in Vietnam. I have found that even in our Vietnamese language class that the learning here is much more interactive. We have language table lunches where we can only speak in Vietnamese and today our teacher took us to try different Vietnamese foods for the second half of class. We had Che, which is a sweet soup dessert. Mine was banana in coconut milk with peanuts and it was very yummy. The Vietnamese studies class also has us out and in the community. We are sent traveling around and learning about different areas of Vietnam. A lot of what we talk about in class such as issues with the economy you can walk right out on the street and see the problems. Of course our service-learning class has us working hard within the community and I am really enjoying working with the boys at the orphanage. It is certainly a challenge to create good and effective lesson plans, but I am starting to get the hang of it. It was also interesting to learn that some of the boys at the orphanage have families, but they were sent to live in the orphanage because their families could not support them at home. The boys who spoke with me said they were thankful that they were given the opportunity to live at the orphanage even though they missed their families because there are more opportunities at achieving a better lifestyle in District 12.
Starting to get adjusted to living in HCMC
Night market in HCMC
In the evenings we have explored Vietnamese night life! A lot of young people in Vietnam love to sit in the park and enjoy ca phe sua da (ice coffee with milk). We like to join in on the fun and for some nights we have gone and enjoyed sitting with each other and chatting. One night we went to the night market. We had gone during the day, but at night there is a different vibe. All the street vendors are out and all sorts of people are wandering the streets. Karaoke is a huge thing in Vietnam. They love pop music and they love K-pop which is Korean pop. One night the roommates and everyone went to karaoke to celebrate one of the girls on the programs birthday. Unfortunately I was very sick so I stayed in, but the next night we went to a nice bar atop a tall building called Sky bar. You had amazing views of the entire city! Other nights have been filled with studious activity or just hanging out at the dorm.
A lot of this program is based on individual exploration. A lot of the times it is up to us to research and wander on our own to figure out more and more about Ho Chi Minh. Our down time is ours and we have walked around and discovered cool places to hangout. One day we went to the local zoo. It was $1, but unfortunately not a lot of the animals are well cared for due to the little funding the zoo gets. Another day I went and saw the Jade Pagoda. It is a Chinese pagoda that is snuggled into the city. It is beautiful and a very popular place for people to go pray for contraception. These self exploration excursions have really gotten me familiar with the area and the locals. Using my broken Vietnamese has come in handy and I am starting to get adjusted to living in a city.
A huge part of this program is service-learning. So I may only be taking 3 classes, I am working the other days at an orphanage for all boys. These boys are the ones that other orphanages don’t want because they are troubled. A lot of them are mentally unstable and have serious depression. Brother Jerome informed me that a lot have seen their parents killed or die. While I toured the boys were all extremely well mannered and they really seem to love and respect Brother Jerome. My commute to work is an hour and it takes me all the way out to District 12! Out there there is a lot more poverty and the orphanage is tucked away in an alley. The facility his huge and brand new and Brother Jerome runs the entire orphanage. Apparently very recently, a German couple who visited before had donated this new building. There are 40 boys and their ages range from 4 to 18. They were incredibly gracious and I got a whole tour of the building. The boys sleep in bunk beds and they mattress is a small bamboo matt over wooden rails. I will be spending all of Tuesday and half of Thursday teaching the boys English. I want to be as active as I can and maybe plan weekend excursions for these kids so they have a chance to get out of the orphanage. The English book I was told to use was published in 1967 and it is set up like the popular book, Wordly Wise, except the passages for the boys to read are dense excerpts from books by authors like George Orwell. Let’s just say I have to study the lessons before I teach them because they are really difficult. At the end of my tour Brother Jerome had all the boys line up in front me and sing a song for my “Welcoming Ceremony”. They sang on traditional Vietnamese song and one English song. I was so touched and I cannot wait to start working tomorrow!
While it is daunting to have to figure out reading maps and asking locals questions in somewhat broken Vietnamese, it has been an amazing experience thus far. The kids on my program are great and the roommates are fantastic. Immersing myself into this culture has been an adjustment and I have been craving cereal, but I have loved every moment. I am sure there are some great adventures ahead and of course I will keep you posted.
CET Vietnam student featured in local news!
CET Vietnamese Studies and Service-Learning student Ali Carroll, Clark University, was featured in this online article about Earth Hour in Vietnam while participating in service-learning at 350, a grassroots movement to solve the climate change crisis. Vietnam is one of 135 countries that will participate in Earth Hour on March 31, 2012 from 8:30 to 9:30pm. The movement asks people to turn off all unnecessary electricity for one hour. It also encourages recycling, collects used batteries, and promotes renewable energy sources.
CET Vietnam and DukeEngage programs receive Service-Learning Award
Written by Kate Maruyama, CET Japan and Vietnam Program Manager
In August 2011, the students participating on the CET Vietnam Summer and DukeEngage programs received this award from the People Committee of Ben Tre Providence for their great contributions in the community during the 2011 Green Summer Campaign. CET has been doing summer service-learning in Ben Tre for many years, but this is the first time CET has received this award. Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard to make this possible!
CET Academic Programs