weekend excursion

i took a last minute trip to danang and hoi an, two resort towns that are the most beautiful places that i have ever been. really. the beaches were beautiful, the sun was out, and five-star resorts don't hurt. it really does complete my picture of vietnam as a very romantic country.

romantic? yeah... it may seem silly that a developing country can be romantic, but it is in its own special way. as a passenger on motorbikes, it's perfectly fine to hold onto the waist of the person driving, which young people here take advantage of as their riding with their significant other. at night, if you pass by any park, there are couples everywhere. if you have the money, the resorts and beaches are beautiful.

but was my weekend romantic? not unless you count walking along the beach with my aunt and my 5 year old cousin. but it was definitely fun and i'm tan (granted with funky tan lines). lots of pictures were taken and will be put up tomorrow.

oh, but the best part of the weekend was the food. i don't think that i've eaten so much in my life. i don't think that i've eaten so well in my life. i must have had 5 meals a day. and all of it was amazing. and it was wonderful because my aunt had a friend who is from danang and she showed us all the local places to eat all wonderful food. i think i've just found paradise. good, cheap food. beautiful, unspoiled beaches.

but now that i'm back, i'm dead tired and have to work tomorrow. back to reality, i guess.

ok! OK?

so, i don't know how much people who are reading this know what exactly i'm doing over here. here's a quick background. i'm currently in vietnam until early august working with the first anonymous HIV testing site in Vietnam (though there are more than one now, we were the first). it's pretty cool, to see how research (University of California San Francisco), non-governmental organization (Family Health International) and Vietnamese employees and government work together.

as part of my observation and research with them, i sat in on three days of a six-day training course about HIV counseling. it was very interesting as i blindly groped my way through a lot of technical vietnamese. however, i am proud to say that i now know the words for injection drug user, men who have sex with men, and female sex worker very well now. oh, and condom. condom = "bao cao su" = (literally translated) raincoat.

so, my talk here is about condoms. i've been saying "ok" like americans say ok; in other words, when i don't know how to end a conversation. turns out that "OK" is a popular condom brand here in Vietnam. so, i've been saying the equivalent of "Trojan" or "Durex" repeatedly. a coworker kindly informed me of this.... and so for the past few days, i've been trying to find a way for me to end conversations in my rudimentary vietnamese. i'll keep ya'll updated on that.

americanization

as i was coming back from work today, i realized something. american culture is everywhere here. yeah, it's sort of american culture, pirated, but hey, what in asia is not pirated?

the car i was riding in was playing this american cd. however, a few songs into it, i realized it was a cd of american songs sung by vietnamese singers. that's when i realized that the song, "sealed with a kiss" was being pronounced as "shield with a kiss." i'd like to see that.

then, there was a clothing store called "inches." i look closer and it was a clothing store for larger women. isn't it funny and so fitting that a plus-sized store is named after a measurement used only in the united states?! talk about obesity epidemic getting out of hand, even the developing world knows about it.

oh, but the last one beats them all. here, when you're outside in the city, lots of people wear masks that cover their noses and mouths. let's just say that the words "pollution control" do not exist in the vietnamese language. but, the fabric that one uses seems rather arbitrary because i've seen a few with this fabric that's stars and stripes plus the word "TEXAS" (in caps) emblazoned on it. there are so many things wrong with that on so many levels. maybe it's my hatred of president bush and maybe it's just because texas is this big barren state.

so, those are my three main points. as everyone who took high school english knows, the proper structure of a 5-paragraph essay is intro, 3 points, then conclusion. so, the americanization of vietnam materializes itself in rather odd ways - in songs, fashion, and face protectors. what's next? president bush being leader of the free world? wait,...oops.

cabbie ride

so a cabbie took me for a ride. a ride that cost me twice as much as it should have. it was a rather interesting conversation that i had while the cabbie totally took advantage of my american wallet.

ok, so i went to the hospital at which that the doctor that i work with works. turns out he wasn't there and was instead at their smaller clinic, so i called a cab and took it to the clinic. it should have taken a few minutes. well, it took more than a few minutes. oh, but then the cabbie was talking the whole time. literally. he kept on asking me questions, etc etc. then he starts asking how old i was and whether i was married (i guess 23 is considered to be an old maid... my god, married? now? ha!). so, by now i was asking him when we would get to the clinic because it was taking a bit long. he just responds, "oh, we're almost there." then, he proceeds to make this long u-turn around several city blocks. amazing. like i'm stupid.

oh, the icing on the cake was when he offering to introduce me to some drivers that he knew that i might be interested in... as husbands. that was when i stopped being nice and stopped talking to him.

in the end, the ride cost me a little over $2 US, which is a lot considering that it really costs me that much to get twice as far. oh well.

apologies

i haven't been updating a lot lately. my deepest and most sincere apologies! but i have uploaded pictures, so go check them out!

last weekend, i went to the mekong delta to visit my grandfather and to visit an aunt and uncle. everyone was so nice to me, it's amazing. i find that people here are very nice, whether they are helping you buy something or just hosting you in their home. maybe it's because i'm an american and perceived to have money or maybe it's because they're family. either way, hospitality here is top notch.

but i've started really working and such. for the past two days, i've been attending this workshop for professionals to get trained in HIV counseling. it's pretty cool. i'm finding my way, however blindly, through the technical vietnamese. but, i'm happy to report that now i know the vietnamese word for HIV infection, commercial sex worker, and injection drug user! delightful things to know and use, i know. but it's cool, i can really see a difference in the vietnamese that i understand. however, speaking it is another matter. i'm still learning. my uncle's driver, when taking me home today, was trying to get my to speak and kindly correcting my word usage and pronunciation. it's really hard. argh.

but yeah, that's all that i have to report for now. back to being bored. i watched "13 going on 30" today. it was a cute movie. gosh, i was so bored. but i got my hair dyed (bright red!) and my nails buffed. hehehe, it's nice being "rich."

lots going on

so i've had lots going on, but i can't say that i haven't had time to post because i have. i started working, which is good. it means that i no longer sit on my butt watching tv all day. but i've only worked for three days and seen various things. sometimes, i go to a foreign-owned hospital to shadow the doctor that i work with. but most times, i'm working in an anonymous HIV testing site. i still don't know what my project will be, but we'll see. it's going to be a bit tricky, especially given that my scholarship depends on it. argh.

oh, but i saw a colonoscopy! ok, not the sexiest of all procedures, but hey. it was fine until the patient started talking and saying it was hurting (duh?). that's when i started to get queasy. i get kinda ill when i see the patient's reaction to a procedure. the procedure itself does not bother me so much as the patient's feelings. it's all very odd. oh, but the gastroenterologist performing the procedure says to me afterwards, "do not become a gastroenterologist. it's boring. all you see is feces. feces." i hope i don't become that doctor who tells people to not go into their field. that seems so sad.

but i'm getting used to things here. sort of learning my way around this city of 8 million (?) people. it's amazingly crowded here. i'm taking pictures and will hopefully get them up by sunday night. not many exciting pictures, but we'll see.

til then, cheery-o! (i've been kidding around with my cousin by speaking in a british accent around him... in addition to watching a lot of bbc news)

such a fickle place

so, turns out that i am here during the rainy season. this is good for several reasons. it's much cooler, i love summer rains, and seems less dusty. on the other hand, internet and satellite go on and off intermittently. so i was without the internet for the whole weekend and bored out of my mind. literally. i finished a whole book (kite runner, a pretty incredible book, almost to the point where it's unbelievable).

but i did various things in the midst of my boredom. i went to a canada day celebration. what is canada day, you may ask? i have no idea. i met with a family friend for dinner and ice cream. incredible ice cream. so incredible that even though i don't like coconut, i still thought it was incredible ice cream. i went out with a cousin and bought a few greeting cards. i got a facial with my aunt and went to the market to buy a few shirts. i went to an "art gallery" (everything is for sale, without the cool tags that tell you the history of the painting), which was pretty cool.

but yeah, that's it. i start work tomorrow morning. have to be there at 8. amazing.

oh, and no diarrhea yet! that makes me happy.

i'm here!

so i finally made it. after a pretty uneventful plane trip and some time trying to find my luggage, i'm finally here. it's beautiful here. well, the city is not so beautiful as it's crowded and smoggy and pretty much very grimy. however, the scenery is beautiful and i'm very excited to be here. it's not as hot or as humid - and not as unbearable - as i had thought it would be, but i guess just give it time.

so, that's it for now. no pictures yet. i don't have much to report on as nothing has happened. oh, lots of tourists. it's weird because i don't remember there being so many last time i was here. oh well.

countdown

so, the countdown begins. in about twelves hours, i will be on my way to vietnam, via taiwan. it's so weird, just tying up all loose ends and such. making sure that rent and all my bills are paid. calling people. seeing all friends in california.

also, just trying to mentally prepare myself for what i will see there. i have no idea what to expect beyond it being very hot and very humid. i'm staying with an uncle and his family in vietnam. they live in a palace, or so i'm told because i have only seen their old house (which wasn't far removed from a palace). i also don't know what to expect in terms of getting around the city or what to expect at work. i guess that's what this experience is about, getting used to the unexpected. or rather, maybe it's about expecting the unexpected. i'm happy about that.

if i was to sum up all of my feelings, i would say that i'm anxious. i've been waiting so long to go and now it's happening, so i'm just anxious to get started.

so, til i find internet access in vietnam, i'm off.