i'm homesick.

don't know if i'm actually getting sick or not, but i'm definitely homesick :[

catch-up, ketchup, catsup

I've been too lazy to blog, so I kind of forgot what's been going on... I really wished I could upload pictures to go along with my stories, so I'll just steal images from google until I return to the US.

We arrived in Hue yesterday (Tuesday evening). I was expecting the worst (heat, humidity, etc) because of what my doctor and family members have told me. The weather's actually not that bad. It's a lot more bearable than Saigon. There's a nice breeze every now and then. The streets are cleaner and there's not as many crazy motorbikes on the street. I feel a lot more comfortable here. According to Sanjeev, the city has changed a lot, now catering to tourists. Mia doesn't like it as much because there's too many people here who look like her.

So the organization we've been working with is called ACWP (Aid to Children Without Parents). Sunday in two southwestern provinces each cost $600 (including medicine and supplies), and about 1500 children were examined. Some kids that had to get some teeth extracted were really brave (they weren't given injections to numb the pain). I saw two who tried to hide. Trang and I had to give lectures about dental hygiene and the correct procedure to wash their hands. I thought it'd be interactive to have them sing "Kia con buom vang" (a nursery song about a yellow butterfly to the tune of "frere jacques"). Some kids got really into it, but others were really confused. For the most part, many of them already know the correct way to brush their teeth :D

The ACWP that's based in Hue have been really kind to us so far. The things that they've done for children are pretty amazing. There's this restaurant called "BLOOM" across the street from my hotel that was built by ACWP as a training culinary facility for the orphaned, homeless, and disadvantaged children in the region. They have the best Vietnamese coffee I've tasted thus far.


Today we helped out at a clinic in Quang Tri, which is near the Vietnam demilitarization zone (where the North and South separated during the war). I thought I would have trouble understanding the middle region's accent, but I managed. (I actually ended up ordering dinner in the Hue accent. It was weird). At this clinic, we mostly helped the elderly. Many had very high blood pressures and very high glucose levels in their blood. There were pharmaceutical students who helped out. Lien (my new friend!) is 21 and just finished her third year in pharmacy school. We talked about drinking, different school systems, and fish (my vocabulary is pretty limited).

itching

out of all the stuff I packed, you'd think I'd remember to bring lots of insect repellent and anti-malaria pills.
total count so far: 9 bites

Just got back to Saigon after two days in the west. will post later. currently watching badminton in Vietnamese. oh and the spain vs. netherlands game, too.

It is currently 6:51 AM Friday, July 9. I have been lying in my bed for the past two hours awake. Can you believe it, Tran not being able to sleep? Sophy can't either. Thank goodness she brought along her laptop.

Right when we stepped out of the airport yesterday, a wave of heat and Co Huong (the dentist working with the ACWP organization) greeted us. On our way to the hotel, she was already going over logistics and whatnot. I was trying to listen, but I couldn't concentrate as the scenery unfolded before me. It was pretty surreal.

I want to give a little description about the Berkeley students I will be living with for the next three weeks.
So on our trip, there are 8 people total.
Trang and I are the two Vietnamese speakers.

Trang was born in Vietnam who later moved to the United States when she was a little girl. She's going to be a 4th year, IB major. Her Vietnamese is very good, and I like listening to her talk haha. I don't know her that well yet, but I'm looking forward to working with her :]

Sophy is my roommate. She just graduated from Berkeley. She's ethnically Chinese but was born in Vietnam who later moved to the states when she was 9. She speaks Cantonese and can understand Vietnamese. She's this sweet little person who has an infectious laugh. (I know that she's a dancer, so I'm already planning on asking her to teach me a few things if the heat doesn't tire me out first haha)

Xue Min is going to be a 3rd year, social welfare major. She's this spunky little ball of energy who likes to do things her way.

Mia is so hardcore! She's Irish and German who thinks she's Italian but can speak Spanish. She served in the army for 4 years. She has this uplifting personality, always cracking jokes about everything. She's also picking up Vietnamese pretty quickly.

Christian just graduated. He's like a big teddy bear. He likes to wander around by himself, which gets all the girls worried. But he's been to Vietnam before so he knows his way around.

Sanjeev also just graduated. He's the organizer and all that stuff. Thank god he's taking care of basically everything. I've been freaking out about everything, but he always has an answer to my questions and plenty of reassuring stories. It's kind of weird that I met Sanjeev through Alex two summers ago right after I got back from my New Orleans trip. I remember Sanjeev talking about his Vietnam trip, and look where I am now.

I haven't met Vicky yet because her flight got in at 10:30 PM last night. I was already passed out by uh..8PM.

We walked around yesterday after we checked in. The city feels oddly familiar for some reason. Sidewalks were lined with vespas and motorbikes waiting to be sold. Old men just chilling on their motorbikes, hanging out, having a smoke. The traffic is insane. People just go whatever way they want. Theresa told me that I'm going to come back missing a toe. Uh..yeah! Sanjeev's just strolling, jay-walking through the streets like it's no big deal that he's walking into oncoming traffic. I'm holding my breath, praying that I don't get hit by something.

I'm suspicious of all the food here, but everything looks so appetizing. We ate at a place called Com Tam Cali for dinner, which was actually pretty good. Clean place. I felt like I was eating at Com Tam Dat Thanh in San Jose haha (com tam is usually a rice plate with different types of grilled meat).

Oh so Sophy and I found a little baby lizard in our room yesterday. I named it Steve, but when I turned around, it disappeared. uh oh?

Oh and facebook is blocked by the government. Gmail or gchat with me please! tranhax2@gmail.com

whoppers

so my motion sickness pill knocked me out 5 minutes into Robert Pattinson's movie "Remember Me" :[

Woke up in time for breakfast on the plane though :]

Currently in the Taiwan airport with a Hello Kitty playground

the night before

Seeing as how everybody is blogging about their exciting travels for the summer, I shall jump on the bandwagon and make a blog, too. I actually don't know how often I'll be able to update this. I'll make an effort to blog at least twice before I return to the states (August 3, people, mark this date).

So what did I do the night before my 1:40AM flight instead of packing? I spent 20 minutes deciding what my blog name should be (shout out to SASC anthology haha).

With so many events that has happened recently, my brain is exhausted from so much worrying, thinking, planning, etc. As for now, I am scared out of my mind. I usually try not to have expectations and just take everything in as they come. But I am expecting to come back super duper dark, skin scarred and toughened by mosquitos, and with a better understanding about my culture.

I am going back to the place that my family had left behind. The only thing I would hear about Vietnam while sulking and pushing my rice around were about the starving children that had nothing to eat. My mom never liked to talk about her past, but she'd insert some stories here and there about her education. It wasn't until I decided that I wanted to go on this Volunteers for Medical Outreach trip that my family decided to open up and tell me stories about Vietnam. Mostly they were stories about how I should be careful, keep my money and papers in my underwear, and never go anywhere by myself. My mom and dad focused on horror stories about people getting kidnapped and sold to slavery. My grandma liked to talk about the different fruits I should eat. She gave me very specific yet vague directions (if you want to eat at the best orchard, you'll have to go to the little stand on the side of the street then make a right onto a path and go all the way to the end of the road. then you'll meet this nice little girl who will show you how to get to the orchard. but don't go towards the red gate with the sugarcanes). My aunt told me stories from her childhood, but the village where my mom grew up was destroyed. It's interesting what I can learn about my history...and I only had to ask. I don't understand why I was so afraid of knowing before. I wish I had a family member come with me to explain everything.

Vina, a family/childhood/Berkeley friend of mine, is spending her summer in Vietnam as well. I've been reading her blog http://wanderlusting-vi.blogspot.com . You should follow it, too :] It's very entertaining.

Oh, don't text or call my phone unless you want to talk to my mom :]