Saturday- Goodbye Ha Noi

Ok I am down to the final hour in Ha Noi and I decided to post as much as I can then run up and gather my things to make the trip to Thanh Hoa City- a 4hr drive through some mountains I heard.

So Scott and Thomas arrived early on Thursday and we spent the day touring the city by foot and catching up on our flights over here. Later Anh and Hung arrived and we had a short meeting- 2hrs is short :o/ We finalized our plan for Thanh Hoa and then said our goodbyes to the women. The 3 of us, Scott, Thomas, and I headed over to see the infamous water puppet show :o) I've got pics I'll be posting later.

We ended the night with some fruit shakes and a light dinner. That morning before Scott and Thomas arrived I walked the lake alone at 5am- I have to tell you it was amazing to see all the groups that gathered to exercise. But mostly I wanted to share, 2 women walked by me, approached me, stared me down and then said FAAAAAT, while they rubbed their stomachs!! OMG! I don't know the word for fat in Vietnamese but I'm sure that is what they said- phonetically it sounded like 'caaaw'. I laughed and said yes then they continued walking... hahaha. What else could I do? For a minute I thought I was back home visiting my family where especially my grandpa and his wife love to call me fat! I'm glad somebody notices because I was living life with noooo freakin idea whatsoever, haha...

Anyway back to my week, on Friday we walked around the lake at 5am and enjoyed watching the exercising again. We don't just stand around and watch of course. We walk around the lake which takes about 30min. We had some delicious breakfast at the hotel and headed out to visit some museums. We went to the Prison where McCain was once held- lots of interesting stories about the Vietnamese political prisoners of war. Immediately you can see that the US prisoners were more like at a hotel than a prison compared to how the Viet prisoners were treated. More pictures on that to come later- hopefully.

We then went to the Vietnamese Women's Museum- was this my favorite you ask? well how did you know! The best part was the 3rd floor where a new research project posted its findings on a recent study about street vendors and the apparent new legislation that just past July 2008. This project included 1000 interviews of women street vendors from Ha Noi to gather their histories. I can't even do it justice to describe this- over 100 of the women's stories were posted all along the walls of this room with photos. It was just so overwhelming to learn about all of these women and their struggle to survive, keep their families surviving, and help their husbands bring in income for those who had husbands. So many stories of hardship, travelling from far outside the city to sell goods they made or harvested, trying to find places to stay for cheap if the profit wasn't enough to get them back home, etc etc. Just amazing women of strong will and resistence. You have to come and see the museum for youself but also come and visit those women in real life here on the streets trying to make a sale that brings in pennies so they can survive one day at a time.

That said I have to tell you during my time wandering the streets alone I met several vendors whom I stopped to chat with. The problem with trying to practice your Vietnamese is that the reaction I get is fluent Vietnamese spoken back to me and then I'm in trouble! Nevertheless I enjoyed chatting however haphazardly as I could trying to understand them and learn a little about who they were. I met Hoa, an elderly woman selling fans and bracelets on my way to the market. Later that day I ran into her at the lake where we were buying ice cream for 3.VND which is about 5 cents. I said "chao!" and she laughed at me for remembering her then walked off pointing to me and telling her friends something. Another time I met another woman named Toai- the spelling is all phonetic, sorry- she was selling toys and fans. I talked to her a bit and bought a few things from her. Last night I ran into her again and she called me back. I told her it was my last night in Ha Noi and I would be leaving to Thanh Hoa to work. She was very sweet. I would say she was at least 70yrs old. I bought some fans from her and told her I might see her today before I left. I don't think I have time for that.

At the lake I met another woman named Wei and her grandson Bop. He was just so full of energy! Wei asked me to take him home with me because she was so tired hahaha. We chatted a bit and then she ran off because Bop had run off into the crowd.

Meeting these women was all before I went to the museum and I already had such great admiration for them and the work they do. I know how it is in the Mexican community where people have to do the same to survive. I also know that even those who aren't street vendors but struggling to survive still have to find similar ways to survive. I remember my mother staying up plenty of nights burning out her eyes to sew "monitos" to sell in order to make ends meet or baking cakes and cheesecakes half the night or selling avon. Women are just courageous but often go by unseen. These women here that I met were amazing. Even though we may not fully understand each other with words, there was an understanding. These women are just so amazing- you have to come and meet them for yourself. The loads they carry- both figuratively and literally!

Well, folks it looks like our ride has arrived early :o( so Scott is rushing me to check out of the room. I'll have to catch up with you next time. There is just soooooo much I wish I could tell you- I am inspired in every way, even by anger at times for the injustices that I see. Well off I go. 4hrs of driving and hope we have some ac and internet wherever we go....til next time... hopefully before I take off ;o) xin chao ban cua toi, em yeu!!!