Hoi An Holiday

Hello Kin,

I have just returned from a wonderful week of vacation in Hoi An, which is a town on the central coast of Vietnam. Many of you may have heard of the typhoons that hit Vietnam earlier this month. Hoi An was one of the towns greatly affected. However, typhoons are somewhat of a common element of life there, and so the shop owners make quick work of the clean-up. There were only a few signs of the storm's impact--above head height water marks and some wreckage along the shore. Another storm is about to hit tonight or tomorrow, so it appears we picked the perfect time to visit.

The Old Town of Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With hundreds of old homes, pagodas, and temples, the city is rich in history and heritage. The town used to be a major trading center, and so has a cultural that blends Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese styles. The town is also famous for its myriad of tailors-- over 300 tailor shops. One can have clothing, shoes, and bags made to order in a day and for fairly reasonable prices.

The trip was both exciting and relaxing. Our hotel was a small villa, with great views and friendly staff. Dume, the front desk attendant, became a dear friend of ours, and will be coming to visit us in Saigon in the coming month. We spend some lovely days with her on the beach and visiting a local orphanage.

No matter where I have traveled, I have been hard-pressed to find a beach that beats my local Pinery beach. However, Hoi An's beaches provide a strong rival. The sandy beaches were relatively unpopulated, and afforded amazing views of the distant, mountainous islands. Right off of the less populated of the two close-by beaches (An Bang), Jeremy and I found this little beach side hut restaurant called La Plage. It is run by an American woman and her French husband, who are involved in several entrepreneurial social justice ventures in the area. She was such an interesting woman to speak with. We sank into a soft bench, enjoyed the breeze, the waves, and a cup of tea. Perfect. On our venture to the other beach (Cua Dai), we enjoyed fresh seafood beach side.

One day, Cheratien and I rented a motorbike and took a winding trip through the countryside to My Son. My Son is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here is a little bit of info about it, straight from the UNESCO website:

"Between the 4th and 13th centuries a unique culture which owed its spiritual origins to Indian Hinduism developed on the coast of contemporary Viet Nam. This is graphically illustrated by the remains of a series of impressive tower-temples located in a dramatic site that was the religious and political capital of the Champa Kingdom for most of its existence."

On the way there, we took some back roads, which caused me to have to stop about 7 or 8 times and ask for directions. However, our detours afforded us great views and a chance to practice speaking Vietnamese. The trip took about 1.5 hours on the way there, and about half an hour shy of that on the way home. On our way to My Son, we had a friendly motorbiker ride tandem with us, gesturing to scenery we should take note of, and clearly guiding us in the correct direction. Highlights of the trip include: accidentally joining in a Vietnamese funeral procession and having flowers bestowed upon us for our participation and dodging a heard of cows that were leisurely strolling about the roadway. I am getting quite dexterous on the bike--agile, as to avoid death by cow. The ruins were spectacular, and tucked in the mountainous jungle. It was slightly rainy this day, so very few others were there (making the day very serene). Another day of equal splendidness was our motorbike trip to the nearby "Marble Mountains." I will have Wikipedia do some explaining:

Marble Mountain is a cluster of five marble and limestone hills. The five 'mountains' are named after the five elements; Kim (metal), Thuy (water), Moc (wood), Hoa (fire) and Tho (earth). All of the mountains have cave entrances and numerous tunnels, and it is possible to climb to the summit of one of the peaks. Several Buddhist sanctuaries can also be found within the mountains. The area is famous for stone sculpture making and stone-cutting crafts. Direct rock extraction from the mountains was banned recently. Materials are now being transported from quarries in other provinces.

With Hung, our new friend and guide, we made a trek up the mountain and explored some of the caves.

Another day, Hung took us mountain biking through the countryside. Again.. dodging cows and other animals. We saw so much, and I will allow my pictures to tell the stories for me. One dubious moment that I did not catch on film was when a drunk man grabbed the photo-taking Cheratien and had to be pulled off by his family members and friends.

The food in Hoi An was wonderful. Specialties include the "white rose" (which is basically a dumpling comprised of two small 2-inch diameter rounds of rice paper with a dime-sized lump of meat filling right in the center) and cau lau (textured wheat noodles mixed with veggies, bits of toasted rice paper, slices of pork and a wonderful light sauce). Supposedly cau lau cannot be made outside of Hoi An as the water for the dish must come from the Ba Le well, an ancient water hole. All this wonderful food for ridiculously cheap prices.

We spent an early morning wandering the market--lively, vibrant, and visceral. Cheratien and I took a cooking class and learned how to make some Vietnamese dishes-- a day that will benefit many of you upon my return. I will be eager to share my new found skills with you all.

We patroned some really interesting shops and restaurants. Because Hoi An brings two worlds together--that of wealthy travelers and struggling Vietnamese locals--there seems to be an interesting milieu for small socially responsible businesses. One restaurant we attended takes on street children, provides them with an education and helps them to gain marketable hospitality skills. The kids make the food and run the restaurant. Another lovely business, was called REACHING OUT. Artisans with different abilities make and sell handicrafts, which are sold at fair prices. You can meet the artisans and visit the workshop.

We spent our last day in Hoi An visiting an orphanage with Dume. We took some supplies and food. I spent the majority of the afternoon in the room with children with disabilities. About 20 children with a wide spectrum of physical and mental special needs were attended to by one woman. At least three children shared a bed. I fell in love with Hong, a small boy who likely had spina bifida and hydrocephalus. I found the little guy sharing a bed with three others, tied to the bed frame so that he would not creep out and injure himself. He wasn't wearing a diaper and was soaked in his own urine. I changed his clothes and put a diaper on him, and didn't let go of him for the remainder of the visit. He was all smiles and cuddles. One boy with down syndrome gently stroked him, and asked to hold him. The children were so bright and thoughtful... all making sure that the milk and treats were distributed fairly. One little boy who was mute pulled Cheratien over to see his sleeping friend, and made sure Cheratien left some food at her bed side. It was a joyful and devastating time. We know that our time spent there did not produce any sustainable enterprises, but we were happy to spend some time holding and loving these children. We plan to return later in the year and supply Dume with some funds over the year to take some much needed supplies there on a regular basis.

Pre-vacation was what we have endearingly termed "HELL WEEK." Report cards were due, we had to prepare packages for an inspector from Canada who will be observing the school for the next two weeks, I facilitated a parent workshop on Wednesday, and then we celebrated Halloween on Friday (I was Cleopatra). The kids were wired! The drama club put on a Halloween skit, which was received well by the owners and the parents. An up: Jeremy and I discovered that a brochure we had edited had been published with some creative suggestions we had put in for jest. The principal failed to remove the promise that our new theatre will have "Surround sound and 3D capabilities."

We had a consultant from the York school board visiting last week as well. The owners, Bonnie, and he were touring the classrooms. They interrupted my student presentations, which were part of the grade eights' culminating task for their global citizenship unit. As part of the task, they had to find and analyze a media text related to their selected issue. Lovely Eve had chosen Women's Rights, and shared with the class a song titled "Woman in Chains" (a classic rock tune featuring men singing about woe begotten women). The contingent of visitors made it just in time to see the one section of the music video that featured scantily clad women dancing on a stage (presumably for money). Although it was an awkwardly humourous and hastily managed moment, it provided a good chance to talk to the kids about "objectification"--a discussion they were engaged in and participated in readily.

One of my grade nine students, last week, found me in tears when I read an e-mail from a good friend telling me that an old friend from camp was in a fatal car crash. The following Monday, my students presented me with a stuffed animal as a "consolation for my loss." It is a husky dog, because they thought it would remind me of home. What sweet teens they are!

One of my closest Vietnamese friends on staff will be leaving the school soon, in search of employment elsewhere. We are all upset by the loss of such an efficient, caring, and trustworthy staff member.

Cheratien and I are now in full scale training mode for our upcoming half marathon. We run on December the 6th in Angkor Wat, Cambodia. We are flying there for the weekend to see this impressive place and to give the marathon a go. My goal--to complete the thing in 2.5 hours. Not lofty, but lofty enough for moi.

Tonight, we met with the other volunteers and organizers for the HCMC trip for the countryside kids. It was excellent to meet with some individuals who are very involved in social justice within the city-- lots of promise for interesting relationships and further opportunities for involvement. The kids come on Sunday! I am excited to see them again and facilitate their city experience.

I am not sure what I updated you on in the last blog.... so this might be review.

The trip to the remote village got postponed because the flooding wiped out a bridge en route. We will take the clothing and supplies in December, when the bridge is fixed. Instead, we did some teaching at Ben Tre again. We took a big gunny sack of brand new clothes and school supplies to share with the kids. They were excited. We took some other teachers along to help us out-- 50 children are too many for just Cheratien and I alone. The ladies of the facilities, who always make us lunch and one of whom features prominently in my facebook profile picture, have made us promise to have them as house guests if they come to HCMC. I hope that they will.

The last few weeks have provided me with so many opportunities to grow my understand Vietnamese culture. I only hope that this will continue to grow as I improve my language skills--lessons are underway.

Alright. I must head off to continue on with my marking!

Please write me e-mails or letters with your happenings.

My e-mail address is:
krista.lambie @gmail.com

My address is:
2E6-10 Sky Garden
Phu My Hung
Quan 1, HCMC
Vietnam

Much love and happiness!