1. love uncle ho
vietnam is a communist country (read: facebook is blocked) and they are IN LOVE with ho chi minh. everywhere you drive there is communist propaganda with his face plastered on it. i believe there is an election happening soon so there was potentially more than normal around the streets. in addition, phong told us that every household in vietnam is required to have a vietnamese flag and that was evident as you explored the towns. similar to to muslim countries that broadcast prayers throughout the day, we would hear a lot of announcements from the government blasted from speakers planted around the cities.
2. efficiency is key
transportation for many of the vietnamese is via motorbikes and they treat this bike like it is a minivan. not only do they transport themselves from location to location, they bring the family along or whatever else one would normally throw in their trunk. for example, i saw a family of FIVE on one of these bikes. mom, dad, and three kids. yeah, they fit on one of those suckers. the only thing that bothered me was that only the parents wore helmets for the most part. the little 5 year old was without one! one thing that did impress me was that they have specially made booster seats that go between the driver and the bike for the little one to sit in. in terms of transporting goods, i was quite impressed with garlic and greens man, but one of pert's friends saw a motorbike transporting a mattress. i'm fairly certain he had one holding the mattress up, and the other steering. now that is what i call skill.
3. master the yield
crossing the street is no joke in this country. it puts other asian countries to shame. i struggled the first time trying to cross in saigon. it took me 5 minutes, but i've come to learn that if i slowly walk out, they won't hit me. or, well, i have to believe that they won't hit me. as long as they can anticipate where i'm going, they change their driving directions. the thing is, the crosswalks really don't mean a whole lot there, so i'm not sure why they bother even painting them on the ground. this goes for actual motorists as well. sure, they have stop lights, but from what i've seen, they don't ever really 'stop' it's more of a i'm going to turn and the other cars also better not hit me.
4. honking is music to your ears
i swear to you, that in one day, the average motorist has probably honked in one day more times than i've honked in my entire life. honking here isn't as much of an angry gesture as it is in the us, it's more of a warning to tell someone that they're there. you know, cause of the yielding and all. it was weird at first to hear a honk every three seconds, but after enough days, it was weird to not hear a honk. meanwhile, i struggle at home to figure out where to smack my steering wheel to produce the noise...
5. do as the vampires do...if you're a woman
the sun is your enemy. like many asian countries, the vietnamese women work at every opportunity to keep their skin fair. one would think that this would be difficult given that it's typically 100 degrees with the humidity, but this doesn't phase the women. they wear HOODED sweatshirts with jeans, sneakers and finish it off with a face mask, gloves and ridiculously large hat. looking at them literally makes me want to die. i don't know how they do it!
6. perfect the asian squat
the vietnamese are down with the ground. literally. all the street stalls and cheap restaurants have miniature plastic furniture that forces you to essentially squat while eating but it can get awkward when you don't know where to put your knees because they are in your face as you try to eat your noodle soup. in addition, the comfortable resting position if you don't want to stand is an actual squat. you just squat down with your knees at your side and your feet planted firmly on the ground. try it. not many can do it.
but in all seriousness, i really enjoyed my time in vietnam and i'm glad we opted to stay a little longer to do halong bay and skip out on laos because we didn't want to rush through the country. it will definitely be interesting see how this country is five years from now. everywhere we drove, there was a lot of construction going on to build more for the tourism industry. i can't blame them...they have some beautiful land that should be enjoyed. another thing that really surprised me was how little english the vietnamese spoke for living in the touristy areas. as the country is still developing rapidly i'm sure that is something that will be spoken more widely. needless to say, i will definitely be back!
So glad you had a wonderful time! I will say that I can't do the squat and have never been able to. Savannah has been doing it since she was able to walk!
ReplyDeletehaha i love that girl!! how is she?
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