Saigon, Vietnam Trip

At last, the Ho Chi Minh City blog. Speaking of Ho, here is a fine portrait of him watching over the exquisite interior of the central post office. Mary with Child below also watches after the faithful surrounded by traditional mythical animals.
Last time I went to Vietnam I was so happy to leave I thought I’d never return. It wasn't because of the food, which was remarkable. It wasn’t the beauty of the human hand on the land, creating rice fields of all shades of green. Or the smells. Or the remnants of colonial architecture. Or the temples. Or the governments take on history. All these things were wonderfully fascinating. (You can read about my previous trip in the July-Aug 2007 posts of a friend's blog here)The Catholic Cathedral and a Buddhist Temple.But I could do without the constant NOISE. Everything being SO LOUD ALL THE TIME (even in caps, computer language for being loud it’s annoying, isn’t it?) Or if I had to put my finger on it, the fact that many people are downright rude, stubborn, combative, and sometimes understandably hostile to foreigners. This time though, I went with a band of colleagues, including the dean and president, for two weddings and to visit alumni and churches in order to built closer ties. And because the students are so amazing, hospitable, loving, thoughtful, and many other positive adjectives, I wanted to venture back again. It was also great to visit so many churches and get the know more about their situation. I would love to say more on this but it is a sensitive issue. We also got the chance to see some of the sights in the city. Below is a wonderful painting inside the old headquarters of the Southern government building still very well preserved.On to the weddings! The first thing we all noticed was that everywhere we turned people were getting married and taking wedding photos in the nice public parks. The countless wedding celebrations were not a coincidence. As it turns out, 2007 was the year of the Pig, an auspicious year for getting married. So many couples were in a rush to get official before the Chinese New Year February 7th. Our weddings were a huge hoopla. And as with more and more Vietnamese weddings these days, They were also an interesting mix of cultures. In both the vows and actual ceremony were quite western, but the celebration very Vietnamese. The mix also meant the couple changed clothes a few times; the groom twice, and the bride having the pleasure of sporting three dresses: for the ceremony a typical western white poofy dress; right after that emerging to dine in a festive and colorful party dress; and finally, changing into a traditional Vietnamese outfit to see guests off. The couple in the middle below wear blue and red traditional outfits.As part of the celebration there was an open mike for anyone who wanted to sing a song for the new couple. There were people hired to dress up as traditional characters too. The food that I could eat (there’s a lot of pork in southern Vietnamese food!) was really quite amazing. Needless to say, when the celebration got going, the band, the singing and the m.c. announcing things at the top of his lungs, were so LOUD some of us had to plug our ears or go outside. Yet it was all very fun. And if some might see the hearts and roses everywhere as overly romantic, they were not without a playful undertone.

I stayed in the city a few days after the others left and I was privileged to hang out with the locals. What do many people do in Saigon for fun? Sit around and drink coffee, of course! The best part about Saigon was discovering the many charming coffee shops hidden behind dilapidated neighborhoods off the main boulevards, and advertised by word of mouth only. Being the only foreigner at every single one of them, I asked jokingly if they were hard to find to keep tourists away. No, they joked back, it’s probably more a getaway from work to keep the bosses away, and to pass the time undisturbed. We also saw some famous singers lazing around the coffee house below.

Besides the indisputable fact that Vietnamese coffee is very tasty—whether it’s from a stall on the side of the road, or in a hip coffee shop—I also found a wonderful new drink that seldom appears outside these shops. It’s fresh yogurt with milk and a little this and that. (The name I can't remember.) So typical of Vietnamese cuisine in its delicious simplicity.
All was very good for a few days. Above is a pic of an elaborate water puppet show we went to together. The first part of the trip I was with the group, in well organized excursions. I was also able to watch, with half horror half fascination, the legendary Saigon traffic from the window of a comfortable and shielded minivan. Motorbikes where everywhere. Traffic signals are not so common, and in roundabouts you just have to inch your way forward. When there’s an intersection with no signals, just keep going ... eventually you’ll cross. Somehow it works, or it’s forced to by necessity. How pretty some of the women looked, riding their motorbikes with their traditional colorful silk Ao Dai’s flowing in the wind.

Being in the middle of the traffic on a motorbike is an entirely different experience. This is how I got around after the group left. Oh, the pollution! The constant ROARING noise of the bikes that crescendos when the traffic lights turn green. It was a concrete adventure. We only got hit by other motorbikes twice in three days! I gathered that getting hit is common, so best not make a fuss if there's no damage.

But then, I got mugged. Two guys had followed us on a motorbike, and when we were about to get off they attacked, knocking me off ours and stole my bag with my camera, etc. I got some scrapes, bruises, and a sprained finger, but nothing serious. It really shook me up because somehow I thought I’d be protected, being with locals. Turns out these kinds of things happen to them as well, very recently to one of them. Oh, well. Unfortunately, it’s more and more common. I’m coping better with it now, thank God. The pictures on this blog I've slowly accumulated from others, but I've lost some of my family Christmas pictures and all the churches in Saigon. And the students were sorry it happened, and so nice about it. I don’t know what I would have done without them: MsB., MrT, and TL, and Ng especially. I was so happy to spend time with them and their friends and family afterward. We had a good time eating some of the best food and fish dishes I’ve had and going around town just relaxing. I've been told I should return, and be whisked straight away to some of the small towns, especially in Central Vietnam. That seed of hope of ever going back to Vietnam may grow in the future, we’ll see! I certainly would like to visit some of them in their hometown.