8-5-09: Memorable, to say the least...

"I couldn't tell where the sky stopped and the ocean began..."

Have you ever watched the movie “Forrest Gump?” If you haven’t, have you been living under a rock for the past 15 years? For those of you that have, you’ll get my reference. Remember the scene in which Forrest finally meets up with his love Jenny after his time in the military? They talk, and she asks Forrest, “Were you scared in Vietnam?” This is when (which happens to me one of my most memorable scenes in the movie) the movie goes into a flashback, while Forrest explains to her all of the places that he has been, looking up in all of the different skies, and all the while, she was there with him. He explains it best, “Yes. Well, I-I don't know. Sometimes it would stop raining long enough for the stars to come out... and then it was nice. It was like just before the sun goes to bed down on the bayou. There was always a million sparkles on the water... like that mountain lake. It was so clear, Jenny, it looked like there were two skies one on top of the other. And then in the desert, when the sun comes up, I couldn't tell where heaven stopped and the earth began. It's so beautiful.”

This is how I felt today.

You see, I’ve had the most fortunate opportunities in my life to travel to many places; England, Hawaii, Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Mexico, and many countries in Europe. Now, I’ve been granted to chance to be here in Vietnam. I bring this up because whenever I travel to places, I love to compare the sites with previous places I’ve been to. More importantly, I love to compare the skies. Hence the aforementioned “Forrest Gump” reference. Today, we went fishing with some local sicklo (Vietnamese bicycle taxis) drivers to the outer-most villages in Vietnam. As we were driving, we had the chance to witness some of the most beautiful visual scenery that I have ever seen. Colors that only nature could create, some of the greenest trees and grass, herds of baby buffalo, endless rice fields, and a sky that contained every color imaginable. Words could only say so much. As we were riding, I found myself lost in my own world of thought. I found myself comparing the brightly lit Parisian sky to the dimly lit university towns of Belgium. I found myself comparing the tropical breezes of Hawaii to the gusty winds of the mountains in Thailand. Then I found myself losing myself in the beauty that was, what seemed like, within arms reach. The Vietnamese sky had no comparison. This is because the sky that I saw not only carried visual allure, but it also carried with it something I have never witnessed before. It was literally as if someone painted this sky. Stunning…

We encountered many different villagers along are drive to the fishing spot. Many of them doing what they do everyday, working. Every now and then, though, I spotted one of the villagers doing what I caught myself doing every so often, watching the beauty that surrounded us.

We soon arrived at the fishing spot with our new driver friends. The fishing village was a quaint little place that was very charming. Little huts that you could rent out were placed alongside this lagoon in which your fishing took places. Tired, hungry, and thirsty we were given a hut that had electricity for an electronic fan. I found that to be very amusing because we were in the middle of a fishing village, yet they found a way to bring us the amenities we were used to. The most astonishing thing to me was the fishing rod we were given. I was expecting to use the rods we see on T.V. with the fancy reel and bate. The fishing rods we were given were bamboo sticks that were carved to feel like rods and little sun-dried shrimp for bate. Honestly, I much rather have used the rods we were given instead of the rods we are used to, it just gives for a more authentic feel. I felt like we were in a movie. After we started fishing, we talked to our drivers. Luckily 2 of our students in the group speak fluent Viet, so we used them as translators. We talked to them about their lives, their experiences and we were happy to share the same information with them. I found out that they usually work 12 hour days riding people around in their hybrid bike-taxi, making roughly 5 dollars a day. And that’s if they get customers. If they don’t, then they make no money at all. All of this while having to support a family. Could you imagine these kinds of working conditions in the States? We have people suing their employers for not getting their 15 minute breaks on time and these people are doing jobs that are unimaginable for almost nothing. I’m not saying feel sorry for them, just be grateful every now-and-then for what you have.

The sicklo drivers loved us, and they explained to us that we were the first foreigners they have befriended. They appreciated the fact that we wanted to hear their stories. To say the least, we caught no fish, or better yet, no fish that were worth trying to eat. Because of this, we soon found ourselves being invited to dinner at one of the drivers’ homes. We gladly obliged.

The drivers home was a cozy little place that had a piece of metal sheet as the door. No knob, just a door that slid up. His house was about the size of a medium sized hotel room complete with; a small wooden table that doubled as a bed when not being used to eat, a huge and elaborate Buddhist shrine, old frameless pictures of family members on the wall, a bluish paint that was starting to fade, and a small nook in the corner where I guessed him and his wife slept. The kids, it turned out, stayed in a nearby village with their grandparents during the week because of the long hours him and his wife work. That night, his wife was working late, so she wasn’t able to greet us either. Nonetheless, he brought us out food that his wife cooked for him to eat when he got home. The Vietnamese hospitality struck my comrades and I again, this time it was the driver sharing his food with us that was especially made for him. Bean sprouts, savory tofu, sticky white rice, hot chili soy sauce, and numerous fruits were on the menu for the night. And as simple as this menu sounds, the food was more than delicious. You could taste the love that was put into every meal, as if the wife was sending a message to him embedded in the cooking, “Hello dear, I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for dinner tonight, I hope you enjoy the meal, I love you.”

After taking many pictures with our new friend, we found ourselves ready to leave. We bid farewell, and with that, to a day of memorable experiences.

And just like Forrest said to Jenny when she told him that she wished she was there with him to experience the things he did while he traveled, I say to you when you wish you were here with me, “You were there with me for all of it.”

Beautiful, exotic, artful...

Live from Vietnam, Sonny