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Published: March 21st 2008
Today was one of our best days yet. We got to spend time with our friend and tour guide Ti -- and he brought along his very funny and sweet sister-in-law Chi. We went to the government-run dental practice. I'll let David do the talking....
(Dave speaking) It was a very quick tour, as I'm not sure how receptive they were to a foreign student sitting in on things. I kept my distance to say the least. The neatest concept was that every specialty was housed in one big building; from simple cleanings to implants, you could get it all under one roof. It was fun to see how the patients would leave their shoes outside the doorway; sitting on the chairs with bare feet! To add, each room shared five chairs, except for the VIP room, which was for foreigners and important statesmen. I have a feeling getting treatment in one of these rooms is much more expensive. On the whole, however, dental care in Vietnam is much cheaper than in the states, so anyone Vietnamese living in the U.S. will wait until they come home to see the dentist. As a token of gratitude, I offered two Ohio
State scrub tops to the people who gave me the tour; who knows if they'll ever wear them!! (Back to Tracy...)
After the dental practice, we went to an orphange run by Buddhist Nuns... loosely translated the place is called the Enlightenment of Kindness. The kids were playing in the courtyard -- and they loved receiving the soccer balls we brought. William got in on the action -- was smoked a few times by a guy his age with some serious moves. Helen passed out candies to the kids. One little guy in particular enjoyed the chocolate. We ate a vegetarian lunch in a restaurant run by the orphanage -- it is one of the ways the place makes money to maintain itself -- as it does not receive any government funds. The Nun in charge ate with us... she says that kids typically stay there until they are grown and are not adopted out. Government-run orphanages mainly handle adoptions. So she is the "Mom" for 130 kids according to Ti. The kids had to go to school -- so we left after we ate lunch. Both of my kids were sad to leave -- Helen wanted to hold
the smaller kids -- Will wanted to play more soccer.
Ti took us to his home -- we were honored that he would share this experience with us. He said "it is the strangest house you will ever see". We have passed by alleyways like his several times -- and have never headed back into them. The houses were all tall (each about 4 stories) -- and Ti's house was only about 4 feet wide and about 20 feet deep. It had 4 floors -- the steps were so steep -- to take up less floor space. Bedrooms were about the size of a twin bed. The first floor served as kitchen, dining room, and living room. Bedrooms and a bathroom were on the next 2 floors. The fourth floor had an altar to honor their ancestors and an open air space with a view of the street and rooftops. He says that at night they eat in the kitchen with the doors open -- and then the people in the neighborhood bring chairs outside to visit etc. Tight living quarters to say the least -- tight family and community relationships as well. Currently Ti lives with (we think)
3 other family members. His wife and daughter are staying with her family in the Mekong Delta while he is up here to work.
Later in the evening we met up with Neo's family (Neo was a student assigned to us in an International Friends program through the College of Wooster about 7 years ago. He became like family to us.) His brother Viet came to meet us at the hotel -- and then we took a taxi to a wonderful old house and restaurant to meet Neo's parents for the first time. They speak no English and we speak no Vietnamese -- so poor Viet had his work cut out for him... but wow, did we have fun. Neo's Mom kept doting over Helen (the Mom of 4 boys -- she seemed to enjoy the pink side of things). Such an amazing thing how people can find a way to communicate with kids without using words. We talked politics, history, music, diet etc etc. We had wonderful food -- from the Central "royal" Vietnamese tradition. Neo's Dad loved to explain how to eat a dish by mixing the foods properly for balance (i.e. adding mint leaves and lettuce
to spring rolls). We went back to their home -- a much wider and updated version of the Vietnamese home we saw earlier today. We had sparkling red wine and fruit -- while the kids slept in reclining chairs. I think we could have talked all night. In the end, we both expressed the joy and good fortune of having our lives merge. Who would've guessed 7 years ago when we first met Neo at a college-sponsored picnic that we would be sitting in his home one day -- 1/2 way around the world drinking wine and eating rambutan "hairy cherries".
Tracy
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Thanh & Neal Armagost
non-member comment
Your blog is great .We wish we were back in Vietnam with you.