Civic Engagement Experience & Ho Chi Minh Homeland by Blake Hadley (Freshman, USFSP)

Waking up to rain is not what I would typically call fun. On most mornings in Vietnam we wake up to blistering heat and humidity breathing down the backs of our necks. This morning was different. Today, Tuesday, we all went to the children's “SOS Village International” located on the outskirts of Vinh City. The SOS Village is an independent, non-governmental organization (NGO) that helps orphaned and/or abandoned children. Founder, Hermann Gmeiner started the organization in 1949. Most of us had never visited a children's orphanage and did not know what to expect.  I, for one, was nervous. Standing at the front of Vinh University we all got in separate taxis and within 5 minutes the rain was pouring down harder and harder. After a nail-biting taxi ride, we arrived at the Village where we were greeted by about 250 excited children all ages, boys and girls, from about age five to pre-teens.  The children stood and greeted us with a couple of popular songs – including Twinkle, Twinkle, and “The Crazy Witch” which was sung to the music from “She’ll be comin’ round the mountain”.   This brought us to tears.  Now it was our turn.  One-by-one, we stood and shared a bit about ourselves and, at the suggestion of Emma, we broke out and sang and danced the “Hokie Pokie,” making complete fools of ourselves, but which also turned out to be a highlight of my trip.

A few minutes later we shared gifts of candy, books, crayons and toys with the children.  Dr. Biafora caught our attention when at one point when he said to the entire assembly "...ultimately, the best gift in life is friendship."  Nothing is more priceless to see the inner happiness of a child, and Vietnamese children are no different than American children.  This became apparent when we tossed candy into the audience and the entire room erupted into a chaotic, high voltage frenzy of joyous competition for M&Ms!

We all regrouped and took a stroll around the SOS Village to get a glimpse at the family houses the children resided.  I had noticed all of the plants and beautiful landscape neatly placed on the premises.  As we passed by the different houses it seemed at first that the houses were going to be in pretty bad shape.  With a bit of unnecessary negative anticipation a few of us reached one of the village "family" houses. This house was absolutely practical, simple and very clean.  Each house within this village has a care taker known fondly as "mother". The mother of this house of 10 children complemented me on my height and offered me tea. I overheard her say that her "children” survive on only 70 cents per day!  I was stunned.  How anyone could do that; is it even possible?  With everyone being so happy and children laughing and smiling I had a difficulty time comprehending how it was they were so happy.  Perhaps it was the sense of community in which everyone sticks together and where there is a great deal of love. The house I was in had no front door, and very sparse accommodations. After spending time meeting children and "mother", Robisnson and I walked the full length of the Village to a small conference room and sat in reflective silence for a few moments.  Dr. Biafora helped us digest and process what had just happened.  My heart has never been this touched, and this was a great opportunity to give back as a community, as a group and as a team. After conversations, tears and stories we all left and took a taxi home. The rain had stopped, and the sun started to come out.  This was a day I will never forget.

On Wednesday we took a bus to the village where Ho Chi Minh was born and lived for the first five years of his life. One would think by now I should have known to bring an umbrella.  Yep, it rained... again.  We arrived at that The Ho Chi Minh Homeland and there we saw one of the huts where “Uncle Ho” (as they endearingly call him here) grew up.  I found it interesting how someone who become such a powerful and charismatic leader, came from such simple conditions…a two room thatched roof house made of bamboo fronds and clay floor!  But, what appeared to be flimsy at first was actually quite stable and had survived over 100 years. We learned that in fact, Ho Chi Minh’s family hut was considered to be of relatively high quality that the wealthier class could typically afford. 

After this stop we all re-boarded the bus for a visit to Hoang Thi Loan’s tomb – the resting place of Ho Chi Minh’s mother.  From the entrance the walked was exactly 333 steps!  From the top we could see a beautiful panorama of the countryside. This tomb was magnificent, white stone, marble and beautiful plants landscaped beautifully around.  Hoang Thi Loan died after giving birth to Ho’s younger brother, who only lived for a few weeks before dying.  This tomb is relatively recent in Vietnam and it is already becoming a major pilgrimage, especially for the women of Vietnam who look up to Hoang Thi Loan as the ideal representation of womanhood. 

A Peek Into the Classroom by Joseph Teston (Senior, Biology, USF Tampa)

After having so much fun sightseeing at Ha Long bay and Ha Noi and of course the opening ceremony, Tuesday began the classroom experience of the trip. Classes were from at 8:00 am each day with Drs. Witanachchi and Biafora. There we all were, Vietnamese and American students sitting side-by-side learning together and exploring topics ranging from energy consumption to economic and cultural transformations taking place in a modernizing Vietnam.  In Dr. Witanachchi's course we discussed renewable energy and how Vietnam can in the future utilize renewable energy sources for sustainability. We were also fortunate to have Dr. Khoi, a Professor of Physics at Vinh University serving as a translator for challenging concepts.

Dr. Biafora giving a lecture on the first day. The banner at top translates roughly to Long Live the Communist Party of Vietnam

In Dr. Biafora's course we had engaging (and sometimes lively) dialogues about what it means to be "American" v. "Vietnamese."  At one point we shared our unique perspectives on what each of us believed to be "The American Dream" in contrast to the "The Vietnamese Dream." Traditionally the Vietnamese students placed a lot more emphasis on community but it is clear that they they are beginning to value and integrate concepts of individualism more like us Americans. Although when we were discussing our personal dreams for the future, the Vietnamese were a lot more concerned with giving back and alleviating poverty in their country compared to the American students who were more narrowly focused. On Tuesday night we went to the Vinh mall as a group with our Vietnamese students and experienced one of the most westernized locations of the trip, complete with trip to a KFC.

To explore patriotic knowledge Dr. Biafora had each student take a pop quiz on our respective National Anthems:

          a) What is the name of your National Anthem?

          b) Who wrote it?

          c) What year?                              

          d) What was the historical circumstance under which it was written?

          e) What are the words to your National Anthem?

Dr. Biafora was not surprised to find the American students had limited knowledge of their the Star Spangled Banner. But as he described, he was quite surprised to find that our Vietnamese collegiate peers barely knew theirs either.  This was Dr. Biafora's 5th study abroad trip, and as he noted, the first time Vietnamese students had not out-performed American students on this pop quiz.  This resulted in a very interesting conversation among the group on what role modernization is having on student knowledge and/or interest in tradition. As penance, Professor Biafora made each group stand and deliver our best version of our respective anthems, which was a humbling and moving experience at the same time.

  

Wednesday we were honored to have Fred McCoy give a powerful presentation of his personal experiences of the Vietnam War, or as it is called here, "the American War." Many of us in the class were moved to tears by his story and his courage to look back on and share his memories of a very difficult time in our nation's history.  It is spooky but important to remember that the same places we are visiting today had a completely different meaning to so many veterans decades ago. Thanks to Mr.McCoy we were able to share perspectives with the students and faculty about the American/Vietnam War and come closer together to move past a tragic part of history.

Fred McCoy giving his presentation to American and Vietnamese students

Fred McCoy explaining an exhibit at the Hanoi Hilton prison

Wednesday afternoon we went to a local Vietnamese coffee shop in Vinh with live acoustic guitar and singing.

On Thursday we took a bus ride to the house of poet Nguyen Du, the author of Tale of Kieu, recognized by East Asian scholars as one of the most important Vietnamese authors and pieces of literature. The Tale of Kieu is a poetic journey of a beautiful Vietnamese 15 year old who sacrifices herself into the life of prostitution to save her father from the emperor's wrath, and in so doing is separated from the young love of her life. Read by all Vietnamese and likened to Romeo and Juliette, the life of Kieu means a lot to the Vietnamese people and in many ways symbolizes their struggles against oppression and the fierce loyalty toward their cultural way of life. To show respect to Nguyen Du we all made a ceremonial incense offering at his tomb. At the museum we listened to Dr. Huong, a Vietnamese woman professor passionately talk about the Tale of Kiew and also read some of Du's poetry to us in the native tongue. 

Dr. Huong leading a lecture on the Tale of Kieu at the Nguyen Du compound

Friday we learned about the Nghe An province (pronounced like Neon) from Associate Professor of History, Dr. Hong.  Nghe An is a part of Vietnam including Vinh that prides itself for its innovation, education and also oddly for its fiercly proud, hard-working peasant class, due to the influence of Confucian philosophy which promotes these values. After learning about the Nghe An province we left on a long and bumpy bus ride to Hue. The week of classes with the Vietnamese students was a completely unique educational experience that I will never forget.

Dr. Hong lecturing about the Nghe An province along with Dr. Khoi. Ho Chi Minh would be rollling in his grave if he saw the Coke bottle next to him.

The Wonders of Ha Long Bay by Ashley Smith (Senior at USFSP)

Ha Long Bay, one of the most stunningly beautiful places I have ever seen is located on the coast due east of Ha Noi.   Breathtaking is an understatement!  Along with being one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Ha Long Bay is also an International Heritage Site. 600 square miles of thousands of limestone isles and our home on the water for 3 days and 2 nights.

Our bus ride from the hotel in Ha Noi was about four hours.  The sites along the way were exactly as we had expected from our tour books and images from Hollywood.  Our tour guide for this part of our journey, Son, answered a slew of questions that the American students could think of.  Son was an absolute sweetheart, and because of him the bus ride was actually tolerable, if not quite enjoyable.

Rice Patties- pictured from our bus ride. We learned that there are 2 seasons for rice in the North & that workers make on average $200.00 a month.

From Ha Long Bay Harbor we were transported to the larger boat that we would spend the night on. We enjoyed family style lunch, dinner, and breakfast. We quickly discovered that the staples for each meal were; cucumbers, tomatoes, and watermelon. A few of us fell in love with the ginger tea they served…DELICIOUS!

The first night on the boat we had an awkward, but hilarious time singing some Karaoke and an unsuccessful but nonetheless interesting try at squid fishing. 

This picture was taken from my room on the boat! So beautiful!

Day two of our trip to Ha Long Bay we made a stop at Monkey Island where we had one sighting of a monkey friend, he was hanging in the tree snacking on some bread, super cute! After Monkey Island came Cat-Ba Island. We lodged in beautiful thatch huts on stilts, this place looked like something out of a travel magazine! Later in the day some of us took a ride out to rock climb, which turned out to be a pretty big challenge for all but one.

Monkey Island

Blake making rock climbing look easy!

Swimming in Cat Bar Island

Breathtaking view from our cabin in Cat Bar Island

Day three we packed our bags and headed back to our big boat. We gathered around for a cooking class led by one of the crewmembers, and were taught how to make Vietnamese Spring rolls.

"See, the perfect Spring Roll" - Emma showing us how its done.

During our three days sailing, island hopping, and exploring Ha Long Bay we did SO much that I actually had a hard time including all of our activities in this blog post. Everything was so new and different that it was important for me to make sure I took short breaks to take everything all in. Magic was everywhere.

Yo Ho, Yo Ho a Pirates Life for Me!  

Sending lots of Love from Ha Long Bay!