Reflection by Tate:

Eating Pig Nipples and Wearing Pythons

Vietnam is turning out to be a much more vivid experience than I expected. It is not that I expected a lot less, it is that I didn’t expect it to be as eye opening as it was made out to be. Mr. Dang didn’t really talk about the differences about the socioeconomic status of Ho Chi Minh City, let alone Vietnam as a whole. While riding around the city in our bus, our bubble, We get to see the bright neon lights wrapped around the 1 room wide 5 room tall restaurants (apparently property tax is done by width only), the different levels of mopeds, the friends and families sitting on small plastic chairs eating what seems to always be a concoction of noodles, strange veggies and mysterious meat off of small plastic tables.

While I was on the bus holding a conversation with Mr. Dang about the reality of Ho Chi Minh’s unemployment he said something that really struck me as an underlying principle of the vietnamese culture. “Everyone is making money.” People don’t hear it like that in the US. People don’t see it like that either. Younglings and the elderly are all playing crucial parts in the effort to siphon off wealth from tourists to their own family. This is not bad either. It is practical. Without welfare and healthcare and retirement plans, the vietnamese do what everyone has to do to survive, obtain enough currency to pay for the necessities of their current situation. This is why the young lady who owns the cheap handbag store to the left of our hotel runs out to help her mother sell little popup cards of historically important buildings to white tourists. Mother’s little wooden stand is what she is capable of doing, so she does it because it helps her. I guess my point is that (from what I’ve seen) work in the US is part of our lives for part of our life, whereas in Vietnam, it is their life for the entirety of their life. Although applying the above to every vietnamese person would be a bit misconceived, there looks to be a distinct difference between the american worker and the vietnamese people.

Other stuff. The coconut trees are really here! We’ve all seen the historical films of soldiers walking across the dirt roads with fields of crops, but what is distinct about the Vietnam War films are the coconut trees in the background of those shots. Coconuts are a staple crop and a stable windbreaker. This somewhat relates to my point above. The coconuts are of dual use and therefore are good for the vietnamese people. Anyways, the coconut trees of which I faintly remember from history class have reappeared along the roadside of which we’ve traveled a couple times. the first time I realized what I was looking at, a horrible wave of nostalgia overcame me. I was in the same place horrendous acts against humanity were committed. So, thats interesting. The coconut water taste really good here, which makes it even worse because I could be drinking from a coconut from a tree that was once in one of those films. But they only cost 75 cents each, so it balances out.

There are no old cars. Cars are for the wealthy, the police, and the taxis. By wealthy I mean brand new Mercedes and Lexuses. Mopeds on the right side and all other vehicles on the left. It looks like the best way to distinguish class is based on the quality of their moped. Suzukis are top of the line. Yamahas are alright. Most of the rest are made by cheap vietnamese companies. Apparently gas is $4.50 here so compared to the prices of other things in Vietnam, gas looks to be ten times as valuable here than in the US. This just goes to show how economically crucial it is to not have a car.

My last blurb will be about being in the center of the city. According to the height of the buildings around our Palace Hotel compared to those far off in the distance, we are in the center of the city. It doesn’t feel like it though. The city is not as central as people might think. The things on the edge of the city feel just as significant as those in the center. The only difference being the height and quality of the buildings improving as they get closer to the Palace Hotel. This isn’t eye opening or anything, it is just something I’ve noticed.

And to all the parents who have gotten this far, yes, we have all eaten pig nipples.

And yes, we all think they are incredibly delicious.