To be honest, I was terrified that I would run into these problems and that they would totally ruin my day (and my self esteem). In fact, I had heard an upsetting and shocking statistic about the rise of eating disorders among the ex-pat community living in South-East Asia from a friend of mine who had just returned from Cambodia. The whole discussion about these topics that are so taboo and tiptoed around in our own culture has given me much anxiety.
However, I can happily report that so far, nobody has commented to me on my weight or made any offensive comments, so my self esteem has remained intact. The exciting news, though, is that in addition to this lack of offensive (but innocent) comments is the abundance of compliments that I get on a daily basis.
Everywhere I go, people tell me that I am so beautiful. I don't mean to say that to brag, but just to be factually accurate. To be fair, I know that my "beauty" is probably easily confused with my novelty-factor, in that many people here have seen very few westerners, so we would probably all be considered beautiful to them, only for the shock-and-awe factor. In any case, just walking down the street gives me such a self esteem boost and an instant rush- I am starting to feel like a supermodel.
In other news, after that image-oriented rant, I will begin to update you on my weekend. Here is the blog entry that I wrote during my 10-hour wait in the Da Nang Bus Station:
Poor timing on my part. This weekend was absolutely amazing, but due to “winging it,” and having no idea how the public transportation system going out of Da Nang works, I left Hoi An early in order to try to get on an early bus home to Ha Tinh. According to the woman at the front desk of our mostly-decent-but-sometimes-frustrating hotel, busses for Ha Tinh leave Da Nang every half hour, so I can just catch the next one at the bus station. If only this was truly the case.
I arrived at the bus station around 10:30 AM and bought my ticket. For the one bus to Ha Tinh that leaves daily. At 7:30 PM. So I am making the best of my time in the bus station by NOT SLEEPING (I already got yelled at for lying down in the benches here, so I have to be productive and awake instead of passing the hours napping). I have already graded papers, worked on my lesson plan, synced my iPod, read from my Kindle (I am 98% done with Uncle Tom’s Cabin and have absolutely LOVED it – what free classic book should I read next?), played Sudoku and Boggle on my iPhone, and ate lunch, all just to kill time. Now I figure I can write a very in-depth blog entry that is full of pictures that I do not usually have time to post, since I have all the time in the world now! (Well, 5 more hours until my bus leaves…)
Overall, my weekend has been absolutely splendid, and I feel so rejuvenated and ready to go back to living in real-Vietnam instead of in tourist-Vietnam. I had an amazing time with 7 other Fulbrighters who came to Da Nang and Hoi An, and it was a lovely reunion and opportunity to gossip, vent, commiserate, sunbathe, explore, and relax! It seems like everyone is struggling in their own way with various aspects of their experience here, and it is nice to hear what other people are going through and be able to voice my own frustrations (and successes!).
My weekend began on Wednesday night, when I boarded the sleeper-bus bound for Da Nang. It was cramped, loud, and a bit frightening at times, but man, was it cheap. Would I do the bus again? Yeah, I suppose so, if I had to, and if there was no other equally feasible method of transportation. But will I enjoy it? Probably not. Here is a picture of the bunks on the bus:
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| As you might be able to tell, the bus was anything but luxurious. The bunks were so tiny that I had to sleep on top of my backpack, purse, and umbrella, only because there was not room for them elsewhere! The beds remind me of teeny-tiny, uncomfortable dentist chairs. If I was feeling cramped and cranky, I can only imagine how a normal-sized person would feel being in such close quarters!! |
After a pretty restless night, I arrived in Da Nang at around 4:30 and had the loveliest experience in getting to Maria’s university. Somehow, I managed to fit my backpacking backpack, my school backpack, my umbrella, my purse, my jacket, and myself onto the motorbike taxi with room to spare (thank you, Vietnam, for helping me to realize how to economize space!). The weather was gorgeous when I arrived, and it was just beginning to get warm as the sun rose. The streets were mostly empty, so my ride to the University was so romantic as I looked around at all the pretty buildings and boulevards and enjoyed the peace and quiet and nice weather- luxuries I have not been able to appreciate in what seems like AGES.
When I got to Maria’s apartment, we took a short nap in order to wait for Bread Of Life [more on it later] to open at 7. At around 8:30, we woke up and ambled over to Bread of Life. So what is Bread of Life, you ask? Well, if you must know, it might be my favorite thing about Da Nang. It is an entirely western restaurant with incredibly cheap prices. How is that possible? How is it possible to import cheese, bacon, ice cream, pasta, wheat bread, and other “exotic” ingredients and still have a meal cost 3 or 4 dollars? Because the woman who started the restaurant is born-and-raised in Arkansas and grew up on a farm, so she learned how to create most of her ingredients and products on her own without having to buy them and import them. Secondly, why else is Bread of Life so fabulous? It employs the deaf.
I had no idea that any of these socio-political factors were at work in this country, but apparently being born deaf has been, up until recently, a curse of death to people and their families. In the same way that English is lacking in this country due to very few educated English teachers, sign language is lacking in this country due to very few educated sign language teachers. As a result, the deaf are considered burdens to their families, as they are not able to participate in the community or help to support anyone. They are incredibly isolated and alienated, and many can never attend school (no such thing as special education or schools for the differently-abled), so they are virtually stuck in childhood. However, Bread of Life employs 25 deaf waiters, servers, and cooks, and offers them food, housing, and sign language classes. The woman and her husband (ministers from Arkansas, as I mentioned earlier) run the restaurant as an entirely non-profit organization that serves solely to integrate the deaf back into their communities.
The idea of starting a restaurant like this is so profound and inspiring to me, and, after four times of eating at that restaurant in 2 days (embarrassing, but not really), I am realizing that with a different attitude towards the deaf, as well as different opportunities, they can live and function almost 100% normally within their communities. MJ, Maria, and I made friends with Binh, one of the servers, who came over and “chatted” with us. By chatted, I mean that the four of us used a combination of gestures, writing (in broken Vietnamese and English), symbols, and some newly-learned sign language to communicate. Binh now knows all about us and our experiences in Vietnam, and we know about his life in Da Nang, his wife, and some of his history, and could genuinely have an enjoyable conversation with one another, despite a seemingly insurmountable language barrier.
Wait a second, you may be thinking. Isn’t this what you wrote your Fulbright application about, Allie? Why yes, it is, indeed! I am realizing that relationships can be built without “normal” modes of communication, and that sometimes words are incredibly overrated. Communication is so multi-faceted and about so much more than just speaking the same verbal language. Talking with Binh and enjoying the conversation so much was such an eye-opener to me that communication truly is so simple if we step out of our conventional methods of interaction. Hand gestures and pictures go a long way, and it’s easy to forget how similar we all are if we just shut up and try to speak a more universalized language. Powerful.
Anyway, here are some pictures of my four various meals at Bread of Life:
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| Maria had cinnamon pancakes and hash-browns. |
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| I had French toast, eggs, and ham. And yes, there was REAL maple syrup.! |
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| For dinner, I had a bacon cheeseburger and fries and then did a three-way split of carrot cake, brownie sundae, and apple streusel with Maria and MJ (who had arrived earlier in the afternoon and wanted in on the Bread of Life action) for dessert. My apologies, but we dove into the desserts so quickly that there was not time to take a picture. |
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| The next morning, our fellow Fulbrighter, Lam, arrived in Da Nang, and we introduced him to the wonders of our favorite restaurant, and our new friend Binh. I ordered hot chocolate this time, and Maria went for the mint version. |
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| MJ got cinnamon pancakes after hearing about how good Maria’s were, and Lam got the pancake breakfast like me! |
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You know you’re at a restaurant that caters to westerners when you, generously (to make their job easier), just ask for “fried eggs,” willing to accept whatever comes out, and they ask you to specify what kind of eggs you want. Of course, with that clarification, I was thrilled to order eggs-overhard. |
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| For lunch that day, I had the baked meaty cheesey pasta and… |
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| The brownie sundae with strawberry ice cream and hot fudge. YES!!!!!!! I LOVE WESTERN FOOD! |
I can assure you though, that the weekend was not all about food (only SOME of it was about food- tee hee hee). I will include the pictures that are not so food-obsessed in the next post.
[Furthermore, in other news, I just saw my first live mouse. Rat? Mouse? How do I tell the difference? Will I know when I see one? I am in my favorite cafe using the wireless, and this mouse has been scurrying about in all the wines and plants on the wall next to me. I am officially revolted, no longer want to talk about food, and no longer want to be in this cafe.
GOODBYE.
[Furthermore, in other news, I just saw my first live mouse. Rat? Mouse? How do I tell the difference? Will I know when I see one? I am in my favorite cafe using the wireless, and this mouse has been scurrying about in all the wines and plants on the wall next to me. I am officially revolted, no longer want to talk about food, and no longer want to be in this cafe.
GOODBYE.
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