Updates galore

I have officially been in VN for 2 months. I can't decide whether it has flown by or crept so slowly that it might as well have been 2 years. I get the impression many people feel that way about HCM City. It's an indescribably strange place, full of insane contradictions and extremes. Constant construction and new skyscraping buildings next to dilapidated hovels, intimidating traffic, peaceful parks, beggars (both real-life and career), and a group of amazingly wealthy people who feel the cultural need to display their wealth in ostentatious and slightly sickening ways. Not to mention the smells. I've never encountered such a scent-filled place, both good and bad. Hundreds of street food stalls fill the humid and smoggy air, along with some less-than-pleasant smells I wont describe at this point.

My friend Akiko advised me to make sure I get out of the city at least once every 3 months, or I will risk either going crazy or hating Saigon. Though I've only been here for 2 months, I completely agree. I sure do love the perks of being in a big city (amazing restaurants of almost every ethnicity-had THE BEST Thai food ever last night, english speaking people, so much to explore, etc), but I get the feeling it gets old after a while.

I just got another teaching day at work, at a school we just signed. I'm the only english teacher who goes, and there are only 90 students in the entire school. Because the classes are large, I get not only a TA from Apollo, but the general education teacher as well. It is so much easier to teach when you have 2 other disciplinarians who can actually speak the language. The other school where I teach is not nearly as sweet a deal. On Wednesday several of my 1st grade kids started playing with the sink, and ended up clogging it and getting themselves soaking wet. Since I'm the only teacher there and don't speak the language, I just had to act like a total bitch to the entire class. I really suck at disciplining students. My new 5th grade class on Tuesday is full of pre-adolescent assholes who think they are just the coolest kids ever. They spent the first 10 minutes of class asking me personal questions (I got 'do you have a boyfriend?' about 7 times, and after saying 'no' to an especially sour girl, she put on a particularly attractive smirk and asked 'do you have a girlfriend?' since when is it ok to inquire about a teacher's sexual orientation?). I hope my teaching experience will teach me patience, but I think it's just more likely to work as an amazing birth control.

On Monday Fran and I had a meeting with this guy who does charity work for the Children's Cancer Hospital here. The government is real screwed up, and basically shut down most of their operation because they didn't understand the concept of doing something for another person in a nonprofit sense. Such a screwed up government. Anyway, they are focusing most of their efforts on raising enough money to buy ambulances in order to transport children from the country to the hospital, as well as from the hospital to their homes in order to die at home. Not morbid enough for you yet? The ambulances will also be used to transport the dead bodies of the children so they can be buried at home. At present, most people haven't got the money to transport the bodies back to be buried, and often resort to putting them on the back of trucks in order to get home to be buried. I learned an amazing amount about the Vietnamese health system (or lack thereof) during the 1 1/2 hour meeting with Paul (in charge of the organization). Basically, because of the lasting effects of Agent Orange (it gets into your DNA and is passed on to children, from generation to generation), there are just an overwhelming amount of children with deformities, disabilities, and cancer. Paul is from Australia, and said that given the scope of the health problem, even 1st world countries like Australia wouldn't be able to handle it. Take the fact that Vietnam is such a poor country and many children still die of things like TB and the flu, and there is just no way in hell that even a portion of people in need will get the treatment they should get. There is also the problem of volunteer tourism, which is basically people paying to come over and help these people in need. The bad thing is, most of these organizations take the money for profit, as it is necessary to make sure the children look as destitute as possible, or people will stop coming and paying money to help them. Definitely something to think about next time you are looking for a helpful way to travel. At any rate, we have decided to try to raise money to buy these ambulances, and hopefully we will be able to pull off a dinner fundraiser using all of the connections to insanely wealthy people we have made here so far.

Basically, I've been spending a lot of time hanging out with our Vietnamese friends, mostly with Chinh. He takes us to cafes and parties, as well as to dinner. Having literally no money (I only have part time work until after Tet, and only get paid once a month), Fran and I have resorted to just hanging out with friends who include us in their communal eating experiences. I''m not used to living like this, but it sure beats pb&j 3 meals a day. Chinh is an unendingly fascinating individual. He wont tell us his actual age, though I would guess mid 60s. Born in Vietnam, he participated in multiple bands during his youth, as a bass player. He joined the air force for South Vietnam during the American War (what we call the Vietnam War), but before he went off to drop huge bombs on his own country, he spent time living in San Francisco in 1969. After fighting on the losing side of his country's civil war, he spent six years in prison, delightfully called a 're-education camp'. Apparently, upon being sent to the camps, one had to fill out a confession form detailing all actions committed during the war. When asked how many people he had killed, he responded that he had no idea. When the police wouldn't buy it, he explained that he was in the air force, and dropped bombs weighing hundreds of kilos, which could potentially kill thousands of people in one foul swoop. He was told that he would be in prison for a minimum of 6 years. Upon release from prison, Chinh spent years in America, where he studied with the FBI, learning to be an illegal drug officer, though he only spent 6 months actually catching drug traffickers in VN. He has been married 3 times, and now resides in Saigon, owning his bar and chasing after women of all ages. Apparently, he is friends with both the police and the mob, and is often the go-between for the two parties. He knows everyone in the city, but spends most of his free time hanging with the bohemian and artsy crowd. Though I must say, there sure are a lot of high powered Vietnamese businessmen in his bar. Not complaining on that front, since most of the time they are quite friendly, and often buy us drinks. All in all, I've met some very interesting people here so far. This is just the tip of the iceburg.

A few more interesting things:
-Tet starts at the beginning of February. It's the biggest holiday in Vietnam, and is the Vietnamese version of the Chinese Lunar New Year. We get a week off work, and apparently the whole city shuts down. I'm excited to learn more about Tet, and look forward to the special food and traditions (especially the one where older people give younger people money...)
-I just started tutoring a businessman in English, both spoken and musical-pronunciation wise. He owns several beachtown resorts, and invited us to come stay there sometime. Really hoping that works out for us.
-Saigon has a ton of ladies' nights at their bars. We have taken to going to a bar at the swanky Caravelle Hotel on Tuesday nights. Free mojitos all night for ladies, as well as a really fun Latin band, complete with dancing and a super fun band guy who dances with everyone. Good times.
-After purveying most of the top hotels' gym/spa options, I've come to the conclusion that the Park Hyatt has the best facilities. Though I have yet to check out the Caravelle, or the Rex.
-still trying to figure out a way to sing on the side. I've been sick the past few weeks (me?! Crazy, I know. I think it's mostly due to the gross pollution, though could also be because of my piss-poor immune system, or maybe some weird psycho-somatic(sp?) symptoms), so it's been a bit difficult.
-I read this article in the expat magazine 'the word' from a young white female perspective. She was bitching about how we are at the bottom of the dating food chain here, and how she feels like a giant oaf compared to all of the teeny-tiny Vietnamese women, and can't find clothes to fit her. While I admit she has a bit of a point, I haven't found meeting interested men a problem (the problem is that I'm not really attracted to 90% of them), and though I have no money at this point to buy clothes, I don't think it will be a problem with the abundance of stores here, as well as dirt-cheap tailors who will make your clothes for you.
-AJ let me know that the title of my blog is lackluster, unless it is supposed to be ironic. If anyone has any catchy ideas, let me know. If not, then I totally meant it to be ironic.

I didn't even get to the loaded article I posted on Tuesday! Fodder for another soon-to-be post.