8-10-09 and 8-11-09: For the Sake of Brevity...

Professor Biggs' daughter, Xu Ang, and myself at the tomb of Ming Mangh...
Making our wishes with the candlelit paper boats along the river...
Our wishes coasting down the river...

Todays blog consists of two different days and nights (Yesterday, August 10 and Today, August 11^th) , for the sake of brevity.

August 10^th consisted of more rain, but by midday, the storm clouds cleared up. The day consisted of a day trip to the tomb of the second emperor of Vietnam, Ming Mangh. According to historians, Ming Mangh had concubines that added up to more than 1500. That’s the life.

We arrived to the tomb at around noon, while it was still raining as hard as news footage of hurricanes. But the funny thing is, as we arrived their, the skies cleared up. This tomb was a very eloquent, and sometimes eccentric, tomb that was the size of a mall. Complete with; river delta, superannuated buildings, colorful pagodas, and vast vegetation as far as the eyes could see. The day, although raining just minutes before we arrived, was a very humid one. Maybe it was the trees, or maybe it’s just how Vietnam is, but humidity seems to follow you everywhere. We took pictures, cooled ourselves off with ice cream, and made jokes about the brothels that Ming Mangh procured as leader of Vietnam. We skipped stones along the river, ate exotic fruits, and hiked long trails. Innocent, nostalgic, gorgeous…

We left the tomb on a different vehicle than we arrived. Instead of leaving on a bus, in which we arrived on, we left on a dragon boat. We were told that the boat ride came accompanied with live music along the lighted river bank. Excited, the band boarded the bus dressed in traditional Vietnamese garb and carried with them traditional Vietnamese instruments. Songs were song, instruments were played. There was something about live, traditional, and lyric-less, music while the sun was setting along the backdrop of a riverbank that really pulled a string in my heart. I could see people driving by from where our boat was, like little glowing ants. Everything seemed so miniscule to me, all the while the female singers were singing in Vietnamese. Not a word sung was understood by me, but somehow I knew that she was singing about love. Her voice just exuded with that sort of thing. Before our time with this lovely band was over, they asked us to light candles on colorful mini-boats (about the size of apples) and make wishes as we set them free to the mouth of the river. As I looked across the boat in each of my compadres’ faces, I could tell that wishes were made from the heart. The boats floated away, along with our heartfelt wishes.

We ate dinner at a floating restaurant along the river. Not 100 yards away was the location of our wishes, floating down the Perfume River. Places like this, which I’ve been to in Orange County, usually cost an arm and a leg. Here, though, the priciest item was crab that went for about 5 dollars. Now, I understand that we have to pay extra for stuff in the States because we’re also paying for the venue, the waiters’ salary, and the extra cost to run stuff, but come on, a whole 50 dollars extra per plate? That is ridiculous.

Dinner was great. As usual, we drank, and lamented on the day that past us by so fast...

Today (August 11^th) was a day in which past by too fast. I woke up to the sounds of my air conditioning whirling to continue its frantic pace of keeping me cool during these humid days. The weather outside was grey, complete with a light pouring of rain on my window. In California, rainy days require winter-like clothing. Here, though, you can wear board shorts and a tee in the rain if you wanted. I decided to go with the latter and wear very light clothing. Class went by slow as usually, but the information shared to us was very enlightening.

We all got back to our hotel rooms at about noon. Our usual routine after class is lunch, exploring, then dinner. Today it seemed that the weather drained all of us. Knowing that some of us, including myself, had our responsibility to the orphanage today I decided to nap for 30 minutes. I don’t know what it was, but I turned on a little bit of Bob Marley (this and the rain mixed make a very stress-free atmosphere), and faded away...

I abruptly woke up to hard knocks on my door telling me that it was 3pm. 30 minutes had turned into 2 hours. I had overslept. Aside from this, it turned out that the torrential rains knocked out our electricity for the unforeseen future. The hotel employees were walking around with flashlights, filling in holes in the ceilings with bags, and handing out candles to each hotel room. Honestly, the rain made me drowsy and lethargic, so going to the orphanage was the last thing I wanted to do. But after thinking it through, I knew that I couldn’t flake on kids who needed people like me the most. I decided to go and not skip out on them.

At the orphanage we played hangman and practiced grammar. The kids are growing on us more and more as everyday passes. I’ve been working with kids, teaching and such, for the past 2 years, and for some reason these kids strike a different chord within me. Something about their innocence, some of them not knowing what a watch looks like, really ignites my spirit to teach. They need positive influences in their lives, and I’m glad I can be one of them. Nevertheless, the nun shared with us information that she hadn’t in the past. In turns out that some of these kids were lost children from the typhoon that struck Vietnam in the early 90’s. Most the children survived, but heartbreakingly, the parents did not. Now if you believe in a God or not, isn’t it miraculous that these children survived something that adults could not? Amazing…

Dinner was as eventful as ever. We decided to eat in the backpackers (travelers area) district to have dinner. We stayed clear of this place prior to tonight because of all the Europeans gathering around this area, over populating it, this making it less authentic. But honestly, it turned out to be a great place, full of lively restaurants and beautiful lighting. Dinner took place at a restaurant owned by an expat that settled in Hue after meeting a beautiful Viet woman. Although I didn’t meet the owner, it seemed as though he was a surfer because of the beach music playing the background and the Hawaiian décor on the walls. All-in-all, a great place, complete with awesome food...

We ended the night at a bar called “Brown Eyes,” probably named after the almond-shaped brown eyes the owner had. Beautiful. Something about a lively environment, along with beautiful girls alluring you in with fliers for free drinks that a man cannot decline. A lively place awaited us fresh with Frenchman and Aussies (always a good bunch to drink with). Black lights, fully stocked bar, modern art, and graffiti walls were what this bar offered, and we gladly accepted. Pictures of Che Guevarra, half-naked women, Marilyn Monroe, and Darwin-esque paintings were juxtaposed on the wall. The waitress offered us our drinks and offered me a guitar to play. As we drank, I tried to play tunes of The Beatles to no avail, the strings were rusted, and the guitar was out of tune. Regardless, we all enjoyed the night, laughing and drinking our worries away. Nonetheless, the bar is a place I will return to in the near future. The ambiance was too good for me not to do so and the cheap drinks were more than a plus. Perfect lighting, great drinks, and great people always add up to a great night, no matter what...

A beautiful night indeed…

Live from Vietnam, Sonny