life in the delta (lots of photos!!)

Our chefs!

After spending a few days in the the Mekong Delta, HCMC seems extremely wealthy. And our previous accommodations seems like a five star hotel, right now there are eight girls sharing one room, with bunk beds, shared bathroom and everything. Summer camp style. So even though we are not living in our usual luxurious lifestyle (luxurious in Vietnamese standards), I absolutely love the Mekong Delta. We are in Hoa An, a tiny hamlet, situated on a tributary of the Mekong River. We are staying in the Can Tho University of Rural Development. Don't be fooled though– it actually isn't a college campus. I am really confused about our current living situation, but I am just rolling with it. It is actually really fun to all be living in one room with the boys right down the hall. We have to spend a lot of time together since there is nothing else to do here and we aren't allowed to go anywhere once it gets dark. Half of our time is spent in the canteen, where we have the most amazing chef ever. We are eating the best food and there is always so much of it. And as I have already mentioned, there are so many vegetables and tofu and everything is just absolutely fantastic. Also, at the end of every meal we get dessert, which is always plates of exotic fruit. And when I say exotic fruit, I actually mean exotic to America but native to Vietnam. I always leave the table uncomfortably full. Two days ago we got to cook in the "kitchen" (an outdoor shed where dogs and cats roam freely, I chose to look past that). We made banh xeo, aka cockroach pancakes only I am pretty sure there is no cockroach juice in them.  

Preparing the pancake part, made with rice, coconut milk, and ginseng

Mad skills with chopsticks.

So basically, this area is one giant mud puddle. It rains all the time– they don't call it the rainy season for nothing! Two nights ago I experienced the most incredible rain storm, I actually didn't know it was possible for rain to fall that powerfully and quickly. It was unbelievable. Since it is always rainy, there are leaches that just hang out in the forest. The first day we got here we went on a nature walk and were warned about the leeches. I didn't know that leeches could live out of a body of water, but I guess since there is so much rain they can survive in the forest. On our walk we all were looking out for one another and pulling leeches off before they could latch on. Upon our return to the University we discovered a lot of leeches that were unknown to us on our walk. We were both entertained and served as the entertainer as one of the kitchen workers went around laughing and pulling all of the leeches off us. And we were laughing at her excitement. Alex and I managed to get them in the same spot between our toes. Yummy.

The hilarious woman pulling leeches off Jeremy.

Two days ago we conducted household interviews. We were split into groups of two and were each assigned a translator. I was partnered with Linh, who is actually Vienamese-American so she already speaks Vietnamese very well. Our actual translator, Anh, is an English teacher in Can Tho University in the city of Can Tho. The first interview was with a rice and vegetable farmer who lived in a very humble home. The home was actually just one room partitioned by a hanging quilt to separate the bedroom from the kitchen/living room. There was electricity, however no running water, she collects rainwater every time it rains. The interview was extremely interesting but frustrating at times. I have never needed to use a translator before and to be honest, I really did not like it. I found it extremely frightening that I didn't know if my questions were being translated correctly or if what I really wanted to know was conveyed. Certain questions need to be worded very carefully in order to receive the desired response but with a translator it is very possible that words are altered, reordered, or revised, which can make the informant's answer completely different. The topics that we covered varied since we had a list of subjects that we had to cover (another problem with the project, we only brushed the surface) but lucky for me we spent a great deal of time covering education. Here in Vietnam, education isn't free. Our informant has two sons, one who dropped out of school in 9th grade, and the other is still enrolled and in his final year of high school. Our informant told us that if the tuition wasn't subsidized by the government her son wouldn't be in school for financial reasons. She doesn't plan on him attending college because it is so competitive and expensive but he will be taking the entrance exam. The goal is for him to graduate high school. This mentality is so different than the states. But it makes since when you put it into context. Sitting in her home it was clear that there just wasn't enough money for all the necessities. Well actually, I guess education isn't even a necessity. Running water is probably higher on the list.

The home of our first informant

Our second interview went well but I found the first one more interesting. After learning more about education it really got me excited for my ISP, but also nervous regarding the issue on translators. At this point in time I am considering spending a good chunk of dong to hire a real translator to ensure that I am not losing anything because of the language barrier. I have a lot of time to think about that though.

Linh with our second informant

coming home from the interviews!

Yesterday we went and worked on an organic farm. We harvest morning glory and did a lot of stuff with fertilizer. I am not exactly sure what we were doing, something like layering decomposed banana

the farm!

leaves and then spreading fungi water on top of it and then layering it again. I just did what they told me to. It made me think about all the times nursery school students came to the farm back in Avon and my mom would have to give them little tasks to do. I couldn't believe that these farmers were just letting us harvest their crops; I am not so sure if I would trust a bunch of foreigners with my main income! It actually was a really busy morning and I was relieved when we were finally done and got to sit down and eat a delicious organic meal. Then we went back and napped. Oh, I should mention our mode of transportation was a wooden boat with a motor. We also wore our conical rice hats– definitely got some stares as we motored by. This is not a touristy area. I loved being out on the water because it is where a majority of the living, socializing, and commuting takes place. Today we got to spend more time on the water at a floating market but I haven't uploaded those photos yet. For the mean time: here are some from yesterday. Enjoy!

We really know how to wear those conical hats.

the river and the road aka the infrastructure

I still can't get over the fact that people's backyards is the river

life on the river.

Doing laundry in the very dirty water.

nice neighborhood

washing dishes.

A shot of dinner while it was still being prepared.

dinner last night! Carrots, mushrooms, onions, tofu, and rice. Plus a lot more.

my new best friend!