In this last week in Vietnam I returned to Can Tho where I met up with the rest of my group to present our ISP papers. Although a long day of presentations (about 40 min each talking about 20-40 page papers), it was awesome to hear about the work we’d done that semester. Two students did natural science related projects at Tram Chim; two others used CTU as a case study on Vietnam’s education system and people’s fire safety knowledge; and two others looked at My Khanh and Hoa An, one from an economic perspective and another through an anthropological lens. Sara, who was up in Hanoi with me, did her project on buddhism and the environment and as I’ve mentioned before, my project focused on Vietnamese folklore. In the end my project was much different than I expected, but I’m actually really happy with how it all came together. My final title was “An Exploration of Vietnamese Folkore--Environmental perspectives presented through Vietnamese folklore: A comparison of tale from the Kinh and Muong ethnicities.” I’m not going to be posting the paper, but I have included the two versions of one of the folktales I analyzed for the project at the end of this post.
This entire last week could probably best be described as everything coming full circle. Our last night in Can Tho we had a farewell dinner with our homestay families, CTU volunteer students and some professors. The night was spent on a dinner cruise down the Mekong River, followed by one final night at our favorite club in the city. The next day we head off to Vung Tau, a beach town about three hours from HCM. The town faintly resembled some of the typical New Jersey’s haunts, yet there was a much larger difference in tides, no dunes and on top of a large hill there is a humungous statue of Jesus. Even with all the buddhist influence, Vietnam does have a high population of Christians. Besides lounging for a bit on the beach and trying snake for the first time (my final culinary adventure), the next best thing about Vung Tau was climbing the million and one stairs up to the statue where we were then able to climb up (like in a lighthouse) and out into his arms where we got a beautiful view of the coast (the number of religious jokes were endless). Despite the religious undertones, the experience wasn’t quite the same as visiting churches in Europe. There were gift shops, tons of gaudy statues lining the stairs and two cannons flanking the statue at the top.
These past two days we’ve been in HCM, doing some last minute shopping and getting ourselves ready to either go home or meet up with friends and family to continue traveling. Continuing with the full circle theme we’re staying at the same hotel we were in during our first few days here and last night ate at our favorite restaurant and ice cream places in the city (which we were also first introduced to during our first time in HCM). Today I went and visited the War Remnants Museum, an almost ironic way to end the semester. The Museum was full of a ton of foreigners, yet few Americans and many times I felt myself cringing at the reminder of America’s presence in Vietnam. Besides the photos of agent orange and napalm effects on both Vietnam’s people and environment, the other exhibit I found most interesting was on reporters and photographers from the Vietnam War. Some of the photos were quite familiar, others shocking for the first time. Having visited many of the places where the photographs were taken, I thought of what these places looked like now and also, like in Can Gio, the conditions in which the soldiers were fighting. Spending a semester here during the rainy season I can’t even imagine trudging through the rice paddies and mangrove mud with a 50 pound pack on my back. Or, as photographer or journalist, offering to submit myself to these conditions to document the war and its effects.
Tonight we’re eating dinner at the home of our academic director (he lives in HCM with his wife and her family) followed by a trip to the movies. We have been promising our program assistant a trip to the movies (she has never been) and since there’s no theater in Can Tho this is really the first chance we’ve had. Then nice and early tomorrow morning I’ll be catching my first of three flights and beginning the long trip back home.
During these past few days we spent some time talking about our experiences, what we’ve learned and how we’ve changed. While I’m not sure that the more relaxed attitude I’ve adopted this fall will survive this spring semester, there are certain things I learned about myself that I won’t forget. I know this will definitely not be my last trip abroad and furthermore, I now have a genuine interest of spending some time living or working in a foreign country. While I can’t really see myself as a long term ex-pat, I do know that it was only after living in a place for so long was I finally becoming comfortable with the culture. Granted the language barrier was never easy and I still get stared at for being a Westerner, there are aspects of Vietnam I would’ve missed out on with only a brief tourist trip through the country. Another surprising aspect of this semester was how much I’ve learned about other cultures, not just Vietnam. I was continually being impressed by the people I met and so interested about how they ended up coming to Vietnam. Coming to Vietnam with seven total strangers was another incredible part of this experience. We’re really from all over the country, attending all different schools with a variety of majors and still got along amazing well. Besides Vietnam, they’re going to be a huge part about what I miss from this semester. Besides another post with a link to the last of photos, this is going to be my last update. Thanks to everyone who has followed my ramblings this semester, I’ve loved hearing your feedback and will hopefully catch up with some of your over this winter break! Hẹn gặp lai (See you later)!
Below is the folktale of Đẻ Dất (the birth of the earth). Although I attempted to hear firsthand renditions of the Mường tale, my resources were only such that I had access to a version written in Vietnamese. This tale was translated with the help of my academic director and an student interpreter from Hanoi University. The Kinh version was also a combination of a translated work and information from my advisor.
A banyan tree in Hanoi. Mường version
The Mường people believe that in the beginning heaven and the land were not separate. At this time there are no rivers or oceans nor any plants or animals. One day there are heavy rains and storms. The heaven then gives birth to the leaf, making the cây si tree (known to us as a banyan tree). As this happens, the heaven and the earth separate. From the left comes a strong wind and from the right there is seawater, helping to give birth to the land and the water. Each root of the tree gives birth to the land. When the cây si is first born, it took root in bad soil. The tree’s roots do not grow very long and so the leaves become red flowers. These flowers proceed to fall off the dying tree into good soil and cây si grows again. Once rooted in the good soil the cây si grows quickly, becoming bigger and creating shade. As the roots expand outward, they are directed to the areas that will later be inhabited by the Mường people.
Kinh version
For the Kinh the story is very similar in that in the beginning heaven and the land were not separate. Then, the god Thần Trụ Trời builds a pillar. From where he digs the hole to put in the pillar the river and ocean flows out and separates the earth and the sky. Thần Trụ Trời proceeds to break the pillar and the pieces spread around, becoming the mountains and highlands.
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