Faraway Places: I have yellow hair

Xin lỗi for the lack of blog posts recently. This week has been a whole lot of me being unproductive, which is nothing anyone really wants to read about. Yesterday was a different story though– I mean I guess in the grand scheme of things I was still incredibly unproductive as I did zero work for my Independent Study Project, but I did get to a new province, which is experiential learning... right? Yesterday morning I woke up bright and early to catch a 6:30 train to Quang Tri Province. Quang Tri Province is where one of my new friends, new as in I met her two nights ago new, lives and she invited me to visit her family. I am so glad I decided to go with her because I needed something fun to do. The following picture is a facebook status by my friend Thien, it basically sums up my day. I saw this and giggled– this girl is so enthusiastic about life– I love it! We really did have an amazing time together, I am so lucky to have met her.

I can elaborate. The train was jam-packed with students going home to see their families for the weekend. I had to sit on a little red stool in the middle of the aisle for half the ride. I felt fortunate that I even had a seat– a lot of people were standing! I would also like to point out that I was the only Westerner on the train, and I was getting lots of stares. Hue locals see a plethora of tourists everyday, however no one ever takes the train to the small villages surrounding Hue. So people were shocked to see me happily sitting on my little red stool just riding the train like it was my job. When we arrived in Quang Tri province I got even more looks. People were absolutely astounded to see me there. I think my hair was the deal breaker. I lost counts of how many times I was told that I had yellow hair.

Thien's family. This was our after our first lunch.

Thien has the nicest family. She is the eldest of four children, one of her siblings goes to school in Da Nang (so he wasn't there), the younger sister is 16, and the youngest brother is 10. Her siblings are learning English so I spent most of the day talking about my dogs, favorite colors, hobbies, and sounds that animals make. Regardless, it was so fun to talk to them and listen to them speak English. I am glad I was able to help them practice and when appropriate correct their pronunciation. They were really shy at first, but as the day went on they warmed up and were eager to start new conversations. I don't know if it was because I was figuring out the best way to state a sentence simply or if the children were just more comfortable speaking in English, but it seemed like their English improved– they were able string together sentences with much more ease. I was so impressed.

Working on their English! Of course I practiced my
Vietnamese as well.

Family friends fishing!

I also went fishing for catfish (or as I so foolishly said to my mom over skype "I went cat fishing"). Thien's family has a man-made catfish pond behind their house– I guess there are over 100 catfish swimming around, which the family fishes for everyday. I was under the impression that this is their main source of protein.

My eating yesterday could be described as a marathon– I legitimately had four meals. And I didn't eat dinner. That breaks down into two breakfasts and two lunches. Let me explain. On the train Thien brought me banh mi cá (fish sandwich with veggies, soysauce, and hot sauce). Since I had been up so early I didn't have the chance to grab breakfast so I eagerly accepted. Of course, I should have known that we would eat when we arrived at her house. Vietnamese loooove to feed people and I have learned that even if you aren't hungry you should eat because otherwise you hurt their feelings– this cultural norm is bad for my caloric intake, good for my taste buds. So we arrived at her house and I had cháo cá, porridge with catfish– amazingly good, probably one of my new favorite foods. Goal for tomorrow: find cháo cá on the street. I need to be wary though because I know Erika has gotten some porridge that had pig intestines in it. I want to avoid that. Righto so those were my two breakfasts.

Frying Banh loc

Lunch round one was absolutely delicious. There was catfish, fish soup, and then some other fish that was cooked with ginger and was amazingly good! We also had tofu and bean sprouts, shrimp and vegetables, and then some raw vegetables. Everything was delicious and I really enjoyed eating a meal with a Vietnamese family again– I miss my HCMC homestay family! After lunch Thien announced it was nap time– I love the Vietnamese siestas, it is like being in kindergarten all over again, an hour plus of either sleeping or just resting– brilliant. I am bringing it back to the states. When we woke up it was time to start preparing for our second lunch of banh loc. Banh Loc is like a dumpling, it is a tapioca flour dough stuffed with shrimp, mushrooms, and vegetables. We all helped roll out the dough, fold the stuffing inside, and fry them. While in the middle of helping fry the banh loc, someone enthusiastically waved a bag of crabs in front my face indicating that we were going to eat even more food. Sure enough, the crabs were cooked and served alongside the banh loc. I just love food.

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing outside, catching more fish, and taking photos. The kids loved to use my camera, which worked out well for me because it meant I got to be in a lot of the photos versus just taking them. I really, really, really enjoyed my day. I met the most generous and kind people and had the opportunity to observe a completely new lifestyle. I am so grateful that I met Thien and she invited me to accompany her back to her home. She is so happy, energetic, and fun to be around. I am looking forward to spending more time with her in the next three weeks.